Reloading 223

[gbal]

Hannams Reloading for comparable prices:

loaded ammo: 17 Hornet £28/50 22Hornet £25/50; 17HMRF £17.45/50

 

Rem brass: Hornet £44.75;223 £47.90...ie like for like,not much cheaper

 

Hornet bullets £28.50 (as 224) -though cheaper are available for both (you get what yoy pay for qualitywise)

 

Hornet brass is weak-it's an outmoded black powder case-not as bad as 17HMR,but you will lose some-so economy drops....you might save 6p on powder(and some performance). Add up how many rabbits you are going to shoot-is any small 'economy' what you expected?

I have shot lots of rabbits with 222rem soft point bullets-top shoulder/heart-no carcase loss-I don't eat the ribs,front shoulder;and even less (no exit) with 17rem hollow point.Damage is not a given with a cf.

"You eat anything you shoot" was the guiding rule.

 

17Hornet is probably the better of the two..(don't get an old 22H/ammo-they mostly will not go 200y accurately enough).

 

Do not be advised by you tube (half are in the 'don't do this at home' category-or misleading)

 

Ammo is made to tolerances-as are chambers. 5.56 is not 223,there is overlap.Problem is any brass fired in a loose chamber -sothat size-may be sticky in your (tighter) chamber-esp if fired in mil semis-the existence of smallbase resizing dies evidences this risk,and they don't always solve it-a stuck case is a nuisance,a stuck live round is a serious problem.

 

Think on,but be realistic-you just dont get rf prices and 200y performance-and savings within cf are 5-10 pence per shot (from 45p ish. Consider this you tube type nonsense-at 200y you might just hit a rabbit or two with a box of 22rf-economy??

There is corresponding performance reduction ( ie misses,so factor that into the economics).

 

Basically,no free lunches,man or best friend(s).But far,far better 5/5 than 5/10 for same cost...surely?

 

g

[toxo]

I'm hearing you George and as usual you're making a lot of sense. I'm not in any hurry to make a mistake. Trying to explore all avenues.

As already explained, my needs aren't great and if .17hmr was always available/reliable I doubt I would need anything else so I'll throw another into the mix.

What do you knowledgeable guys know about .17WSM?

Apparently the problems with HMR is the inability to anneal after the priming solution is in place. Is the WSM likely to suffer from the same?

Dauntsey list the WSM at £16.30 per 50 and the performance looks impressive so I doubt it will be here today and gone tomorrow.

http://www.gunsandammo.com/blogs/news-brief/first-look-17-winchester-super-magnum/

[gbal]

toxo- see the thread "Any 17 WSM rim fire users out there" -chaz,yesterday.

 

Not many have actual experience of this in UK to date.

Best Balistics yet in a rimfire- I wanted a 5mmRem Mag back in the day-never made it here.I'd feel the same about 17WSM now,if I was at that point in the ladder.....

Chaz seems unconvinced by his-I'd think 8 shots under an inch at 100y is about as good as can reasonably be expected from a rf ,but even so....it's really not a 200yarder-groups sizes are always more than pro rata,unless velocity is way up there (3000+,cf,in which case they might only be a bit more than pro rata to 250 ish..).

200 y shot at rabbit: HMR,no;WSM prob no- 17p risked: 17 Hornet maybe, 28p invested;222 45p for a secure return.

It's a no brainer to me (and the rabbit if the 222 is used) but some persist in thinking they can win at roulette. Economics-not a chance;add in ethics for shooting. Ask the dogs too. :-)

 

g

[toxo]

I've decided that, short of moving to the states There's just no cheap shooting to be had so I'm gonna go with the hmr and the 223 for fox. If only shooting a few rounds I might even reload the Lapua way to stretch the range a little and you never know, you may even see me on the range one day - nah-