Prayers answered? KAK .17-5.56

[Wolfdog91]

So I've been pretty bummed trying to figure out how I could go about having a low cost .17cal center fire. Wanted to build my own on an AR platform but custom barrels,brass and and other stuff have been getting irritated. Well like my prayers where answer this just popped up on my 50th something search I know these guys make some nice off the wall AR stuff like a 300wsm upper and this looks like it might be the answers to my prayers !!
Barrels are only $200 too !


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[Mk42gunner]

At least they are offering good reloading dies for it.

Might be a fun round to shoot, but handling those tiny little projectiles?

Good Luck,

Robert

[Texas by God]

A friend of mine still has his Remington 700 BDL .17 Remington but I doubt that he’s shot it in a while.
I remember him killing a deer with two shots- about an inch apart and the jhp bullets went through the rib cage. He went back to his .308 for deer but foxes, crows and coyotes fell to that .17.
Yours will be a great varmint gun.


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[Wolfdog91]

At least they are offering good reloading dies for it.

Might be a fun round to shoot, but handling those tiny little projectiles?

Good Luck,

Robert

Can't be much worse then all my .22 cals
Hornet is the smallest thing I mess with right now


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[rockrat]

Might check out the 17 Rem. and see how the case dimensions compare. Might be able to load using 17 rem dies if the shoulder is just moved forward a bit, then you just back off the size die a bit.

[M-Tecs]

The $150 for the dies is a minor turnoff for me. Having owned and sold two 17 Remington and a 17 Hornet the only 17's I want to own are air rifles or rimfires. If you only load ball powders the 17 cal. neck isn't much of a problem. Loading stick powders can be a major pain.

Barrel fouling was also an issue with my Rem 700 and my Sako in 17 Remington.

Stepping up to the 20 Cals eliminates the stick powder bridging issues. I have become very fond of the 20 VarTarg and the 204 Ruger. On the other hand, some really like the 12 Cal and 14 Cal. I am not one of them based on my 17 Cal experiences.

Not trying to talk you out of it just pointing out some issues that you might not be aware of.

[45workhorse]

Swell something else to look into, thanks Wolfdog91!!!

[Thundarstick]

If it where me, I'd be much more inclined twards a .20 practical. Basically a necked down .223.

[Lloyd Smale]

what are the advantages to this over a 223? id think it would make more of mess out of eatable game at a 100 yards. any farther then that and your dealing with wind drift and i doubt its flatter shooting out at 300 yards. 17s never impressed me. i played with the rim fires for a couple years and the only benefit i found, if can call it that, is a lighter wallet. to me you can keep anything under 22 cal unless your thrill is reading a chronograph and if that makes you smile come on over and we can load up some 100 grainers for my 6.5x300wby or my 7stw and run them through the screens. a heck of alot more impressive on praire dogs too.

[Texas by God]

There are .14 caliber enthusiasts out there as well.
They may think of the .20 and .22 caliber as Big Bore…..


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[Thundarstick]

The 17s and even fragile 20s make a lot of since, if your going after fur bearing animals. You usually get one tiny hole going in, massive internal damage, an instant kill, and one hole to sew up. The other advantage is a very low ricochet potential.
The 22s, even the very fast ones, are much more likely to blow out the backside, especially on long shots where the velocity has dropped.

I've seen folks field dress coyotes with a 7mm mag, but they weren't worried about collecting a hide.

[Wayne Smith]

If you do this I would ask for specific instructions for forming the brass. If it is simply a reform in the die and fire form that's one thing, if it's proprietary that's another.

[Wolfdog91]

If you do this I would ask for specific instructions for forming the brass. If it is simply a reform in the die and fire form that's one thing, if it's proprietary that's another.

[Wolfdog91]

what are the advantages to this over a 223? id think it would make more of mess out of eatable game at a 100 yards. any farther then that and your dealing with wind drift and i doubt its flatter shooting out at 300 yards. 17s never impressed me. i played with the rim fires for a couple years and the only benefit i found, if can call it that, is a lighter wallet. to me you can keep anything under 22 cal unless your thrill is reading a chronograph and if that makes you smile come on over and we can load up some 100 grainers for my 6.5x300wby or my 7stw and run them through the screens. a heck of alot more impressive on praire dogs too.

Idk I just want a .17 cal centerfire I can reload and for brass for

[rayh]

If you plan on making your own brass from LC, you won't with just those dies. My forming die and bushing ( 8 bushing) are from Neil Jones. Buy their brass. I've done 20 different 17 wildcats over the years, I guess you can say I like the caliber. You'll have a lot of powder in this case so watch for carbon in the throat. The 20 gr is fun if you want to scream a bullet down range but you would be better served with the 25 gr and the 30's can be used since the barrel is a 9 tw. The 15.5gr drops too much at distance. Wind can be a problem in the field with 17's. If you have an itch for a 17, this probably is as cheap to scratch it as you can get. Good luck.

[TurnipEaterDown]

I Really like the 17 Ackley Hornet that I have had since the mid 90s.
Shot hundreds of 'sage rats' with it out to 250 yds w/ 18, 20, and 25 grain bullets over 4227/WC680/4198, many squirrels w/ 25 gr Hornady bullets at reduced velocities, multiple porcupines, and 1 beaver. Nice little rifle, For it's purpose. TC Contender 20", 6x old K6 1 min dot w/ fine duplex.

However, my experience w/ fast cartridge guns is that they all produce more carbon fouling than moderate velocity cartridges, and rapid shooting does the same (maybe just more shots fired in a given day). Carbon fouling can be hard to remove, and 17s already give their own challenges in cleaning.

So, me, think I would stay away from a large case 17 in an AR platform.

My 2 cents, fwiw.

[Rapier]

Never had an itch for a 17 or a 20. Several friends have them and shoot them very little, after the new wears off. The special cleaning rods and fast copper fouling, with the subsequent loss of accuracy is a turn off for them. I always clean my barrels after every outing, so the added, copper removal process was not of real interest to me. However, to each his own.
I just load the 35 SPs in my 224 guns, especially the Hornet and Bees. Out of the Bee at 3,400-3,500 fps the little 35s blow up on an aluminum soda can's front side. Not better, just an alternative.

[Wolfdog91]

If you plan on making your own brass from LC, you won't with just those dies. My forming die and bushing ( 8 bushing) are from Neil Jones. Buy their brass. I've done 20 different 17 wildcats over the years, I guess you can say I like the caliber. You'll have a lot of powder in this case so watch for carbon in the throat. The 20 gr is fun if you want to scream a bullet down range but you would be better served with the 25 gr and the 30's can be used since the barrel is a 9 tw. The 15.5gr drops too much at distance. Wind can be a problem in the field with 17's. If you have an itch for a 17, this probably is as cheap to scratch it as you can get. Good luck.

Mmmmmm nope seems video I posted a few up shows you only need a these dies since all your doing bumping a 5.56 case down to .17

[rayh]

You're necking the brass down .052. That's a bunch for one pass in a 17 caliber, not so bad with larger calibers. Looking at the last video, he doesn't neck turn so I'm guessing he has very thick neck walls. With out trying that set up, all I can tell you is from personal experience. The neck appears very short since he's using the same 23* shoulder. I've mainly used 40* with some rounds I didn't design the reamer, that had 30*. I've always spec'd my reamers to W-W brass with necks in the .198 to .200 OD. I've had poor results with used or range pick up brass. I buy new W-W or LC and use a small base die to get the base down to W-W size. Their dies are reasonable, custom dies are over 200 and long lead time with Hornady being the main makers for 17's. The one thing I haven't tried yet is casting for some of mine. I have both designs that Noe makes but just haven't tried them. I hope you get this and also try cast bullets. Good luck.

[david s]

Don't shoot a 17 caliber AR but I do play with the 17's. I've a 17 HMR in a CZ 452, 17 Hornet in a CZ 527, 17 Remington also in a CZ 527, 17 Fireball on a modified CZ 527 American that was originally a 17 Hornet and a 17 MK IV in an XP-100 pistol. There is nothing more mysterious about the 17's than there is about a 223. They do have some idiosyncrasies but so does every other round. You have the best reason for a 17 already listed, you want one so why not make it happen.