Prayers answered? KAK .17-5.56

[firefly1957]

Way back in the 1970's I looked hard at the 17's and was pretty disappointed even though they are fast ballistic coefficient is poor . Recently I saw a accidental shooting with one and (.17 HMR) and in that case was surprised by the lack of damage to a mans arm and my opinion is still .22 caliber and up for anything bigger then rodents .
Then again unlike some I consider the .223/5.56 to light for deer .

[waksupi]

Some .17 calibers burn out throats in about 500 rounds. One day Les Bauska was sitting with me at a local gun show, and said .17 calibers were his favorite. Owning a barrel company, replacing barrels was no big deal to him!

[Wolfdog91]

Welp guess who got a 12% coupon in the email from KAK today.

Next up dies, gas block and hand guard

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[ebb]

I was putting an upper together a few months back and saw a free floated handguard was big money. I found that the colt round style of free float could be found cheapest of all and I had one on a DPMS varminter that I liked . I bought one for the rifle i was working on and had planned on another. i looked and could only find this one. Its at Right to Bare Arms, and it is listed as a TS brand full float handguard. The place I got mine had them in many different lengths and even cheaper but I can't find it any more. Look this one up if you can live with a round handguard and put your google fuu on finding the other brand if you want a different length. Many say free float is essential for an accurate rifle.

[35 Rem]

I have a Remington Heavy barrel model 700 in 17 Remington that I bought new sometime in the 1990's. I was used to 22 centerfires but those tiny little 17 caliber bullets are a noticeable difference in handling. A bit tedious to put them on a case mouth when seating bullets but you learn to do it. One thing that I found was how limber a 17 caliber cleaning rod is when trying to push a patch down the bore. Made me recall an expression my Father used to say when describing something difficult "It's like trying to shove a wet noodle up a wildcat's rear"! Being that our local groundhog population started fading fast about the time I bought that rifle, I've not shot it a lot. I'm sure well under 100 shots and maybe not even 50. I intend to do something about that soon.

I watched the video on forming cases, and it seems very straight forward. Was surprised that they don't change the shoulder angle and simply extend the shoulder up to join the neck at the proper 17 caliber diameter. This gives a short neck but it's still probably at least 1 caliber long sort of like the 223. Be prepared to run into possible surprises with different brands or ages of brass when case forming. You may have to find some work arounds or just set a batch of brass aside to use as 223/5.56 if you have forming problems with them, which is no problem since you already have guns so chambered. I ran into this with my 22 CHeetah wildcat when I started getting case neck failure during forming. I had to have a custom neck turn mandrel made for my Forster trimmer to turn a bit off the necks just prior to the last Form die to prevent the case from being destroyed at that step. But that was going from 30 caliber to 22 with 3 Form dies and a Trim die. This 17 wildcat is not as complicated. It all boils down to - if you want to do it bad enough, you'll figure it out and make it work!

[dale2242]

Having spent 40 years playing with large for bore capacity 17 caliber cartridges, be prepared for some frustration and challenges.
They may not be compatible with the AR platform but let me suggest that you go to a factory 17 caliber.
17 Hornet or 17 Remington Fireball are good choices.

[Bmi48219]

Some .17 calibers burn out throats in about 500 rounds…..

I don’t know the first thing about .17 caliber cartridges. Been reading about barrel / erosion lately. The posted KAK specs made me wonder about that. But I’d say go for it. Worst case, for the price you can always get another barrel.

[Wolfdog91]

Having spent 40 years playing with large for bore capacity 17 caliber cartridges, be prepared for some frustration and challenges.
They may not be compatible with the AR platform but let me suggest that you go to a factory 17 caliber.
17 Hornet or 17 Remington Fireball are good choices.

Just about none of the current factory .17 cal options fit my criteria in the way to easily find parent cases ,easy to find brass , affordable brass/ parent cases , affordable builds, easy customization I'm looking at many $600 total for an entire 17-.5.56 , have have literal buckets of once fired 5.56 brass, and yes you CAN find .17rem brass or similar if you look around a good bit but it's just such a pain compared to when I can buy 1300 PC of once fired 5.55 lake city for $100 off bucks like I just did. And yes I could go with .17hornet since I have a .22 hornet already but rifles arnt the easiest thing to find norw the cheapest. Don't get me wrong the savage walking Varminter is around and honestly might get one when I can get more brass to form it but I already know I'm going to want to replace the stock so that's $200 then other stuff to make it fit me not to mention again, brass sourcing.From talking with KAK the remmer has been tweaked a good bit so you don't have to do a bunch of extra crap as far as neck turning and the like. I don't have to go to a gunsmith for a rebarrel which I honestly don't have anyone I can go to within 3hr and one of the best parts is I don't have to talk to anyone on the phone or take weeks to get a barrel spun up. Just order right from the site and I'm done ,and build this thing on my bench. 17-223 was an option but trying to find somewhere that still offers it without alot of hassle and a long lead time is a pain.I Mean if you have $1500 and a gunsmith up the road along with decades of stock piled components then yes the legacy cartridges that have been out are an option, but it your a 20 somthing in this economy with a budget and no gunsmiths close and are just trying to break I to the world of .17cal centerfires, to play with more then anything...well not so much

[waksupi]

Kinda ugly, but...

https://www.gunbroker.com/item/1021518903

[Wolfdog91]

Kinda ugly, but...

https://www.gunbroker.com/item/1021518903

Wsm is rimfire non reloadable

[elmacgyver0]

He is talented enough to make it work and young enough to handle those little, teeny bullets.

[dverna]

Kinda ugly, but...

https://www.gunbroker.com/item/1021518903

Kind of expensive ammunition too!! About $.50- $.75/rd for a rimfire.

.17's are another rabbit hole for people to go down. It is astounding how folks need a new toy for every little niche they can dream up. I know...I did the same thing decades ago and wasted a pile of money on guns and calibers that were neat and next to "useless". And by "useless" I mean they did not do anything that much better than what I already had.

When I was in my early twenties, I had a .222 Rem and .308 Win. (There was no .223 back then.) They were all I could afford when I was going to school. Then I started making decent money and added a bunch of stuff...and I mean a bunch!!! I was no longer young and poor...but young and foolish.

Today, I am 73 and I have downsized to .223 and .308...almost back to where my journey began! I have sold off about ten calibers and many more guns. There is nothing a CF needs doing that those two calibers cannot do. From varmints to big game...from close quarter defense to taking out "problems" at a half a mile. They will do the job.

I know people who have a .270 and buy a 6.5 CM. Some "need" a .308 and a .30/06. I was just as stupid. Had a .243 Win, 6mm Rem, .243 WSSM and a .25/06...LOL...what a moron I was.

WD, ask yourself. Why do I need to get into a 17 cal? What will it do that my other calibers will not do? Is the advantage worth the investment? If you have already spent the money, it is too late...but think about those questions for your next "investment".

You will find "enablers" who have pissed away money on stuff they do not need. Some have the money to do it (as I did) and some have made bad choices. Look at the number of threads about primer/powder and costs/availability. IMO your priorities should be to get the weapons you NEED first, then start laying in enough components to last a minimum of 20 years. Then is time for the "toys" you want while still bumping up your inventory of components . Bear in mind, "the good old days" are likely gone forever. The mistakes guys like me made, and 'the enablers' encourage you to make, are far more serious now. Those $75/k primers that seem expensive now, may be $200/k in 5 years if you can find them. And, IMO, there will be more and more "toys" being sold at deep discounts as the cost of components go up, supplies get scarcer, and "the enablers" start dying off or selling off guns they can no longer afford to shoot.

I think about the over 15 thousand dollars I spent on "toys" when primers were $15/k or less. The toys are gone and not missed. It sure would be nice to have another 1,000,000 primers today. BTW, ignore those who tells you guns appreciate in value. $15k in guns 25 years ago might be worth $30k now. $15k in primers (1000 cases) would be worth $75k today. And primers are a lot more important than a toy you cannot afford to shoot.

[Wolfdog91]

..... investment.....yeah no,I get bored easy, I want one , think it would be fun to play with ,this is a CHEAP and affordable apparently pretty easy option .... About all the reason I need being an American imo.
I got what ,23-26 gun in my collection, only really need like four of em, but I like playing with different whacky stuff because it fun. New adventure new challenges. I mean that honestly how I get most of my guns I'll come up with a reason alot of times but heck 70% of the time I'm just here like , that looks cool I wanna play with it " that's like my 8mm mauser .saw it thought it was neat they wanted $250 I had $250 it's now sitting at the house waiting for a mold and dies. And I'm not under the illusion that I'm gonna be selling these back out something for increased profit. Just not my thing
Got everything thing I "need" covered like 3-5 times over.
Firearms and reloading just plain isn't one of these necessity driven things for me . It's something I enjoy doing ,I did the math and I save a good bit of cash for the quality of ammo I make .
As far as components, well that's why I like this caliber and stuff like the ARC cartridges. One parent case, same primer about the same power. O really other then different bullets I'm not buying much different

[Wolfdog91]

So little update, got the barrel and parts in. Had to spend a little more on the handgaurd because it was the only one under $75, but everything was either really budget ,Amazon or NBS parts. 20min all together and half of that was me looking for my Allen keys lol


Gf also told me my dies arrived today so hopefully the bullets and my powder funnel arrive tomorrow when I go to pick those up

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[Wolfdog91]

Sine note the 17" hand guard is a bit goofy looking but was either that or drop $75-$200 on another if have it super short lol

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[Idaho45guy]

I believe I have some .17 caliber bullets I inherited from my dad. I think he shot .17 Javelin. Whatever bullets I have, you are welcome to them. Just give me your address and I'll send them out. No idea what he has or grain, but they will be likely Sierra or Nosler, lol.

[Wolfdog91]

Dies cam in today. Really nice dies ! No shell holder but pretty sure Redding dies don't generally come with one. No big deal though I have a few .223/5.45 dies floating around .

So sized some cases and well, pretty straight forward honestly. Just really need to lube them up and not go too fast. Weird thing is you'll get 10 or so going great then 3-5 mess up then 10 more, tired alot of stuff but just kinda a pattern it seems lol. Was told a 20 practical die would be a good addition but eh , the whole deal is to make this brass with once fired whatever, so really it's not that bad.i mean if I was using all the range pick up stuff I have I really won't care at all Can still cut the crushed ones up for .300blk or .300hammer.
Just using some out of my lake city same head stamp stash. If I did the math right I have like $0.10 per piece of this brass .....vs .17 rem being like $1.50-$3.00 I pop when I've seen it, think a few mess ups is a good trade lol.
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[Wolfdog91]

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[725]

I'm glad you are enjoying the difference between need and want. good for you. really enjoy your threads. I have no dog in this hunt, but wondered if annealing the cases would reduce the loss rate. just a thought.

[dverna]

Looking forward to seeing how the gun/round shoots!!

Here is an old thread that might be of interest. It talks about the .17 Rem but it has good information.

https://castboolits.gunloads.com/sho...from-223-brass

I often wonder why the .17 Rem was not very successful. Today, factory ammunition is stupid expensive, but having a cheap parent case makes it much like your new adventure...very affordable.