Best Brass for .17Rem

[Rem 222]

Whilst I have yet to commence reloading yet, have most of the gear, I think + a couple of manuals/books ( Lee Reloading Manual, Harvey - current ed). Will get some assistance - hands on at the beginning.

Rem .17 ammo is more than Norma 6.5x55 - a favourite larger calibre! It seems that only Rem make .17Rem ammo, and have market to themselves.

Given cost and interest I have in reloading, obviously need to purchase brass. Have purchased Norma brass for .222, .223 and Swede.

Seems from shopping around , that only Remington make brass for the .17Rem.

As I intend to shoot this rifle a fair bit given its long, flat shooting abilities, will be reloading cases numerous times.

Does anyone know if Norma, Lapua make quality brass for the .17Rem.

Have checked their sites and could not see any brass available.

Trust I am wrong.

[woob614271]

Welcome, Rem 222 and sorry. I'm afraid that Remington is it for brass; Ive never had a problem with it, having pushed 20 grain V-Max' out of a 22" barrel @4324fps. A contact has broken 4400fps out of a 24" Sako Varmint; neither of us have had problems with the brass showing pressure signs, although both of us backed off half a grain.
good luck!

[Rem 222]

Thanks for the welcome!!


This site seems ideally suited for the type of calibres I use the most.


In reality, despite mega magnum etc posts on another excellent Forum of which I have been a member for several years, apart from deer ( which don't interest me) , I really suspect that well over 90% of "game"= rabbit and fox shooting in the southern states of Australia could be quite capably handled by calbires not exceeding .224.

I will be posting quite a number of posts seeking assitance, particularly in the reloading area.

[trevort]

I read a statistic that more 204 rifles have been sold since there release in 2004 than 17 rems since their release in the 70's. i'm sure its a great calibre, but if those stats are true then no other manufacturer will add the brass to their line up. Not enough customer$$$ to warrant it.

I have had good results with Rem brass. Prep it properly and you wont know the accuracy difference in the field between Rem and any other brand. In fact i got good results before I learned about flashhole deburring and primer pocket uniforming!

[500Nitro]

From what I have heard in the past, the 17 cal was really only
very popular over hear in Australia apart from a small cult
following in the US.

[trevort]

Nitro, the seem to going mad over the 17fb tho, half the posts on Saubier are about the 17fb!

[500Nitro]

Nitro, the seem to going mad over the 17fb tho, half the posts on Saubier are about the 17fb!

Not sure what Saubier is but let me know and I'll check it out.

Re "in the past" in m last post, I meant in the hey day, 60's,
70's and 80's etc.

Not sure about now except we all know the 17HMR and 204R
have taken off like wildfire.

[trevort]

Saubier is a small calibre discussion board. Very high level usually, some of them make their own rifles some many make their own bullets! Usually someone will answer my 'newbie question' posts

[Mudgegonga]

There appears a trend developing in US of forming 17 Rem brass from quality 204 brass. This enables you to have a neck thickness and case length optimum for your chamber.

The neck on factory 17 rem chambers seems to be around .200+. Standard resizing dies tends to take the neack on the case down to below .190. Then with a projectile seated the neck on the case comes back up to around .194.

Partialy resizing the neck and using resizing die that uses a bushing to reduce the amount sizing to a minimum is highly recomended.

If you form your brass you can potentially reduce this amount of resizing considerably if you are using a bushing die.

Having said all that I am getting 0.5 moa out Rem brass using a full length resizing die set to only partially resize the neck and virtually not touch the body of the case. It is important that if you use a full length resizing die like this that it does not resize the body of the case or you will potentially lengthen the case to a point where the neck starts to crimp the projectile. Measure your case length after resizing to make sure it is safe.

[bushchook]

How about some load details of that 0.5MOA load ?
I'm using Reloder 15 and the 25gn Berger myself . Results are not as good as yours but my barrel is on its' last legs .

[Mudgegonga]

25 vmaxs, 23gn BM2, 4,100 fps, 7.5 primers
20 vmaxs, 24.5 BM2, 4400 fps, 7.5 primers

Sako L461, original light barrel, fouls badly after 5 shots but groups under 0.5 if kept clean. Last night shot 2 foxes took 6 cleaning rounds (15 minutes between)with sweets to get copper and out.

I am rebarreling it to .20 ppc because I am sick of cleaning it.