# .17 Remington Fireball



## full_bore1000 (Mar 14, 2009)

Hey all just wondering what your opinion is on the .17 Rem Fireball,Its a very small round and shoots a 20gn projectile at over 4000fps,Its the fastest flatest shooting factory load available,It's not best hunting load(except for small Varmint) but a very accurate target round,what does everyone else think of this load?,Ryan


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## Bore.224 (Mar 23, 2005)

Not the fastest or flatest factory load ! You can get 22-250 40 grn at around 4100-4200 fps range and that is not counting factory ammo for the 220 swift! Thats in the U.S.A anyway I dont know about Australia?

I have no experiance with the .17 rem fireball but it sure looks like a fun cartridge, I would guess it is great for woodchuck , fox and the like. Might be a little light for roo shooting, but should work on dingo's and rabbits out your way?

BTW I would love to come out your way someday, if you ever need a Yankee to help thin out the roo's let me know :beer:


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## full_bore1000 (Mar 14, 2009)

http://www.remington.com/products/ammun ... reball.asp remington claim theyre flatter than a 40gn 22-250,Yeah they would work on bastard roos but Ive got a 243w for those,We have got a dingo and fox problem here but by all means come out for a shot,We got nice deer here worthy of a hunt,pigs,camel, buffalo and wild horses just to name a few,send me an email if you decide to come this way,Ill keep a beer cold for ya.Although I should let you know we're not allowed semi-autos see due to Martin Bryants little 35 person massacre some years back(theirs alwayse someone who ruins it for the rest of us),all the best,Ryan


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## Csquared (Sep 5, 2006)

I've got a custom .17 mach IV which is almost identical to the version Remington adopted, and I love it. I shoot 25 grain bullets at about 3900 fps with it out of a 22" barrel, and it takes less than 18 grains of powder to do it. I wouldn't want to compare it to the big .22's as mentioned, but I like it because it's not overkill on 250 yard prairie dogs and I can watch what I hit "pop" in the scope...even though the rifle weighs considerably less than 7 pounds.

Oh, try not to blame Martin Bryant for the ridiculous gun laws in your country. Unless I'm missing something, I'd start with the people who voted for the people who passed the laws! :roll:


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## full_bore1000 (Mar 14, 2009)

true but Martin Bryant was Johnny Howards excuse for the new laws,but your right condemn anyone who was happy to introduce it.I had a few friends with old Owen guns,L1A1 SLR's and F1 Smg's that were from family who fought for our country in ww2 and Vietnam that had to hand them in and say sorry dad they made me,I think its pethetic any man can mass kill with a screw driver,its about the individual not the weapon.Let us trigger happies be happy dam it,


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## Csquared (Sep 5, 2006)

Full_bore...*PLEASE* never stop beating it into the heads of the apathetic gun owners in this country what CAN happen to gun ownership...very quickly! You've lived it so maybe all those who say it will never happen will tend to listen to you a little more!

You say Bryant killed 35. How many would he have killed if a few good guys near him were carrying?

I'm off subject, so I'm done now! :soapbox: :wink:

:beer:


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## full_bore1000 (Mar 14, 2009)

I see your point,Also over it,subject closed :beer:


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## iwantabuggy (Feb 15, 2005)

Define flatest. Many would disagree as you can see.

The .17 FB may be pretty flat out to 300 yds or so, but how about 1000. I'd say not. There are likely many cartridges that would be flatter at 1000.


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## full_bore1000 (Mar 14, 2009)

well thanx for pointing out the obvious ,of Coarse their is better rounds for 1000yds,That goes without saying, any ameture would know you wouldnt use ANY .17 round for 1000 yds.I was talking about within its effective range not 1000yds or I would be talking about 338LM's or 50BMG's not .17FB's.The whole point of this was to get opinions on the .17FB ok,plain and simple,People who know the characteristics and working applications of this round. :eyeroll: [/u]


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## FullClip (Jan 22, 2007)

Also off topic but one of my reloading books has a 40gr bullet out of a .223WSSM at 4400 fps. Id also like to konw more about this ru and dingo hunting down under. What kind of deer are down there?


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## full_bore1000 (Mar 14, 2009)

Im only going off what I could find on the Remington website,Im not familier with the round hence the article,ok yeah we've got lots of dingo's down here,good shooten.Deer wize we have Chitel,red,Samber and Hog deer,what do you guys have ?


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## full_bore1000 (Mar 14, 2009)

lot of roo's to,good dog meet,If you cant find deer theirs alwayse a roo worthy of some long range practice


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## Bore.224 (Mar 23, 2005)

full bore 1000 thanks for the invite to your country , I will look into what I would need to do to make the trip, If I get the chance I hope you will steer me to the best reigon to hunt! :beer: Thank's again!!

BTW the Remington model 7 looks like a sweet little critter gitter in 17 rem fireball I may have to break down and get one!! If I do , i will let you know about it!!


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## iwantabuggy (Feb 15, 2005)

full_bore1000 said:


> well thanx for pointing out the obvious ,of Coarse their is better rounds for 1000yds,That goes without saying, any ameture would know you wouldnt use ANY .17 round for 1000 yds.I was talking about within its effective range not 1000yds or I would be talking about 338LM's or 50BMG's not .17FB's.The whole point of this was to get opinions on the .17FB ok,plain and simple,People who know the characteristics and working applications of this round. :eyeroll: [/u]


Now that is established........ Your statement about the 17 being the flatest was completely generic and false. That is why I asked you to define flatest.

In your original post you stated, "Its the fastest flatest shooting factory load available". That statement may or may not be true even out to 300 yards, but I seriously doubt it. I don't have time to go out a research all the factory loads for you, but I do know a thing or two about what can be done with hand loads. In most cartridges today, you can find factory loadings that are very close to what you can do with hand loads, especially if you go with a more popular cartridge. As other have stated, the 17 FB is not even the flatest varmint round out there, say out to 300 yards, or 250. By my own calculations, if you want something flat for varmints you'd do better with a any of these.

204 Ruger
22-250
243
220 Swift

You'd also have less wind deflection with all of these 4. So to answer your original question, "Hey all just wondering what your opinion is on the .17 Rem Fireball". I think you'd be better suited to get something else.......... oke:

Oh, yeah. If you don't seriously value other opinions, perhaps you shouldn't ask for them. You might offend someone.


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## Wyomingpredator (Oct 16, 2007)

I've got a fireball, and love it shoots flatter than my 22-250 with 36 gr vg's and pretty close to the same spee by book I haven't chronyd it yet I shoot 20 gr v-max and 25 gr berger hp and both are at 1/5 moa with out any technical work I'm sure I can get them tighter with more work. The best thing is no recoil so when your shooting dogs you see what you hit


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## Centerfire (Jan 13, 2006)

I do not see the need for it other than to get people to buy it because it is a new round. The original 17 Rem still outperforms it


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## Bore.224 (Mar 23, 2005)

centerfire, they claim it fouls the barrel allot less than the .17 rem, so it holds its accuracy for a long time between cleaning's thats the advantage to the 17 fireball !


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## Toby Mougey (Apr 25, 2009)

:wink:


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## SDguy (May 1, 2009)

For the reloaders out there the 17FB seems to offer some practicality for a small to medium sized varmint round. The minimal recoil is truly a plus!

I had worked with the 17 FB a fair amount and found the 30 grain pills offered by Berger and or Nagel offered a noticeable advantage for minimizing wind drift. The BC surprisingly pays dividends out to 400 yards with the longer 30 grain pills.

If the cartridge interest you check out the following link.

http://www.saubier.com/forum.html Check out *7 fireball loads* in small caliber load data. I had to go back 5 pages to find the 17 Fireball data I was looking for.


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## Centerfire (Jan 13, 2006)

For what it is worth - I have had 2ea 17Rem's in BDL.
I have had my current one for over 10 years - I have never had fouling problems - I reload my own (no problems there either) and the last time I shot it I had a .43" five shot group.


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## Bore.224 (Mar 23, 2005)

17 rem works good for you, how many rounds do you put throught it before you clean the barrel?

I hope the 17 Fireball becomes popular looks like a neat little critter gitter!


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## SDguy (May 1, 2009)

Centerfire: What may be a number of rounds high and low, between cleaning of your factory 17 Remington rifles?

In favorable wind conditions Ill get 100 yard 5 shot groups in the 1/2" to 5/8" range, with either my CDL - LTD or my SPS Varmint in 17 FB. These groups are having shot 5 to 20 rounds down the tube.

After 150 rounds the groups open up to 3/4" to 1" in either rifle. Cleaning after 20 rounds or 150 rounds shows little difference in the time & effort required to clean the bore using Bore Tech eliminator as a cleaning solvent.

So Centerfire, how many rounds do you go between cleaning your 17 Remingtions? As I am interested in comparing notes.

I am sure the 17 Rem is and has been a great chambering. I Know the 17 FB is a great shooter as well, with little powder fouling concerns per my experience. Personally I am willing to give up 250 to 300 FPS while consuming approximately 35% less powder.

What can i say? I love this efficient little 17 FB round. And I have been more than satisfied with the performance of the 30 grain Bergers out to 250 yards so far.

Though I probably would not care for this cartridge if factory offerings were all I could choose to shoot. Cost is a definite factor on the factory ammo and limited bullet choice is a factor for me also.

I was looking for a fur friendly round first when choosing the FB. Second I wanted a round good for out to 250 yards on Prairie Dogs. And appreciate that I can tailor a load for each application. 30 grain Bergers do fine on the Prairie Dogs. Though The 25 grain V-max is favored for the splat factor when fur is not a consideration.


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## Centerfire (Jan 13, 2006)

I generally try to clean the barrel at around 40 rds - when Prairie Dog Hunting (I use a bore snake in the field).

Always accurate - I hand load and use Hornady 25 grain bullets (always work) - however when shooting Rem Factory Rounds at long ranges - I have encountered it where they failed to expand - PDogs were crawling off with pin holes in them.


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## SDguy (May 1, 2009)

Centerfire: Thanks for the reply, as I have wondered what the real life experience was for the guys shooting the 17 Remington in a factory barrel. must say I am a little surprised to hear of the expansion failure of the 25 grain factory offerings.


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