Anyone have a CZ 527 in 17 Hornady Hornet? Opinions sought.

[B23]

The biggest difference in weight between the American and Varmint model comes from the American having a few inches shorter barrel.

I had the barrel whacked off on one of my Varmint model 17HH rifles when it was in getting threaded it's now close to the same length as the American and only weighs a few ounces more, without the can on that is.

 

[searcher]

What bullets are you reloading, I will have a friend reload me some , I'm looking at a 25 grain hollow point similar to what Hornady used to make, or a Berger flat base hollow point, my friend is a surgeon and really known his re-loading , he's meticulous hunts the world.

I use 20-grn. v-max, 25 Berger, Hornady lead free NTX, Lehigh 20 grain Controlled Chaos lead free. The V-Max is best all around inexpensive bullet - and the Berger the best all around "heavier" bullet. The NTX super accurate - and the Chaos I use when coyotes might be encountered. All pretty good bullets

 

[ohlongarm]

I use 20-grn. v-max, 25 Berger, Hornady lead free NTX, Lehigh 20 grain Controlled Chaos lead free. The V-Max is best all around inexpensive bullet - and the Berger the best all around "heavier" bullet. The NTX super accurate - and the Chaos I use when coyotes might be encountered. All pretty good bullets

Thanks ,I've always liked Berger bullets, I'm told that 17 hornet brass is pretty much unavailable , any truth in that.

 

[searcher]

Thanks ,I've always liked Berger bullets, I'm told that 17 hornet brass is pretty much unavailable , any truth in that.

I haven't looked for brass recently - but everything is tough to find. I bought factory ammo to get my initial brass when they first came out with the round as no brass was available at all. Probably hard to find ammo - but maybe easier than brass - just have to look around. if you turn your necks, you can buy .22 Hornet brass and neck it down. I bought a bunch of that but haven't yet needed it. You might put out a call for brass in the component forum.

 

[titus123]

Bought a CZ 527 Varmint in 17 HH in early July. Fantastic little shooter. I managed to also score 300 rounds of the Federal Varmint & Predator at the same time( for brass later on). It will shoot 1/2" or better with factory loads all day long... I have also handloaded both the 20 grain V-Max, and the 25 grain Bergers.
Best load with the 20 grain V-Max is 10.8grains N120( max according to Hornady), with a CCI 450 primer.
Best Load with the 25 grain Bergers is with H322( can't recall the amount of powder).
Lil Gun shows high pressure from 9.2 grains all the way up to 9.5 grains.
P.S... The Hogden Manuel is not correct in it's data... Hornady technician told me start @9 grains and work up to no more than 9.7 grains of Lil Gun.

 

[NZ_Fclass]

Cz makes a great rifle. However the Hornady 17 hornet brass leaves a lot to be desired if you are looking to reload it.

While, perhaps,not he best, it is adequate for purpose. I have 8-10 reloads on it so far, using Redding dies. I use CFE-BLK at the max load and get factory speeds (near enough) with 20g Hornady pills. I have a Savage rifle with an NZ built DPT silencer. It's very quiet and ideal for rabbits etc to 300 yds on farmland when there are houses within earshot.

 

[B23]

Federal American Eagle label 17 Hornet ammo is fairly easy to find you just have to know where to look but be prepared to spend $1.10 -$1.40 per round for it.

 

[titus123]

Federal American Eagle label 17 Hornet ammo is fairly easy to find you just have to know where to look but be prepared to spend $1.10 -$1.40 per round for it.

I was fortunate to find it for $40.00 per 50

 

[JSH]

1/2” and smaller all day long, you are very fortunate and should treasure that rifle.
Mine shot factory ammo well, but the flyers were still in it and made mine a 1” at best rig.

 

[titus123]

1/2” and smaller all day long, you are very fortunate and should treasure that rifle.
Mine shot factory ammo well, but the flyers were still in it and made mine a 1” at best rig.

The biggest thing I found to be of benefit was torquing the front action screw to 30#, and the rear @25#.

 

[boatammo]

My shooting bud uses 1680 and 20 gr vmax. His loads clock 50 FPS faster than factory and shoot very well in both of his 527 varmints. I can't hang on to the little bullets, {bad hands. I have 7000+ rds. of factory on hand.

 

[ohlongarm]

My shooting bud uses 1680 and 20 gr vmax. His loads clock 50 FPS faster than factory and shoot very well in both of his 527 varmints. I can't hang on to the little bullets, {bad hands. I have 7000+ rds. of factory on hand.

Any 25 grain Hornady hollow points you might sell, impossible to find, THX

 

[TheCZKid]

I've got the CZ Varmint model, factory Federal AE shoots about 1/2" groups consistently. My best consistent accurate reload is Hor. 20 Vmax with 1680 12.0, seated to 1.455 base to ogive length (BTOL), Remington 7 1/2 primers. I turn the necks, and lots of brass prep. Working on the Nosler 20 HP load now, going to shoot tomorrow, see how it does at my same 1680 load. Testing CCI-400 and R 7 1/2 primers, 1.480" BTOL.
Another potential good load for 20 Vmax is CFE BLK at 12.6 grains and CCI-400 primers. Shot two test loads of 3 rounds, 1st group was .108" and 2nd .30", that's the best 2 groups I've shot with this rifle.

 

[danny]

I have never heard any negatives and you may want to surf Saubier.com.

The (unsafe) guys that can't just operate the CZ 527 safety exactly the same as nearly all other rifles made are crying, and LOUDLY.

Danny

 

[ohlongarm]

I've got the CZ Varmint model, factory Federal AE shoots about 1/2" groups consistently. My best consistent accurate reload is Hor. 20 Vmax with 1680 12.0, seated to 1.455 base to ogive length (BTOL), Remington 7 1/2 primers. I turn the necks, and lots of brass prep. Working on the Nosler 20 HP load now, going to shoot tomorrow, see how it does at my same 1680 load. Testing CCI-400 and R 7 1/2 primers, 1.480" BTOL.
Another potential good load for 20 Vmax is CFE BLK at 12.6 grains and CCI-400 primers. Shot two test loads of 3 rounds, 1st group was .108" and 2nd .30", that's the best 2 groups I've shot with this rifle.
View attachment 1273256

Mighty fine shooting there, wish I reloaded.

 

[TheCZKid]

Mighty fine shooting there, wish I reloaded.

Well, I'm glad to report my tests today have pretty much concluded this load is excellent. I've mainly been testing 20 Vmax bullets, with Accurate 1680 12.0 gr, and that liked Rem 7 1/2 primers, average .45" groups. My new combo of CFE BLK 12.6 with CCI-400 primers just shot two 3 round groups of .19" each... it's taken MONTHS and a bunch of testing to finally get here. Reloading this round is a... challenge.


The SD #s are not very good (see bottom right corners), but for some reason it is grouping great.

 

[Kittitas George]

I have a 527 Varmint in 17HH. I do reload for it and overall it is not hard. Sizing is not the issue, it is seating those little .17 bullets. It is very easy to get them not started straight and tear up a case. I usually load 50 rounds at a time. I put 55 cases in a bag. Most tome at least 1 if not 2 or 3 necks get squashed.

For a long time, I could not get the same or better accuracy than the factory loaded ammo. Then I finally got a pound of AA1680 and also a pound of CFE-BLK. Now I am getting better groups than the factory.

For me at least it took a long time for the barrel to break in and be that it would clean up pretty fast. Now at 800 rounds it shoots great and cleans up well. It is fun to shoot.

David

I bought a Vickerman seating die, problem solved. I have this die with inserts for a couple of calibers with the micrometer adjustment. They work very well, especially for the small diameter bullets.

 

[Kittitas George]

I'm thinking about getting a rifle chambered in 17 Hornady Hornet. It looks like a great little round that would be fantastic on Nevada ground squirrels. There aren't many offerings out there. As much as I'd love to order a Cooper, that probably isn't going to happen anytime soon. I'm considering either the CZ, Savage 25, or a TC contender with a custom barrel. I'd love to hear of other's experiences with the CZ, or any of the others for that matter.

Thanks in advance!

Lou

I don't think you can go wrong with a CZ. I have Ruger #1 re-barreled to 17 Hornet. I wish I had researched the 17 Fireball. The 17 Hornet seems to benefit if a patch is run through the barrel after about 30 or so shots. Very enjoyable to shoot.