Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters 17 Rem: Fireball versus Standard???

Thinking about getting a sporter-weight 17 caliber for prairie dogs, and fox and coyote calling.

Fireball versus Standard--which one and why?

Standard.

IMO the only reason to put up with any 17 is speed and miserly powder charges; the speed is first!

I'd say it's a wash because most .17 Rem's have to be backed off a bit for the best accuracy.

I'm sure there's .17's out there that shoot itty-bitty groups @ 4,200fps, I just haven't had one in my hands yet.


Travis

I have the Fireball. Never shot a 17 Rem. Fireball meets my needs.

What is the real world difference in velocity between the two rounds?

Do most find good results with high speed on the Standard, or does it need to be backed down anyway?

How well do they kill coyotes?

The Hodgdon data has .17 Remington loads that are 400 fps faster than the Fireball's. I don't know about accuracy, because I have only owned and loaded for a Fireball, and the only .17 Remingtons I've shot were somebody else's.

With my Fireball it's real easy to get 4000 fps or so (which is what Hodgdon lists) with the 20-grain Hornady V-Max with fine accuracy. That kills prairie dogs very well out to 350-400 yards, but doesn't put much of a hurt on 'em beyond that. I haven't shot anything bigger than PD's with mine, but suspect that one of those little bullets in the ribs wouldn't help a coyote much.

Has anyone used the 25 VMax much? Will it function and load easily in the Fireball?

What's a good 17 bullet for coyote?

The 25gr. V-Max is a good pill. Works dandy on coyotes and PD's.

I have switched to Berger recently simply because they shoot so damned well but before that it was the .25gr HP and V-Max.

I have never had luck with the .20 grainers but I think that was just my bad luck.


Travis

I've owned three .17 Remington's and loaded for and shot two others. All five had to be backed down to get the best accuracy. FWIW.

They [bleep] coyotes up.


Travis

130yds. No exit on a diagonal shot just in front of right shoulder.



73yds Quarter sized exit on broadside behind shoulder.

Grounds squirrels destroyed.

Fireball is pretty quiet.

Energy wise, I figure the Fireball is a reliable 200yd coyote gun.

How are you liking the Seven Predator? That's the one I'm looking at.

Do all the Remington Fireballs have a 9 twist?

What do I need to watch for with shooting and reloading?

Do they copper foul worse than 22 cals?

I can answer part of your questions with the experience from my rifle, the plainest grade pf synthetic-stocked 700 BDL.

The biggest problem I encountered in reloading was finding a powder that would flow into the tiny neck reliably. This turned out to be easy: Ramshot TAC flows very well, since it's a ball powder, and is just about exactly the right burning rate.

It also burns very cleanly and contains a de-coppering agent, so I didn't have much problem with my barrel fouling. Then I installed Ultra Bore Coat, and it hardly fouls at all. I've shot it hundreds of times without cleaning on prairie dog shoots, and it was shooting just as accurately at the end (5 shots in 1/2" or so) as at the beginning.

I have never measured the twist. Maybe I should! But I doubt Remington uses more than one twist rate.

Thanks. That sounds quite good. What's it do that my 223 cannot? [i.e. help me justify buying yet another rifle]

Don't try to justify it..just do it......

It will shoot flatter, and do less pelt damage to coyotes and such if that is your thing. Easier to watch the bullet make impact do to the even lesser recoil.

It's just plain fun to shoot, especially when you see the "Vapor trails" from the bullets. If used for a hunting rig, then I suggest the 17 Rem, if wanting to shoot log strings on prairie critters then a 17 FB. Less powder, less heat, less wear on barrel.

Basically the 17 FB does a little less than the 17 Rem with a little less powder.

I bought a 17 Fireball to use on fox.


I guess that's why I shot this one with a 6mm/223....

Kinda hard on the little grey reynard...

Bullet?

70gr Ballistic tip

I like it for prairie dogs partly because it kicks about like a .22 Hornet (much less than a .223 or even a .204) but shoots a LOT flatter. I sight mine in 1" high at 100 and just hold in the middle of dog out to 250 yards. At 300 (which is about as far as they can be hit consistently on most days) I hold right at the top of the dog.

Plus, it's cheap to run, almost as cheap as a Hornet. Bullets cost about the same, but the powder charge is a little more. I run 19.5 grains of TAC in the FB and 13.0 grains of Li'l Gun in the Hornet.

I have only shot one coyote with the 17 fireball, it was 220 yards broadside, hit just above the elbow and went down in his tracks. This was the 20 grain accu-tip, it did better than I expected. I have shot several praire dogs with it and I would agree that it doesn't seem to be as destructive as you would think given the velocity.