Forming the 17 Rem. Case

[rickyp]

I just picked up a small lot of 223 rem cases and want to if they will work to form 17 rem. like I think they may.
I took the decapping stem out and lubed the case well and pushed it in to the sizing die. It formed the case then I reinstalled the decapping die and deprimed the case. When I put it in the chamber it fit and the action closed. Do I need to ream out the case mouth when using 223 brass? Looking at the book my “formed brass” is just under the listed case length so trimming shouldn’t be needed yet.

Yes I know .17 rem brass is easy to come by, but around me once fired 223 (5.56) brass is very plentiful just have  to pick it up at my range.
 a penny save on brass is a penny I can spend on bullets.  

[Stan M.]

I don't load for the .17 but you may want to try seating a bullet in a dummy round and measure the outside of the neck to see if it is in specs. Even if the neck is over the the dimension shown in the book your chambers neck diameter may be large enough to accomadate the extra neck diameter of your bullet.
 I had a problem I solved yesterday with a .220 Russian necked up to 6 PPC. My chamber is not tight or custom spec. The outside dim. measured on my bullets was .271 when seated. The dim. in the loading manual was .265. I slowly turned the outside of the necks down to where the neck didn't scrape the chamber. I figured my chamber was .270 so I turned the outside of the necks till I got .269 with the bullet installed. This give me a close fit to the chamber and the neck thickness was about .003 thicker than my used brass. This might help the brass last longer.
 I was neck sizing about halfway and everything felt fine when I seated the bullets. I would think too much neck thickness could cause too much pressure on the bullet when seating, depending on your die.
 Your cases may need to be inside reamed. I have read you usually have to do so when necking down. Seat a bullet and measure. Don't go forcing things though.
 Hope this helps until a .17 person can give some input.
Stan

[rickyp]

thanks for the reply

[jhm]

Rickyp"  As small as the 17 is you will probably have to ream the inside of the necks as their is vary little room for the extra brass to go.   JIM