I have a 10" Contender barrel ( which limits accuracy... at least in my hands
)... however I did take alot of Contenders last time I went p-dogging ( several years ago now ) & even a 10" Contender barrel is accurate enough with a good rest... ( though not as fun as the compensated AR with the 20X scope I used to have )
my 17 Hornet barrel is a factory custom 17 K Hornet... I've confirmed that the 17 Hornady Hornet will fit in my chambers ( they don't fit in my buddies 17 A.I.Hornet though ) so they are "different"... but I havent shot my gun yet with the factory 17's...
Hornets don't suffer any accuracy differences than the 17 HMR ( which is also rimmed ) or any bottlenecked cartridges... if you headspace on the rim with the Hornet, your cases won't last, if properly sized to headspace on the shoulder ( the 17 has a much more pronounced shoulder than the 22 ) case life is increased, & accuracy is very good... I honestly didn't shoot this round much, as a handload only proposition, as the 22 Hornet cases had to be sized to 17, then fire formed to the improved 17 chamber... the 17 Hornady Hornet makes my gun alot more shootable...
accuracy... in a good gun, I'd go as far as to say, you should be able to tune a 17 Hornet handload to be more accurate than the HMR cartridge
BTW... I like how Hornady at least spent a little money in marketing the Hornet round, & don't like how Remington dropped the ball on the 17 Fireball, but if I didn't have a Contender barrel for the 17 Hornet, I probably would have moved right into the 17 Fireball, which IMO, is a more balanced cartridge, & much easier to reload... you can read my 17 Fireball thread I posted today for more info there... but before the barrel is even broken in, I'm getting 3 shots in a 30 caliber hole... not too bad for me pulling the trigger...