.17hmr 17grain vs 20grain

Hunter21

My three local FDs are slow to restock on 17grain hornadys so I'm considering 20grain bullets but I'm slow to change over for awhile.

What are your experiences with 20grain hornadys? Much more drop then the 17grain?
20grain an accurate round?
Bit better in the cross wind?
Good killing power?

I know all this is covered on chuck Hawkes site but I'd rather hear experiences from other folk.

garv123

Hunter21 wrote: »

My three local FDs are slow to restock on 17grain hornadys so I'm considering 20grain bullets but I'm slow to change over for awhile.

What are your experiences with 20grain hornadys? Much more drop then the 17grain?
20grain an accurate round?
Bit better in the cross wind?
Good killing power?

I know all this is covered on chuck Hawkes site but I'd rather hear experiences from other folk.

Dealers all over the place were having trouble sourcing them. I went from 17hornady to the 17 remmys and found they grouped just as good if not better than the hornady in my rifle.
I'm now using the 20gr With a headshot on rabbits they are dead dead but i found if i hit lower in the body or neck they would kick out and wriggle all over the place for a few seconds because the bullet was just passing through.
Never had a rabbit as much as twitch with the 17gr though.
The 20gr does much less meat damage.

Ive shot foxes with both of them from. The furthest was 140 yards with the 20gr and he dropped on the spot with a chest shot.

I found hey didnt group as well but was still good enough for my rifle. yours could be different.

These groups were rushed when the rain was coming down but the 20gr weren't too bad. That paper is 1" squares.

Hunter21

Was awaiting your answer garv thanks for the info.

Two mates have .22lrs and one has a 22magnum both hated remingtons. Mate with the magnum misfired 25 out of 100 bullets and didn't group well with his gun. Totally different I know but the misfiring turned me off Remington to buy.

You any issues with 17grain remmys misfiring?

Also what distance away was the above groupings done at? Also did you find much drop between the two different grained bullets?

garv123

Hunter21 wrote: »

Was awaiting your answer garv thanks for the info.

Two mates have .22lrs and one has a 22magnum both hated remingtons. Mate with the magnum misfired 25 out of 100 bullets and didn't group well with his gun. Totally different I know but the misfiring turned me off Remington to buy.

You any issues with 17grain remmys misfiring?

nope every single round fired for me. I actually sold my last box of 20gr to one of the lads because i want to go back to remmys.

I had 6 hornady 20gr not fire in this box and im not through the box yet so thats the main reason im changing back. could just be a bad batch though. Same with the remmys your mates had in the .22mag, one of the lads never had a remmy or cci misfire in his .22mag and its seen plenty of boxes through the years.

Robotack

The 20gr does less meat damage in my experience. I've had bunnies partially explode with the 17gr ballistic tips. But I've noticed also that the 20gr seems a bit like a FMJ bullet with body shots on rabbits and I too get some runners as the bullet just goes through & through. Killed a fox at 155 yards a few weeks ago with a 20gr though. I don't know if the 17gr would have done that.

On a side note. Does anyone else notice that when shooting in the dead of night the 20gr has a kind of high pitched whine as it travels?? Sound like a ricochet in an old cowboy movie. Could it be the hollow point cutting the air? The 17gr's don't seem to do it.

Erk

My gun doesn't group great with the 20gr hornadys tbh. About an inch at a hundred best i could get them.. Usually a inch and half for me. I like the 17gr federal and they group great with my rifle. Also found them great on foxes.. Shot 3 with them all dropped on the spot with a head shot.

garv123

Erk wrote: »

My gun doesn't group great with the 20gr hornadys tbh. About an inch at a hundred best i could get them.. Usually a inch and half for me. I like the 17gr federal and they group great with my rifle. Also found them great on foxes.. Shot 3 with them all dropped on the spot with a head shot.

Id be getting worried if they ran away with any round after a headshot

6.5x55

I have tried both in my Cz452 and I found the 17 grain rounds were slightly more accurate but the meat damage on rabbits was terrible .I found the 20grain much better.
I found the bullet drop between the 17gr and 20gr was minimal and I also feel that the .17 is not a rifle for windy days.

Longranger

I found the same with the meat damage. I haven't been able to get hornady 17 grain until recently,all I've been able to get were federal and I hate them. Find them very dirty and not great accuracy wise. My local rfd finally got hornady 17 grain yesterday (I've been using 20 grain for everything until now) and I got a few bunnies this morning on a local farmers land who want them cleared as he is planting lots of vegetables now. I couldn't get over the amount of damage they do compared to the federal! I may have well have been using the 6.5:D can't wait to try them for charlie tonight......