17-223 forming

[spencerhenry]

I finally got a set of 17-223 dies, older Pacific Durachrome. They look like they have never been used. I went with the 17-223 vs 17 remington or 17-204 because of brass availability.

Using imperial sizing die wax, I ran about 185 pcs of brass through the die. It was a fine line between lube on the neck and too much lube giving shoulder dimples. The brass was just a handful of mixed headstamp out of a 5 gallon bucket. In the group was LC, FC, R-P, Winchester, PMC, and a few others. Of the 185, I had 17 pieces of brass where the shoulder collapsed. All of the crushed cases were of 2 headstamps, FC, and GFL. The Remington seemed to require the least effort with the press, and formed nicely. The LC also formed very nicely. One of the winchester did not form a smooth shoulder, it had a visible line where the old neck started.

Being that the brass is plentiful and cheap, I do not mind some loss. Also, the crushed shoulders can still be used for 300 black out brass. I would like to get a 223 bushing die and form the 17-223 in steps, but I currently do not have a 223 bushing die.

The neck on the 17-223 sure is short, It makes me wonder about accuracy potential? These will be fired in an AR, so I do not want to put too much effort into sorting brass.
My whole reason for the 17-223 is less damage to fur, my fur buyer has been complaining about bullet holes. I have no illusions to the rounds effectiveness on coyotes beyond 300 yards or more, but 90% of my coyote kills are under 200 yards.

 

[dedogs]

Spencer, What kind of velocity are you expecting out of this cartridge and what bullet will you be using? dedogs

 

[spencerhenry]

i have some 25gr and 30gr sisk bullets. also some 27 and 30gr golds, and some 30gr bergers. i don't have a velocity in mind other than what i have read. guessing around 3700 or so with the 30's.
i also have a few thousand 20gr vmax that are wonderful in my 17ackley hornet.

 

[fredo]

Don't sweat the short neck.
My .17Predator is a blown out & Improved version of the .17-223, and it is ridiculously accurate.

If you're using 1xfired brass, ya might wanna anneal those cases before necking down. Even a single firing might work harden that brass enough to to make the stepping down process more difficult than it has to be...

Good luck & have fun!

 

[greg8012]

Don't sweat the short neck.
My .17Predator is a blown out & Improved version of the .17-223, and it is ridiculously accurate.

If you're using 1xfired brass, ya might wanna anneal those cases before necking down. Even a single firing might work harden that brass enough to to make the stepping down process more difficult than it has to be...

Good luck & have fun!

I think I would anneal the carts.. I do that for the 20 practical G.

 

[dedogs]

i have some 25gr and 30gr sisk bullets. also some 27 and 30gr golds, and some 30gr bergers. i don't have a velocity in mind other than what i have read. guessing around 3700 or so with the 30's.
i also have a few thousand 20gr vmax that are wonderful in my 17ackley hornet.

Spencer, Sounds like you have an excellent supply of bullets to try. I have no experience with the Sisk bullets or the golds, are they hollow pointed? I do however have a ton of experience with the Bergers and V-Max. I think you might be a bit conservative on your speed estimate since the .223 case holds in the neighborhood of 26g of benchmark (in a .223 case). My .17 Fireball will push a 20g V-Max to 3850 without excess pressure using in the neighborhood of 18g of H322. I could go higher but saw no need with the accuracy I am getting.
The reason I asked what velocity you expected is that in my experience you can push a .17 cal. 20 or 25 grain bullet TOO FAST for coyotes. A shoulder shot at less than 200 yds will often splash if the bullet is going much over 3500-3600. Say good-bye to your coyote unless you are really good at follow-up running shots. I shoot them in the neck or lungs now, never the shoulder. No exits with either weight bullet.
Those 30g golds, Sisks and Bergers could be just the ticket for dogs, they don't work worth a darn for me on ground squirrels and PD's. Pencil right through and the little buggers wind up crawling off. They are however HELL on Rockchucks especially headshots (but then so is a 22 Long Rifle).
I forgot to ask what twist your barrel is. It sounds like it's going to be a really fun rifle that may shoot like a laser. Hope so, dedogs

 

[spencerhenry]

the barrel is a 20" BHW 10 twist. should be fine with the 25's, i hope it works for the 30's. the sisk are a soft point, the golds are hollow points i think. i have a few years worth of each for coyote hunting. i usually only go through about 100 per year actually shooting predators.
i wanted a 9 twist, but there is not much availability. some reading i have done says the 10 will work with 30's some says no.

I am not a speed freak, accuracy is #1, terminal performance is a close second. velocity is a distant 3rd.

 

[dedogs]

I am not a speed freak, accuracy is #1, terminal performance is a close second. velocity is a distant 3rd.

I agree 1000% dedogs
Please let us know how it turns out. I can run 30s in my 17 Fireball with it's 10 twist but it is a PacNor. YMMV

 

[bbassi]

When I went to a 17 for coyotes, I debated the 17-223 vs the 17 Remington. They are pretty much an apples to apples comparison IMO, but based on the brass shortages, I think you made the right decision and I made the wrong one. LOL. If I do it again it will be a 17-223 to go with my 20 practical, 223s and 6x45.

I went 20 for 20 on coyotes this winter using the 25gr Bergers at ~2850mv. Most were DRT. A couple ran, but none made it past 50yds. Furthest shot was 245 paces, closest was probably 50. I did have one splash but that was on a finishing shot at 10 yds on a hard angle. Your fur buyer is going to love you long time with that rig.