Home Forums Reloading Varmint Rifles .17 Remington or .17 Remington Fireball "?'s"

looking for thoughts, comments, experiences with either or both.
The good the bad the ugly as well as preferences.

Looking to use it for close up song dogs, Rock Chucks and Gophers.

I have owned and loaded for two 700's and two T/C barrels in .17 Rem.

I do not see any advantage to the Fireball as all the Rem's I've shot, shot very well at reduced speeds.

Once you spend some time with one in the field, it's hard to be without one.


Travis

Agree with Travis.

My main calling rig is a Sako 75 Hunter in .17 Rem. I absolutely love the 17 Rem and never really saw the need for the FB. The FB is dying out somewhat from what I've read.

The new .17 Hornet has piqued my interest though.

Travis,

Still own the 700's?

typically does the stock remmy .17's have a tendency for accuracy?

Any particular pills the prefer? Load data just so I can get a feel for it?

I'm headed this direction cause more often than not working around the ranch there's a 200 yardish opportunity on a varmint... seems a waste to be hammering them with the 6.5-06 or the 260 rem.

I have a close friend that shoots a 17 Fireball in a 700 Remington. The gun is very accurate using 25 gr. Vmax at 3700 fps. I watched him shoot 37 chucks with it early this week, most in the 200 yard range. I was very impressed with the gun.

I saw a 700BDL in 17 Rem for sale yesterday, first one I had
seen in a very long time. Didnt check the price though.

I need a .17 Fireball. I think it's a much better choice than a .17 Hornet. Hornet is very thin brass and takes more care when reloading to keep from crushing. The .17 Fireball can be loaded down to .17 Hornet speeds and loaded up to within a few feet of a .17 Rem. Much more efficiant cartridge than the .17 Rem. Just my personal thoughts and 2 cents worth.

I'm starting to wonder if the .204 Ruger might be a better choice?

Cocadori

The one thing about the 17 fireball, is the lack of quality in the brass. My good friend has culled at least 20% of the Remington brass for the 17 Fireball. There were vertical cracks in the necks along with horizontal cracks on new unfired brass. In fact one of the cases did not have a flash hole. I am not sure the Hornet brass will be able to handle high pressure.

My go to varmint gun is a 204 with the 32 Vmax bullet. I usually limit distances on chucks to 300 yards.

FredWillis,

How recently did he buy his brass? I've had a .17 Fireball for a few years now and have purchased two lots of brass with no problems.

Cocadori,

I have quite a few varmint rifles, including a .17 Fireball and .17 Remington, but if limited to one chambering would probably pick the .204. It has noticeably more zap than either .17, and I can still see the bullet hit through the scope even in a sporter. The .17 Remington seems to jump a little more, even with 20-grain bullets, but that may be due to stock design. The .17 is an original 700 BDL and the .204 a newer 700 with a straight-combed synthetic stock.

I like the .17 Fireball a LOT for gophers and prairie dogs, as the recoil is almost non-existent and yet it still shoots laser-flat to 250-300 yards.

He bought it within the past year. He sent the culls in to Remington and they sent him a check for $60. He purchased 200 rounds and 40 were deficient.

I also have a .204 and I really like it. Good cartridge. But, I don't have a .17 and I "need" one. I think if I'd have got a bunch of brass that bad I'd have taken it back.

I should have explained further.The problems were all with the necks. It looked to me like the copper/zinc mixture might have been screwed up. Part of the cases had crackles (cracks) in the necks. It looked like laminations. Many of the cases split the necks on the first firing and as I reported earlier, some were already split. He bought the initial 200 rounds thru an old Sportsmans Warehouse, now called Discount Sports. In fact, he did take the cases back and they told him to send them to Remington. After Remington received them, they called my friend and said those cases should never have been past thru inspection.

I have owned and loaded for various varmint cartridges.
I have alot of rimfires from all the normal to hm2 and 5mm.

If I had to pick 1 it would be a 17hm2 in rimfire and a 17 Fireball for center fire.
Now, if I was coyote killing alot, like 'flave probably is, I would go 204.

In your question though, sticking to small varmints, I say fireball for
NO recoil, very low noise, does not heat the barrel, 17 Rem. speed, reasonable to reload,
(almost HMR per round price, if you get good brass life) great flying squirrel aerobics, dead flat shooting, most efficient 17 and GREAT brass in all I've bought and reloaded.

My Fireball is the 1st rifle I load in the truck for sage rats.

I'm a big fan of the 17 fireball for p-dogs and smaller varmints. When the primary quarry are coyotes, a 223 AI comes along for the ride.

I've owned a M700 in .17 Rem since high school. It is my absolute go-to coyote rifle. I must caution though, do NOT use the 20 grain V max on coyote. For smaller critters it is fine but it just won't hold together good enough for coyotes, especially at calling ranges.

The 25 grain Hornady HP however, is a coyote splattn' SOB. I've killed coyotes from litterally shooting off the hip range to 500+ yards with that rifle and bullet. Zero problems with chest shots.

FredWillis,

Thanks for the clarification on the .17 Fireball brass.

Just because your friend got a batch that "shouldn't have passed inspection," however, is no reason to condemn the .17 Fireball. As I stated earlier, I've obtained two different batches of new brass since getting my rifle maybe 3-4 years ago, and have also used about 200 rounds of factory ammo. Have had zero brass problems. A friend who has a .17 Fireball has had the same experience, so it appears your friend's batch was indeed an aberration.

I've also had a couple people tell me how terrible .221 Fireball brass is. Same deal. I've purchased 3 different batches over the past few years with zero problems, while they purchased one batch and did.

I sold the BDL, but I still have the LVSF. They both shoot lights out.

The load I just cannot get away from is 25gr Bergers, IMR 4320, and the ol' Remington 7 1/2. Those Bergers shoot great, expand well on on PD's and gophers, and they are great dog killers.


Travis

Travis,

What sort of velocity are you getting from the 25 Bergers?

I've been playing with them and Ramshot Big Game, partly because that powder appears to match the case capacity very well, and partly because it's a temp-stable ball powder that meters oh-so-nicely through the little neck. So far the results are very promising, but haven't finalized a load yet. Probably one more range session will do it.