Home Forums Reloading Varmint Rifles .17 Remington on fur

Question for anyone who has done it...

I'm thinking of a .17 Rem for shooting fur, particularly the smaller stuff like fox and bobcat.

Is it "fur friendly"?

Yes, very.

Since the most commonly available bullets now are poly tipped 20 and 25 grainer you have to be more careful about staying off the shoulders or you may get a big hole. But shot through the ribs foxes will look like they went to sleep. If you can find any old stock 25 Hornady HPs snatch them up. They penetrate better with less chance of a splash IME.

Great choice and I have killed a lot of fur with mine. If you're primarily looking for fox and bobcats, consider a 17 Hornet, I think that will be my next calling rifle.

Tell me more...already got a .17 Rem on the way but its no problem to download it a tad to Hornet velocities...not much difference...

Worth the trouble? ( Thinking, as you said, fox and bobcats) Coyotes, not so much.

Also...bullet choice for fur?

Mr Ingwe, I hope your weather is better than up here in Canucka Stan. Never thought of you asking anyone a question about guns & calibers, wow!!! My preference is for the 17 fireball, fast, flat, very little noise. Good around buildings. Only uses a max of 21gr powder. I my self would use it instead of the 17hornet, better point blank range so not having to shoot over or under. Kill wise a bit better, mm maybe? In a pinch ok for coyotes . My thoughts only, good luck. When ya kill a few varmints with it let us know your opinion, I've only shot two coyotes & some ground hogs, squirrels. Bill out. 🐾👣🇨🇦

Had more than one tell me about the Fireball...but again, I already have a .17 Rem on the way...however I can download it to Fireball levels ( again not much difference) and I didnt go with Fireball cause brass is harder to come by and Ive heard of frequent feeding problems. A lot of what this will be used for is shooting at night, and I dont need the extra fumbling in the dark ( the reason a .222 is my current favorite for night shooting..)

Its gonna be awhile before it is up and gunning varmints. Heading to texas in a couple weeks with the .222 and a .223 but the 17 won't be near ready for this trip. Hoping to try it on fox up here maybe later this winter....or load it to the gills for a coyote...

I cannot speak to fox and bobcats with a 17 Remington but I killed a couple of truckloads of coyotes with a 17 Remington before I moved to Alaska. I have a new one in the works and it should be coming home soon. It's a Charles Daly left handed mini Mauser with a Pacnor barrel. It's at MPI getting a stock and cerakoted.

I shot most of my coyotes with the Hornady 25 grain HP. I used some of the Remington 25 grain bullets back in the early 90's but got inconsistent terminal performance. The Hornady bullets always worked flawlessly and the only time I ever experienced any fur damage was if I made a fringe hit. I don't ever recall a chest shot exiting but the effect was like shutting off the coyote's switch.

If I had to be limited to one fur rifle the rest of my life, it would be a 17 Remington.

Good to know! And good to hear!

Ive heard the same thing about those Hornady HPs


I'll look for them, and barring that I'll try their plastic tipped jobs!

I can send you some 25hp's to try.....
It's nearly XMas.
Let me know when you return from the far south.

Will do Dan, thanx!

Let me know if your trip to TX brings you through OKC.

I’ll second this, except my experience isn’t as many coyotes. Everything else pretty much the same.

For the lighter stuff “Fox & Cats “ the lighter plastic tips might be where it’s at or maybe just reduced velocity. There’s one way to find out.

The 17 Hornet might also make a good fur rifle for Fox & Cats.

not 'might', IS.....

The 17 Hornet would be the best choice for Fox and Bobcats. If using the 17 Rem. (like I do) then Chan Nagels 25gr, Reeds Ammo 25 or 26gr., or Black Hole Bullets in 25gr. Any of these 3 companies bullts will work. To chose one it would be the Nagels 25gr.
IMR4320 or IMR8208 powder with Rem 7 1/2 primers are excellent for the 17 Rem. The Rem 7 1/2 primers were developed for the 17Rem. IMR4320 is the go to powder.
I'm sure this is not new information for you.
The old Berger25gr. "Match" bullets was the go to bullet, but Berger quit making them and only do the 25gr. Varmint. I would not use the Varmint bullet although it may work ok on Fox.

Tom, have fun in Texas!!

I've been shooting 17tn's for quite a long time. 17 Hornet, 17 Bee and 17 Remington,
Sorry to say I've had no experience with the Fireball, The Bee and Hornet have been very good on fox and cats. Fringe hits as usual make you get out the needle and thread.

I've had mixed results with the 17 Remington with 25 grain Hornady HP, V Max and Remington Hp's as far as being easy on soft critters. My experience on fox as almost exclusively been Kit fox so big difference between them and grey's or red's.

Nice thing is that USUALLY if you keep them in the ribs on fox and cats they are pretty eason on fur but you know as well as I do that broadside shots are always nice, they aren't the rule.

In my opinion you might just be on the right track with the slower .224's with tougher bullets. Are you finding that they are not as effective as you would like, too destructive, poor trajectory?

On the other hand, everyone should have several centerfire 17'ns.

Thanks! Great info! I'll probably try it loaded down to FB levels with maybe a 20 grainer..I dont know yet, but I like screwing with this stuff, so I have something new to play with.

Over the year I've had several Rem 700BDL's chambered in .17 Remington all of which have accounted for 100's of Foxes. I've only ever used one load - 25gn Hornady HP and 23.7gns Varget for 3950fps (out of my current rifle) At that velocity pelt damage on body shots only occurs about 5% of the time.

More good info! Thanks guys.



And in answer to your question on slower .224s yes, Im very happy with the results ( which makes no sense with me trying new to me stuff like the .17 Rem...but Im a rifle whore....) Anyway, Ive found a well constructed bullet going out the muzzle at the magic number of 2600fps or even a touch less is the ticket. Most of my predator hunting is at night, and the longest shot I can remember taking was maybe 150 yards, so trajectory really isn't a factor . The concept is effective and easy on the fur. Best results so far are with 60 grain NBTs and 55 gr. Speer Gold dots. Also had good luck with basic Hornady 50 and 55 Gr. Soft points at those speeds. Had one coyote take a gold dot smack in the chest last year and he took off..I was wondering WTF? when he decided to crumple up about forty yards away...Otherwise I dont think Ive had any critters go for than a few feet.. Fur damage minimal at worst, and in many cases I had to search for the entrance and exits...not readily apparent.

Excellent! Thanks for that! I am mainly shooting grey fox here in the states, smaller than your reds so I might lighten the load a tad...we shall see..

What rifle did you order?