Wildcat question

[bobcat93]

Has anyone opened up a .17 Remington to .20 cal

What's it called
How does it perform
Is it over bore (barrel burner)?
Does it out perform the .20 var-targ

Thanks

 

[xswanted]

That’d be a neat 20 caliber cartridge for sure.

In theory it should outperform the Vartarg.

I would think a 20 Practical or Tac would be a better choice from a brass standpoint.

 

[Hal]

The .204, .20 Practial and the ..20 Tactial all are very close .

Hal

 

[chuckshooter]

If we just keep is simple and not to technical. A 17 remington is a 223 neck down to 17 cal. Necking it up to 20 cal. Would Be a 20p.

 

[chuckshooter]

If we just keep is simple and not to technical. A 17 remington is a 223 neck down to 17 cal. Necking it up to 20 cal. Would Be a 20p.

And then , some more generic statements, with a 32gr bullet, 204 can be 4200fps, 20p/t can be 4000fps and vartarg can do 3800fps. Then the 20 killer bee is about 3500 to 3600 and 20 Ackley hornet is 3400 fps. Now the disclaimer, actual speeds may vary . Some people get more and some less, but these are the speeds i use for general planning purposes.

 

[Zero333]

.20 - 17 Rem is called a 20 TNT wildcat

204 Ruger is probably the easiest route.

There are others like ...
.20 BR
.20 - 223 ( 20 Tactical )
.20 ppc
.20 Vartag
.20 Nosler
.20 Satan ( made from 6 x 47 Lapua )
.20 - 222
.20 - 222 RemMag.
.20 - 22-250

 

[B23]

The easiest 20 cal wildcats are cartridges that are straight neck downs from their parent case like the is the 20 Practical aka 20-223, 20-222, 20-250, 20-221. The 20 Tactical, 20 VT, and 20 VTT are all variations of their straight neck down parent case but with slightly different case dimensions and shoulder angles. The 20-222 Rem Mag is basically a twin to the 204 Ruger.

Generally speaking, pressure being equal, the case with the most useable case capacity has the highest velocity.

 

[NorCalMikie]

And if you look close enough, somebody has probably already done it. (more than once)

 

[AWS]

Actually the 204 Ruger would be a 20-222 Rem Mag Improved 30 degree. That is why it is so nice to cat, you can get a out as much from a .378 boltface with minimal forming and not going to exotic euro 5.6x50 Mag brass.


The 20P and straight 204 use off the shelf reloading dies. 20P has really cheap brass but the 204 has readily available bras and factory ammo.

I shoot three 20Ps.and 3.cats based on a straight neck up of the 204 Ruger case.

 

[Tommie]

If we just keep is simple and not to technical. A 17 remington is a 223 neck down to 17 cal. Necking it up to 20 cal. Would Be a 20p.

Not exactly

 

[chuckshooter]

Not exactly

Ok, I'll bite, tell me how I'm wrong, even though I said " let's keep it simple " maybe a side x side picture of the 3 cases would shed some light. I'm always open to learning something knew.

 

[17VLD]

When using 223 brass to make 17 Rem or 20TNT the neck length comes up short.It is better to use 222mag or now 204 brass.Here is a picture from shortest to longer .223, 17Rem, and 204. The 20TNT was conceived before there was a 204 Ruger so to me unless you had a ton of 17 Rem brass to neck up to 20 I don’t see a real need for it. The reason the 20P and 20 Tac are so prevalent is anyone can find nice 223 brass discarded at the range and they offer great accuracy and velocity. Wildcats are great fun and keep us thinking about that better mousetrap but sometimes you’ve got to ask what are the advantages if any. .223 brass will be here for a long time whether it’s Lake City or Lapua 20VT to 20 Tac your small bolt face rifle will put a smile on your face.
Matt

 

[Dstaffk5]

If we just keep is simple and not to technical. A 17 remington is a 223 neck down to 17 cal. Necking it up to 20 cal. Would Be a 20p.

17 rem parent case is 222 mag. If you use 223 the case neck is a bit short

 

[chuckshooter]

17 rem parent case is 222 mag. If you use 223 the case neck is a bit short

It would appear i left a word out. A 17 remington is "LIKE" a 223 necked down. Yes it's about .015 short. But i was referring to proformance. And i did say lets keep it simple. . I personally prefer to make my wildcats in this size from cases i can actually get my hands on. If you have a bunch of 17rem. Cases and you want to neck them up, great. You will end up with a cartridge that prefoms almost like a 20 tactical.

 

[JSH]

Won’t argue the equal performance and simple. I do think a longer neck helps with initial burn in the case rather than the throat.
I have seen “improved” cases which shortened the neck have more fire cracking issues than the parent. More powder of course, but shorter neck as well.

 

[bobcat93]

If we just keep is simple and not to technical. A 17 remington is a 223 neck down to 17 cal. Necking it up to 20 cal. Would Be a 20p.

Isn't the .17 Remington based of the 222 or the .220 swift case..and that is between the 204 ruger and .223 rem case size...I could be wrong.

I built a .20 practical it was a laser beam..
It was so incredibly accurate it was boaring to shoot...I love those .20 cals...Best cal around ..bucks the wind better then the .17..and faster then a .22.
I'm not even sure if you can push .20 bullets faster then a .20 vartarg with out bullet ripping apart in flight..hahaha...
I just thought it could be a fun new way to go if you have a 17 rem and want to add a little more kick to it...
But if it's hot and a barrel eater it's pointless

 

[B23]

Isn't the .17 Remington based of the 222

The 222 Remington was first and all the others, in one way or another, are based off of the 222 Rem. Even if the 17 Rem is based off of the 223, the 223 is based off of the 222. The 204 Ruger is based off of the 222 Rem mag but the 222 Rem mag is based off of lengthening the 222 Rem so even though we generally say the 204 is based off of the 222 Rem mag and if that is based off of the 222 Rem then technically speaking so is the 204 Ruger.

At the end of the day does any of it matter, not really.

 

[7315br]

Won’t argue the equal performance and simple. I do think a longer neck helps with initial burn in the case rather than the throat.
I have seen “improved” cases which shortened the neck have more fire cracking issues than the parent. More powder of course, but shorter neck as well.

AFWIW...I tend to agree with JSH's comment about shorter necks and fire cracking problems. I built this .22/243 Imp (30*) several years ago for long range Prairie Dog shooting (700-1200 yds). 31" Krieger HV bbl.

I didn't shoot it a lot through the years, but it did do quite well for what I intended it to do. It has a short neck...not the Middlested version and was extremely accurate. 3640 fps w/ the 75 gr ELD Match.

Here's the problem. (283) rds total and it shows a lot of fire cracking. I won't do another!!

 

[ggshoots]

7315b, that's crazy! What powder were you using?