17 BRA! And Hello from Missouri!

Austin Laughlin

Active member
Hey y'all, i just wanna start off by saying I just joined here. My ole man Andy Laughlin, was on here for years. I'm from Central MO, been killing and trapping coyotes since I was a kid. We raised a pure blood line of airedales for awhile, that I'm pretty sure some of you on here still have. Anyway, the sappy stuff is out of the way lol

I shoot a 204 AI, a 223 AI, and 220 swift most of the time for my fur hunting. But I've got a great friend that recently got me into the BR cartridges. He's shooting a lightning fast and flat 20BR at the moment. I was thinking for a 400 yard and in cartridge, necking it down to .17, and possibly AI if theres any gain to be made, would be a demon. I just wanted to see if anyone here has tried it? Experimented with it? I really appreciate y'alls help in advance!!!


 
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Welcome Austin. Tell your Dad that DAA says Hey!

A friend that passed away some years ago played with .17's on the BR and PPC cases quite a bit. Your Dad will know who I'm talking about. He found the full length BR just too much and played with shortening it various amounts. I forget the exact number he ended up at, but it was somewhere between .150 and .175 shortened. He called it the .17 Athena, named it after an Airedale,
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The PPC case necked to .17 worked better with some shortening as well. And his favorite cartridge was a shortened PPC he called the .17DT.

Not any point in AI'ing the BR case. It's already minimum taper and steep shouldered. I mean, you could increase the shoulder angle a bit, but I don't think there's much to gain there.

- DAA
 
Hello and welcome Austin,
Tell your old man hello, we went to AZ together when the Old "Coyote Gods" was around. Yea Andy got to hunt with DAA's friend on one of those Rhondys. I was jealous.
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Mr E actually brought out a 14 cal on that trip.

What ever you do don't bring up hunting ditch panthers and such, you'll get banned. Ask you dad, he'll get a laugh.

BTW, I am actually getting a 17 FB ready for this falls hunt.

Honestly, for what your asking about. I would go with the 17-204 with a 1-9 twist to shoot the 30's, if you can get enough. It will feed and is probably a bunch more practical.
 
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He says hello back! Says he hopes that things are going well! I'm assuming you're meaning Blaine? Such a sad loss, but that's another conversation. I was always intrigued with this 17 athena, which I assumed was a BR parent case. That 14 he had was also very intriguing to me. He definitely was someone I wish I could've learned much more from, I have a couple of his DVDs that I still watch today.
 
He says Hey! We're sitting here reminiscing about those days, such a fun time! Lol I'll tell him! That 14 that BE had was always so interesting to me, I wish I could've got my hands on it. I'll honestly probably just stick with that I've got, just judging by the info you guys are giving me. I only thought of the BR as a cool idea, but it seems to me like I've got the basis I need covered with what I have.
 
"Ditch Panther" Yea, I thought you would like that.

I just drove back from Southern AZ last night. Spent a week out there hunting the same area. This trip I used mostly my 223AI and 20 Practical. The 223AI is high on my list as a favorite cartridge. But hey, 300 yards is generally a long shot for me. I mostly run 1-4 power and straight 6x scopes now. I picked up a 22 Creedmoor that Brent Parker put together for me. Now I just need to work up a load for it. The idea for it is to be a longer range rifle, that and my 6XC.
 
Im hearing a lot of good things about that Practical. You like your XC? I've not touched any of the creeds, or PrCs, etc. My 223AI is my favorite round, especially if I'm focused on just coyotes. 52gr Sierra BTs is what mine really seems to like. I've got quite a bit of fox and cat country to hunt too, that's the only reason I switched gears to a 20cal and was considering the .17. I didn't think I'd ever say this, but one little round that I used alot this year on fox and coons, is my new 17wsm. I don't have the guts to aim it a coyote, but it has been more than effiecent on foxes out to 250yds. Super impressed.

How did you do out in AZ? I'll be out there in early September. Planning on taking a trip out to Wyoming for a few days while I'm out that way as well. Hoping to stop by and see Cal Taylor and some friends out there. I think I've talked to the ole man into going with me lol we've been pretty vicious on them here locally. Today chalked 29 since the 1st.
 
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Yea, Cal is the man. Too bad he doesn't post here anymore.

Last week, I made some coyotes, "good coyotes". I did much better in December. I did finally get this one old male I have been trying to get the last two times out there.

The 6XC is basically a more efficient 243 IMO. Don't really need a cannon like that for a little 25-30lb coyote at ranges I shoot. I only hunt during fur season. I may help a few guys out during denning season. Don't really want to do a lot of it. Too much work.

The little 17's and 20 cals work very well for me. And of course the 223AI. They are much quieter also.
 
Cal is something else lol

I've got a dang male running around here thats given me the slip 3 times now. He sat down and stared at us at about 450 the other day, and if the wind would've been right, I was gonna try him lol

Anything over 22cal is to much gun for me. I only hunt fall and winter, when fur is prime. My Swift can even be a little to much spunk sometimes. In my part of Missouri, 350 yards is about an absolute max you'll shoot. They're 50-150 90% of the time. 17s and 20s are great for my country.
 
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