Hi. First post. I just bought a H&R .17/223 Ultra Wildcat. It came with dies. I have never reloaded before and am hoping I havent bit off more than I can chew. Next thing I did was buy the Lee breach lock challenger reloading kit. I know this isnt top of the line but I am retired and gotta watch my money. The dies that came with the gun are RCBS. I checked to see if they would fit in the Lee and the info I saw was yes. It also came with resized brass (about 50rnds), about 400 Hornady 25gr bullets, and a box of CCI primers. I Hope the kit comes with everything I need. I know I need powder I think thats it.

I would like to find a reference book on this calibre. The online research I did called for 20gr powder for a 25gr bullet. I would like to see that in print before I go loading this amo lol.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. The gun is a beauty and I can't wait to see how it shoots. It was purchased by a friend in 1970. Fired 5 times, cleaned well, and then went in his safe and has been there till now. So I know the barrel is still good.

Here is a photo of the gun.



Thanx Steve

Unless I'm missing something you should be able to safely start with .17 Remington data and work up. One of the 4895s might be a good powder with which to start roger

I had a 17x223 back in the 80's. Wasn't much in the way of bullets available then. Just Hornady and Rem. The new bullets are much better as are the powders available. Do yourself a favor and visit www.saubier.com and get to know some of those guys. There is a wealth if info over there. Buy a good reloading manual and read it twice.

Hi Steve,
Congratulations on getting a beautiful rifle. I have three of these, two new in the box-never fired and one I do shoot. Be sure and clean the rifle carefully in the first 100+- shots. The loads I have for mine are perfectly safe but work up from the low to ? for your own rifle. Mine[shooter] is very accurate and a hoot to shoot. The loads below are for the 25 Gr Hornady so are safe for the 20 gr also.
IMR 3031 start-19.0 max 21.7
IMR 4064 start-21.0 max 23.0
Accurate 2520- start 19.0 max 21.0

Aloha, Mark

Thanx Mark. Thats exactly what I need.