20 Hornet

[Frankm]

Any one convert from 17 Hornet (whether Ackley or Hornady) to 19 or 20 Hornet? Or if you ve shot/got both?

My 17 Hornet is over 4K on round count and another season or two might be time for a change. Rifle is Ruger 77 so looking at staying with Hornet case as that's what rotary Mag is setup for. The 19 sounds interesting BUT only Calhoun has bullets so 20 might offer more choices.

Questions:

Is 20 more forgiving on cleaning and fouling?

Do you neck up 17 Brass to 20 caliber? Or, do you fire form from 22 Hornet which is much more work I assume.

What bullet weights and powders are optimum for the Hornet based case? (45K psi or so...) what twist rate and barrel length?

Other input and experiences?
Thanks for your responses.

 

[Mark M.]

Check out the 19 Calhoon
Jamescalhoon.com

 

[gtl1946]

I was thinking about the 20cal. but I was thinking about a 20K-Hornet because of the availability of 20’s and the ballistics of the K-case .In your case the magazine might not take the K-Hornets. I’ve always felt that the ackley Hornet made one of the most useful Ackley’s created .

 

[B23]

I have a couple CZ 527 17 Hornets and as much as I enjoy the little 17HH, I've often thought of rebarreling one of them to a 20HH. I'd imagine a 17HH VS 20HH debate would likely be about a 50/50 draw between forum members, but for me, I tend to like 20 cals a little better than 17's.

I don't know that it would be the best way to go, but if I ever were to attempt one, I'd probably take the least path of resistance and neck up 17HH brass to 20 cal. Something like the Hornady 24gr NTX bullet would probably be a good match for these small little Hornet cases and would probably be pretty close to the same speed as the 17HH with the 20gr Vmax.

For me, probably the biggest thing holding me back would be the lack of good quality brass. The 17HH brass isn't terrible, but it certainly isn't great either and I'm generally not a real big fan of investing much time wildcatting things that don't have really good brass.

 

[Mark M.]

One of the great things about the 19 Calhoon is the preformed brass availability

 

[B23]

I don't really like the limited bullet selection of Jame's .19's but I think if I ever did one of his cartridges, the 19 Badger would probably be my first choice.

If nothing else, just having a reason to chat with James on the phone is worth the price of admission, he's a real character to BS with.

 

[Mark M.]

I don't really like the limited bullet selection of Jame's .19's but I think if I ever did one of his cartridges, the 19 Badger would probably be my first choice.

If nothing else, just having a reason to chat with James on the phone is worth the price of admission, he's a real character to BS with.

Yep I get it, but with a 20 hornet you would most likely be shooting a 32gr, there's just not enough horsepower to take you on the upper end of the 20's, Calhoon does offer 28 and 32's more suitable for the hornet, that being said, the fact that you can buy preformed brass and loaded ammo is huge in my book

 

[B23]

Yep I get it, but with a 20 hornet you would most likely be shooting a 32gr, there's just not enough horsepower to take you on the upper end of the 20's, Calhoon does offer 28 and 32's more suitable for the hornet, that being said, the fact that you can buy preformed brass and loaded ammo is huge in my book

As I stated earlier, I think the Hornady 24gr NTX bullet would be a great match with the little Hornet size case and with it being a lead free bullet, it's 50 state and CA emissions legal.

 

[Frankm]

Anyone have actual velocities with 32 grain bullets in 19 or 20 Hornets? Is 3200 fps reasonable?

My 17 Hornady will push 25 trainers to 3200-3250 fps ....

 

[219DW]

Anyone have actual velocities with 32 grain bullets in 19 or 20 Hornets? Is 3200 fps reasonable?

My 17 Hornady will push 25 trainers to 3200-3250 fps ....

The Fall 2002 edition of Small Caliber News magazine has a rightup on the .20 Ackley Hornet by Todd Kindler.
He used a Cooper with a 12" twist 24" Douglass barrel. He got 3477 fps with 16.2gr of 1680 and 3445 fps with 14.4gr of H4227. He was shooting the 33gr V-Max that was available before they started making the 32gr.
Dave

 

[TheOtherZilla]

I have a 17 Hornet and a 22 Hornet. I'm covered.. 20 Hornet doesn't interest me. IMO there are other 20 cals that are much better..

 

[Mudgegonga]

I'm using a 20 AH now and 3200 is about right for 32 to 34 gn. Given magazine leagth restrictions getting the throat, free bore, OAL, sorted and impact on case capacity is a challenge. To get Tods velocity you probably need to do a single shot set up maximising case capacity.

I formed from 22 hornet cases. I did shorten the neck to a max case leagth of 1.36 rather than 1.4 so it does not extend past the bearing surface of the bullet. I am using 34gn Nosler Shots. They are a HP so shorter than a tipped bullet.

 

[1raggedhole]

I agree that the 20 would provide more options and availability in the long term. Buy the terrific twenties book from Todd Kindler Woodchuck den. He has a lot of info on his version of the 20 hornet. It would save you lots of time.

 

[Mudgegonga]

Todd has the 33 grain Vmax seated for an overall length of 1.895. That is about 0.10 over a hornet magazine length. To get Todds performance I think you would need to go single shot. How the throat is cut is an important decision if you want to use a magazine and be close to the lands.

 

[Bill73]

Frankm I just converted my 77 17 Hornet over to a 20 Hornet, a mate also built a 20 Hornet 1.2inch, which he runs in a Brno.

He is getting 3200fps with 10.5gr of Lil Gun behind 32gr Vmax. I just loaded up 12.6gr of Lil Gun behind 32gr Vmax but the magnetospeed didnt pick up any speeds. Expecting it should be doing 3400-3450fps.

I just neck up the 17 Hornet brass with a 20 cal expander and shoot, feeds and functions perfectly from the rotary mag

 

[Bill73]

Overall length 1.780, 12.4gr Lil Gun 32gr Vmax at 3470fps 20 inch 1:8 twist

 

[Frankm]

Bill73.... impressive. Did you design the reamer? What freebore does your gun have?

Thx

 

[chuckshooter]

on my 20 AH, I shoot 14 gr of 1680 behind a 32gr vmax using win hornet brass necked down from 22 hornet. The rifle started as a k-hornet and I was never happy with velocity or accuracy. my speeds are somewhere between 3200 and 3400 as my chorny is as accurate as the corona virus numbers. changing it to a 20 AH was best thing I ever did on this rifle.

 

[Kittitas George]

I'm thinking of buying a 17 Hornet, but I'm having difficulty finding reloading dies. I like the Redding dies (spendy), can't find, checked Redding's web site and zip, checked Midway for RCBS , Hornady, and Redding also zip. So where do I go?

 

[B23]

https://www.midsouthshooterssupply.com/dept/reloading/dies/17-hornet

https://www.precisionreloading.com/cart.php#!ca=17 Hornet

Both places appeared to have multiple different 17 Hornet die sets. For me, the Redding bushing neck size only die, Redding body die, and Redding Comp Seater are my go to dies for loading for my two CZ 527 17 Hornets. The neck thickness in 17 Hornet brass has a pretty good amount of variance in it from Lot to Lot so I like to use a bushing neck sizing so I can keep neck tension all the same.