2020 Squirrel Shooting Season

January 30 Update on 17 Remington:

I did some test loads last week with velocities ranging from 3375 to 3851 using CFE-223 and CCI BR-4 primers. Nothing grouped even close with the Hornady 15.5 gr. NTX bullets. Thinking that maybe it was the rifle, I shot some groups with my standard 25.8 gr. CFE-223, Hornady 20 gr. V-max, and Rem. 71/2 primers. They grouped under a nickel. Conclusion, I need more testing. I have worked up loads going up from 25.8 to 26.8 with the NTX bullets. This is up to a full grain more than the max load with the 20 gr. V-Max. My thinking is maybe speeding them up will stabilize the bullet better. I will be going to the range again soon. There are only a few weeks before squirrel season begins in Modoc. The good news is that I have gathered up enough rimfire ammo to get a good start. I have a brick of the CCI Copper 22 ammo, a brick of Hornady 17 Mach2 ammo and 3 bricks of Hornady 17 HMR all with copper bullets. I also have loaded several hundred non lead loads for my 204 Ruger and 223 Remington using the published data for the Barnes Varmint Grenade copper bullets. I have not had the time to test them, but I set the velocity at the lowest in the table and am hoping for decent groupings. If not, I will have to do a bunch more testing on them as well. Please feel free to add comments at the end of this article. I can use all the help I can get figuring out how to get accuracy out of these copper bullets. California Sucks!

I am beginning to think about the upcoming shooting season in Modoc. Big changes this year with regard to shooting lead ammo in California. Our Governor has seen fit to extend the Condor Range lead ammo restriction to all of California beginning in July of 2019. Essentially the law prohibits the use of lead containing bullets for shooting at any live animal, including rodents, varmints and pests. The penalties appear to be pretty stiff. I understand there is a fine for each round of lead ammo in your possession. That could be a huge find for a well prepared varmint shooter.

I tried to shoot up as much of my lead ammo last year. I was able to completely use up my supply of 17HMR by the June 30, 2019 deadline. The transition for 17 HMR may be pretty easy. Hornady is making their 17HMR ammo using the NTX bullet. I shot some at the end of last season and it seemed to perform well.

The 17M2 will also be easy as Hornady is also loading the NTX bullet into the 17 M2 rounds.

It gets a bit more complicated with the center-fire rifles. Switching up bullets requires me to do a lot of work testing loads that will group well. Ground squirrels are about the size of the end of a 2x8 board. The rifle and rounds have to be accurate or it takes most of the fun out of it. I have loaded the Barnes Varmint Grenade bullet in my 204 Ruger and 223 Remington cases. I have verified velocity and grouping on both. I have put together 300 plus rounds for each to start the season.

The real issue is my 17 Remington rifle. Up until mid 2019 the only 17 caliber bullet available for reloading was the Lehigh Defense bullet. It is expensive and I am just not sure a solid copper machined bullet will not ricochet or skip. As of late, Hornady had released the NTX 15.5 gr polymer tipped bullet that they load in their 17M2 and 17HMR ammo as a loading component. The problem is that there is no data available for loading that bullet into 17 Remington cases. I found one guy who posted on Hornady's website that he was using 22 grains of H322 and getting 4000 or 4200 ft/sec. with the new 15.5 NTX bullet. I did come comparison of loads designed for the 20gr V-Max bullet and came up with a starting load of 24.8 gr of CFE-223 powder. I am a real fan of using CFE-223 in this rifle as it really seems to slow down the copper fouling that the 17 Remington has always been famous for. After chronographing the rounds if found they were only about 3500 ft/sec. I worked up test loads and found that at about 25.8 the velocity was about 4000 ft/sec. which is my target velocity for this load. I have now loaded test rounds a bit slower and a bit faster to determine which load products the best grouping. Hopefully my next trip to the range will yield a load that groups well at somewhere around 4000 ft/sec. I have 350 cases prepped and ready for loading once I settle on the load.