Wildcat rounds

[clayton86]

I just picked up everything to start another wildcat cartridge build. Well almost everything I still need the receiver, charging handle and shroud. 
 

my hunting/shooting buddy texted me yesterday saying there’s a 17/223 build in the classifieds on a coyote hunting page we’re both on and if he hadn’t just sunk several grand into truck repairs he’d buy it and that I should. So I did haha he’s not a good influence he talked me into a 20practical few years ago and from my understanding this 17/223 will be basically same as the 20practical in set up for loading just 17cal not 20. 
 

anyone else reload and dabble in the wildcats. I mostly varmint and predator hunt so I gravitate to the smaller cartridges though I’ve been tossing around the 6x45 idea for a while would by now but always talked myself out since I already have the 243 set up shooting sub moa and I don’t like to have to pick one gun over another to go hunting though I’m gonna be in that situation with the 17/223 vs the 20practical. 

[CountryboyinDC]

I've owned a few through the years, although most have become standard cartridges now.  My experience is that rifles in wildcat rounds, even the Ackley Improved ones, tend to sell for a lot less when you get bored with them and want to get something new.  So you should be able to get that rifle much cheaper than if it was a .223 Rem if it's truly a wildcat (the .17 Rem is based on the .222/.223/.222 Rem Mag case, so the seller might be referring to a .17 Rem as such even though it's not truly a wildcat).

 

As for what it will do that the .20 Practical won't, I don't know.  I know that the .17 Rem rifles have a reputation for fouling the bores badly, although I expect that holds true for the .20 too.  

 

For me, when I was really shooting a lot, part of the joy was in the tinkering with loads and making rifles more accurate.  So from that perspective, wildcats are fun.  There's so many standard cartridges now, it's hard to say that you will do better with a wildcat.  Even so, in my safe is a Model 700 short action, waiting to be turned into a 6 mm/.284 AI.  With the amount I shoot these days, the barrel would last me a lifetime, but I can always hope that I'll have time in retirement.

[clayton86]

It’s a 17-223 not 17rem

 

20" pencil 17/223 barrel, 1-10 twist. Pretty clean barrel. I believe it a older white oak Amory bbl. With Hornaday custom dies and about 400 bullets. 250.00 plus the ride. Message me for pictures.

 

That’s what he posted on the other forum I scooped it for $280 after shipping. 
 

The 20practical is fun to shoot I didn’t do any load development my buddy already had a load worked for it since he did all the reloading before I started. This 17-223 already has a load worked up also the guy told me it like Winchester 748 at 23gr and the 25gr hornady hollow point. 
 

The 20practical though usually zaps coyotes like struck by lightning I've only had one runner with it and that was just last month we tracked it a good 300+ yards pouring blood took a few rolls on the ice when it crossed a pond. Lost that one but usually they just drop not even a twitch. Fox though when I do decide to take one when the land owner says shoot them also on the spot it’s 50/50 if the 20practical will blow them up or liquify vitals with no exit. Shoot 35gr Berger’s out of that. 
 

I’ve got a 17hornet also only got 1 yote with that last year I don’t have a load dialed for it yet and factory ammo for that’s next to impossible to find even before this big shortage. 
 

the 20practical and 17-223 using lake city 5.56/223 brass as a parent case I don’t care if they get flung and lost in the snow or weeds. With the 204 ruger and my buddies 17rem we try not to lose brass because it’s so hard to replace since they don’t come from the 223/556. They are off the .222remington so shoulder and case length is different. 

[CountryboyinDC]

$280 for a barrel, dies, and 400 bullets probably is a good deal these days.  I didn't do a ton of predator hunting, but used to love to shoot hogs at long distances. I have used everything from a .22 LR to a 8 mm Rem Mag messing around, but mostly used 6 mm stuff.  I thought about .17, but everyone said I'd spend most of my time cleaning the bore.  Add to the fact that powder was relatively cheap, and recoil isn't bad if your rifle weighs 14 pounds, even with a pretty hot 6 mm, so I never got into the .17 thing.  I hope you turn her into a sweet shooter.

[clayton86]

10 hours ago, CountryboyinDC said:

$280 for a barrel, dies, and 400 bullets probably is a good deal these days.  I didn't do a ton of predator hunting, but used to love to shoot hogs at long distances. I have used everything from a .22 LR to a 8 mm Rem Mag messing around, but mostly used 6 mm stuff.  I thought about .17, but everyone said I'd spend most of my time cleaning the bore.  Add to the fact that powder was relatively cheap, and recoil isn't bad if your rifle weighs 14 pounds, even with a pretty hot 6 mm, so I never got into the .17 thing.  I hope you turn her into a sweet shooter.

Predators are what I hunt the most. I’ve got the 20practical mostly for areas here in NY that center fire rifles .22 or bigger aren’t allowed when deer season is open but is fine once deers closed. Half my spots are in a county that limit is in effect. Once deers done I switch to the 243 usually it bucks wind better then the little guys. 
 

Plan is to get it shooting 1 hole 5 shot groups like all my other rifles I load for. 

[QED]

My favorite small frame ar cartridges are the 20P and the 243WSSM. The latter isn’t a wildcat but has essentially become orphaned. Requires a custom upper and modified magazines but has the external ballistics to effectively reach out to 1k yards.

 

20P

 

243 WSSM

[clayton86]

Using the load data off the guy I got the upper parts from I got it shooting one hole 5 shot groups. 
 

The 20p is still fun I like how I’ve got that gun itself set up better than the 17-223. I can’t afford a $150 trigger for the 17-223 though I could just pop the uppers off and swap but I’m to lazy to do that. 
 

I was tossing around the idea of a 38/45 clerke since I’ve got 1000s of 45 brass. I wanted to do a AR in it but it was/is going to be a expensive maybe work of a build. 1911s are usually done in it but I’ve yet to find a AR done in it. 

[QED]

On 2/17/2022 at 11:11 AM, clayton86 said:

[stuff deleted]  the 20practical and 17-223 using lake city 5.56/223 brass as a parent case I don’t care if they get flung and lost in the snow or weeds. With the 204 ruger and my buddies 17rem we try not to lose brass because it’s so hard to replace since they don’t come from the 223/556. They are off the .222remington so shoulder and case length is different. 

 

Also, the 204r doesn't feed well in pmags whereas the 20p feeds just fine.  Pmags have an internal, vertical rib that abuts the 223 cartridge's shoulder and since the 204r is a bit longer from base to shoulder, it binds and causes feeding issues with pmags.