How to form 17-204 brass?

[hate2work]

Since my sako in .17 rem wont sell, I am going to re chamber it to 17-204, no reason other than it interests me.
Can someone do kind of a step by step process of the brass forming? I do reload, but the closest thing to a wildcat I have is a .223 AI, and it is a no brainer. Any and all help would be appreciated, thanks, John

 

[pahntr760]

Run 204 ruger brass through a 17-204 die.

 

[Orneryolfart357]

Shayne, will that completly form the brass? Or would it need fireforming to complete the sizing?

 

[hate2work]

I was not aware that dies were available for a 17-204. Is it special order?

 

[pahntr760]

No fire forming required in my research. I've looked hard at a 17-204 for colony varmints, closer ranges.

For dies, there are a couple of options.

Have a set made from the reamer that cut your chamber.

Get some 204 ruger bushing dies and swap the guts to work for this cartridge. A call to Redding would get you squared away.
(Also, look into C&H dies. Call them up, they're very helpful and can get you squared away, quickly.

Have you considered a 17/223 or 17 Tac? It may be easier to get brass situated for ya.

 

[hate2work]

yeah, I was on the fence between the tac and 204. It seemed as though the brass was easier to acquire and to form with the .204.

 

[duckdog]

I put together a 17/204 at the end of this last summer so maybe I can help.

As far as forming brass, there are a lot of ways to skin that cat, but here's the route I took.
Redding Type-S 204 Ruger full length bushing dies. I'm pretty sure you could substitute neck only dies if you were inclined.

I ordered a handful of different bushings, to bring the necks down to the desired neck tension. So, for the first time on .204 brass, I used a .220 bushing, then a .210 bushing, then a .200 bushing...until I reached the .195 bushing.
If I remember correctly, .195 gave me .004 neck tension.
You come by that number by measuring the neck on a previously loaded round and then subtract .003, or .004....whatever neck tension you want...
And that's your final bushing.
From that point on, to resize your brass, you just use THAT bushing.
For all I know, maybe you could size it from original 204 Ruger brass to your .195 all at once, but I thought it prudent to take it in increments.

Now...it's kind of hard to measure a loaded round when you're doing all of this from scratch. (kind of a chicken or the egg scenario)

So, I would reccomended buying a .193 .194, and a .195.

Takes less to do it than it does to write it! A simple neck down and there is no (real) fire forming involved.
And also no case forming dies, (which is what someone else tried to tell me when I started mine).

Pretty simple really...

I love mine! Wouldn't change a thing about the rifle itself,...but, (there's always a but)...

You'll have a LOT better brass to chose from if you go 17 Tac.

To me, this depends on your desired barrel length. I'm basically getting Tac velocities (4136 avg), out of a 22" barreled 17/204...which is exactly what I wanted!
Hope this helps...