Life before .22: the .17 HMR is a wimp-try the .17 Remington or the .19 Calhoon

Guns Magazine, Feb, 2004 by Holt Bodinson

A Real Handloader's Cartridge

When it comes to bullets for hand loading, the Hornady 25 grain HP has always been an outstanding performer. Frankly, it doesn't make a lot of sense dropping below 25 grains in a .17 because the ballistic coefficients drop off so rapidly.

James Calhoon otters 19-, 22-, 25-, and 28-grain lip bullets plated with his proprietary "Slick Silver" that really does minimize metallic fouling. Berger Bullets offers 15-, 20-, 22-, 25 and 30-grain grain bullets plus a 37-grain VLD pill with a B.C. of 0.343. Unique to Burger is that they furnish their full line either with or without moly coating and either with lit without a design quality called "maximum expansion factor"--read that as "explosive expansion" on light skinned varmints.

One of the rules when working with the .17 Rem is to use either the Remington 7.5 primer or one of the CCI small rifle primers. Pressures tend in peak quickly with the .17 Rem. and the thicker cups of the Remington and CCI primers aren't as likely to pierce.

Back in the 1970s when I began loading for the .17 Rem., the standard 25-grain bullet load was 24.0 grains of IMR 4320 for a velocity of approximately 4,000 fps. The most accurate load in my Remington 700 has always been 19.0 grains of Reloader 7. These are maximum loads by the way so approach them with caution.

My head shooting, elk hunting friend found that Win. 748 worked best in his .17 Rem. Hornady recommends Win. 760. Vit N-133 and N-140. Lyman's data shows IMR 4198 to be a top performer. Accurate Arms recommends AA 2700 while Hodgdon favors Varget and H4895.

All of which goes to prove that the .17 Rem is a pretty flexible cartridge when it comes to powder selection, It's not hard to leach 4,000 fps with a variety of powders so the real issue becomes one of accuracy. My Remington 700 will routinely shoot into 1/2 inch at 100 yards with Reloader 7 and Hornady's bullet.

The trick is getting the powder through the tiny neck and into the case. To do so takes another piece of .17-caliber hardware, a .17 caliber aluminum funnel, so be forewarned. The other trick is to place the Lilliputian sized .17 caliber bullet in the neck of the case without feeling like a ham fisted gorilla.

There is a generous amount of seventeen caliber loading data available for the .17 Rem. and .17 caliber wildcats. Hodgdon lists five different cases; Lee, four; Accurate Arms, three; Hornady, two; and Ackley's two volume set. 10.

So after you tire of the wimpy .17 HMR, get a real .17 caliber or maybe a .19. Why a 19?

It Begins With The Brits

Well, during the NATO ammunition trials of the 1970s, the British fielded a 4.85mm (.19 caliber) cartridge in competition with the prevailing 5.56mm and 7.62mm rounds. It was their belief that the .19 caliber offered better bullet sectional density and a lower recoil impulse than the 5.56mm. In fact, the cartridge proved to be extremely effective.

The 4.85mm cartridge was based on a lengthened (49mm) and necked-down 5.56mm case. The .19 caliber pointed boat-tail bullet weighed 56 grains, and its velocity from a barrel with a 1:5-inch twist was 3,117 fps. At a range of 550 meters, the 4.85mm bullet penetrated a German steel helmet whereas 5.56mm M193 ball ammunition utterly failed to do so and succeeded merely in cracking the helmet at 475 meters.