Home Forums Reloading Varmint Rifles Experiences with fouling and the 17 calibers?

Sir,

I load for a number of small caliber chamberings.



l to r

17 ackley hornet, 17 hebee, 17 mach iv, 17 fireball, 17 remington, 20 vartarg, 20 tactical, 22 hornet, 218 bee, 221 fireball 222 Rem, 223 Rem, 223 Rem AI, 22-250, 220 swift.

I've been shooting the 17 Ackley Hornet and 17 Mach IV since the mid nineties. Firing Seventy-five to 100 rounds at a moderate pace, you should see very little degradation in accuracy. Although I don't care for them, you can also use moly bullets. Sometimes I wonder how many folk have actually "worked" with the sub calibers.

FWIW, I think most folks over-clean. In fact I don't even do barrel break in any more. I get three or 4 bore brushes, a quality rod, brass brushes and use a mixture of JB bore paste and Kroil. I "hand lap the barrels with 200 + strokes, usually 50 or so between cleaning the brush and using fresh application of aforementioned mixture. That is my "break in". IIRC an article in the Small Caliber News years ago featured a fellow that was near 300 rounds through his MachIV since he had cleaned it. He was going to see just how many rounds he could fire before accuracy cratered.
As an aside, if you haven't picked out a rifle yet or have your heart set on the Fireball, you might check out the 20 VarTarg, which is the 221 Fireball necked down to 20 Cal. It's a mild mannered chambering that has excellent accuracy potential.




GWB