reloading 17 hornet

[robert de]

Finally got a set of dies,rcbs. The only dies I could get right away full and seat die. bought some hornady 20gr. pills
lil gun powder 400 pri. Found that the neck tension does not hold the bullet tight enough I can push the bullet back into the shell with light pushing with thumb and fore finger. I went to try a light crimp and found that the shell holder hits bottom of the die before it gets to the point to crimping. Has any one else had the same problems?

[JLShipley]

Finally got a set of dies,rcbs. The only dies I could get right away full and seat die. bought some hornady 20gr. pills
lil gun powder 400 pri. Found that the neck tension does not hold the bullet tight enough I can push the bullet back into the shell with light pushing with thumb and fore finger. I went to try a light crimp and found that the shell holder hits bottom of the die before it gets to the point to crimping. Has any one else had the same problems?

Had same problem with mine, picked up Hornady Dies, problem solved......

[robert de]

Had same problem with mine, picked up Hornady Dies, problem solved......
How does your gun shoot what your best load. Did your groups tighten up with the Hornady Dies? With lil gun it shoots under 1 inch but I'am getting flyers. Hope it is just seating problem. I only have 40 total rounds in mine.

[davemuzz]

I can't help you with the RCBS die issue.....but I thought someone else on this forum had the same issue with the RCBS dies. Yes? No? I'd give RCBS a call if I were you and let them help you out. The dies should not do that to you. I use the Hornady's and have no problems.

Now, with load data I've been wanting to pick up L'il Gun and just haven't done that yet. I've been shooting 30gr. berger's and 25gr. Hornady's and Nosler's using H-335 in accordance with the load data from Hodgdon's on line data site. I've been using 12.4gr of powder for both and get excellent results.

The target below is from shooting my .17 Hornet (Left one is the Hornet, the right one is my .17 Fireball). Now, the left one is a bit scattered as I was dialing in my scope.....but as you can tell, once I got it dialed in the group was very tight...even though it was just a tad left of center. I didn't have time that day to fix that, but I can tell you it's spot on now.

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a212/davemuzz/photo-29_zps377a0b74.jpg

The scope I have on my Hornet is a Millett 1-4X with a lighted reticle. And my .17 Fireball is shooting it's usual ragged hole group.

Dave

[robert de]

Thanks I will call rcbs Monday, that's good groups that's what I Expect this gun to do to be able to do to shoot ground squirrels at 200 yds.

[JLShipley]

Had same problem with mine, picked up Hornady Dies, problem solved......

What I ended up doing was to use my RCBS Size/de-capping die , just for removing primers. Then I use my Hornady F/L Die with de-capping pin removed and size all the cases, end up with a very tight neck for the bullet seat. Reason, Hornady de-capping pin, little weak IMO, have broken tip.
Extra step doesn't slow me down, Good luck.

[robert de]

What I ended up doing was to use my RCBS Size/de-capping die , just for removing primers. Then I use my Hornady F/L Die with de-capping pin removed and size all the cases, end up with a very tight neck for the bullet seat. Reason, Hornady de-capping pin, little weak IMO, have broken tip.
Extra step doesn't slow me down, Good luck. Yes that sounds like its working good for you,I did read somewhere that someone broke there Hornady die and said it was a little weak, sounds like you have solved the problem. Mine is still work in progress but I will get it solved, at least now I can reload and go and shoot. thanks for the tip on the dies.

[davemuzz]

New dies still......but I've loaded about 200 .17 Hornet's so far with my Hornady dies and no problems yet. (Now watch what happens when I go to decap and size the next one!!!)