AusVarmint

Good Morning.

Just picked a nice Sako 461 in .17. The old Sako's are nice and i can't wait to give it a run. Anyone owned one of these in .17 and know a load -powder that works in them.

I'm starting with 21 of 2206 with 25 grainers and i'll also try 22.5 of BM2. Both these loads shoot well in my Tikka .17 so i suppose should me ok in the Sako.

Now what to do with the Tikka .17 Deluxe ,sell it, turn it into a .204 or just leave it in the safe ?????????

Regards

Chris Thomas

Decisions, decisions, Chris. What a situation to be in...

Now what to do with the Tikka .17 Deluxe ,sell it, turn it into a .204 or just leave it in the safe ?????????

Or sell it to me ...for $200

KY

It's on it's way Kenny and i'll even pay the freight

Chris

Chris ,
There is a site that I have looked at a bit called coyotegods . Those guys are right into .17's and most seem to favour about 22.3gns of Reloder 15 behind the 25gn Berger . Shoots well in a lot of rifles apparently .

I gave the Sako a run last night.

22.5 grains of BM2 blew a hole in the primers and Velocity was 4013 fPS Seems to high so i must have had a lot of pressure. This load in my Tikka is mild and velocity is around 3750.

21 grains of 2206 shot well and velocity was 3883 FPS.

Using the same loads the Tikka shoots slower that the Sako any idea's

Regards

Chris Thomas

Chris,
I use 22 gn AR2208, PMC Primer, Hornady 20 gn V-Max Projectile. This is a very mild load because those PMC primers are very soft. But it does shoot well as my daughter uses it to take out rabbits to over 200.0 mts.
Pete

check a 204 round in the mag box, they may be too long if you cant open it out a bit. perfect ecuse for a 20 tac or Prac, but, whats wrong with keeping it as a 17?

trevort wrote:check a 204 round in the mag box, they may be too long if you cant open it out a bit. perfect ecuse for a 20 tac or Prac, but, whats wrong with keeping it as a 17?

The Sako will stay a .17 Rem and the Tikka might end up as a .204.

Just don't need two .17 Rems.

The Sako would even make a nice .17 Fireball !!!

Regards

Chris

I'll give you a full fireball report soon!!!!


I chose a 527 222 to build mine on but many people who know recommended the L461 as their first choice

Chris,

Maybe try a harder cupped primer like a CCI 450, or CCI BR4 as an alternative these days. It has been a LONG time since I played with a 17 but I managed to dig up my old load info according to my scribbles thats what we used and IMR powders...jeez bring me a wheel chair

Could be differing case capacities per brand/age/chamber size/barrel wear causing your results, I am surprised the one that blew was quicker but ¿ ...you didn't mention sticky bolt lift (don't go looking for it) the pressure may not be so bad..... Have you done a ladder test ? also depends on how you hold the gun for each shot, try being consious of this when testing and take an average of 10 shots...you may be surprised at the difference.

Mate big chrony numbers are not that important, I find the next level back from max loads are more than adequate, it's a matter of what speed your gun likes... to be accurate

KY

Kenny.

Around 3600-3700 FPS is all i'm after and have settled on 21 grains of 2206.

I did have a sticky bolt after one shot. That velocity was 4083.

Strange why i was getting such high velocitys my load was 22.5 of BM2

Both the Tikka and Sako shoot better with CCI 400's. Tried CCI BR , Rem 7.5's .

I have spent most of the day getting copper out of the BBL from the previous owner, Funny what some people call clean

Chris

Hi Chris, I know just what you are going through. I ended up going with the .204 on a cheap rem 700 in .17 I found. I also came across a very nice almost perfect sako L461 which will become a .17 MkIV after much debating, between a .14/.221, a .17 MkIV, and a .20 vartarg.
What I will end up doing is putting bigger stocks on the .204 and .17 rem and using them mainly for spotlighting and keep the little sako for walkabout shooting.
Cheers
Steve

I use 23 gn BM2 with 25gn Vmaxes and 7.5 primers and have not had problems with 2 L461s. I use up tp 24.5 BM2 with 20gn Vmaxes. I am not suggesting this is going to be OK in every one else 17 rem.

The problem might be the degree of fouling both powder and and copper.

While my 17AH does not copper foul it does powder foul. Copper fouling in the 17 rems is a bigger problem than powder.

To remove powder I use Hoppes No. 9 with a copper brush and patch it out. Then for copper I use Sweets and a nylon brush and patch it out. I leave the Sweets in for no longer than 15 minutes.

I find getting powder fouling out harder than the copper.

How do you go about it?

G'day Chris

If need to futher experiement, I have some 2219 and some BM1 if you want to give that a go.

Looks like I've caught the sako bug. Just put on hold a Sako 75 Varmint in a 204, only 2 in the country. The timber is absolutly beautiful. As soon as I get it, I drop it in.

Should catch up for a Chrissy drink?

Cheers
Jack