new 17rem fire ball

[biglonnie204]

i just ordered a rem 700. Ive herd lots of mixed thoughts on the round but never tried on my self. I'm using it for beanch and small varmint,diggers) IF YOU HAVE ONE what do you think of it
and haw fare out is it good for?
thank you

 

[JeffsVice]

BigLonnie204,

I shoot a 17 Mach IV, which for practical purposes is the same thing - Big green just made a few very minor changes in the case and gave it a new name instead of simply standardizing the original wildcat.

I find it accurate and fun. There is no loss of the sight picture when firing so you can spot for yourself on prairie poodles.

"How far is it good for?" I load a 25 gr V-Max at about 3800 fps, Zero'd at 250 yards, it'll shoot to nearly 300 yards without getting high or low by more than 2 inches. This is pretty much about what you'd expect from a .223 shooting 50 grain bullets at around 3450 fps, so the ELEVATION range is comparable to the 223 Remington using standard,not VLD) bullets. What can severely limit your range is windage - The same 25 gr V-Max at 3800 mv is blown off nearly 7 inches at the 250 yard zero assuming a 10 mph crosswind while the 50 V-Max at 3450 is deflected about half as much. This can make a difference in your hit to miss ratio - but then again, since you can see the bullet hit, you can just dial in a little more windage and enjoy pulling the trigger again... At 350 yards you'll still have more energy to pop the poodle than a 17 HMR has at the muzzle - account for the wind and 250 to 300 yards is a done deal. enjoy your new toy.

 

[tuck2]

I have a Rem 700 Mdl CDL SF Limited Ed 17 Fireball with a Leupold 6-18 X AO scope.. The trigger pull has ben adjusted down to 2 3/4 pounds and the barrel has ben free floated. I had some Hornady 25 Gr HP bullets on hand . My best load is 19.0 Gr, MAX) of Benchmark powder, Fed 205 M primers in Rem cases. The COL is 1.78 inch. The MV of the 25 Gr bullet is at 3,880 ft/sec. Shooting off a bench rest the five shot 100 yard groups are 6/10 th of an inch. My longest shots at prairie dogs has ben at about 280 Yds. If there is a little wind I try to shoot into the wind. I like the low recoil and muzzle blast of the 17 Fireball round. When I run out of 25 Gr bullets I will try out some 20 Gr bullets. The 20 Gr bullet Remington factory ammo also grouped around 6/10 th inch groups.

 

[Ackman]

If you're talking about diggers as in groundsquirrels, they're not very big and you needn't worry about having enough power. They'll blow to pieces. With a MachIV/17FB you can kill one about as far out as you can hit it. I've shot many prairie dogs - about twice the size of a groundsquirrel - alternating between .17 MIV with 25's and a .223. At 200-250yds,paced) the performance was a tossup and one could just as easily replace the other. This with MIV loads that were nowhere near top-end. In groundsquirrel country, chest shots with the MIV will suck a half-exposed digger clean out of it's hole and toss it 1' into the air at over 300yds......I remember this specifically from one trip where we were shooting alongside a power line with evenly spaced poles. Another time, after a whole bunch of hail Mary shots one finally hit and made a dead squirrel.....I've no idea the range but holdover was about 3'. Several years later with another MIV and rockchucks on a steep rocky hillside, the furthest shots were maybe 350yds and 25gr bullets killed them just fine. It surprised me. The hillside was about 45* and holdover was like shooting much closer on a flat. Hits on the faraway chucks weren't too spectacular, but they were knocked off their rocks and were real dead. Killing squirrels with your 17FB won't be any problem.

 

[Average_Joe]

I have the Rem 700 VSF .17 Fireball, it shoots flat out to 300 yards, i have found light winds are not a problem. If you shoot anything at less than 100 yards you're going to just about rip the target in half with the speed/power of the 20 grain accu tip,rabbits ect ect, i was shocked the fist time i did this at close range.
It takes down ground hogs no problem anything bigger i can't tell you about but it is rated to shoot yotes at less than 200 yards with a well place shot.
I am 100% happy with the rifle and the bullets.

 

[race4hills]

I think your goning to really like the 17FB. I have shot Pdogs out to 400 yards but not much of a show past 300 yards. Mine is an SPS Varmint and with factory 20grs it shoots less than 3/4" groups at 100 yards.

 

[Average_Joe]

My varmit rig....
Rem 700 VSF .17 Fireball,H&s Stock,Harris Bi-pod topped of with a Nikon 4.5-14x40 Mil Dot scope.

 

[biglonnie204]

thank you all.
were can i get a load chart or...?

 

[tuck2]

The Hodgdons 2008 Annual Manual Reloading has load data for the 17 Fireball . Their web site also has data.