Model 25 Walking Varminter - ammo question - 17 Hornady Hornet

Hi to everyone and a sincere wish for a safe, happy holiday season. I am a new member but a long time shooter and reloader.

I probably could have posted this to many of the fine discussions here, but I wanted to go in a slightly different direction.

I purchased my first Axis at Wally World this spring. I could NOT believe how accurate it was out of the box (after a trigger job) ha ha. Not wanting to think it was a fluke, I have bought several more from my local dealer, "Daddy's Gun Shop" in Mayo, Florida. (I had an FFL years ago).
Every Axis I bought, has proven to be fantastic! What does this have to do with the Mod 25?
Not long after the .17 HH was announced, I put in my order of a 25 WV. I would visit the store every couple of weeks to stock up on powder, etc. Every time I asked the owner about the .17 Hornet, he would roll his eyes and say he has 3 on order and I would get the first. 2 Weeks ago, he started getting the ammo, but still no rifles. I reminded him yesterday that they were starting to show up on Guns America, etc on line. He said there was "hope yet".

While I was there, I bought most of the .17 HH ammo he had, plus some 20 gr V-max bullets, since I do not presently reload .17 centerfire. I do have several guns for .17 HMR and it's fantastic.

I just looked at Midway for my order for a few items and noticed that the ONLY source of brass (Hornady) was being "cleared out". What's up with that?
Also, since both RCBS and Hornady dies are on back-order, isn't Lee missing out on an oppertunitity????

ron

Gee, I hate to reply to my own thread, but.............

I pulled a couple of bullets from my newly acquired .17 Hornady Superformance ammo.
I have the gun on order, as well as the dies, etc.

The powder weighed exactly 12.5 gr. Although I have NOT compared it to other powders in my collection, it appeared to be:

- a light gray ball powder with a significant amount of flakes in it also......
I have NOT been this stoked about any of the 29 calibers I currently reload. I love the .17 HMR because in my 3 guns, it does not even require hearing protection. Although I ALWAYS wear them, a lot of the ladies I train, do not like them, due to 'hair' issues..... wtf???

ron
N4UE

Purchased my 17 HH Savage WV from Cabela's back in November. They had some in stock at another store. I had it shipped to the West Virginia store. It's about a 1 hr. drive from home. I also purchased Hornady reloading dies they had on stock in the store. I'm now waiting on some 20 gr. V-Max bullets that's supposed to arrive any day now. Hope they come in. I was thinking of starting out with about 9.7 grains of Lil'Gun powder and load up to 10 grains with .1 grain increments. Not sure what prime to use. Probably will go with the CCI 400 small rifle. We'll see what happens. The rifle shot great with factory ammo from Hornady. I got 5/8" groups at 100 yds. after sighting in. Let me know how things work out for you.

I did not have any luck with Lil'Gun. IMR 4227 was a little better BUT I have had great results with AA 1680 & Rem. 7 1/2 primers. I am getting my best groups with a HOT load. Increments of .1 grain are a must.

Thanks mcho. I'll definitely try the AA 1680 powder and Rem. 7-1/2 primers. Still waiting on the V-Max bullets. I'll let you know the results.

OK, here's another .17 HH question....
I will finally get my Model 25 WV in .17 HH either Mon or Tue. I have been stocking up on brass, bullets, etc, in addition to loaded ammo.
I noticed that Hornady has listed a 15.5 gr load for the HH. However, I searched for a long time and couldn't find any for sale. Some suppliers say:
"sold out" others say "discontinued"....wth????
As soon as I get the scope mounted, I'll post results shooting over my Oheler 35P. Then I'll run some reloads with both HBN and WS2... Should be fun.

thanks fer your time....

ron