JeepHammer
SHOOTER
I have STUPID amounts of fun with .17 HMR, but not being reloadable makes me feel it's wasteful.
I know a lot of people now days don't have that feeling, but I'm from a different generation.
With the cost/supply of .17 HMR ammo, the difference in the way different brands shoot, I have wondered several times why not look into a reloadable .17 Cal...
I mostly hang around with folks my own age,
And I hang around with folks with my interests,
So I don't really have my finger on the 'Pulse' of the 'Masses'.
I hang around with older, country, Machinist/Firearms, competition or former military types,
SO,
It's no surprise we have the same viewpoints on firearms, what's fun, what's serious, etc.
Before firearms became a fad or status symbol, we used what 'Grandpa' had on the rack,
We used it for it's intended purpose, hunting or varmint control,
Single shots or short magazine fed were perfectly acceptable...
The OBJECTIVE was to put meat on the table, or remove pests/predators, and we didn't need (or want) a heavy, shoulder fired cannon to shoot rats/ground hogs, or blow rabbits/squirrels apart when we intended to eat them!
I was shooting the bull with a few guys recently when we got on the subject of small caliber, reloadable rounds that were quite effective in our youth,
And everyone, to a man, had one or two still laying around, so we just got together to do a little shooting.
And BOY! Was it just plain stupid amounts of fun!
With rimfire ammo costing per round what a small reload costs (or more), this is what some of the guys showed up with...
I have always been a fan of .218 Bee, and it's rimless cousin, .219 Zipper (although I don't have a .219 Zipper currently).
.218 ammo is stupid cheap to reload, since it's supposed to be cast bullets, and casting is always cheaper than buying jacketed bullets.
Useable case capacity is about 1cc, so you get a LOT of rounds per pound of propellant.
It still costs one primer per round, no way to make that cheaper...
A .17 Ackley Bee showed up, the necked down version of .218 Bee that fires a .172 Diameter bullet,
A .17 Mach IV showed up, which I hadn't actually ever seen in person before, the necked down & shortened .222 parent case.
Lots of rimmed and rimless .22s showed up, there is a TON of those rounds throughout history, so you just don't know what you are going to stumble onto!
We all pretty much agreed that something LESS than a .222, it didn't have to be 'Older', just smaller or less power/powder.
At that get together, we started a conversation about what currently common (inexpensive) cases could be formed into something reloadable that was equal to, or a little more than, the current rimfires...
Since (rimmed) .218 Bee cases are STUPID expensive, that one is pretty much out, unless it catches on and prices come down.
The shortened, necked down .222/.223 to .17 Cal would provide endless, affordable brass...
Knock case volume down to about 1cc, and you have something smaller than the .17 Mach IV.
Shortening the .17 Mach IV to get case volume down to 1cc or slightly over *Might* cause feed issues, might as well go to a single shot/rimmed round...
So the idea of maybe a pistol case being necked down came up, but we couldn't come up with anything small in diameter and long enough...
About the diameter of a .25 ACP but usable powder chamber about twice as long...
Just couldn't think of anything that might fit, could be necked down for .17 projectile.
(It would have to be longer, anyone that reloaded .25 ACP knows what a pain that small, short case is to deal with!)
Any idea on something that's just a little bigger than .17 HMR and reloadable? (Rimmed or not)
I really like my little gnat killer/mouse mangler, I just wish it was reloadable...
I know a lot of people now days don't have that feeling, but I'm from a different generation.
With the cost/supply of .17 HMR ammo, the difference in the way different brands shoot, I have wondered several times why not look into a reloadable .17 Cal...
I mostly hang around with folks my own age,
And I hang around with folks with my interests,
So I don't really have my finger on the 'Pulse' of the 'Masses'.
I hang around with older, country, Machinist/Firearms, competition or former military types,
SO,
It's no surprise we have the same viewpoints on firearms, what's fun, what's serious, etc.
Before firearms became a fad or status symbol, we used what 'Grandpa' had on the rack,
We used it for it's intended purpose, hunting or varmint control,
Single shots or short magazine fed were perfectly acceptable...
The OBJECTIVE was to put meat on the table, or remove pests/predators, and we didn't need (or want) a heavy, shoulder fired cannon to shoot rats/ground hogs, or blow rabbits/squirrels apart when we intended to eat them!
I was shooting the bull with a few guys recently when we got on the subject of small caliber, reloadable rounds that were quite effective in our youth,
And everyone, to a man, had one or two still laying around, so we just got together to do a little shooting.
And BOY! Was it just plain stupid amounts of fun!
With rimfire ammo costing per round what a small reload costs (or more), this is what some of the guys showed up with...
I have always been a fan of .218 Bee, and it's rimless cousin, .219 Zipper (although I don't have a .219 Zipper currently).
.218 ammo is stupid cheap to reload, since it's supposed to be cast bullets, and casting is always cheaper than buying jacketed bullets.
Useable case capacity is about 1cc, so you get a LOT of rounds per pound of propellant.
It still costs one primer per round, no way to make that cheaper...
A .17 Ackley Bee showed up, the necked down version of .218 Bee that fires a .172 Diameter bullet,
A .17 Mach IV showed up, which I hadn't actually ever seen in person before, the necked down & shortened .222 parent case.
Lots of rimmed and rimless .22s showed up, there is a TON of those rounds throughout history, so you just don't know what you are going to stumble onto!
We all pretty much agreed that something LESS than a .222, it didn't have to be 'Older', just smaller or less power/powder.
At that get together, we started a conversation about what currently common (inexpensive) cases could be formed into something reloadable that was equal to, or a little more than, the current rimfires...
Since (rimmed) .218 Bee cases are STUPID expensive, that one is pretty much out, unless it catches on and prices come down.
The shortened, necked down .222/.223 to .17 Cal would provide endless, affordable brass...
Knock case volume down to about 1cc, and you have something smaller than the .17 Mach IV.
Shortening the .17 Mach IV to get case volume down to 1cc or slightly over *Might* cause feed issues, might as well go to a single shot/rimmed round...
So the idea of maybe a pistol case being necked down came up, but we couldn't come up with anything small in diameter and long enough...
About the diameter of a .25 ACP but usable powder chamber about twice as long...
Just couldn't think of anything that might fit, could be necked down for .17 projectile.
(It would have to be longer, anyone that reloaded .25 ACP knows what a pain that small, short case is to deal with!)
Any idea on something that's just a little bigger than .17 HMR and reloadable? (Rimmed or not)
I really like my little gnat killer/mouse mangler, I just wish it was reloadable...