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Joined: May 2012
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Recently bought a Rem 700 in 17 Fireball. Was keen to try H4895 because I always have it in bulk but Hodgdon / ADI don’t list anything slower than 8208. I’m using the 25g Vmax.

As the max load listed with the 25g Vmax for 8208 was 19g, I reckoned on 18g of the slower H4895 as being a safe starting point. Load density appears somewhere about 90-95%.

My Fireball has a 20” barrel (since I lopped it from 24”). With a CCI400 primer this load averaged around 3550fps. Accuracy was outstanding, better than with the other powders I tried ie H4198 and H322.

I have no way of determining pressure but it seems a very mild load. I believe with a 24 inch barrel this load would develop around 3650 to 3700fps.

I don’t think I’ll push this load any higher because accuracy is great and I can’t see much advantage in driving it faster.

Thought I’d share this for anyone thinking of trying H4895 in the Fireball.

BP-B2

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Thanks Bob. I'll give that one a go.


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Cliff,

ya got a 17 Fireball... I always wanted to find one of those
but they have eluded me... found them but the budget was lacking
at the immediate moment.. go back two weeks later and its gone.

I just need to rebarrel something instead.. not like I don't have a candidate
or two hanging around...

heck, even have the reloading dies and brass for it..
as I was reloading the round for an old veteran friend, who had one
in a TC break open...rechambered from a 17 HMR.


"Minus the killings, Washington has one of the lowest crime rates in the Country" Marion Barry, Mayor of Wash DC

“Owning guns is not a right. If it were a right, it would be in the Constitution.” ~Alexandria Ocasio Cortez

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Seafire, I reckon one of the Howa Minis would be a sweet conversion to the 17 Fireball. I thought about going that way but this came up and was too good to miss at the price with dies, cases, bullets and some other bits and bobs.

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yeah Bob, I have a couple of Howa Minis.. would want a heavier barrel than they came with from the factory., but not by much.

Where you bobbed your barrel off by 4 inches, I would prefer the 24 inch barrel as it would be an open country used rifle.

I did like the balance of the Remington Predator....but also my varmint rifles, I single shoot them anyway for the type of varminting we do here in Oregon., so I may go with a barrel on a Ruger 77 Mk 2....

If it was factory, my preference would have been a 17/222....

cheers and best regards.
seafire


"Minus the killings, Washington has one of the lowest crime rates in the Country" Marion Barry, Mayor of Wash DC

“Owning guns is not a right. If it were a right, it would be in the Constitution.” ~Alexandria Ocasio Cortez

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I ended up with one at an auction, John. It was new and unfired, The Remington 700 SPS with a heavy barrel and the green plastic stock. I had my smith adjust the trigger and it actually shoots pretty darn well. I need to run some more factory rounds through it and then begin loading for accuracy.


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I purchased a 17 FB when they first came out, a R700 SPS with 26" barrel which like bobnob17 I shortened to 21". Settling on 15.5 grains of IMR 4198 gave me 3600 fps with 25 gr VMAX. Had a small supply of the 25 gr HP at the time and I sure wish they still made those as they were very accurate from my rifle. Mach IV data being the only available info at the time, I ran 13.5 gr of IMR 4227 at 3500 fps for good accuracy with the VMAXs as well.

My gun from the manufacturer had a burr just inside the chamber that left a small 1/32nd of an inch long gouge in the cases at the pressure ring area. I never ruptured a case and it never impeded function or accuracy so I just left it. Found a 17/222 reamer on clearance from PT&G shortly after and nabbed it up for a future build, that was 10 years ago and that build is still future.

When ever I get the itch I throw the 17 FB back together. A great fur caliber for sure but with less than ideal shot angles I've lost a few dogs using it, so I tend to stick with 50-55 gr SXs/VMAXs in the 222 or 55-60 gr SPs/VMAXs in the 223.


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CWM I know what you mean as a fur calibre.

The first animal I took with it about a week or so ago was a big fat rabbit facing away from me at 255y. The 20g Varmageddon took him right in the centre of the back and he rolled over stone dead.

No exit, and just a tiny entrance wound. Inside was of course complete mush. Amazing to someone that’s never shot anything below 22cal.


Just to compare notes with your IMR4198 load, 15.5g of H4198 with the 25g Vmax gave about 3480fps from the 20” bbl.

My observations on the barrel chop was for 4” less barrel I lost about 150fps with the 20g bullet and about 120fps with the 25g Vmax.

Cheers.

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Brief update...

I wrote to ADI and asked them about H4895 (called AR2206H here) in the Fireball. Their response was non committal but not discouraging...

Thank you for your enquiry of 26/6/2018 with regard to reloading using ADI Sporting powders.
Please find attached our latest test load data for .17 Remington Fireball.
You may be able to develop a load for this cartridge with AR2206H however you would have to undertake your own experimental load development. We do not have any test load data for .17 Remington Fireball with AR2206H as it is considered too slow burning for optimal performance in this cartridge.
Extreme caution should be taken and loads should be worked up accordingly. Refer to our website at www.adi-powders.com.au or our 9th edition handloaders’ guide for more information, warnings and reloading safety
.

In the meantime I just took the rifle to double check zero at 125y, at which range I wanted to have it printing 2.4 inches high. The groups at left and right are the 25g Vmax with H4895, the lower centre group is the 20g Varmageddon with H4198.

[Linked Image]

I adjusted the zero up between the far left group and the far right. Pretty pleased with this accuracy with H4895 given my coarse bench rest skills and apparatus. About 0.45MOA.

Not so thrilled with the H4198 accuracy but that particular group was larger than usual. Nice that they print to roughly the same spot though.

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I like 4895 in my 223s and 20p, but those sticks can be a PITA. how are you throwing consistent loads and getting them to drop in a 17 neck? FWIW I settled on TAC for my fireball and 4320 for my 17 Remington.

Last edited by bbassi; 06/29/18.

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Im just throwing into a pan then through a 17 calibre funnel into the case. One extra step but still quick and fuss-free.

Can’t get TAC here else I’d love to try that one. But the H4895 is good enough for what I’m doing.

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Very interesting, Bobnob17. Thanks for sharing your data. I'd never have guessed. I've had excellent results from both 4198's in Fireball and MachIV. Prefer moly-coated bullets in the 17's, seated just at the lands. Of late, I've been using Midsouth and Varmageddon 20's moly coated and shooting TiteGroup 4.5-6.5 gr to duplicate the various rimfire 17's. They are even more accurate than the full power stuff for me.


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Thanks HnS that’s interesting too. I have wondered about replicating some HMR loads. Now I have a starting point. Thanks again.

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Benchmark is another good 17 Fireball powder. If I recall correctly I got around 4000 FPS with 19.5 g and a 20gr bullet out of a 24inch barrel. Thanks for the results with 4895.

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playing around today. Love this little pea shooter.

[Linked Image]


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But the time. You don't get that back.

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Bbasi: Great shooting there!
That grouping makes me want to try those 20 grain Hornady V-Max bullets in my heavy barrel 17 Remington Fireball (and in my custom Varmint Rifle in caliber 17 MachIV).
Checking my loading log it appears I have not tried 20 grain bullets in any of my 17 caliber centerfire Varminters.
Very few Rifles/caliber combinations provide as much satisfaction/fun as a heavy barreled 17 Remington Fireball in a good colony of Ground Squirrels!
Thanks for sharing.
Hold into the wind
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Nice shooting bbassi! Did the 25 grain shoot as well?


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Originally Posted by OSU_Sig
Nice shooting bbassi! Did the 25 grain shoot as well?

no - they grouped almost twice the size of the 20s .... whistle


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Originally Posted by bbassi
Originally Posted by OSU_Sig
Nice shooting bbassi! Did the 25 grain shoot as well?

no - they grouped almost twice the size of the 20s .... whistle


ya oughta do like Schtick does...

shoot a target at 25 yds with one shot.. then claim it was 10 shots at 1000 yds with his new 'Krunchenticker' ( what ever that means) and his new Super Chicken, custom made just for him....

all ya need is that and a picture of a caught fish and your rifle laying in the stream in the background...

it sure motivates Stumpy's campfire groupies....


"Minus the killings, Washington has one of the lowest crime rates in the Country" Marion Barry, Mayor of Wash DC

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Nice.

I could never get mine to shoot that way.


I am MAGA.
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