I am really looking forward to the Remington 17 Fireball, it looks like a fun little round for prairie dogs and such. Can any of you 17 cal shooters share a little info as to how they do in the field and if there are any problems.

Jbhewitt: I have owned and shot a custom Varminter in caliber 17 MachIV since 1995!
It is the virtual identical twin of the 17 Remington Fireball!
Attributes of the 17 MachIV that I greatly admire are its splendid accuracy, absolute lack of any recoil, amazing lethality on Varmints, Wild Turkeys and small game and its slowness to "heat" a barrel in Colony Varmint situations!
I use 19.0 grs of powder in my favorite loading - so that gives me 368 loadings per pound of powder!!!
In my various 22-250's just "for instance" I use from 34 to 38 grains of powder! So I get TWICE as many loadings per pound of powder with my 17 MachIV! At $19.00 a pound the 17 Remington Fireball will save a Colony Varminter some money.
Now let me get back to the lethality of my 17 MachIV and the 25 gr. Berger bullets it uses.
I have killt Badgers, Coyotes, Foxes, big Rock Chucks, Raccoons, Porcupines and the like with my 17 MachIV.
In fact let me relay the story of the first "Varmint" my 17 MachIV harvested.
One spring I had travelled from Seattle, Washington 1,000 miles east to a remote ranch I knew of, in eastern Montana. I arrived at the remote ranch I was intending to Hunt and it was an "iffy" ride down the 7 mile "gumbo" drive just to get to the ranch that morning. I had a great visit with my rancher friend and his wife and I noticed it was starting to rain some more! I made arrangements to Hunt a particular area of the ranch and my intention was to leave the ranch head to town eat and fuel up and get more ice. I did not even make it back to the county road! The gumbo had my 4x4 VarmintMobile "stuck" on flat ground! I could see blue sky off to the west and decided not to try to chain up but just to sit it out where I was. I WAS in fact next to a beautiful grove of Cottonwood trees - each about 70 feet tall. I was miffed as I waited the conditions out!
I had along my brand new 17 MachIV Rifle and it was the first Rifle I was going to use on that Safari - first blood so to speak!
Damn there I was with rain coming down and the road just to dangerous to try to traverse!
I sat there in my VarmintMobile and listened to the radio and read some magazines. Cursing the weather.
I looked up at one point into the Cottonwood grove of trees and saw a HUGE Raccoon up in the lower forks of a tree.
I scrambled to get my window sandbag set up. I was a full 300 yards from the tree and I wondered if the new to me, little Rifle, (although it weighs a full 12 pounds 11 ounces!) would have enough hutzpah to kill the enormous Raccoon?
Now, I come from Raccoon country and I have seen many city fed Raccoons who push 22 to 24 pounds! But this "pig" of a Raccoon I was certain was every bit that big - and more!
I centered the Leupold 6.5x20's Du-Plex crosshairs on the throat (the Coon was facing me!) and touched the Jewell trigger!
That Raccoon fell out of that tree and never quivered as it fell through space to the ground! You can watch these type things when using a Rifle with absolutely no recoil!
I squished over to the Raccoon and hefted it to verify its enormous size!
I am sure it weighed at least 25 pounds!
Here was this monster Raccoon in Prairie Dog country! I could not figure what he ate to keep up his weight! It was a boar Raccoon and I could see from the base of the tree his "path" towards a marsh and a creek that I am sure goes dry in the heat of summer! The only thing I can think of is that Raccoon eats frogs, eggs from nests and maybe worms!
Anyway he was a whopper and the bullet stupified him and he was dead when he hit the ground.
I only rarely use centerfires on the HOARDES of Ground Squirrels that I get into here in the Rockies each spring and early summer - but the 17 MachIV is my favorite centerfire to use on those occassions I do some centerfire "gophering".
The 17 MachIV performs wonderful on Prairie Dogs! Again no recoil, slow to heat a barrel and amazing accuracy! I am positive the 17 Remington Fireball will perform exactly the same as my 17 MachIV!
Good job "Big Green" by doing the work and development and having the guts to bring out another 17 caliber centerfire for us Varminters!
Long live the 17 Remington Fireball!
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

I have also had great success shooting coyotes and pr. dogs with my .17 M IV XP-100 handgun out to about 300 yds. on coyotes, and occasional 500 yd. pr. dogs. Yes, it truly is 1 of the sweetest of the "sensational 17's."

quote:

I use 19.0 grs of powder in my favorite loading - so that gives me 368 loadings per pound of powder!!!

VG,

Dale, off topic... but if you want to try economy.. and still have great accuracy.. and slow heating barrels in a 223??? and almost 500 rounds per pound of powder??? with MVs of 3000 to 3250 fps???


Sound too good to be true??

Ever look at the Calhoon web site and their article on 218 Bee or Not to 218 Bee????

They investigate using powders like 700 and 800X in the 223, ....on a second publication they add the use of using blue dot powder....

I worked up a batch of loads using it, with tons of different bullets...

but a 50gr TNT and 14.5 grains of Blue Dot, or the same charge with a 40 grain bullet will give you 3250 fps out of a 26 inch varmint barrel... and the accurate will knock your socks off! VMaxs, Ballistic tips, Sierra HP...

Plus the reduced recoil will make you think you are using a 17 centerfire...

Check out Calhoons site, and if you want me to share some reload data worked up and tested, drop me a PM...

Try it out and I bet you will be surprised what you are missing!!

cheers
seafire

Seafire/B17G: Looking now! Curiosity is one of my main character traits.
BUT - I am of the mindset that NO powder loading that has ANY chance what so ever of being "double dumped" into ONE casing will EVER nor has EVER been made (let alone SHOT!) by me.
I have simply no desire to "take a chance" of any kind with my loading of centerfire Rifle cartridges. I have been reloading centerfire Rifle cartridges for 48 years straight now and one reason I have NEVER made even ONE pistol reload OR shotgun reload is my fear of "double charges" - I know its irrational, but it is a fear I REALLY FEAR!
In 48 years I am sure I have loaded - I won't even guess but I know its a LOT! And knock on wood (as I tap the side of my head!) I have never had a missfire, hangfire, detonation, dud, clogged barrel or anything of that type - just sweet sounds and sights of bullets going downrange and usually striking real close to where I aim.
I urge you - Seafire/B17G to use every bit of care and caution you can muster as you continue to use "reduced" loads!
I want NO MORE strange things happening to you and your armaments.
Long live Seafire/B17G!
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

VG,

Appreciate the safety concerns...

On the 14 grains of blue dot load, YOU CAN'T DOUBLE CHARGE THAT ONE!...

The case won't hold 28 grains of powder...Overflowing over the rim is achieved at 23.3 grains in a Remington 223 case...a Lake City case I tried just a few seconds again, to answer you here, wouldn't hold 22.5 grains of blue dot..

So anything load over 11 grains one would notice a double charge immediately...

Just passing it on...

I pretty much have settled on 14.5 grains for anything up to 50 grain bullets, and 13.7 grains for 55 grainers...

thought the economy and accuracy might appeal to you..

cheers
seafire


and you live a long time too!

I think Calhoon's 19 BADGER is a much better cartridge for gophers than my Blue Dot .223, but I am very happy with my Blue Dot .223.

Let me shoot a few more gophers before I change cartridges.