Model 7 in 17rem

Originally Posted By: gumboot458Blowing up a fox is why I have avoided the 17s . I am hoping the 17 HH will be the foxs meow .
I can keep the exit holes down to 2" with a 308 .
Plus I'm sticking with new Rugers for bolt guns . With maybe an Axis thrown in for good measure.

What bullets were you using in the 17 and was it a 17 Rem. or fireball?
 
I took it out Saturday in the wind and got it sighted and grouped. The short barrel has a pop to it for sure. Not bad considering my crappy setup trying to shoot it prone without a bipod. Winds were from my 11'oclock toward me and I was using the factory Remington 25gr. HP's.
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Here it is rigged for hunting. Pentax Gameseeker 3x-9x BDC for now, Leupold windage adjustable base and medium rings, EWT XLR 250 kill light and remote switch.
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I hunted with it last night and what a night it was. Everything was moving last night and the fields were full of eyes. I stopped short of my first intended stand and started calling to a couple sets of eyes in the field. Within minutes I had a hard charger come in and hang up in the brush pile nearby. The order for the night was anything with fangs and claws that eats rabbits and turkey pullets so I wasn't being picky. Finally I get eyes glaring over a log at me and I crack it with the 17rem that I now have dubbed the "Little Dragon". It wasn't noticeable during the day, but at night it puts out quite a flash from that 18.5" barrel
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. I go up to claim my prize and look for about 15 minutes until I find it. It turns out that it was an alternate target of opportunity not worth skinning
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. I called 2 more stands with hesitant eyes in the distance, probably deer or skunks. I saw 6 skunks out last night
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. Finally on the fourth stand, I'm rocking TT cottontail extreme and catch eyes coming fast, I flick the safety off, kill light on, shoulder gun and hear feet pounding the ground. I figure a deer is coming in fast. I look through the scope, and there is a huge coyote putting on the skids growling at my FoxJack at about 35yds. I take aim on the chest and squeeze the trigger, nothing. Check the saftey and squeeze again, nothing. I jerk the trigger, nothing. I open the bolt and see nothing in the chamber. Apparently I didn't pull the bolt all the way back on my previous shot and didn't get a round chambered. When I finally get a round chambered I hear him in the brush scolding me. I called a pair of foxes in the woods on the next stand, but they wouldn't give me a shot. Turned out to be a great night hunting though. The "Little Dragon" carried like a dream and shot dead on for my one shot that I took. I can't wait to do some more calling with the new light weight wonder. Unfortunately our fox and cat season is almost over, but coyotes are year round
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I have a safe full of model sevens, XCRs, and CDLs. Have them in 22-250,.243,260 rem,and a couple in 7mm-08. This light weight gun is my favorite! If you want to replace the CDL stock a few years back I bought some replacement stocks in Realtree from Cabelas I believe. I think I still have a couple left that I have not used yet. I also have a kill light mounted on the scope of my 22-250 and it works great, my avatar is my 22-250. I have been looking at steping down in caliber to either a .223, .204 or a .17 due to the 22-250 doing too much damage and when I decide it will be another Model 7. Good luck with your I am sure you will be happy!
 
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Trigger was actually pretty good out of the gate. I may take it down a hair, but it is probably about 2lbs with no creep. It only surprises me half of the time. It may be a hair heavy still.
 
I bought a model 7 in 17 rem to use as a truck gun, and it was for a number of years. Never crono'd the loads due to the short barrel. I went for accuracy, and it took some time. finally found that the only powder I could get what I wanted was h414 with the 20g hornady bullet. also tried the moly bullets, but did not like them, still have a bunch laying around. I liked the rifle, but it is kind of retired now in favor of a 221fb.
Barry
 
A recent update on my little 17rem project. On K22's suggestion, I bought some H322 and got a box of Berger 25gr. Target HP's on several suggestions and finally got some reloads done. The factory Remington 25gr. HP's seem to hover around 1" to 1.25" at 100yds. My handloads did much better. Now I need to put them on meat and see what happens to the fur.
H322 @ 19.9gr.
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H322 @ 20.7gr.
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Factory Remington 25gr. HP's
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There was a huge sigh of relief when I shot my handloads yesterday. It's nice to see it go sub MOA on several groups on the first powder/bullet combo. I think this rifle will be a winner. Once I get the winter/summer loads worked out, I'll be in business. Hope to show her off later this year with a few hero shots holding some fur.
 
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