Reeder Custom Guns - I was looking at .17 cal. rifled when I remembered

I have a .17 HMR TC handgun barrel. It is so much fun shooting the 17 gr. bullets at 2500 fps and when they hit, no worries as they come apart pretty well.

Being a TC tube though I began wondering what's keeping me from re-chambering it to .17 Hornady Hornet, .17 Ackley, or even .17 Ackley Bee?! I can rent the reamers myself and do the work. That's some dangerous thinking...

The 20-25 gr. bullets would perform better from the 14" pistol barrel too. I wonder what it could do? Best I could manage from the .17 Remington was 3300 fps with a 25 gr. in a 14" TC. The rimfire at 2500 and 17 grs. is not too bad itself. I may need to chrono those 20 gr. from it. Would 5 gr. more bullet and 500 fps be worth it?

Being worth it would depend on what you want to use it for wouldn't it? I think I hear you thinking out loud to justify doing some reaming and tinkering! I am willing to bet and give odds WB rents a reamer. Any takers?

Now Hornady has them for about $50! Cheap bullets, only 12-13 gr. powder...

Pretty easy at that velocity, some folks claim they can't shoot them in light rain because of that. Have you had that
problem? Wouldn't reloading one of the calibers you want be cheaper than buying 17 hmr?

I've personally shot the three bullets mentioned at extremely high velocity with no issues.
17gr >4500fps
20gr @4400fps
25gr @4200fps

These from a 17 Remington.
I also have a 17 Mach IV, (same as the 17 Fireball)
a 17 Hornet and the 17 HMR.

The Hornet works very well with the 20 V-Max and AA-1680

None of them fly apart unless you hit something. When you do, they almost always stay inside the critter. The critter usually sounds like a sack of Jello.

Can't speak for shooting in the rain cause I really have no desire to kill vermin while it's that nasty out.

Calculating the reloading components on average $0.18 per bullet, $0.05 per for powder @ $30 lb., $4.00/100 primers it is about the same exact cost to reload existing brass, per (50), as the .17 HMR! That surprised me.

For the difficulty, teeny changes are large % pressure/variations, you get some more bullet options. Also you get a 15% speed increase, but the muzzle energy doubles with a 25 gr. at 3000 fps from a 17 gr. at 2500. I guess that is what the labor of love produces.

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It is an interesting thing to ponder. I guess it would run me about $100-$125 all in to ream and start loading on my own for basically gunsmith's cost. But I'm not a Gunsmith, only a rabid tinkerer. I could almost buy a brick of rimfire .17 HMR for that and just forget it. Only to go crazy later on a CZ 527, dropping an easy $1,000 for rifle and scope! lol

The .17 Hornet rifles run around 3,750 fps so I'm betting I'd lose at least 750 fps for the 14". Any more would be less satisfying.

Much! I really enjoy it!!!

It was a .22 WMR and I bought a .17 HMR factory barrel off ebay. It shot OK but then I sold it and bought a Savage 93 HB w/thumhole laminated stock that shoots 1/2" MOA for a couple hundred less!

More to my liking in size and weight.

I find both it and the Marlin a bunch cobby but both will outshoot anything I've seen. For the price it is almost stupid silly. They are limited only by the triggers. As a whole the .17 HMR is the most accurate factory ammo of any kind I have ever experienced. To say that about rimfire ammo is a HUGE testament to CCI or Hornady, whoever makes that stuff. One or the other makes it all I believe.

On a calm day I can tape a dime to the bullseye at 100 meters and take it out, Roman and my wife can too!

here, of all places the farm and ranch supply stores. Must be the cats meow for around the farm

Mind active and your hands busy would be worth it. Hard to break that down into dollars and cents.

3650 with 8.2 Lilgun is what I'm told. Brass is the 4.6x30 HK which is very consistent and high quality. Duplicates the 17 Hornady Hornet with less powder.

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that IF I wanted to go that direction the old .17 Ackley Hornet would be the ticket. It has notable more capacity compared to Hornady's new Hornet and can fire that factory ammo forming to the larger chamber. A win-win, also available to anyone with a .17 Hornady Hornet, provided the magazine can manage it, but I'm sure many won't.

Until now after reading all these responses.

the trajectory is pretty close to several of my Reeder custom hunting cartridges. The wind is a bit of a problem on the teeny bullet. But also a teaching factor, just exaggerated from a bigger caliber example.

The .17 is quieter than the .22 WMR by a noticeable amount and there is no comparison to accuracy. Zero recoil, you watch the bullet hit. For the "non-reloader" it is really a great opportunity for fun. $13-16/50 usually all the time around here in both 17 and 20 gr. bullets. The 17's seem to do better and disintegrate on impact.

One fun test we did was fill a 2-liter bottle with water. In the rifle at 25 yds. it will not penetrate the back of the plastic water filled bottle, just blows the front out. Same bottle at 100 yds. it blows through both sides! It's slowed down enough that it's not as explosive and the little jacketed slug penetrates better. I personally saw a Coyote killed with a 17 HMR at over 400 yds. So far we used a 4-wheeler odometer to measure crudely. Center chest hit facing, through the heart, it went about 20 yds., laid down and died. It was like stabbing it with an ice pick (through the heart). The .17 MKII was possibly the best squirrel shooting caliber ever invented. If you hit anything beyond the bullet just comes apart do do no harm. If they could only have perfected the 10-22 Ruger to .17 for the masses. It's too hard to control premature bolt opening and they blow out and through the mag opening! Magnum Research still markets .17 HMR (and .22 WMR) guns on the Pinetree Castings/Ruger chassis. But bring your checkbook!

A pistol length barrel for my G2, maybe a carbine barrel for my Encore.

Play with it and if it's not your bag, or you don't want to rechamber it to something more interesting sell it for what you paid. Can't beat that deal.

I'm going home to get mine out and try in the rain! Someone should find out. It's an interesting concept for any bullet if it effects anything it would a teeny .17. Be forewarned they are wind sensitive. If it's blowing/gusting 10 mph your 1/2" group will grow to a couple inches at distance! But even .22's do that, comparing the .17's have fractional time for wind to act on them at 2500 fps!

And keep an eye out on fleabay and gunbroker gor a used 14" for my G2. After pricing the Encore carbine barrels if I can't find a used one I may look for a Ruger American or Davage, new or used.

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