.17-5.56 Adventure updates

[Wolfdog91]

Hay everyone just winded to give a little update on my adventure into .17cal with my new KAK .17-5.56 build. Honestly I have to say I'm having a lot of fun with this ! First semi wildcat deal I've ever had so the learning process of forming brass and what not is very interesting. Now according to KAK they tried making this ( making tweaking reinventing whatever you want to call it ) so it would be pretty easy and straightforward for guys like me who want to get into .17 centerfire without a ton of hassle. So with that being said I'm trying to test those claims buy not doing anything super fancy or anything that's not what they showed in their videos for the most part. Also I'm poor and this is just a varmit deal so I got like $600 in this total give or take $50 .
Anyhow.

Was out with the gf and her friend in Hammond ( they love book stores) and got a notification that my order of bullet from Midway was delayed ( I get back on the boat soon so that wasn't going to do) and my order from powder valley was the same sooo had to try to find some bullets . Called the bass pro 20min away front eh book store becithe website Sadie they had some on sale. Welp the guy ( great customer service,shout out to the Hammond Bass pro) checked and said they were soon the shelf and where most likely ghost numbers , as somones who's worked in modern retail, well I completely understand. Looked around and there's a small reloading shop in baton rouge, 40min away called and they said they had one box of 15.5 GR NTX. Well just so happens there's a Barnes and Noble ten min from there sooooo the lady and her friend where game
Great little shop cool old guys running it too. May or may not have went back in to try and buy powder and her follow me in and well it was pretty funny let's just say that

Well on or way home we had go by the exit to the bass pro I called. Wifey says let's go look at some achery stuff because my nephew is getting into achery for boy scouts and she wants to try. Well we go in and idk something tell me to go take a look in the reloading isle, and LOW N BEHOLD!!!


So let's talk about case forming again
tried what a friend on another said about taking the decapping pin out and my crush case amount went way more down which when you think about it it makes sense. More downwards force coming down on that neck as you try and shove it up and over that expander ball and all that, and I de cap everything Separate on a universal decapper anyhow. Interesting little deal reading has with knurled end here. Slips right in the case since it's smaller then the expander ball but still can see something possibly getting hung up

 

[Wolfdog91]

And just our if curiosity wants to see what the difference would be in one that that formed with the pin vs if I used the pin after forming annnnd nothing noticable...at least to me I'm sure you guys have much better methods and tools to measure such things lol





And here's a pic of the whole build. Only thing I'm missing is the dust cover which I just keep forgetting to get ordered lol.nwanna get a funny custom on though. But yeah just ripped the bcg out of my .223 while spr build and slapped it in its lower because that lower is so nice to shoot with the wide trigger and the luth mba fully adjustable stock. Again nothing super custom just trying to test the whole " easy straight forward budget .17 cal centerfire deal"

So loaded up some of the 20gr vmax's per KAK's load data. Did go and check my shoulder bumps and all that and everything chambers super easy via me pushing ithe bcg in with my thumb.

Using CFE .223.... because it was the cheapest thing they had in the self that KAK had on there load data lol

 

[Wolfdog91]

Will say.....I remeber why I don't like this bally flaky type powder very much , good ole statics gonna get one of them face metal set one day. Though it's pretty easy to fix this just tap the bottom of the case on the table and it all goes in. Really need to invest in some of those nice metal funnels with the inserts. Never saw the funnel as a vital pice of equipment till lately lol

Ten rounds for initial " will this blow up in my face " and getting on target. Think these are supposed to be at 3800 something fps. And that's a starting load which to date is the fast thing I've ever loaded lol
Good little bit of mag space as well to play with but apparently.17cals like to be jumped apparently so we will see. I usually do every thing custom but I wanna test KAK's claims of this being simple and easy to get to work

 

[Wolfdog91]

Okie dokie got to do some shooting! New did make one or two little little mistakes involving trimming but after pulling some bullets got that fixed.

So the set up ( for the first then shots, more and more I'm just not enjoying shooting off of a front rest , idk just not my thing)
Prone , Caldwell rock BR front rest , magneto speed bayonet Chronograph. My heavy leather rear bag, 63 degrees out no wind


So first ten rounds didn't want to read or where reading some crazy numbers but I bore sighted and sent the first five in @50yd to make sure I was on paper. Also worked as a function test
And some screen shots I took in order of the first shot breaking

 

[TheCZKid]

Okay, looking forward to seeing targets! BTW, the static on your funnel, which causes your powder to stick, you can wipe the funnel inside with a used dryer sheet, like Bounce. That will remove the static charge on the funnel. I keep some in a ziplock by my reloading table.

 

[Wolfdog91]

So looking like a out 2 o'clock ejection with means a few things according to this. But after talking to some are fanatics I was told yes I'm over gassed as all get out but honestly it's no big deal for my uses. Mabye a adjustable gas block or some buffer weight but for the most part I was told just to run it.

Also gotta say, this thing has like no recoil and I think I might start going the thread protector route.
Anyhow everything functioned perfect. 100yd group was ..meh but very rarely I've had a beginning load start great. Also might have just been me trying to get on a new build


Now the next loads shot better but started getting some problems , honestly the only problem I had with the 26gr load was the rounds weren't picking up from the mag. Walked inside switched mags problem solved. Was still having issues with the economy picking up these little bullets so only two sensible velocities

Now according to KAK's load data 26.3 gr is supposed to be the optimal load ( also the top end load for the powder bullet combo) this was where j was getting problems though. The main on being two of these.

Now at first I wasn't sure what to think . Did the whole SPORTS thing , drop the mag ,yadda yadda , and the bcg just would not grab the case, weird, well went inside grabbed a cleaning rod and a little tap tap and it came right out. But ....

 

[Wolfdog91]

Believe it or not but I think this is the first time I've had this happen to me in reloading , so very interesting experience . But easy fix . That happened twice but only on this load so ..neat
anyhow shot pretty decent. A adjusted the scope too low on the first shot and hit below the target hence only 4th


Back at the bench not what I have fire formed brass I can finally look at some stuff I need. This is what I usually do. Just size the brass so it fits or per the die instructions shoot it then take my measurements off the fire form brass and do my bump.s off of that
Left if freshly formed the right is fire formed

And some head space measurement. Again I Formed this brass per the companies instructions

Vs fire formed

So yeaaahhh I've been bumping these back a whole 0.008 vs... you know like the 0.003 I really need

 

[Richard Jones]

Custom dust cover: Yes. Just so it reminds you so you don't try to put something different in the rifle.......

17-5.56 on both sides. Mags as well.

Looks like a fun project and I love 17's..........

 

[Wolfdog91]

So did some seating depth testing. Seated them a bit longer and went back to 26.0 GR of CFE .223 . 26.3 just seems like too much due to it being the only load I had brass issues with.Also for craps and giggles threw on a $100 ffp chicom scope on I bought off of Amazon and gotta say, other then the really short eye relief, ITS NOT BAD ! Better then most of the Walmart rack exclusives lol. Actually tracks pretty decent too.

Next to one of my 5.56 loads

The set up

I kept the same powder chard though all of these .....really not liking that S-D but hay

And the target the group on the right was some brass that was kinda messed up and I was trying to see if I could fireform it out.

 

[Wolfdog91]

And as usual I end up seeing a round out the group ! Was the last shot and I felt it go wide...telling yourself " don't screw it up don't screw it up" seems not to help much lol
But yeah heres 50 rd of brass , the ones with the primers up are the ones with messed up whatever

O and look what finally came in the mail !

 

[Wolfdog91]

Wooooo that's all j got for y'all right now !

 

[Wolfdog91]

Okay, looking forward to seeing targets! BTW, the static on your funnel, which causes your powder to stick, you can wipe the funnel inside with a used dryer sheet, like Bounce. That will remove the static charge on the funnel. I keep some in a ziplock by my reloading table.

Nice ! Thanks for the tip

 

[JSH]

Take that decap rod with expander ball, chuck up in a drill motor and cut the dang knurls off. Go to harbor fright and get some of their fine sand paper and polish that expander ball till it shines like a new dime.
FYI a q tip with a small amount of lube in the neck will make things easier also.

 

[Coyotefurharvester]

I would use the Redding small 17 and 20 cal decapper on all your fired brass. Size/form brass without an expander/assembly. If your Redding die is a bushing type, I would use 2 probably 3 steps(bushing sizes) to get the necks to 0.005 under a loaded(finished) rounds neck diameter. Than mandrel the necks, 0.169-0.170 mandrel.
With your groups, I would chamber, unchamber a round and measure coal. You need to make sure your sizing and bullet seating diameter is holding the bullet in place with NO movement. If the coal is changing during chambering your groups and velocities will suffer. Also over gassed is hard on brass and groups.
I store my funnels stacked with a dryer sheet between them, and my powder measure is empty with a dryer sheet in the hopper between use. W760 can yield very good groups with the 17's.
Annealing the case necks prior to forming and deburing/chamfering the necks will be a big help. Remove all lube after sizing is complete.

 

[Gabe22BR]

Good write up-
hope to see future tests - the 975 group gives ya something to work from…

 

[JSH]

I see a lot of AR builds in cartridges other than 223/5.56 and the guys do t spend the extra few bucks on an adjustable gas block. Then have problems and wonder why. Went down the same road with a buddy built a 6ARC and spent a lot of money yet didnt get an adjustable block.

 

[Wolfdog91]

Good write up-
hope to see future tests - the 975 group gives ya something to work from…

What about the .420 lol ?

 

[Wolfdog91]

Btw thanks for all the PS y'all sorry it takes me so long to answer it's just lost of y'all are way more experienced and it's had for me to give a detailed response I don't think sounds completely stupid lol lots of typing deleting typing deleting

 

[Gabe22BR]

Looks like ya found the load..
Nice rd group.. minus a flyer shot you pulled…

 

[Coyotefurharvester]

Your seating depth change helped, you can tune out that vertical with the powder charge weight. Once you have the neck tension consistent and brass ejects correctly. I use 556 brass formed to 17 rem for my AR( lose brass hunting in the snow, don't want to lose my factory 17R brass). Get 0.002-0.003 neck tension, add .5-1.0 gr powder.