I will use whichever brand ammo shoots the best out of my rifle, which has been the 17 grain Hornady's
I think you are on the right track, shoot what ever ammo is the most accurate out of your rifle. Realistically there is not much difference in terminal performance between the two...not that I have seen anyways. After you dump the first chuck you will have more confidence in the setup. Keep us informed.
Varmint Al has some GREAT .17 HMR bullet testing info.
http://www.varmintal.com/17hmr.htm
Look about half to 3/4 way down the page and there are quite a bit of bullet performance comparisons.