I thought the .17 REM had a pretty rabid followwing. It sounds like they were all 'fairweather' friends. I'm gathering that there will be alot of .17 REM's for sale or gathering dust when the Mach hits the street.

I'm in the market for a .17 centerfire, I was gonna pull the trigger on the REM but now I'm not so sure. I'll have to see how it all unfolds in '07.

Cath8tr: Yes the 17 Remington has a small but intense "following". I am a firm 17 Remington "believer"!
I love my 17 Remington Rifles and often bemoan the fact that I "procrastinated" for 28 years about the 17 Remington cartridge before I made the "jump"!
The 17 Remington is an accurate and useful Varminting cartridge with lots of good attributes.
A few years before I bought my first 17 Remington Rifle I actually looked things over, considered things and talked to lots of folks about the 17 MachIV. Its my understanding the 17 MachIV and the 17 Remington Fireball are gonna be exactly the same (or very nearly so!).
I decided back in 1995 to have a custom heavy Varmint Rifle in 17 MachIV made for myself.
I fell in LOVE with that Rifle instantly!
It wasn't very long and I had that Rifle shooting in the low 3's with Berger 25 grain bullets. And the Varmints succumbed to those tiny pills like they had been struck with a lightning bolt!
In the years since I have used the same load (that "pokes" along at ONLY 3,527 F.P.S.) for all kinds of success's and happy results! And over the years this load has made groups as small as .262" and .264" (5 shots at 100 yards) when I do my yearly sight in verifications.
I bought my first 17 Remington Varminter in 1999 and again was just thrilled with it and its field performance as well. I now have three 17 Remington Varminters!
Varmints, DON'T, want me shooting at them when I have one of my 17 Remingtons along!
Both cartridges are excellent for Varmint Hunting in my opinion.
Now, to your question regarding the popularity or death of either one - I don't know for sure whats gonna happen in that regard.
But I would be surprised if the 17 Remington goes away completely. Many folks hail the 17 MachIV (the 17 Remington Fireball in effect as well!) as the most efficient 17 caliber centerfire, and I would not disagree with that. The 17 Remington Fireball will sell some Rifles for Big Green, I am sure. But will it kill off the already "smallish" sales of their various 17 Remington offerings - I don't think so.
In reality, in the real world, and doing so safely, there won't be to much difference in F.P.S. between the two, maybe 300 to 400 F.P.S.!
That is not much difference between two factory offerings for the two 17's! Seeings that the low ballistic co-efficients of the 17 caliber bullets causes them to slow down in flight somewhat quickly anyway - I was a little surprised, BUT happy, that Remington went ahead and developed - and then offered up the 17 Remington Fireball.
I hope the new 17 Remington Fireball performs as well for its owners (and I am gonna be one of them) as my custom 17 MachIV has performed for me!
Keep it up Big Green!
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

The bigger case is still the more flexible. At one time I was about set to build a MachIV , but commonsense sunk in as I realized the reloader with the bigger case could dupicate anything the small case could do .

I have loads for my Remington that go all the way from 3500 to 4000 fps and don't use very little more powder than a MachIV would . Yet you still have enough capacity to really push the custon 30 gr slugs if you want .

In addition , there are many actions that will feed the longer case without problems.....alot fewer are suitible for the Fireball length .

Hey VG - this doesn't mean you're going to buy another rifle does it??

Butchbloc: I came within ONE SECOND of buying another Rifle just yesterday down in Idaho Falls. It was a Remington 700 VLS in 204 Ruger. It was a used Rifle there at Ross's Coin and Gun Shop! The asking price was $499.00 (new ones run about $600.00 - I saw them yesterday for from $599.00 to 650.00!).
This was a very near perfect Rifle as the bolt face was quite black and no bluing or finish wear existed on the Rifle anyplace!
The one second rule came into play as I put the Rifle down and walked around a bit and then as I came back to pick it up and reconsider it - I hesitated for ONE SECOND!
That was enough.
Plus I have one of these 700 VLS Rifles already and it shoots extremely well for me.
I think a Varminting fella could have "had" that Rifle (it came with Leupold bases and rings as I recall) for a $425.00 bill!
It had been carefully glass bedded and the trigger was VERY nice!
Maybe after Christmas I will head back down Idaho Falls way and make them an offer?
Yes I will have one of the 17 Remington Fireballs if it comes in the full size Varmint models (700 or XR-100 series).
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

The .17 Remington is a fantastic fur rifle and it's for sure here to stay. The .17 Mach IV is also a great round and if people give it a fair shot it'll do very well too, if not it will remain what it is today which is one of the all time top small caliber wildcats available for varmints.
Did the .270 kill the .30-06?
Did the introduction of Chevy put Ford out of business?
The Mach IV is better on colony critters on a warm day, the .17 Rem heats up too fast for long strings. The .17 Remington is undoubtedly a better winter coyote rifle at distance pushing 30 grain Bergers, both have their strong suits. Both are great rounds.
While some may want to make one rifle fit all their needs and load it up or down to do it all I'd prefer to be able to justify having a bunch of em, sort of step ladder em as it were. I've been shooting the .17 MachIV for quite some time and it is a dandy and one of my favorites. If you try to pry the .17 Rem out of some of my fur hunting buddies hands your in for a long haul.
I predict your about to see a number of sub .22 caliber rifles introduced over the next few years and if guys don't listen to the armchair experts and actually try them I think there's room for a bunch of em at the table and a lotta guys are gonna be grinn'n big-time.
One of these days someone (probably Remington) will standardize the .20 BR, whistle a 40 grain V-Max with a .275 BC at 4,150fps out there at yon Rock chuck and see how fast ya start liking that one.
Get hold of a .17 Ackley Hornet and run a 20 grain V-Max at 3,800ish fps using 12 grains of powder and watching every hit, if there's a better gopher round known to man I sure haven't found it yet even though I keep trying.
They are all good just do your part to keep the economy rolling and keep buying em.
Just my 2 cents.

But VG, are you still 4 scopes behind or did Santa bring you 1 or 3?

No-After someone gets the Rem 17 Fireball ,the chances are good that they will wont to try the 17 Rem. I like the .172 bullets , I have the 17 HM2,17 HMR,and 17 Rem., so I will have to get a Rem 17 Fireball when they come out. After looking at the reloadindg data for the .17 Mach4 I think it will be a better prairie dog shooting round than the 17 Rem.

hey VG - you missed your chance to blame it on santa

I doubt the 17 Rem will go anywhere. Reason? Most people that shoot a 17 are handloaders and the cases are easy to make. Won't one pass thru a 17 Rem size die with a 223 give you a 17 Rem case? And nobody has trouble finding 223 cases. They are more common than rocks!

Actually Don Redding makes a two die forming die set to make .17 Remington and in reality it's easier to do using .222Mag brass (it is easily done though). It can be accomplished with .223 brass but your necks will end up approx. .030 shorter than SAMMI minimum.

I am hoping that it makes the 17Rem more popular. If some one builds a 17AH I truley believe this would be a perfect world. I really hope that mine will have a hummer barrel. I even stocked up on spray paint for her first day home. COME ON JANUARY!!!!!

I am looking for a .17 remington if anyone has one new or used. thanks, duke dukeb@airquick.net

quote:

Originally posted by dbastian1977:
I am looking for a .17 remington if anyone has one new or used. thanks, duke dukeb@airquick.net

Take a look in AR Classified...
https://forums.accuratereloading.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/2711043/m/670100775