.17 Remington?

[littletoes]

We have quite a few new .17 calibers out there, but I wonder about the .17 Remington. It's been around for quite a while these days, which makes me wonder why it hasn't taken off or at least been remembered?

A couple of friends are impressed with the .17 Hornet, they just can't find any rifles or brass, and say they can hand-load (when available), cheaper than they can buy .17 HMR ammo for.

Well, why not load down something that has been around a while like the .17 Remington?

Ideas?

 

[WyleWD]

I have one in Rem 700BDL. I'd have always kind of shied away from them after listening to a few others. Then one came up for sale and some other fellow shooters told me to at least buy it and give it a try. That was 3 years ago. I absolutely love it. Nice flat trajectory, low noise and recoil level, kills very quickly. I used to use a 223 in areas where I preferred to use a more quiet rifle..... I have since sold my 223..... I like the 17 Rem much better. That being said, I'd be careful about loading it down too far. It is already much quieter than the 223 I had.

I hunt mostly chucks and coyotes with it, and occasionally crows.

Personally, I think that they have been given a bad rap similarly to what the 220 Swift got a lot of years ago and it has contributed to its lower popularity. WD

 

[MQ1]

I spun a 17 Remington barrel on a left handed CZ 527 action because I was not impressed with the accuracy of the .204 Ruger barrel it came with.

I have been very satisfied with the performance of the 17 Remington!

My only complaint is that brass can be expensive and hard to find, and if you don't reload, your factory options are very limited.

I've formed brass from .204Ruger brass with good success, but if I had to do it again, I would likely build a wildcat based on .223 brass just to make the forming easier and less expensive.

MQ1

 

[stacy]

I personally love to shoot my 17 Rem it's flat fast crows,groundhogs,coyotes nightmare .My rifle is a CZ 527 varmit it loves 25gr Hornadys and Benchmark powder CCI 450S Primers.

 

[roninflag]

I just aquired a sako classic .17 rem. . i have not fired it yet still shopping for dies/components. i can not comment on the round. the rifle is REAllY nice.

 

[pacificman]

I have a custom rifle built just for the .17 Remington. I put a heavy stainless pac-nor barrel on a trued up 700 action with jewel trigger and it's a shooter. I will admit this little round was a challenge to find a load for but finally found a very accurate and fast load for my rifle. Many prairie poodles have fallen to the mighty .17 Remington. You can see all hits at any yardage on highest power in your scope. The .17 Rem. will out perform just about any other .17 caliber made. You will use a bit more powder though but the performance is well worth the effort in my opinion. It's a great round for sure.

 

[DOGCAPPER]

You have not seen the .17/222Mag work on deer size varmits..LT

 

[WyleWD]

You have not seen the .17/222Mag work on deer size varmits..LT

;D ;D ;D Where legal, and in the hands of a capable and disciplined shooter, I'm sure that some of the hunters that think a 300Win mag is the minimum caliber for deer would be astonished to the point that they'd need smelling salts to make sure they weren't dreaming. lol WD

 

[littletoes]

Thanks guys for all the replys/info!

I've been wondering about the .17 Remington for quite some time. I've a friend that is trying to convince me of the capabilities of the .204, which I already have a very capable .223 that I've shot to 600 yards. I think I'd prefer to take a bigger step and lean more towards the .17.

Any opinions between the two, and my already owning a very capable .223?

 

[WyleWD]

Having owned and shot all 3..... my advice to you would be to buy both the 17 and the 204, and keep the 223. Then see which one you like best and sell the other 2 someday. : It may take you a few years or a decade to figure it out, but then you wouldn't wish you had bought one or the other. Heck man, ya only live once. ;-) WD

 

[xswanted]

I have two 17 rems and love them both.

Great coyote round and an amazing fox round. Flat, fast and no recoil.

Hrd to beat that combo!

 

[Big Mc]

I have a 17/223 and it works well. Formed with an RCBS form die. It was easy to get not so these days.Have used it on White Tails @ 150 +/- . Like everything else it where you hit em . Bulid a 17/223, you will love it. Tommy Mc....

 

[Drop Port]

I had one and wish I kept it, it was a great shooter. Now that I have a vintage Sako Vixen 222 I am looking at a 17 Fireball as a lighter cartridge.

 

[johnmyers]

I have a 17 MachIV and really like it for prarie dogs up to coyotes. Using the Kindler 30 Gold bullets (also what WD is using in his 17 Rem) are an unbelievable bullet in this small case. Very accurate and quiet it is running the 30s at just over 3800fps. I have seen it drop many coyotes as fast or faster than a 22-250. Any of the ones you mentioned will be good but the MachIV is my favorite. Good luck in whichever one you go with. I can get as much velocity with it as I did when working up loads for a friends 17 Rem.
John

 

[littletoes]

Messed up, see next post!

 

[littletoes]

I have a 17/223 and it works well. Formed with an RCBS form die. It was easy to get not so these days.Have used it on White Tails @ 150 +/- . Like everything else it where you hit em . Bulid a 17/223, you will love it. Tommy Mc....

What is the case capacity of a 17/223 compared to a 17 Remington??? Aren't they they same?
I have quite a bit of .223 brass laying around.