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Which .17?
by Jim Saubier
One of the most popular .17 caliber questions is "Which
.17 do I need?". What I have tried to do here is provide
some guidance when making that decision. I have hands on experience
with many of these, and have sought information from others
when covering the cartridges that I am less familiar with.
I currently load for 5 of these .17s and dont intend to
own all of them as they dont all appeal to me. There are
several load manuals available that provide information on
the .17s and I will cover them in the section called - .17
caliber publications. I am not attempting to provide load
data here.
.17 CCM
This is the Cooper Centerfire Magnum (CCM) and is the smallest
of the reloadable .17s that I am aware of. I have heard of
some rimfire .17s, but dont know anything about them. This
is a very small case that is based on the .22 CCM case that
was intended to be a certerfire case that is reloadable and
comparable to the .22WMR. This case was developed by Dan Cooper
of Cooper firearms. It should be intended to shoot the lighter
.17 bullets with small amounts of powder and create very little
noise. Fouling would probably be very limited as well. It
should push the 15 grain bullets to close to 3500 fps. This
cartridge is covered pretty well in the "Sensational
Seventeens" manual that is written by Todd Kindler.
.17 Squirrel
Another cartridge that I dont have any experience with.
Load data for this round is provided in Dick Saunders load
manual. As the name implies, this is a cartridge that is intended
to be used on squirrels and such critters as a reloadable
cartridge that will out perform any rimfire. It should be
a dandy cartridge indeed for turkeys as well.
.17 Ackley Hornet
I just got a contender barrel chambered for this cartridge
and really enjoy shooting it. I hope to write an article on
this little gun in the fall/winter timeframe. This is a classic
.17 and for good reason. The brass is cheap, the recoil is
nil, the powder used is minimal, and the performance is stellar.
I have read many articles on this round, and am impressed
that it can be used for so much. Vic (one of the Coyote Gods
see links page) uses has used his .17 hornet on coyotes.
I have heard of others using this round for coyotes as well
and most report the same thing. If the range is reasonable
and the shot placement correct, they go down like struck by
lightning. Load data is available for this case in both .17
load manuals that I have(Kindlers and Saunders). The .17
Ackley hornet should be intended for prairie dogs, squirrels,
foxes, woodchucks, and other small critters out to 200 yards.
.17 Ackley Bee
Based on the fine .218 Bee case. The Ackley Bee is a fine
cartridge and shows some advantage over the Hornet. Case forming
is easy, dies readily available, and load data is available
in Dick Saunders manual. My good friend John Delozier is
working with an Ackley Bee and he is very pleased with the
performance thus far. With the performance being better than
the hornet the only advantage that the hornet has is the
price of the brass. Bee brass is almost twice the cost of
the very economical hornet brass. Availability is not an issue
for Bee brass at this time. The Bee brass is thicker and stronger
than the hornet brass, and should be able to be reloaded more
times. This cartridge is only slightly better than the .17
Ackley Hornet in the velocity department. Thank you Mr. Ackley
for another .17.
.17 Hebee
This is nothing more than a .17 Ackley Bee improved. Dennis
Hrusosky took notice of the longer neck on the Ackley Bee
and must have figured that it would be better with more power
RRRRRR. Either way, the only difference is the location of
the shoulder. The Hebee gains case capacity and that translates
to greater potential velocities. Making cases is not difficult,
but annealing is a requirement. This round will come very
close to the performance of the .17 Mach IV with the 20 grain
bullets, but the Mach IV will handle the 25 grain bullets
slightly better. I hope to do a side by side comparison of
these two in the near future and will report the results then.
Out of a 20 inch barrel, I am able to push a 20 grain V-max
or Starke to 3900 fps. That is pretty impressive for such
a small cartridge. Loading data for this cartridge is available
in Todd Kindlers Sensational Seventeens and also in my article
posted on this site.
.17 Mach IV
This is the most popular of the .17 caliber wildcats and
for good reason. It is easy to form the cases, load data is
readily available, and it is a very efficient performer. This
round is based on the .221 Remington Fireball case, and is
simply necked down to .17 and loaded. The case looks perfect
once it is necked down and hardly changes at all after firing
for the first time. The Mach IV as its name implies should
be able to push a 25 grain bullet at 4,000 fps. I am not sure
that it can safely do this with a barrel shorter than 26",
but have heard reports of some doing it. The one that I am
beginning to test only has a 20" barrel, and I hope to
compare apples to apples with the Hebee and Mach IV soon.
The Mach IV can do just about anything that the .17 remington
can do with the 25 grain bullets, but the .17 Remington gets
the nod when using the heavier 27 - 30 grain bullets.
.17 Javelina
The .17 Javelina is based on the .222 case and has a case
capacity between the Mach IV and the .17 Remington. The Javelina
has never gained the popularity of the Mach IV or most of
the other .17s due to the case forming expense and difficulty.
The forming dies for this caliber are expensive. The Javelina
case is formed by pushing the shoulder back about 0.150".
This is normally done with a forming die set, made by RCBS,
Redding, etc. It could also be roughly done with a 221FB full-length
die, set higher in the press
than normal. Necking down to 17cal. is then done with subsequent
dies. There is significant case trimming that must take place
following the forming. I hope to own a Javelina some day and
look forward to the challenge of case forming (not the expensive
dies though). Kevin Gullette (technical staffer for SCN) is
a big fan of this cartridge and has provided the case forming
information for the Javelina.
.17-.222
This is similar to the Javelina, but with a little more case
capacity. It is also very similar to the .17 Remington. It
will have a slightly longer neck than the .17 Remington and
should be easily formed from .222 brass by simply necking
down the case. The shoulder should remain in its original
location. This cartridge has seen limited popularity probably
since it is so close to the .17 Remington. With the fine .222
brass out there, this cartridge does not get the attention
that it should.
.17 Jet
This caliber was created by Dick Saunders, and a joy it is
to shoot. The case forming can be considered tedious, but
the effort is rewarded with a fine round. This cartridge is
based on the .22 Remington Jet case, with an almost straight
taper and 32 degrees shoulder. The case capacity of this round
is similar to the Mach IV, but the performance is closer to
the .17 Remington or possibly even greater. These cases are
thick and strong. Load data on this cartridge is listed in
Dick Saunders load manual and nowhere else that I am aware
of. Just about any of the powders that are listed for the
Mach IV should be good performers. Case availability seems
to haunt this little cartridge, but when it is available
it is usually very cheap. I have bought 700 Jet cases recently
for 13.70 per 100. These cases should last a very long time
as well. I only intend to form 300 and want to sit on the
rest for other potential projects. I will be doing an article
on this gun and have been working with Dick Saunders for this
effort.
.17 Remington
The only commercially loaded .17 caliber available. Remington
has offered the Model 700 for this caliber for quite a while,
and even made it the 1999 Model 700 Classic one of which
I have in my safe. This is the workhorse of the .17s, and
has gained moderate popularity amongst the fur hunters. With
25 grain bullets, a velocity of 4,000 fps can be safely achieved,
and 4300 fps with the 20 grain bullets is certainly attainable
as well. Favorite powders for this caliber are IMR4320, Winchester
760, Varget, and Vihtavouri n135. I personally have found
favor with IMR 4320 and have used all listed powders with
exception of n135. Where the .17 Remington really shines is
with the 30 grain bullets. A 1-9 twist is recommended when
using the 30 grain bullets, but the .17 Remington can whirl
them out there at a pretty good clip.
.17 PPC & .17 BR
Any information on these would be appreciated as I have
little. The parent cases are obvious, and I am sure that they
are just necked down to .17 but I have little comparison
velocity wise of what they are capable.
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