.17 Rem and the Hornady 25gr Vmax.

[L.Sherm]

Get some 20 gr Noslers. The yotes hate them in my 17-223 @ 3910. Tommy Mc

I'm pretty sure thats what the 17 cal 20gr v- nitemares are from midsouth. Ive shot i dont know how many thousands of those on sage rats

 

[Coyotefurharvester]

Did your figure out the bullet problem? You may need to shoot some at good paper targets to see if jackets are being damaged by the barrel.

 

[STOMP442]

Bullets are making nice round holes, and they shoot great like always. Shot them over the Garmin as well and 24.5gr of CFE223 is giving me 4120fps so they are trucking along just fine.

Got my Bergers in yesterday and I am in the process of loading some up now for load testing. If they shoot well which I am sure they will, I will be out again to test on some yotes.

 

[STOMP442]

Range results from yesterday with the 25gr Bergers. My wife shot this group for me. She's better than I am. We worked up from 23gr of CFE223 and while everything shot well under an inch 24gr really came together.

New unfired Nosler brass
CCI 450 primers
24gr CFE223
.025 jump.

 

[Coyotefurharvester]

I normally see velocities lining up with Hodgdon data, your charge weights/velocities are off quite a bit.

 

[STOMP442]

I normally see velocities lining up with Hodgdon data, your charge weights/velocities are off quite a bit.

I have never actually put it over the chrony until the other day. I am not one that cares about velocity as much as I do about how it shoots. The group I have pictured was running 4120fps according to the Garmin.

 

[Gundog]

Last winter, when rubs started to show up on coyote. I decided to shot one with the discontinued Berger 25 match target bullet(very small metplat). I have an AR upper with a 1/10 twist 24" barrel. I can run them at 4000 with 4320. I shot a large male at 125 yards broadside,heart/lung, he literally dropped straight down not even a tail twitch. Years ago at gunshows I would run across .172 bullets, sometimes in vitamin/pill bottles, I would buy and throw in my supply hoard. A big plus of 17 bullets in bottles, a lot fit in a bottle so I often found 300+ inside. Mostly because I thought at some point bullets could be hard to find.
I have thought about getting a bullet tipping die and closing the tip on the Berger mef/varmint to the target size hp, see if that would work on coyote????

I tried to get a tipping die for .17 Berger Varmint bullets a while back. I sent the target bullets and varmint bullets to Whidden for a die. No matter what they tried they couldn't get it to work. The hollow point would collapse. I believe the copper as too soft and too thin. RATS!

 

[Coyotefurharvester]

I have never actually put it over the chrony until the other day. I am not one that cares about velocity as much as I do about how it shoots. The group I have pictured was running 4120fps according to the Garmin.

Not doubting your Garmin or your observation/data. But shooters should be concerned when our data doesn't line up with manufacturers. Since we don't have pressure sensing equipment, only visual clues; brass marking, brass expansion and velocity measurements etc to guide us.

 

[Stormbringer]

In a 17 Remington?

My mistake. Was thinking .204. For yotes in the 17 Remington I've had better results with 30 grain bullets, Kindler Golds (no longer available) were the best. 30 grain Bergers were also good. A few companies now making 28-30's.

 

[STOMP442]

Not doubting your Garmin or your observation/data. But shooters should be concerned when our data doesn't line up with manufacturers. Since we don't have pressure sensing equipment, only visual clues; brass marking, brass expansion and velocity measurements etc to guide us.

Well just so the info is available I see no signs of over pressure at all in my particular rifle. The cases look fine with easy loading and extraction and no flattened primers.

 

[rifleman700]

The Old Berger 25 gr Target small hole Bullets are Coyote Killers!

Run them 4000 fps or faster and watch Coyotes be put too Sleep for Good!

I wish they still produced that bullet over the big hole bullet they make today!

Are these identical except for the hollowpoint size or is the Match a BT? If so, I wonder if these ( varmints ) could be pointed.

I run the 25 varmints in 17FB but only on ground squirrels and PD's.

 

[bighornbob]

I run 30gr Golds in my coyote 17s. I also use 30 gr Blackhole

Bob

 

[bluesako]

i shoot a sako vixen 17rem and for years have been running berger 25 gr match through it awsome bullet i switched over from vmax to berger because berger were more accurate than the vmax they are deadly on fox and other critters the 17 does create a vapour trail in some condititions for me id choose bergers over vmax any day bs

 

[Jrjones]

i shoot a sako vixen 17rem and for years have been running berger 25 gr match through it awsome bullet i switched over from vmax to berger because berger were more accurate than the vmax they are deadly on fox and other critters the 17 does create a vapour trail in some condititions for me id choose bergers over vmax any day bs

Hows the 25gr berger on fox hides?

 

[Jrjones]

My 17 rem is 10”tw 1971. Wont shoot heavy bullets. Incredible accuracy w 20gr bullets, i have a stockpile of hornady 25gr hp. I dont personally use it for coyotes. Its better at barnyard crows and such. Has anyone ever tried to use slower velocities to reduce splashes. It seems like everyone has to run em at warp speed? 50lb dogs here, im not shooting at em w tic-tacs. Fun cartridge. A 10th of a grain came mean a lot in the 17 rem ime w pressure.

 

[Tparrish]

Despite what some say I wouldnt use V- Max's on coyotes maybe going slower but never out of a 17 Remington.
I would move on to some Black hole or some Bergers if you can find them

What L. Sherm said.

 

[JSH]

I got way over book speed with CFE223 with my 17R.
I pulled bullets and rechecked everything, all was fine. Tried another lot # of CFE223, same results.
I chase accuracy, but try to keep my 17R around 3900.

 

[bluesako]

Hows the 25gr berger on fox hides?

over here in the uk, i dont think anybody collects hides, no call for them, but examaning shot fox, ive noticed the lack of damage using bergers compered to vmax , i used to use v max in my 17 vixen, which had a 1/10 twist,but i had it rebarreled and asks the gunsmith for a suitable 1/10 twist, which i was happy with the vixen came back from the gunsmith, who in my opinion is one of the best gunsmiths in the uk, his work is awsome, i put toegether some loads using v max 25gr, and first shot off the bench at 25 yds, wow! it tumbled and keyholed, same at 50 and 100 i thought what the hell is going on, i loaded 5 berger 25gr match out of curiosity, and shot them wow! great groupe at 50 yds no tumbling i tried the last 5 vmax and again all tumbled, so i measured the vmax and the berger for comparison, and the vmax were longer, i phoned my gunsmith and he said yes some bullets work in a 1/10, some dont, its pot luck so i carried on using 25 gr berger since, but heres the wierd thing my good friend and shooting mate had the exact same new barrel fitted when i did, and guess what his new barrel shot perfect go figure, it wasnt a big problem for me i carried on using bergers, then when i got my 17 a new barrel i got a 1/9 twist, and both vmax and bergers worked fine, so i would say to anybody thinking of getting a new barrel on your 17 to get a 1/9 or 1/8 if you are using 25gr vmax,just to finish of on this little story, i had some 17. loaded with 20gr vmax the worked fine because they were shorter. i love my 17. bs.

 

[STOMP442]

Here is a little update with some real world bullet performance review. Let me just say the 25gr Berger is no doubt a much better bullet for coyotes. A buddy and I went out yesterday to celebrate our freedom and inauguration day by calling some dogs and I was able to put the 17 and the new bullets through the paces. I was able to kill 4 of the 6 dogs we called in with the 17 Remington anywhere from 40-100 yards and all were bang flop kills. There was some evidence of a little splash on a couple dogs on the shoulder hits but no where near as bad as the Vmax. All bullets penetrated well enough to anchor and kill swiftly. Two of the four didn't even twitch just went to sleep mid step. I am a very happy man with maybe a new favorite coyote rifle.

 

[Jrjones]

Here is a little update with some real world bullet performance review. Let me just say the 25gr Berger is no doubt a much better bullet for coyotes. A buddy and I went out yesterday to celebrate our freedom and inauguration day by calling some dogs and I was able to put the 17 and the new bullets through the paces. I was able to kill 4 of the 6 dogs we called in with the 17 Remington anywhere from 40-100 yards and all were bang flop kills. There was some evidence of a little splash on a couple dogs on the shoulder hits but no where near as bad as the Vmax. All bullets penetrated well enough to anchor and kill swiftly. Two of the four didn't even twitch just went to sleep mid step. I am a very happy man with maybe a new favorite coyote rifle.

Absolutely awesome. Keep up the good shooting. Nice pics. What powder you running?