Home Forums Reloading Varmint Rifles 17 Remington Fireball

Has anyone seen one yet? Better yet, anyone shot one yet? What would it be compareable with? Would it be similar to the .204 in trajectory? Would it be effective on anything larger than prairie dogs? Trying to decide if its anything I might I want to look into. Just looking for opinions.

Look for info on the 17 MachIV, it's been around for years and is the same as the remington 17 fireball.

I have the 17 Mach 1V It shoots 20 and 25 grain Bullets I have not shot the 32 grain yet .
neat gun for some one like my self who just loves the small caliburs. It has great balistics , burns a small amount of powder I loaded tonight using 16 grains. I just play around with them on ground squrrils.
Any thing larger that you want shoot some one else will have answer. Bill

As mentioned above the 17 Fireball Is a near duplication of the17 Mach IV wildcat, that has been around since the mid 1960�s. Don�t get us wrong now. The ammunition is not designed to be interchangeable. The neck length and shoulder angle vary slightly between these rounds. Each cartridge offers muzzle velocity in the neighborhood of 4,000 FPS & are flat shooters out to 250 maybe 300 yards.

I have been eyeing this now legitimized Mach IV for some time now. The 17-Fireball muzzle velocity may be 5 to 10 percent slower than the 17 Remington. Primary advantage the Fireball (Mach IV) holds over its larger brother is burning less powder (aprox. half the propellant). Thus one should experience less barrel heat and reduced fouling of the bore.

Varmenters have liked the 17 calibers for its minimal pelt damage on varmints as large as coyotes. A 204 ruger will no doubt offer more destruction than the 17 Fireball. The 204 will also offer a flatter shooting bullet (400 to 500 yards). Given the greater BC the popular 32 to 40 grain 20-caliber pills. The 20's will retain Velocity & energy for considerable more distance than the smaller lighter 17 offerings.

So if one is finding a need to hunt in a more urban setting, the 17 may actually offer an advantage, in the quieter report & reduced range of its small yet deadly projectile. If your hunt is taking place in more open areas and you don�t mind a little more destruction, the 204 may better suit your needs. And if inexpensive ammo is important to you, a 223 may be better yet.

I seen one yesterday in an ugly sps. Neat little shell but I hate Rem brass, so I'm going to pass it up for a while.

The 17 Remington Fireball factory rounds chamber and fire perfect in my 17 mach IV Sako. I chambered a CZ 527 with a 17 CZ barrel today for the new round. Mach IV reamer and 17 Remington Fireball factory round for setting headspace. The two cases are so close to the same I can't measure any difference. The mach IV normally has no freebore. I think the Remington chamber has a long throat. Love those 17s. I have 6. Kenny