Thanks to all some great assistance from this forum, this newbie is now reloading and shooting a rifle I inherited about 6 months ago.

Rifle is a Martini Cadet. Cartridge is a .357mag pistol brass necked down to .17 I'm still not sure of the official name. I've heard .17 Saunders, .17 Jet, etc. I sent cases off to RCBS, but they said they couldn't match it without a chamber cast. Some variation in shoulder angle--which made me a little nervous.

Meanwhile, a member here formed some new cases for me (thanks!) and sent some reloading data.

I found one die in the estate (the resizer/deprimer). Then a friend who has been reloading for years, and has a machine shop in his basement, made me a seating die. Its really slick. It has a spring loaded guide to keep that teeny bullet upright as it goes through that fat die opening till it gets to the seater/crimper.

Today I fired some shells I reloaded for the first time ever. Man, was that fun!

I tried 3 loads:

-16 gr. of 4895 over a 25 gr bullet
-13 gr of 4198 (same bullet)
-13.5 gr of 4198 (same bullet)

The first two grouped slightly better than the 3rd. In fact, they were nearly identical. The range was very windy, gusting 10-20 mph, stright from the side. Groups strung horizontally, with very little verticle variation. Nothing more than one MOA. Best around half MOA. Velocity was around 3000-3100fps, according to a chrono someone at the range let me try.

I am truly stoked! Thanks for the assistance. This brings a whole new level of fun to shooting.

Dick Saunders wrote occasionally for PS magazine back in the '80's, and '90's, and a few other articles in VH magazine. He loved the cartridge you speak of, due to the increased strength of the rimmed case. He wrote a pamphlet about the .17's, that is very informative, entitled, ".17 Caliber Shooting"-- it may be available from Todd Kindler @ www.smallcaliber.com

[ 04-06-2003, 18:13: Message edited by: sscoyote ]

Thanks, SSCoyote. I'll get that pamphlet.

BTW, I spoke with Dick Saunders on the phone while I was searching for die options. Asked him what he called the cartridge. He said he couldn't remember! Many years ago, he had met with RCBS and some other .17 wildcatters and picked out names for these various wildcats, but he couldn't remember which was which. Oh well. Maybe its in the pamphlet.

Anyway, fun to shoot and load.

Have you looked at some load info for the 256 Rem mag.? It is a 357 necked down to .257 and there are cases out there you could use to start with.

Some info by Seyfried says it's the .17-357 Improved or .17-22 Jet Improved (same thing). In his rifle (Martini also), he uses 21.5 gr of Hodgdon BL-C(2), Federal 205 primer and 25 gr Hornady bullet for 3,900 fps and 3/4 MOA.

Thanks, Yukon. Yeah, your friend's load is a lot hotter than the one I use.

Seyfried is Ross Seyfried the writer. That info is from Rifle & Handloader magazines.

I've found a similar cartridge in Cartridges of the World called a 222R (rimmed) for the Martini. Cases can be made from the 357 maximum case.

My question is can this case be necked to 20 caliber and be used in the Martini action? Should be similar to the 19 Calhoon, just a little bit stronger, a little less than the tact20.

Thanks for the help.