CZ 17 Hornet

[Ironworker]

Has anyone any experience with the 17 Hornet in the CZ rifle ? How's it shoot ? I want a light high speed no recoil rifle. What about CZ rifle in .204 ,same question .

 

[SShooterZ]

I have a CZ .204 Varmint that I popped into an HS Precision stock and my last time out with reloads for another gun was quite impressive. My biggest gripe is the bolt handle to scope clearance but there are options out there to work around it. I took the dual stage out of the trigger and have it breaking clean at right around 2 lbs. Also, the Varmint model contour is a bit lighter than say a Remington or Savage varmint. Depending on your preference that could be a good or bad thing. All in all, I've always liked CZs and their accuracy has always been very good for me.

 

[L.Sherm]

I agree with shooterz my exsperience with CZ's they shoot, but if you want little or no recoil say to see your hit's in the scope I don't think 204 would be what you want. I have a 20 prac. that I just had a brake put on it for that reason. I"ve got a CZ 204 that I had set back to a 20 VT. and it shoots a tiny little 3 shoot cluster (all touching) at 100 yds. that for recoil or a 17 hornet might be a better option. just mt 2 cents.

 

[dedogs]

What do you want to shoot with this rifle?

 

[Ironworker]

What do you want to shoot with this rifle? Small game Prairie Dogs,rabbits and such . I was looking at the 17 WSM and notice how scarce ammo was for it,and questionable quality of available rifles . I figure why go that rout ,I hand load lets check out the 17 hornet or the 204 . I noticed the .204 comes with a 12" twist some say that's a bit slow for a 40 gr bullet ? Really I'm thinking about a 200 yard light recoiling and light in weight small varmint rifle. I have a extra scope that needs a rifle.

 

[Lucky6547]

My CZ Varmint in 17 hornet shoots great.
3 shot groups tend to touch, and 5 shot groups are less than 1/2". And that's with factory ammo, I haven't even reloaded for it yet.
Take care,
Ken

 

[Dave Berg]

What Lucky said. I have the 527 varmint model in 17 Hornet and it's the most accurate factory rifle/factory ammo combo I've ever owned. This five shot 100 yard group was when it was new (rounds 21-25) and it has only gotten better. Orange sticker is 3/4"

I'm not a fan of the 204 at all. Had two of them and they got re-barreled to 20 Tactical in 11 twist.

 

[dedogs]

Ironworker, I don't know if CZ offers them but a .17 or .221 Fireball would do what you want. If you want to go custom I would highly recommend the .20 Var-Targ. Dies and brass are easy to come by for any of these 3 chamberings and there are a lot of different bullet choices now. JMO dedogs

 

[Tommie]

I seriously doubt you'd regret owning a CZ 17 Hornet.

 

[Ironworker]

Well that settles it ,soon I'll pick up one of those CZ 527 in 17 Hornet . But where would I get .20 VAR TAG components ?

 

[L.Sherm]

For brass you just neck down 221 Fireball brass. Just be aware that if you use Lapua brass your gonna have to have atleast a .233 neck dia. if you want a no turn neck. I would go with Redding bushing dies or wilson dies, for powder H4198, AA2200 should get you in the ball game and I believe some people have luck with RL-7 too.

 

[L.Sherm]

Just search locally and on the web for 20 cal. bullets and all the other components

 

[searcher]

I just bought a CZ .17 Hornet and have ony run about 50 factory rounds (leaded), plus another 50 rounds unleaded. In my rifle, the unleaded is more accurate (about 1/2" m.o.a. 5-shot groups.). The leaded is about 3/4" or just less.. The cartridge base-to-shoulder measurement of the factory Hornady ammo and the Hornady retail brass puts the factory ammo with .012" shoulder clearance in my rifle. After fireforming with the factory ammo and reloading the brass, I full-length resized and bumped the shoulders .001". I ran the bullets out quite a bit (to maximum magazine length) which was still a ways off the lands. Huge improvement and loads with IMR4227, LittleGun and Norma200 all produced more accurate ammo than the factory stuff. Just finished loading up the second 100 with some different loads to see whats what. I was surprised that the recoil was "just enough" with the heavier bullets to lose my sight picture for a second. My other, more powerful, varmint rifles all have brakes and stay super steady on target. I called up the guys at Harrel's Precision a few days ago, and they are making me a short little .17 brake for it. Once I get the bedding done right and replace (or work over) the raspy single-set trigger, this will make for a very sweet little factory gun.

 

[dedogs]

Ironworker, I'm certainly not trying to dissuade you from the .17 Hornet with my suggestions. I recommended the 3 cartridges because they fall in between your 2 choices. Dies for the .17& .221 Fireball can be had from Redding. Dies for the .20 Var-Targ (Varmint-Target) can be had from an outfit in Ohio called The Woodchuck Den which is owned by the guy who developed the Var-Targ. His name is Todd Kindler. He's a small caliber fan who has developed many small caliber cartridges including the .20 Tactical which many feel is a better cartridge than the .204 Ruger. If you do decide on the Var-Targ at a later date be sure to visit with Todd as I think he changed the neck dimension on his current reamer spec. Apparently the new Lapua brass is a little thicker in the neck so if you want to do a no turn neck for Lapua you need to let whoever supplies the reamer know that. As stated above .20 Var-Targ is made from .221 FireBall brass which is also made by Remington.
Hope this helps. By the way, Todd claims 3855fps with a 32g V-Max. Not sure that's what to expect but 3700 should be easily doable.

 

[Ironworker]

Thanks guys all very helpful informative responses .

 

[CatShooter]

After fireforming with the factory ammo and reloading the brass, I full-length resized and bumped the shoulders .001".

Since the 22 Hornet headspaces on the rim, and the case is thin and fragile, there is no purpose served by bumping the shoulder, except shorter case life.

[...] As stated above .20 Var-Targ is made from .221 FireBall brass which is also made by Remington.

Lapua now makes 221 FurBall brass, and by all reports, it is yummy... but I have almost 500 pcs of the 221 brass made by Remington, and it is MUCH better than average Remington brass.

 

[searcher]

Catshooter; I bump .001" because the cases don't all fireform evenly, despite the super pressures in this little cartridge. Until they are "there" together, I'd rather the shoulders not touch on some and not on others. Factory shoulder setback was .012" - .013" - now that is some serious stretcheroo. Know anybody that makes a rim thickness guage for .17 Hornet?

 

[CatShooter]

Know anybody that makes a rim thickness gauge for .17 Hornet?

L. E. Wilson makes a drop-in gauge, but no one carries it, cuz it is so easy to measure the ril with a vernier micrometer.

You can buy a decent vernier for less than the cost of the drop-in gauge.

 

[SShooterZ]

For brass you just neck down 221 Fireball brass. Just be aware that if you use Lapua brass your gonna have to have atleast a .233 neck dia. if you want a no turn neck. I would go with Redding bushing dies or wilson dies, for powder H4198, AA2200 should get you in the ball game and I believe some people have luck with RL-7 too.

THIS! L.Sherm nailed it on the noggin'.

 

[carl1575]

Ironworker I just got back from the range 5 hours ago from shooting my new CZ 17 hornet. First 15 shots all less than 3/4 in a gusting 10-20 MPH wind mainly coming straight down the range at me. The wind was bothering me more than the bullets and it was cold, that didn't help. You will love the gun, it my sixth or seventh CZ, and they all shot better than I could. Carl in Yakima