Opinions on .17 Rem Fireball

sneeky_sniper

sneeky_sniper

Member
I'm wanting to start gathering parts to build a .17 caliber bolt action, or buy one if the right one comes along. I've had a .17 Remington before and really liked it. I find quite a few 700's chambered in .17 Rem Fireball but I would like to hear some owners opinions of the Fireball.

Basically, is a .17 Rem Fireball as good as, or better than a plain old .17 Remington?

I am wanting to stay with a factory loaded caliber, I do plan on reloading, but I don't want to have to load every round I shoot.

Thanks, JP
 
i dont have one YET, but really love the 17 cal family. Done it all with a 17 Rem up to 200 pound hogs beyond 200 yards, lots of yotes,.... The FB is a bit more tame tham its big brother.
 
Thanks guys,

They (Rem.) claim that the FB doesn't foul as bad as the old .17 Rem.
I'm wondering if there is any truth to that, or if it's "creative marketing"

Keep Em coming!
 
I shoot a .17 Mach IV which is The wild cat father of the .17 fireball. I like it but it is a pain to reload for. I wish the factory rounds would fit it. Way fun to shoot but a bit under powered for coyotes IMHO.
 
Having not bought a factory .17 Remington round in the last 30 odd years I can't tell you what all is out there, but I know that it is very limited. I think there is two loads for the .17 Furball so that kinda sucks too.

The nice thing about the .17 Rem is that you can load it down a bit to .17 FB levels and get longer brass and barrel life as well as a bit less noise and slightly less fouling. I get great accuracy with 23 or 24 grains of Varget with the 20 grain Vmax. Killed a lot of ground squirrels with it too. Fun round.

So given the choice between the two and being a handloader I will go for the .17 Remmy. But if you want to shoot the occasional factory load then you may be better off with the .17 FB.

I am a long time .17 fan and plan on having at least one in my safe for the rest of my life. And if I can only have one, then it will be the .17 Remington.
 
Originally Posted By: RustydustHaving not bought a factory .17 Remington round in the last 30 odd years I can't tell you what all is out there, but I know that it is very limited. I think there is two loads for the .17 Furball so that kinda sucks too.

The nice thing about the .17 Rem is that you can load it down a bit to .17 FB levels and get longer brass and barrel life as well as a bit less noise and slightly less fouling. I get great accuracy with 23 or 24 grains of Varget with the 20 grain Vmax. Killed a lot of ground squirrels with it too. Fun round.

So given the choice between the two and being a handloader I will go for the .17 Remmy. But if you want to shoot the occasional factory load then you may be better off with the .17 FB.

I am a long time .17 fan and plan on having at least one in my safe for the rest of my life. And if I can only have one, then it will be the .17 Remington.

+1 on what Rustydust said.
 
Someone said that a 17 Mach IV (you can use 17FB since they are basically the same" will do a little less than a 17 Rem with a little less powder.

I agree with him.

Owning and liking all three, I'd also give the nod to the 17 Rem. Less feeding and ejection issues, and it can do everything the smaller cartridge can do and then some more if you like.
 
I have had 8 or 10, 17 remingtons and 4 fireballs. I like them all. I would favor the 17 remington with a custom barrel, but if it is all factory, go with the FB. The reason is some of the older 17 remington barrels were rough and would foul badly. Not so much with the FB,

A good custom barrel from Shilen, Douglas, or Krieger will be easy to clean and superbly accurate. OH yeah To avoid a ration of BS from Coyotejunki, The PacNor barrel would also be a good choice.

Just my .02 cents worth

Dave
 
I am leaning towards a Savage action with a Shilen barrel. Not sure on stock, but I know I want something with an aluminum block or pillars. Would love to build on a 700 or 600 action, but Savage will be cheaper, and I'll be able to do some work myself if I buy a drop-in barrel.

I was favoring the .17 Remington already, and that is most likely what I will go with. I hadn't though about feeding issues with the FB, but I can definitely see where I might have problems.

I already have a 6.5-20x40mm VXIII with fine duplex to top it off.
So I'm part way there already!
 
ss-I have what you are thinking of putting together, a savage action with a Shilen tube, however it is the 17 mach IV. Plan on having a single shot, unless you can find a way to get it to feed and eject properly. I would have had a fireball barrel, except for the fact that Shilen was not chambering it when I put my gun together. It does shoot very well for me. Good luck and hope you enjoy whatever you get.
 
obaro - are there issues getting Savage actions to feed and extract when using Shilen barrels?

Maybe I need to do some more studying...

Thanks for all the comments, Gentlemen
 
It is not the barrel, it is the savage action. It extracts just fine, ejection is the problem. The fireball case is short enough that the case will "pop off" the bolt face too soon compared to the longer 223 size cases and, in my gun, just drop onto the top of the magazine. The short case also pops out of the magazine in the stagger feed action (never tried a centerfeed magazine with the fireball) before it gets lined up to feed into the barrel precisely. Once in a while it would work feeding one, if you tipped the gun and dumped the empty out, but never got it to feed more than one off the magazine. I have a single shot follower in it now, and use it as such. I have heard of more mechanically inclined gents getting the savage to shoot as repeaters with the fireballs, but haven't actually seen it.
 
Last edited:
Ok, thanks for the clarification. I shouldn't have any problems with feeding on a .17 Remington though. It is just about the same exact length as a .223
 
Got a 17 fireball in the VSF, it was expensive, the brass was expensive (but it is easy to find and the bass pro in Atlanta always has it in stock), the dies are easy to find but expensive (but the bass pro in Atlanta has them in stock), not a good variety of factory ammo, but redily available online. Its my favorite rifle, my favorite to reload, and my favorite to shoot. I get 1.5 inch groups at 150 yards, with a 1 incher at that range every now and then, there is almost no recoil when you fire it (I get to watch my little 3 inch tall steel targets go flying)If you like little bullets that go fast, you will like this caliber. If its in your budget, get a Jewell trigger, I got the 3 oz model, it makes all the difference in the world. If you are wanting to kill big pigs at 200, or cyotee at 500, get a .223 or a .308, they do a great job.
 


Write your reply...
Back
Top