Been wanting a .17 for a few years. My thoughts are to buy a lefty Remington SPS in .223 and have a new barrel in .17 Fireball installed. Don't need the speed of the .17 Remington. Would consider a lefty CZ in .204 as a donor but they seem to be rarer than hens teeth these days and they also cost more. Ruger's American? Just don't know that much about them or if they would be good choice to start from.

Any and all ideas would be appreciated.

I have one of Remington's original right hand heavy - barreled SPS .17 Fireballs and, except for having to send it back a year ago for the trigger recall, it's been a great rifle. It and a T/C Encore with an MGM barrel in .17 Fireball are my go-to's for groundhogs, fox, and coyote. I love the Fireball.
I shoot the SPS lefty by the way.

I just picked up a Ruger Hawkeye in 204 ruger for $499 from CDNN. It could be a possible donor for you.

You might consider a lefty Zastavas 223 and a rebarrel. That's what i did for mine. I believe there is is and ejection timing issue with using a Remington 700 223 and going to a 221/17 Fireball. I could be mistaken on that but I seem to remember reading that somewhere and it may have been here.

Here is a link to a Charles Daly (Zastavas) left handed barreled action for a pretty fair price.

lefty barreled action

I have three of the Charles Daly actions and have had PacNor barrel two of them. One is a 17 Remington and the other a 6mmx222 which I had stocked by MPI. I haven't stocked the 17 yet but it's on the to do list. They make a trim little rifle.

Forgot about the Ruger Hawkeyes, thanks. I had good luck with Rugers in the past and made two in 9,3x62's, a 35 Whelen, and a .338 Win Mag.

Zastavas? Never again. The last one I sold unfired to another member here had a barrel so loose he could unscrew it by hand. When you add in the ugly stocks that need a total rework they are even a worse "bargin". If you guys like your Zastava's more power to you.

Sorry I brought it up.

Buy the 700 223 and install a Lilja Barrel and chamber to 17 Rem and you will have the best.

My LH 700 in 17 Rem .

well the plan to get a lh 700 and rebarrel is a good one except for the cartridge you chose. the 700's in 17 fireball,221 fireball and 300 aac blackout all use a different bolt than the 223. the ejector is different because the short cases had problems, not counting the mag box diffences. in 17 rem it would work fine. not a whole lot out there for a left handed repeater.

How does the 17 perform when loaded down to 3500 fps or so?

a 17 caliber bullet at 3500 fps doesn't know how it got there, be it from the 17 rem, a 17-32 jet or some other cartridge, the terminal ballistics will be the same on target. as to the characteristics of loading the 17 rem to that level, I cant answer that as I never tried it and I don't have one anymore.

Lefty / Righty !

If'n you don't need a Repeater the Ruger #1 can be used in any caliber . Just rebarrel & use a 223 Extractor .

Mine has been a success with a Douglas XX BBL chambered in 17/223 @ 4400 fps or less on occasion .

Rich

I understand what you are saying. My concern is that some times a cartridge shows its best accuracy at higher pressures. However, I have never loaded for any 17 before so seeking wisdom from those who have.

That is incorrect - the .17 Fireball, .221 Fireball, and .221 Fireball-based .300 AAC Blackout all use the same 0.378" boltface as the .223 Remington.

Snowwolfe,

A CZ, Rem. 700, Savage 10 or 11, or Ruger American are all decent platforms. The Savage is economical and has the Accu-Trigger. Ruger Americans are also economical but I don't have any personal experience with them.
I've shot a buddy's CZ and it just screams quality but costs twice as much as the other rifles mentioned.

If you're open to the idea, the Savage Custom Shop could assemble a LH walking varminter in .17 Hornet (25gr. bullet@3515fps).

George

George, they do have the same bolt face but according to Jim Kobe:

"If you go with the fireball, you will need a fireball action. The ejector pin is repositioed to eliminate ejector problems. If you use a standard 223 action, on ejection, the case will drop off and stay in the loading port"

I am leaning towards a Rem 700 but am open to whatever comes on the used market at a good price. Who knows, this might be a good excuse to purchase another Cooper:) Or I might get lucky and find one of the lefty Rem 700's built in 17 Fireball.

I defer to Jim's experience, but the .17 Mach IV (essentially the same cartridge as the .17FB) never had problem with ejection in the 700.

FWIW, I have a Kimber of Oregon .17 Remington, a Cooper Varminter .17 Mach IV, and a Savage 93 .17HMR. IF I was to get another .17, it'd be the .17 Hornet as it is economical: 20gr. bullet over 12.0grs. of AA-1680 gives ~3600fps.

George

The Cooper is never a bad choice. I have a LH Kimber and really like it. Another option might be a NULA 20B.

Just bought a couple hundred of the Lehigh Controlled Chaos bullets. I hope they work well on coyotes and small deer. They are CNC machined and should be plenty accurate. Haven't tried anything other than the 25 grain bullets before. An 18 gr. bullet at around 4,500 fps should do impressive things.

4,500 fps= SONIC

My 17-223 Does 4400

Lookin' forward to hearin how those bullets shoot

Rich

700 action and the .17 Remington.



Travis

Just fine. But you'll never load it that slow after you shoot it.



Travis

Part of me is tempted to buy a right hand CZ 527 Varmint in 17 Hornet. The CZ costs about $650 compared to buying a SPS Varmint for $600, then another 300 for the barrel and 350-400 in gunsmithing charges. Rifle will mostly be used for shooting crows off my new back porch or off the bench so maybe a RH makes some sense.

Update. Decided to stay with the left hand platform as I should and bought a left hand 700 SPS Varmint in .223 from Buds. Am going with the 17 Remington but now need to decide on a barrel and a gunsmith.

Cancelled the order. I just can't justify the expense of the rifle, barrel, and gunsmith fees.
Doubt the rifle will ever be shot past 200 yards, 100 is more likely. And since most of the shots will be from the bench decided to stay with a right hand CZ Varmint in 17 Hornet.

For shots between 100-150yds., get a Savage 93 .17HMR. I have slain hundreds of prairie dogs with mine.

It will provide a lot of fun for under $300.

George

George,
Had a 93 and sold it due to feeding issues. I do own a 17 HRM Cooper LVT and while it is very accurate those tiny bullets get blown off course pretty easy.
I am going to give the 17 Hornet a try. Besides, its a right hand so my wife can use it or it will be easy to sell if it doesn't appeal to me.
Randy

Solid, reasonable thinking on your part.

Good luck with the new rifle.

George

Just picked up another lefty CZ .223. Not sure what will happen to it but will make a good donor for something:)

Some ideas:

.17 Mach IV
.204 Ruger
.223 Ackley Improved on the same barrel
6mmTCU
6.5mmTCU
7mmTCU

George