I mostly use my .17 Hornet on ground squirrels and prairie dogs, but didn't use the .17 Fireball very much on anything larger either--though on the occasions I have found they work pretty much the same.
One of the major factors in performance in the past 20-some years has been plastic-tipped bullets. In small calibers they not only shoot considerably flatter but drift less in the wind, enough that both effects are easily observable to anybody who uses both on the same days beyond 150 yards. And when they hit stuff, plastic-tips kill far better. Dunno what you were using in your .17 Ackley Hornet, but would bet they were mostly hollow-points, which limit performance considerably.
I don't run the .17 Hornady Hornet hot, just use the standard powders with standard data. It's SAAMI maximum average pressure is 50,000 PSI, and with published data and 20-grain Hornady V-Maxes or Nosler Tipped Varmageddons my rifle gets around 3650 fps--just about like factory ammo. Sighted in an inch high at 100 yards, holding dead-on works to 250 yards, and a head-high hold on standing ground squirrels or PD's works at 300. Either bullet kills very well out to that range, and sometimes lifts them a foot or two.
During the five or so years I used the .17 Fireball considerably with the same bullets at 4000 fps, I killed prairie dogs out to 600, but I was far more into "expensive" dogs back then. Toward the end of those five years I regarded the .17 Fireball as a reliable 300-yard prairie dog round, switching to something bigger for longer ranges.
But I also eventually realized that very few people can consistently hit prairie dogs much beyond 300, and then only when the wind is very calm--and it rarely is in prairie dog country. In fact have shot PD's with several world-record benchrest shooters, big-time military snipers, and successful long-range target competitors, and have yet to shoot with anybody who hits PD's more often than they miss in typical wind conditions beyond 300. In calm conditions its possible to hit more than miss well beyond 500 yards, but those conditions are unusual. Most people only count hits and forget the misses.
