I wouldn't even begin to try to tell you which one to get. However here is a short description of what I chose and why.
I love small calibers and have been shooting the seventeens for years. Back when virgin valley firearms was in business I had them make barrels for my contenders in 17 ackley hornet, and 17 mach IV. Both had 22� barrels that were light, fast and accurate. Two drawbacks,--single shot and with the original contender you have to open the action if you let the hammer down on an unfired round before you could re-cock the trigger.
For the last couple of years I�ve had the craving for a repeater in 17 mach IV. I have my share of heavy barreled varmint rifles and recently, I have been doing much more game calling and �walking varminting�. Most of my shots are 100 yds and under. I wanted a light rifle that would have a 22 � barrel and a synthetic stock and a repeater. I would mount a 2 x 7 up to a 3 x 9 scope. To my mind the mach IV with a 20 gr. bullet at 3800 to 4000 fps is a great varmint round.
Remington must have been reading my mind because they came out with their model 7 predator in 17 fireball. I couldn�t resist.
After reloading, shooting and bloodying this rifle I can say that I won't tell you that this is the perfect rifle. However, its hard to come up with the perfect rifle for $600+/-. The x-mark pro trigger is an improvement over the old triggers. It is plenty accurate for the type of hunting I do (low volume at 100 yds or less. Biggest negative is the feeding of shells from magazine to chamber. Mine has a tendency to jam on super fast cycling. At the bench when load testing with slow deliberate chambering it was no problem. In the field cycling for quick follow ups it can be a problem.
GWB