By now, if you follow our social media channels, you have heard about the .17-5.56 KAK cartridge, created by KAK Industry. This cartridge hit the market last year and after spending months loading, testing and hunting with it, I am ready to give you my full review and opinion of this unique small caliber cartridge. I’m sure many of you will have preconceived beliefs about barrel life, fouling, comparisons with other “similar” cartridges and many other misnomers. I will answer all of these questions with real life experience and thorough testing to back up my answers.
The .17-5.56 KAK Cartridge:
KAK Industry was founded in 2011 in a small shop located in California. The company has since expanded and now encompasses two large manufacturing facilities in California and Missouri, which currently manufactures more than 6.1 million firearms a year, all Made in the USA. Because of the work they do with certain entities, they found that they had access to a large number of once-fired military 5.56 brass. After designing, tinkering and some changes to the .17/.223 cartridge, they used the 5.56 brass to create the new .17-5.56 KAK centerfire rifle cartridge.
The KAK Industry website describes the .17-5.56 KAK as a 5.56 with re-sized neck to accept a .17 caliber projectile, works in commonly used AR mags.
• Based on the 17-223 cartridge with a few modifications and improvements
• 556 case body to run more reliably in adverse conditions
• 556 case body for use with forming widely available military 5.56 brass such as Lake City
• 17-556 Chambering includes tweaks in the throat and neck for better extraction, chambering, and bore fouling reduction
Here are some of my personal pros of the .17-5.56 KAK cartridge:
- The readily availability of brass at a reasonable cost ($0.35 per piece of once-fired, converted brass).
- The increased strength of the 5.56×45 NATO parent cartridge allows for higher pressures, which equates to increased velocity in the .17-5.56 KAK cartridge.
- Ease of case forming for a “wildcat” type of cartridge (one-step resize in the .17-5.56 KAK Redding Reloading dies).
- Available barrels, etc from KAK Industry are inexpensive, but perform very well (accurate).
- Conversion of your .223/5.56 AR15 into a .17-5.56 KAK is easy and requires very few changes. Most of your rifle will be cross-compatible.
Addressing Barrel Life, Fouling and Comparisons with Other Similar Cartridges:
Barrel Life / Fouling: I’ve been shooting .17 caliber centerfires since the early 1990s and have heard all the rumors about these two things being issues for all of the high-speed, small caliber cartridges. As with any small caliber chambered firearm, if you are careful to break-in your barrel properly, don’t overheat it and clean at regular intervals, you will not have any of these issues. The issue of barrel life has also improved since the advent of better barrel making procedures and materials. Take care of your barrel and it will last a lot longer than you are lead to believe.
Comparisons with Other Similar Cartridges: I have experience with almost every .17 caliber centerfire factory and wildcat cartridge. From the .17 Ackley Bee, .17 Hornet, .17 Fireball, to the .17 Remington, etc. I’ve loaded and shot many of them. The standout qualities of the .17-5.56 KAK will always be the accuracy, speed and cost of this cartridge. It cannot be beat.
L to R: .223 Rem, .17 Rem, .17 Fireball, .17 Hornet, .17-5.56 KAK
Case Availability and Forming:
As addressed above, the .17-5.56 KAK cartridge comes from KAK Industry as ready to shoot as any other manufactured brass available today. Meaning, you receive your converted brass, set your dies and resize with one pull of the handle. After that, your .17-5.56 KAK brass is ready to load! Cases are available from KAK Industry in cartons of #100 and #200, with a price of $35.00 and $70.00 respectively. Not only that, but you can create your own brass by following the instructions made available by Cody from KAK Industry (Link to YouTube Video).
Handloading for the .17-5.56 KAK Cartridge:
KAK Industry states that you can use the maximum book loads for the .17 Remington as starting loads in the .17-5.56 KAK cartridge.
We developed sub .5″ loads or better with powder ranging from 4198- Ramshot Tac in correlation to the burn range data. Base loads can be worked up from 17-223 and 17 Remington load data for a base load. While using 20 gr bullets, and even faster with 15.5 gr. Velocities from 4200-4600 (18″ version, TBD 21″ version) fps depending on charge and bullet weight is what we found to be optimal with this barrel.
They also provide load data for various powders that they have tested. I have found this information to be beneficial for those who are new to handloading for this .17 caliber centerfire. Typically, with any other “wildcat” cartridge, you will be testing and retesting until you find a load that works for your cartridge. Since KAK Industry developed and tested this in-house, they were able to gather their testing information and publish this data:
I personally used the load data for my .17 Remington as a starting point and increased my charge from there. IMR4198 (not to be confused with H4198) has been my go-to powder for my Remington Model 700 chambered .17 Remington for 30 years. It works so well in that rifle, that I felt it would be perfect for the .17-5.56 KAK cartridge. Although I was not getting the extreme velocities some of the other powders offer, my loads are very accurate and still VERY fast! I shot the Hornady 25 grain HPs (now discontinued) and the Hornady 15.5 grain NTX (lead free) projectiles. Berger recently announced that they are producing the 25 grain HPs again, so you can add those amazing projectiles to the mix, as well. It’s going to be a very interesting fall-winter-spring for anyone shooting this cartridge.
Hornady 25 Grain HP Velocity
Hornady 15.5 Grain NTX Velocity
With any type of handloading, pay attention to your brass and primers while working up loads. Always wear hearing, eye and hand protection as well. Depending on the cartridge being fired, AR15 rifles have a lower maximum pressure than a traditional bolt-action rifle, so keep that in mind as well. I ran into no pressure issues at the loads I was testing and would feel comfortable going higher on my charges, if I so choose.
Final Thoughts on the .17-5.56 KAK Cartridge:
Although these will not technically be my “final” thoughts, I wanted to include my thoughts on the cartridge and its place in the small caliber world. In my life I have seen the release of so many small caliber cartridges, that it’s hard to remember all of them. Every one that has been released has the typical marketing fanfare about how it is the greatest cartridge to ever be released (until the next one is released). However, I find that most of these cartridges are redundant and do not really etch a a place in the hierarchy of really unique cartridges. That being said, it always amazes me when a new small caliber cartridge is released that addresses all of the issues we have with the big releases. Well thought out design. Accurate, inexpensive and readily available barrels. Reloading dies from a company that prides itself on getting it right (in this case, Redding Reloading). Lastly, affordable reloading components that are available on the day of release! The .17-5.56 KAK from KAK Industry checks all of those boxes! If you haven’t experienced an accurate and fast .17 centerfire, now is the time to do so. Even if you already have a .17 centerfire, take a look at the .17-5.56 KAK. It has quickly become one of my favorite AR15 cartridges to hunt varmints and predators.
However, I find that most of these cartridges are redundant and do not really etch a a place in the hierarchy of really unique cartridges. That being said, it always amazes me when a new small caliber cartridge is released that addresses all of the issues we have with the big releases.
Editor’s Note:
Due to YouTube restrictions, we have had to break this Overview/Review into three segments. We will have a full overview of the KAK Industry .17-5.56 KAK chambered full AR15 rifle, as well as a hunt video using this same cartridge. That will feature the AGM Global Varmint LRF Thermal Optic on a depredation Jack Rabbit hunt. These will be published in about one week.
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