17 hornet lee crimp results

[Bob Acker]

I too once had a Cooper mod 38 in 17 AH that would not shoot no matter what I tried. Out of desperation I sent it back to Cooper and had them install a new Lilja barrel--problem solved!

[Intel6]

I also have a Cooper .17 Ackley Hornet that I struggled with until I was finally able to get some Vit N120 and then I was able to get it shooting like they should. It was really strange I tried all types of powders but had this nagging feeling I needed to try N120 before getting it re-barreled. This was back when powder was scarce and Vit wasn't available at all anywhere. I was patient and when it showed up for sale I jumped on some. In a very short time I had great shooting loads. I was amazed that a specific powder could change things up so much.

[Daryl]

Originally Posted by foxhunter

no clue daryl, I just knew the extreme spread was out of control. thought it might be the digital scale I was using. the intention is to repeat the loads to see if they repeat.

Sounds good, Bob. My best results with 25gr. Vmax was with 1680.
This group, nice with 4 - always, well almost always screw up the 5th.



Of course, this one is only 3 shots.

[20VarTarg]

I have tried CFE BLK, 1680, Vit N120, Lil Gun, and my beloved RL7. I had one group with CFE BLK that I could live with but was unable to repeat it. So I went back to the drawing board and have struggled ever since! My Model 38 in 20 VT will literally shoot any load under an inch and many loads under 1/2". I will figure it out sooner or later. I purchased the rifle to give my daughters something to shoot while they are still recoil sensitive. My 9 year old loves fire forming brass for it.

[20VarTarg]

Originally Posted by Intel6

I also have a Cooper .17 Ackley Hornet that I struggled with until I was finally able to get some Vit N120 and then I was able to get it shooting like they should. It was really strange I tried all types of powders but had this nagging feeling I needed to try N120 before getting it re-barreled. This was back when powder was scarce and Vit wasn't available at all anywhere. I was patient and when it showed up for sale I jumped on some. In a very short time I had great shooting loads. I was amazed that a specific powder could change things up so much.

What was your starting point for the Vit N120? And what bullet are you shooting? I"m shooting the 20 VMax. May need to look for a different bullet but they are about the only thing readily available.

[Bob Acker]

The Berger manual shows a starting load of 9.5 grs. with a max of 11.5 using
N-120 and a 20gr. Berger bullet. Berger loads seem to be a little on the conservative side but a safe starting point.

[Intel6]

Originally Posted by 20VarTarg

What was your starting point for the Vit N120? And what bullet are you shooting? I"m shooting the 20 VMax. May need to look for a different bullet but they are about the only thing readily available.

I am also shooting the 20 Vmax. I figured it would be my primary bullet due to availability and if I couldn't get the rifle to shoot them then I had to fix it. I started low (11.4 grs) with the N120 and just went up by 0.1 grain increments. I was loading using my RCBS chargemaster so I was certain of the loads and with this small of a cartridge 0.1 gr. can make a difference. I went up past 12 grs and stopped just over 12 grs. which put me in the 3,700 fps range with both brands of brass. I found I could go a few tenths more with the RP brass before I needed to stop. In my initial testing, all my groups were sub MOA (many were more like 1/2 MOA or under) which was a breakthrough because before that I was not getting anything even close to MOA.

[Guesty]

I'm glad to see that the Lee FCD helped your loads too.
I had better luck with N110 than N120 for keeping ES low, but RS36 is the best powder I have yet tried. I'm using the Berger 25 grain bullet along with low brissance Russian Murom/Wolf primers and formed 22 RWS brass. I use a modified Lee 17Rem collet die, which keeps necks straighter than my Redding bushing die which I now use as a body die only.

[SEM]

foxhunter, A late thanks for the reply guess I have been busier than I thought

[Alex]

One of my Cooper M38 17AH would not shoot 20 grer VMax's no matter what I did (1" or larger), but 20 grers from Starke and Berger 3 shot targets were always under 1/2 inch.

I never had this to happen in any of my other 17AH's. One even shot a hummer group for the first Saubier postal shoot.

Favorite powders were 1680 and V120. Both usually shot well, with V120 being very clean and 1680 dirty as sin.

Thinking that it was my fault, several years later I made several attempts with this rifle and still couldn't get it under the 1" + level.

Alex