17 fireball has me fired up

[dtucker]

I good friend at work that i talk guns with and do some trading and selling has me all fired up over this little 17 fireball round. He brought a round in loaded with a 20gr. v-max to show me and was talking about the little varmints it has devestated. I have heard about them but have had no dealings with those little rounds. Well, i left after the conversation drooling some over the thought of having one. How do you guys like this little round? Seems like if you wanted to find 1 and have it rebarreled the list of people who make barrels for them is on the slim side. Man, i bet these are a blast to shoot on small stuff. Are their many rifles out their to choose from as thinking back i really have not seen this 1 for sale often?

 

[two dogs]

I'm excited about the round also. Unfortunately, I believe Remington just discontinued it from their SPS line. I found a take off barrel on GB, but had to pay dearly for it. Not your typical $40.00 take off barrel. I'm looking for Rem 700 short action preferably left hand, to build a rifle.

 

[RJinTexas]

Dan, I had a 17 Mach IV which was the wildcat name before Remington decided to legitimized it. Yes the 17FB is a fun round to play with, it's nothing more then a necked down 221FB case to 17 cal. As good as the 17FB is the same case in 20 cal really out shines it and has no trouble killing yotes. There's a better choice of 20 cal bullets from 30grs to 55grs. The little 20VT with both 32 & 40 grain bullets will simply out perform the 17's hands down. I found that whenever I hit a p-dod with 20,25 or 30 grain 17 cal bullet I got less spectacular kills, with limited air and seldom did I see flying parts. But when I hit them with the little 20 cal bullets I got major air, red mist and flying parts going every which way. And I didn't see any noticeable difference in recoil. Besides the 17's are a PITA to clean.

Regards
RJ

 

[hogpatrol]

Forget shooting a 20 grain bullet in a Remington 17FB factory barrel unless you like jumping .120 to the lands. You'll jump with the 25s too unless you're comfortable with the bullet being in the case only .060. The throats are so long, you'll hear an echo when you shoot. ;D I have two factory Remingtons and the chambers are rough. I am waiting for a zero freebore reamer from PT&G so I can set one back and to do a Shilen SM barrrel in order to shoot the 20s. As an aside, I would NEVER again buy another Remington factory rifle. The quality, in my opinion, has really gone downhill. My suggestion? Only do a fireball or mach IV with a custom barrel then you'll have something. It's a great little cartridge! Good Luck, Hog

 

[markr]

Nothing to get all unspooled about here! I've been shooting the 17 Javelina for 40 years, which is almost exactly like the 17 Mach 4 and thus the 17 Fireball. It is maybe the most efficient of the 17 Cal centerfires and is a shortened 222. My current Javelina shoots 17 gr. IMR 4198 and a 25 Cal Walker bullet to about 3800 fps. There won't be many "spectacular" kills with it, but the 25 gr bullet is the best of the lot imho. It is accurate, miserly on powder and will kill groundhogs easily to 350 yds if you do your part. If you want something that is pants on fire.............not this one, but a nice caliber nonetheless.

 

[17Hunter]

I have 2 of them, 700 SPS and a 700 CDL SF. Both shoot .5" fairly consistently with IMR 4198 and 20 grn vmaxes. Both are factory everything except the scope. I havent shot a lot a critters with them, mainly crows and a few coons. They were very effective on those critters.

 

[rich44]

Agree with all that has been said I have two 17 FB's mod 7 CDL's and you can't get to the lands with a 20gr bullet I had one re barreled with a Pacnor barrel and the other is getting re barreled to 20 Vartarg. The Pacnor barreled fireball is very accurate and has killed alot of groundhogs but hits are very much less than spectacular they just kinda go to sleep very hard to even find a entrance hole let alone a exit which is good as I wanted this for fox hunting to save fur.

 

[dtucker]

I have been checking it out some and so far it is looking not very promising. I am thinking that if i would want to step down from a 22cal. or 6mm that a 20cal. would be much better. More barrel makers to choose from and bullets also. Looks like a 20BR or 20ppc are some fine looking 1s to do.

 

[hogpatrol]

Dan, I like my .17FBs but they are work. Brass is tough to find and some of it is junk. I bought a box of bulk packed and after one firing, half of them had split necks. I could write a book on what it took to get a factory chamber shooting accurately. As previously posted a custom barrel is a big plus. If your interest takes you in the direction of the .20s, the .20 Vartarg has a "huge" following for it's accuracy and efficiency. For some additional research, check out the forums at Saubier.com and smallcaliberclub.com which has a dedicated .20 forum. Hog

 

[dtucker]

Thanks Hog. I am going to do some researching on these and i have been over their to Saubier some on and off. I am going to need to dig in on this for a while.

 

[tjtjwdad]

Thanks Hog. I am going to do some researching on these and i have been over their to Saubier some on and off. I am going to need to dig in on this for a while.

If you're interested in the 17 Fireball/20 VarTarg (VT) as a repeater, there are differences in the Remington 700 receivers and the bolt face. If your're using it in single shot mode, then any Remington 700 SA action and 223 bolt will function although there could be some extraction issues, hence the changes Remington made.

HTH

 

[two dogs]

Are you saying the 17 Remington Fireball action and bolt face that function as a repeater are unique amongst all other Remington 700 small short actions? That even .204 Ruger and/or 22-250 don't share a common bolt face and receiver?

 

[rich44]

It's more like the extractor placement its different on the Fireballs than on say a .223, If you use a standard 700 .223 bolt it more than likely won't eject properly although if you had a Sako-style extractor installed it's supposed to work. I know of a couple of people that have 20VT built on a Stiller action that has the Sako extractor and they function fine.
Both mine are built on Mod 7 Fireball actions so no mod neccesary they feed and eject fine. So if you are going to build one I would look for one that was chambered for a Fireball or plan on the Sako extractor

 

[two dogs]

Thank you for the heads up!

Mike

 

[tjtjwdad]

Are you saying the 17 Remington Fireball action and bolt face that function as a repeater are unique amongst all other Remington 700 small short actions? That even .204 Ruger and/or 22-250 don't share a common bolt face and receiver?

I'm saying;

- The 17 Fireball bolt head is different from a 204/223 bolt head. The difference is the location of the extractor.
- The feed ramp of the 17 Fireball is different from my R700 204's.

Dunno' if a 204 & 22-250 share the same receiver but the bolt heads are definately different between those two.

 

[hogpatrol]

Are you saying the 17 Remington Fireball action and bolt face that function as a repeater are unique amongst all other Remington 700 small short actions? That even .204 Ruger and/or 22-250 don't share a common bolt face and receiver?

First question, first part, answer is yes. I bought a custom 17 fireball that someone built on a .223 action. It will not extract properly.

 

[WyleWD]

If you have the itch for a 17 centerfire..... go to this site and give Todd a call. http://www.woodchuckden.com/

In addition to being very knowledgeable on 17's & 20's, he makes some FANTASTIC bullets for the 17.

A few years back I hunted with a fellow that had a 17 MachIV and was impressed with its performance. Then 3 years ago some fellows talked me into buying a used Remington Model 700BDL in 17 Rem. LOVE it. The 223 no longer sees any service in the chuck fields. Give Todd a call. WD

 

[johnmyers]

If you have the itch for a 17 centerfire..... go to this site and give Todd a call. http://www.woodchuckden.com/

In addition to being very knowledgeable on 17's & 20's, he makes some FANTASTIC bullets for the 17.

A few years back I hunted with a fellow that had a 17 MachIV and was impressed with its performance. Then 3 years ago some fellows talked me into buying a used Remington Model 700BDL in 17 Rem. LOVE it. The 223 no longer sees any service in the chuck fields. Give Todd a call. WD
[/quote

Plus 1 on what WD says. I shoot a 17 MachIV and 30gr Kindler Golds with 1:9 twist bbl and they are pretty awesome. Todd makes the 30 golds. Hard to imagine what this little bullet does to a coyote.
John

 

[Centex Bill]

17 Fireball barrel

I have for sale a takeoff barrel from a Remington VTR 700 in 17 Fireball. It is the triangular heavy barrel that is 22 inches long with built in muzzle brake. Less than 100 rounds down the barrel. Use action as donor for a 300 blackout that I had to have.

$75 dollars plus $10 shipping.

Bill
wjpuryear@earthlink.net