.17 fireball

M

midogman

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Anybody shot one of these yet i think i might get one in the spring but i would like to know if someone has one or if there is anything bad about it specifically would it reliably take coyote sized game?
 
I have two and they seem to have trouble holding great accuracy after 10 or 15 rounds. If you can reload a 25 gr bullet or larger for the .17 FB is should work well for predators. Not with the current 20gr loading! The .17 Rem is much better in my opinion.

Lots of folks on here seem to be having great luck with accuracy. I am having trouble getting them to shoot well with reloads. Will continue to work on them.
 
So whats the diffrence in performance from the 17 FB and the 204? Other then the obvious diffrences in size of round/ caliber. How does it work on a coyote? I have shot 4 coyotes with my 204 and 32 gr VMax and was not impressed. I was thinking of buying a 17 FB but don't need it if they are going to run off. Thanks
 
Per the Remington web site : The 20 Gr bullet from the Fireball has 247 ft/lb of energy at 300 yards. The 32 Gr bullet from the 204 Ruger has 500 ft/lb of energy at 300 yards. When sited in at 150 yards the 20 gr bullet is -3.3 inches low at 250 yards and the 32 gr bullet is - 2.7 inches low at 250 yards. About the only thing I shoot is prairie dogs so there is no problem about clean kills. If I were to hunt coyotes I would load up some 25 gr bullets in the 17 Fireball and 39 gr bullets in the 204. A lung shot should drop any Yote out to 300 yards. I shoot a Rem 700 CDL SF 17 Fireball and a Ruger 77 Target Gray 204 Ruger. I can count on 6/10th of a inch 100 yard groups from both rifles. But I did adjust the trigger on the Rem rifle down from five pounds to 2 3/4 pounds and free float the barrel. The Ruger was a good shooter out of the box. There are a lot of 204 Ruger fans at www.rugerhunting.com
 
Midogman, If you search back about 2 weeks ago I had a post "17 Remington Fireball (got mine)" In that post you will see 2 pictures of groups that my 700 SPS 17 furball shot. Accuracy is unbelievable, especially with the factory shells. My reloads are doing good so far, but still haven't gotten the accuracy of the factory loads. I have an even better target that I haven't taken a picture of yet. My gun shoots the 20 VMAX better than the 25 Hornady HP. The 25 are under 1" though. I talked with C.E. Nagel this week and will soon be ordering some of his 25 grain to try. I want to shoot the 25gr. because here I have coyote,bobcat,fox, and groundhog.

I admit that the 17 Rem. is probably a better cartridge, but I love this little gun. I have never had so much fun reloading and shooting a cartridge as this one.
 
I bought the Limited Edition CDL and I was VERY impressed with accuracy out of the box with factory ammo. It is shooting about 3/4" at 100 yds.
 
For reliable kills from the 20 caliber, minimum bullet in my opinion woiuld be 35 gr berger hp. When put were it should be put, it'll put the coyote down...
Same for the 17 Furball aka 17 Mach-IV.. use the 25 grain hornady hp, put it in the right spot within 250 yds or so and they won't run off!!

It's all about shot placement with any small caliber bullet.. They seem to kill from fragmentation of bullet more so than total shock effect you can acheive with the larger caliber bullets..(ie knock down)

No bullet will stop anything in its tracks if not put in a vital area..All animals have pass thru zones from witch a hit may cause death, just not immediately..

Later
DF2
 
I think that you would do just fine with the 17 Furball and a good bullet on dog size animals. The 20 grain Vmax and the like are sure killlers on targets the size of prairie dogs and similar sized animals, and I am sure would drop a coyote in his tracks if you were to slip one of those tiny pills in between his ribs BUT, we cant always have those perfect shots. So use a heavy enough sturdy enough bullet, put it in the right place, and I think that you will do very well.
 
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Anybody shot one of these yet i think i might get one in the spring but i would like to know if someone has one or if there is anything bad about it specifically would it reliably take coyote sized game?


It all depends on the man behind the trigger and what load you are useing. I've been useing the Mach-4 version for years and it does fine on fox and will take down a called in coyote. The main thing to remember is the 17 does best when you push the bullet as fast as you can without looseing accuracy. The 30 would work but i feel a 25 gr. would be the best to use in the 17 F.B., get the vel up to 3800 and good to go...I tried some 20 gr. V-max a few years back in the 17 rem. and they don't do well on the coyotes, but a 20 gr. H.P. may just be the ticket...T.A.
 
Thanks guys, had one more question is remington the only gun man. chmbering for the fireball?Oh, and for the bullet weight recommendations are they factory loads or reloads that your tlking about.
 
midogman, I was talking about reloads that I am trying. The Remington 20 gr. AccuTips were the only available factory loads, but for 2008 Remington is loading a 25 gr. HP in their UMC line of ammunition.
 
The 17 fireball is a nice cartridge, but its no 17 remington. You can download a 17 rem to the fireball velocities. You will never make a fireball a 17 rem. The 17 remington is a better choice if your a handloader. CZ makes the 527 in 17 rem, I own the varmit version. As far as coyotes, many have fallen to this little pill. Just my opinion.
 
Any possibilities for 17 rem & 12 gauge combo gun, will try to find CZ website.I have become interested in a combo for coyote hunting.
 
Found the site but no rifle shotgun combos.If anyone has any ideas fill me in or will i need to go completely custom.One more ? anyone heard of a 6mm rimfire??? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif
 
You might wanna try reloading a Berger 25 gr. HP in the Fireball. They work very well in the 17 Remington.

I shoot lefty, and since no one makes lefty .17 Remingtons except Cooper, I'll prolly pick up one of the new Remington SPS Varmints in left hand as soon as I can find one. The 17 Fireball is simply a standardized version of the 17 Mach IV, and as such should be fine for coyotes. The 17 Fireball, while not reaching the top 17 Remington velocities, is a more efficient round in terms of velocity vis-a-vis powder used. I'm looking forward to having some fun with it.
 
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Thanks guys. I had some problems with my 204 with coyotes running off. All my shots are under a hundred yards and were solid hits with 32 gr VMax. I unfortunatly, lost all 4 of them. I was thinking about buying a 17 FB but had my doubts, Because, of this same thing. We shoot alot of PD's but I already have a couple HMR's. Think I'll just stick with those.
 
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Thanks guys. I had some problems with my 204 with coyotes running off. All my shots are under a hundred yards and were solid hits with 32 gr VMax. I unfortunatly, lost all 4 of them. I was thinking about buying a 17 FB but had my doubts, Because, of this same thing. We shoot alot of PD's but I already have a couple HMR's. Think I'll just stick with those.



We have had no trouble with coyotes dropping with a .204 You might want to entertain the 39gr BlitzKing bullets. They hit harder, and in our rifles they're a lot more accurate than the 32gr bullets.
 
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