Has anyone ever cast bullets for 17 Remington

[Boomsticks Firearms]

I was wondering if anyone has tried to cast bullets for the 17 Remington. I have seen some bullet molds for the 17cal and thinking of maybe getting one but not sure how well they will work in such a fast round. I don’t want to smear lead all through my Shilen barrel it loves the Hornady 25gr. HPs but I was looking on Midway and they don’t have them on their site anymore I hope they didn’t stop making them.

If someone has casted for the 17 Remington and works good where would find load data for this? I read one form about someone having some cast bullets blowing up from trying to push them to fast. So if this is the case it might be a waste of time and money to try something that is going to blow all to pieces from going around 4000fps and possibly smear lead from one end to the other.

[Mk42gunner]

I have not cast anything that small and I don't think I would even try it for a .17 Remington, maybe for a .17 Hornet or Bee.

I think the biggest two problems will be getting the mold hot enough for casting good boolits and finding gas checks, since nobody uses them. That is even if you can find a suitable mold.

Way back in the Shooters.com days or slightly later there was a group buy for .17 and .22 caliber pellets. From what I remember I don't think very many people had any luck at all with them. Maybe you can search through the archives and find some info????

I'm not really trying to rain on your parade, but I think your project is way beyond PHD level cast boolit shooting. It may turn out to make your rifle the perfect small game gun though.

Good luck whatever you decide,

Robert

[Texas by God]

There is a .17 cast thread somewhere on here. I think you can breech seat a .177" pellet ahead of a primed case for indoor fun.

[MT Gianni]

I recall a group buy in the early years that someone had success at 1200 fps but for most it was a bust.

[Minerat]

I cast for the 17HH. NOE has moulds, expanders and sizers. This link will get you there. Casting and loading 17's is like working with rice grains. It's not that bad, run your alloy HOT and fast casting cycles will keep the moulds at temperature. Now adding gas checks is fun.

http://noebulletmolds.com/main/?cat=2077

[Traffer]

Sounds like a good candidate for swaging some jacketed bullets. I wonder if there are any 17 cal swaging sets out there?

[mdi]

Minerat, got any pics of your cast .17s?

[35remington]

If you forget about high velocity factory equivalent loads you will save yourself much time. Just don’t go there. Try 1400-2000 fps to start.

[jonp]

I had a Rem 700 in .17. Very loud. That is going to be a challenge with that speed and size of boolit to get it to stay together.

[Minerat]

Minerat, got any pics of your cast .17s?

No, but have some cast and PC'd. I'll try to get some and post them.

35remington,

Still working on that. But don't plan to run at jword speeds. Started at 800 fps. Here is a link with some data you might find interesting.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?347583-Cast-Boolits-and-my-CZ-527-V-in-17-Hornet

[Andy]

I give you guys a lot of credit i find handling even small .224 bullets kind of annoying for my fingers

[Reverend Al]

I have enough trouble handling and loading those tiny little .17 bullets with my big fat fingers for my custom built Remington 600 varminter in .17 Rem Improved. I just don't have the patience to try casting and loading those tiny little needles as well ...

[Minerat]

Try standing them up to bake. Those little buggers will give you fits. I now just shake and dump on a screen for anything smaller then 357.

[Boomsticks Firearms]

I have enough trouble handling and loading those tiny little .17 bullets with my big fat fingers for my custom built Remington 600 varminter in .17 Rem Improved. I just don't have the patience to try casting and loading those tiny little needles as well ...

Well the the easiest way that I have found to load these little things is to use RCBS competition dies that have the window on the side of the Seating die. All you do is raise the case a little into the die and drop the bullet through the window and then finish seating the bullet in the case.

I have the Standard die set also so I know how hard it is to try holding the bullet in place and not to smash your fingers in the press.

[AOM]

Not sure about that. I have graphed my 17 Rems at 4200 FPS. Will cast boolets stay together at that speed? I ask because I do not know....

[Minerat]

Sorry I forgot the photos.

275118

NOE has the Gas checks last I checked, but pushing them to 4k may be a challenge. Maybe 2500 fps best I have is in the Hornet is the 33 gr 1340 with 2.5 gr Trail Boss and 26.5 gr to 1415 fps same TB load.

[Traffer]

Sorry I forgot the photos.

275118

NOE has the Gas checks last I checked, but pushing them to 4k may be a challenge. Maybe 2500 fps best I have is in the Hornet is the 33 gr 1340 with 2.5 gr Trail Boss and 26.5 gr to 1415 fps same TB load.

When you shoot a lead .17 cal bullet at 4200 fps you will see a "little cloud of dust" a few feet out of the barrel. That would be your bullet disintegrating into lead dust. You may wonder why you "can't get a hit on paper" at 50 feet.

[Minerat]

My reason for casting them was for fun and to see if I could get them accurate enough to use on small game instead of 22 lr but at speeds approaching 2300 fps. If I want 4000+ fps I use jacketed. I think that trying to push cast to the speeds of a jacketed bullet in the 17 rem or hornet is a waste of primers and powder.