Wildcatters

FM
Are you looking for OEM factory or wildcat cases?

If you are looking down the Wildcat case lane,
there are 2 cases that will provide all you want and more,
that are smaller than the 17 Hornet.

The 17 Squirrel .980" case length and 17 Mink 1.145" case length,
are very outstanding cases,
and can be loaded to 17 HMR/WSM areas, very easily,
as well as run at the top end, if needed.

Both these case are under 1.145" case length,
check them out in QL, if you have it.

If you want more info on these cases,
go here and search for them, Lots of info,

http://www.saubier.com/forum.html

And to give you an Idea of what can be expected,
my 17 STW Weasel case, 1.00" can launch a 17 gr bullet
@ over 3400+ fps from an 18" bbl length, using 8.4grs of go juice.
The Weasel case fits between the above 2 cases.

What bullet weight are those 17 cal bullets?

HTH,

Tia,
Don

"And if I manage to make a lathe materialize (hoping to have one by end of summer), the next thing in line will be a small .17 based on turned Hornet cases. I have about two thousand .172" bullets sitting in my stash, still sealed in plastic, with no current use for them. I tried selling them, many times, but no one seems to be willing to pay even 50% of market value. So, I figure it's time for a small centerfire that somewhat mimics something like .17 HMR or .17 WSM, without getting into .17 Hornet territory."
 
I'd probably start with virgin .22 Hornet, turn it for diameter, cut to length (undecided), do some basic forming, and send a drawing off for a chamber reamer.

But...

.17 Mink is pretty close to where I'd want to end up.
So, there's probably a reamer out there that could save me some time and money.


I think the majority of my .17 bullets are 17 gr and 20 gr. The newer, sealed stuff (~1,900 ct) is all Hornady HPs and Vmax. There's another 400-800 bullets in open boxes, mostly 20 gr and 25 gr, I believe (old -- some are in '70s packaging). I picked it all up in a lot of reloading supplies and tools at a local auction.
 
FM

IMHO,
If you don't have the knowledge in the 17 cal field,
stay with the 1x8" twist bbls, they will shoot most all bullet weights,
from 15 gr thru 37 + gr weight OK, usually.

1x9" twists are OK for the lightest end of bullet weights,
15 thru 20gr.

I'll let you know when I find the 17 Mink equipment,
a very efficient case, BTW.

Tia,
Don
 
Thanks for the advice, and the Saubier recommendation.
I'm an old member there (2007/2008-ish); but haven't been able to recover my password for a few years (maybe 4-5, even). I'll probably just register again.
 
FM

IIRR,
there is a post or two about the problems about pass words,
might pay to read them, it helped me getting on about my service provider pulled up stakes and left etc.

Tia,
Don
 
I have owned a couple wildcats, ether now have or did have, 17 AH, 17 Mach4, 17-223, 224 TTH, 6-47, 6-284, 6-300 WSM, 25 Whisper, 257 AI, 300 Whisper and 411 Hawk. I can load for a few others and am considering a 6-45 upper for coyote, but not as hot on it as I was. I think and AR10 in 243 would made more sense.
 
The thing I found out early on was I can not invent anything, I can only come up with something someone else had already done,. Every time I have come up with a wildcat and mailed (back in the day) or now e-mailed the drawing for the reamer to be cut; I have found out that "I have already cut that a few times." or "I have already cut one that is only 1 degree different from that one, you want it or you want me to charge you a lot more for exactly what you have drawn?".
 
Reynolds 357

LOL, You just didn't try hard enough. :D

Think outside the box, you never know what you can come up with,
I went thru the same thing, until I started looking at little niche areas,
I wanted to fill, with better more efficient case/powder combo's etc.

Like my 17 XST Weasel case,
I haven't been able to buy any 22 LR ammo in the last 5+ yrs,
more efficient and better performance and cheaper to shoot etc.

Tia,
Don
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top