.17-223 give me the good, the bad, and the ugly.

C

Chaz88

New member
I saw a .17-223 built on a Sako action in a very nice stock the other day for $1200.

I have no experience with this caliber. I do reload so ammunition would not be a problem.

I would like any first hand information you can give me on the .17-223.

I think it would be a lot of fun to load for and shoot. It looks like it would be a P-dog's worst nightmare.

Thanks for your input.
 
I say go for it. Basically the same story as the 17 Remington. Very fast, very flat for the first 350-400ish yards, very light bullet blows up if you sneeze too hard, hard to keep shooting well (they suffer from powder fouling more than anything else, the rifling is only .0015 deep), but until the 204 Ruger came along, the 17 Rem was the soft shooting/hard smacking king of varminting rounds. 22 centerfires don't have the velocity and kick more, but are a little more forgiving in the wind and are useful on a little larger animals. Hits with the 17 Remington are spectacular to say the least. I am currently eyeing a 17 Remington, so I understand the appeal of the little bugger. If you hunt pelts, the 17 Remington and its wildcat brethren are the ideal pelt cartridges.
 
I've done the 17MachIV,17x222, and 17 Rem as varmint rifles most build on Rem 40x actions.

Only problem ever had was the wind out eastern Co on PD's got to the time I wasn't taking them as much so I slowly moved on from the 17 Cals.

If you get real interested here good site for the 17's

http://www.saubier.com/forum.html
 
If you want something different and something as a bit of a challenge go for it.

Like others have said, it's more or less the same as 17 Rem, but you won't be able to get ammo for it and will have to make own brass. If your not bothered by that then it'll be great.

If you want something that's deadly of P dogs and aren't too keen on mucking around with components, and the possibility of factory ammo, then there are other cartridges that will preform just as well.

As mention 17 Rem is a standard calibre which it offered in a few rifles, and brass can be brought new for it. It'l be ballistically the same thing.
204 Ruger is another very good choice, and IMHO a better choice.
Plenty on brass, plenty of rifles chambered in it (if that matters), factory ammo reasonably common. But more importantly, a bigger bullet that has a much better BC, you can get pretty much the same velocity as the 17s but much better ballistics.

A 40gr bullet in a 204 gives you similar ballistics to a 55gr 22-250 and a 50-55gr 204 similar to 70-75gr 22-250. So you will have a much better cartridge in the wind and at longer ranges.
 
your money, & potentially your gun... I have a little experience with the 17's

honestly... my favorite to shoot is the little 17 Mach 2 ( 22 LR case ) these are available as a factory round ( well as available as 22 LR is these days )

I skipped the 17 HMR, as I prefer to reload... probably won't buy the new Winchester super mag rim fire either

I have a 17 K Hornet... great little cartridge, was a pain to load / fire form, but since Hornady standardized the 17 Hornet ( not an exact mach for my chamber, but offers ready to shoot factory fire form loads )

my favorite of the centerfires is the 17 Fireball... IMO, it's the most balanced of the 17 cartridges, much stronger brass than the Hornet based rounds, still a handloaders cartridge, but factory ammo is available... if I were starting over, I'd skip the Hornet & the 17 Remington / 17-223 as the 17 Fireball will do most anything the others will do...

the king... fastest of the 17's... my FIL loved the 17 Remington / 17-223, he had loads so hot, the bullet would "vaporize" before getting to the target it's a known barrel burner ( & in fact I swapped barrels from a burnt out 17 Remington to build my 17 Fireball ) I still have a 17 Remington, but it's my least favorite of the 17's

... but if you want the fastest ( short of necking down a 22-250 or a 220 swift ;) )
 
Dunno much about that particular round, but I do think I've come to know this (and I think you already know this, but just to reiterate...):

There's lots of rifles for sale in bazillion different off-the-wall chamberings, of varying popularity - all good/fine in their own way. But if it ain't one of the mainstream rounds in the caliber (Here, .17 Hornady Hornet - not .17 Ackley hornet -, or .17 Rem - or maaybe .17 Rem Fireball), then it's gonna get real expensive to shoot, real fast, unless you're reloading it from the get-go. Therefore, my *personal* approach when I see stuff like that for sale is this -- the purchase price has to be way lower than a rifle in the mainstream similar round, before I'd bite, in order to make up for the cost of dies, brass, etc., and hassle, to get started. Or at least "materially lower" than it should otherwise go for. They often are that much cheaper but not always. If it's cheap enough, it justifies going for it, and delving into a wildcat. Good luck & report back.

Just remember that your re-sale value will be lower.
 
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Just look at it as a 17 Rem. they are so close in velocity. About the only way to tell the 17 Rem. and the 17-223 apart at a glance is the short neck on the 17-223. 17 is a real good varmint cal. with the 17-223 and the 17 Rem. being good coyote rounds with the right bullet. The 17 Fireball or the 17 MK iV will also do coyote, but the cases from there down reduce your range a bunch. The market for wildcats is not near as big as it is for factory round and the 17-223 will be harder to sell when your tired of it. You did not say if there was a scope on the rifle, but without one it is definitely more money than I would pay for it.
 
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