17 Remington or 17 Fireball

C

critter243

New member
I'm new here and this question may have already came up but I looked and did some searching and didn't really find the answers I was looking for both here and a general search on the net.

I have been tossing around buying a 17 caliber rifle and hand after research I have narrowed it down to eather a 17 Remington or a 17 FB. So I'm looking for opinions as to which may be the better cartridge for me. I have a Remington 700 short action receiver with a 223 bolt head collecting dust in my safe so this will be the start of my build.

I live in IL and will be using this mostly for ground hogs....squirrels....red fox and an occasional coyote. 100 yards or less but an occasional 150 plus may arise once in awhile. I have shot a 17hmr and fell in love with it right away but I reload and plan on reloading for a 17. I have been looking at bullets and want to keep it to 20 grains. So also please chime in barrel twist...bullet weights...load workups etc that wor for you.

Thanks in advance to all who reply.
 
Originally Posted By: 1badsheeIf you are reloading you could just go with the 17 practical and not have to deal with finding brass for the other two.

I have to admit that's not a bad idea. And if I were starting over today with a .17 centerfire that might be the road that I took. Might be.

But am a .17 Remington owner and shooter and have been since the late 70's and I have lots of brass for my gun. Even a few hundred rounds of factory R-P still in the bag for when I need it. Got it on sale (remember those days?) a few years ago and glad that I stocked up.

Most of the time I shoot my .17 Remmy at .17 FB speeds because 4000 FPS is plenty fast enough for me and the critters that I shoot. When I load down a bit my brass life I estimate to be twice as long as if I go full song with my loads. But knowing that I can get 4400 FPS out of those little 20 grain Vmax bullets if I want to (and sometimes I do want to) is nice. So in other words, it is easy to load the .17 Remington down to .17 FB (or even .17 HMR!) speeds but not the other way around. Yes, brass is a bit harder to find than the .223 is and more expensive when you buy it but that in itself would not put me off from buying one if that was what I was looking for.

I was just at the range a few days ago and was trying a load of 24 grains of IMR 8208 with the 20 Vmax and shot five shots into just over a quarter inch at 100 yards. Yes indeed, I was most pleased with that. I was using the CCI BR primer as my rifle seems to like those the best. I mostly shoot 23.5 to 24 grains of Varget with the same bullet and primer combo with pretty much the same results but I have to admit I may just use 8208 from now on if I can do that kind of shooting a few more times with it.

The .17 calibers do have their limitations. Hard to see your misses is one good one. That little BB diameter bullet dont kick up a lot of dust if you miss your target. Also, if you hit something the size of a prairie dog at ranges much past 400 yards dont expect to see the toss that you would get with a 22-250 or even a .223 but kill them on the spot it will do. Most certainly it will.

The gun is a bit harder to clean but not all much worse. Just a smaller rod and patches. And be careful with that coathanger wire sized cleaning rod as they are not as sturdy as the larger ones are. Just common sense there. And experience.
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I would be hard pressed to keep only my .17 Remington if I had to rid myself of all my varmint rigs but one. But I can tell you this, if I ever did have to start getting rid of them (God forbid!) that wonderful little .17 Remington certainly would not be the first to go.
 
I have both and I have found that both of my .17 Remingtons are most accurate at .17 Fireball velocities. So, that is what I do, and for a lot of the same reasons as Rustydust, but I use 25 grain bullets.
 
If you go with a FB you will have or could have ejection problems because of it not being a FB bolt. It can be helped by installing a sako style extractor. But it is not 100%. If I were you I would do a 17/223. That way you don't have to worry about expensive and sometimes hard to find brass. It is just a simple neck down of 223 bass and your good to go. It will feed just fine from the magazine. You will be just right between the remington and FB for speed. I have a FB and love it. My next AR is going to be a 17/223. Good luck with your build
 
Originally Posted By: deaddogwalkinIf you go with a FB you will have or could have ejection problems because of it not being a FB bolt. It can be helped by installing a sako style extractor. But it is not 100%. If I were you I would do a 17/223. That way you don't have to worry about expensive and sometimes hard to find brass. It is just a simple neck down of 223 bass and your good to go. It will feed just fine from the magazine. You will be just right between the remington and FB for speed. I have a FB and love it. My next AR is going to be a 17/223. Good luck with your build

Would I be wrong to assume that 1badshe's newly proclaimed "17 Practical" is the same as the much older 17-223 wildcat?
 
I have both, and I prefer the 17REM, brass is not that hard to find when you are looking for it. I like the Nosler brass a lot (a little expensive) but the neck on my 17 is .196 so I have to turn the necks when I use the Nosler brass because it will be at .195 loaded.

You will always be able to get factory ammo for the 17REM and that is a plus to, it seems easier to come by than the 17FB.

With the distance you are talking the Hornet would be a good choice too.
 
I have both of those chambering's,, 1 FB and 2 17R's. I probably use the FB more than both of the 17R's combined.
For your intended uses the 17FB would be my choice if it weren't for the action you plan to use. IMO very few repeating actions are suited for FB sized cases and unfortunately the 700 ain't one of em. Fortunately though,,,, the 17Rem will do everything you want and then some and it's perfectly suited for that action.

The practical, tactical, 7/223 are all good choices too but you didn't ask about wildcat's.
If you would have,,,, I'd recommend the 17/222 which is what I'd choose if I were to ever build another 17.

Luck


PS,,,, Pac-Nor SM 9 twist for either chambering.
Use 20's in the FB,,, 25's in the 7R.
 
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I've never shot or had a 17 fierball, That being said im sure its a great round. I do have a 17 Rem, and would have to say I love it. At the ranges your talking about eather one will make a critter go stiff legged (right now)!!! There is some thing magical about the blistering speed of these little pills. Good luck.
 
Thanks for everyone's input. I am leaning more towards the 17 Rem now. As for the 17 wildcats.....I know nothing about them so I haven't checked into them. I have only been reloading for about 5 years and not sure if I want to venture outside of my comfort zone with a 17/223 etc. That does have my curiosity though I have to admit. And I have more once fired 223 brass then I could use in 2 life times. 223 was the first cal I reloaded. I have 2 bolt guns and several ARs that I shoot. The main problem where I live is we are VERY limited on what we can hunt with and shooting ranges are almost as scarce around here as 22rim fire ammo is. And good hunting property is about as easy to get as winning the lottery. This is my reasoning for the 17. I have a few good places to hunt but when we hunt at night people around here tend to get nervous when they hear gun fire at night. And the 17 wouldn't be loud enough to have the county swat team interrupt my night time fox hunts. I also have plans for a 204 Ruger in the near future but I'm thinking that will be as loud as my 223s are.

Once again thank you for all the input
 
Nothing at all against the other .17's because I'm a big .17 cal fan, but I have 2 Fireballs and love the cartridge. You do have to careful with shot placement on a coyote and avoid a high shoulder bone hit...especially with ballistic tips. But one of those two rifles...a Rem 700 SPS or a T/C Encore...is with me 90% of the time when I'm groundhog or predator hunting. I love the accuracy, lower noise level and virtually no recoil, and being able to see my hits.

You might be able to find someone willing to swap a .17 Fireball action or boltface for your .223 action/boltface. I'd give that a try by posting on this and other forums.

If I was going to go with a wildcat, then I'd go 17-222 or 17-223 in that order. I don't have either but both really intrigue me. Personally, I've never felt a need for more speed or distance in the form of a .17 Remington. I have my .223 and .222 if I need more uuummph than the Fireball provides. But, like Rusty pointed out, you can always download the .17 Rem to behave like a Fireball if you get a better deal on a .17 Rem.

If you're like many of us, once you get one .17 you're going to want/ need another different one; so no matter which one you pick as your first, you're in a win-win!
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I have both mentioned.Mine each have place and time.My fireball has less recoil and noise and was set up for tighter shooting 22"barrel small profile,i use this gun alot when my furthest shot may be only 100-150yds.The 20 gr.V-max does really well.My .17 Rems all have 24' heavy barrels.I can get higher velocity with heavier bullets in the .17 Rems so they are my choice over sticks in open country for coyotes.Like someone else said you can't just have one (.17) I said that about .20cals yikes
 
I asked this question last year when I was looking for a sub-caliber calling rifle. The responses here were the same that I received - Get a 17Rem and run it at 17FB velocities.

I ended up settling on a 20 cal, going with a boring old 204Ruger.

I got advice to build a 17-223 or a 20 Practical, but for my purposes, I really didn't want to have yet another set of 223rem cases to keep segregated, as I have too many 223rem's to keep sorted with their own brass.
 
I'm going with a 17Rem. Now I just need to find a good reliable smith to build it for me. There was an old timer that did great work about an hour away from me but he has retired. He built my first "custom" rifle and I was very happy with his work. We have a shortage of gun smiths here in Illinois too.
 
Don't get too hung up on staying in your own state. Find a smith with a proven track record with 700's that meets your budget and mail him your rifle.
 
Originally Posted By: critter243I'm going with a 17Rem. Now I just need to find a good reliable smith to build it for me.

Well, just be prepared for a possible lifetime of addition! I had no idea that I would end up being as smitten as I was when I got my first .17 caliber over 35 years ago. Today there are SO many more powders and SO many more bullets than there were back when I started. I sure have not come close to trying them all and doubt that I ever will.

Sure hope that the gun that you end up with will be a dandy. If yours ends up to be as good as shooter as the ones that I have had then you are doomed for sure!
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Originally Posted By: critter243I'm going with a 17Rem. Now I just need to find a good reliable smith to build it for me. There was an old timer that did great work about an hour away from me but he has retired. He built my first "custom" rifle and I was very happy with his work. We have a shortage of gun smiths here in Illinois too.
I'd contact your old smith and see who he would recommend. If you tell him what you are building and he still has access to his tools, he may even be interested in doing another project for you! Good luck with your new .17 and let us know how it turns out.
 
Just send it to Pac-Nor and have them install one of their barrels.
One stop shopping and there's no finger pointing if something's wrong.

They're rebarreled four rifles for me. They're all shooters.
 
I'm going with a Pac Nor barrel but not sure on the twist. 20 to 25 grain pills......I'll try both and see what I like and what the rifle likes. I was looking on the Pac Nor site and for the 17 Rem it gave me 2 options for the chamber......17 Rem and 17 Rem .193 neck. What is the difference ?
 
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