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

You know, I understand John Barsness having to dick with those sub-par cartridges because that's his job.

But the rest of you? Especially ingwe? He's been on this earth a century and a half, and he still uses a 20 cal? Good gravy.


Travis

The small caliber rifle is,for some of us( meaning NOT you...)a symbol of the confidence one has in his own ability, and precision.

Anything smaller than a .20 cal is just Freudian....

Most all of my shooting is at prairie dogs. Used a Sako 17 Rem ,22 LR RF and 22WMR untill I got 17 HM2, 17 HMR, 17 Fireball, and 204 Ruger rifles. So now the 22 RFs ,17 Rem, and 223 Rem are not used very much. But I will be tring out a Hornady 17 Hornet when a rifle comes out that I like.

Ditto.
Shows our ability to adapt and evolve......

I had to google that. My brain is rotted from shooting so many squirrels via .17 Rem. I decided my .204 was just too [bleep] to continue on in my presence.

Has anyone tried those .19 cal jobs made by the Calhoon gang up there in Havre? I need to decide if I want another play gun or not.

Disclaimer: My 204 is still in my ownership so just calm down and breath, its just that the 17 Rem is that much more badass and ....."better".

Yeah, I've shot a couple of .19 caliber rifles made by James Calhoon. They shot great! Light-recoiling, as you might expect, and his bullets are very accurate.

Theres a big fat soggy one waiting for you to smoke it in hell.....

If a guy went .19, a.i. Is a given?

This thread must be subtly getting to me...

I was out shooting sage rats last Wednesday and was actually feeling over gunned with a 223, 55 gr SPSXs and a load of 12 grains of Blue Dot...

was feeling either the 204 downloaded or even the 17 HMR was all I really needed...

Seafire

What velocity and how explosive are the old SPSX's on the dogs?


Sounds like a mild and non barrel heating setup, and my FIL had a bunch of the spsx's back when they were about $5 a box and he'll never shoot them... maybe I can move them to my bullet stash.


Thanks

Allen

Damnit Seafire! Take your Blue Dot schit elsewhere. This is a .17 Rem promotion thread.


Travis

SPSX's are hell on gophers and PD's. You need to steal those ASAP.


Travis

Guess I better mention mine, before I get banished from a fine thread..lol

I have a 17 rem Cooper that needs more fine tuning, or sent back for a look-see, as it doesn't shoot bugholes with the Magic Cooper recommended light load. My other is 17 Rem in a Dedicated Technology AR, which has shot better than the cooper.


I also have a NIB Rem 17 FB in a VSF ( Tan stock, Blue-fluted bull barrel), and tomorrow I get to handle it before the 10 day wait period begins.


These little pills play havoc on my Steel trap's backstop, so I have added a layer of plywood, rubber and am afraid to look but expect both to start the little pills expanding so I stop poking through the 1/4" armor plate Huey access door it burns holes through like a laser.


Would love any "works in all 17 remington's" load data to give the cooper a good try before heading east...


Allen

Seafire: I was out with my main local Ground Squirrel shooting partner a few days ago and we were into the Gophers BIG TIME!
I was on one swivel bench in the back of a Gator 6x4 shooting non-stop and my partner was in the back of his Toyota 4x4 swivelling about trying to keep up with me.
We each had several Rifles and a pistol apiece along.
My friend had a savage 222 Remington along and was "using up" some "ammo" he had made for it last year - the ammo consisted of 55 grain left-over bullets and a "reduced load" of powder for a muzzle velocity of around 2,000 F.P.S. (I learned these facts after THE impending incident!).
Anyway on about his 10th reduced load centerfire shot, through my ear protection I hear "ka-dud" instead of "ka-boom" from his direction!
I immediately yell out to my retired gunsmith friend "Don a dud" just as he was yelling "aw-damn"!
We both new where that bullet had stopped.
He put his savage away for later "maintenance"!
I do agree with your leaning toward using the 17 HMR but NONE of your inclinations to using downloads or squib loads - just NOT worth the risks involved.
Shoot safe and shoot often!
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

Hemiallen: I hope you will be as happy with your Remington 700 VSF in 17 Fireball as I have been with mine!
I bought my 700 VSF in early March of 2,007 and "had to" buy Remington 20 grain Accu-Tip factory ammunition for it at that time.
I mounted a Nikon 6.5x20 variable scope on it and headed for the range.
After a bit of barrel breakin and sight alignment my first two groups (5 shots at 100 yards) measured .533" and .586"!
I was thrilled with that performance from an all stock factory Rifle and factory ammo.
I eventually got enough brass to start handloading and settled on the Berger 25 grain MEF bullets and W 748 powder. Since settling on that loading I have not shot it a great deal at the range - virtually all the subsequent shooting has been at Colony Varmints.
My best handload grouping (5 shots at 100 yards) though to date has measured .470" on a dead calm morning.
I really like the VSF's stock and the feel/balance of the Rifle.
Again I hope you are as happy with your VSF as I am with mine.
My 3 Varmint Rifles in 17 Remington all use 25 grain Berger MEF bullets and either H 4895 powder or IMR 4320.
I unfortunately do not have a "magic" single loading for the 17 Remington Rifles.
I am sorry to hear you are having accuracy "issues" with your Cooper 17 Remington.
I hope it can be resolved one way or the other.
Keep us informed.
I do know that you are going to be pleasantly pleased with the efficiency and performance of the 17 Remington Fireball.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

Hemi, nice collection sir.

I got some load data for you. I will PM it to you later in the week. Has always shot well for me.


Travis