I saw this in my last Rifle or Handloader and have seen nothing else about it.

I think the varmint forum had some stuff about it on here... complete with some links.. evidently it will be a 2007 Remington chambering!

On page 35 of the Jan 2007 issue of Guns and Ammo there is short statement about the .17 Rem Fireball. This round may be like the 17 Mach IV wild cat round which is a 221 Rem Fireball case necked down to .17. Shoots a 20 Gr V-Max bullet at 4,000 ft/sec and a 25 Gr bullet at 2,700 ft/sec.

I have noticed & can't wait until they are out.
Regards.
hjl

It's sounds pretty good but I hope they
don't just bring it out and then let it die.
Probably be another round from Remington that Winchester and Federal will offer more factory ammo in than they do.

Agreed with usmc1980 I hope that they offer this round is something other than one of their obscure overpriced models so that it catches on! Other than that can't wait to get my hands on one!! Been considering one of these for a LONG time and just didn't want to put up the cost of a wildcat. Looks like now I won't have to.

I'm a long time small caliber junky and have been shooting the .17 MachIV for some time, great round. Today I ordered a Kepplinger single set trigger for a Remington 700 and in the morning I'm gonna have my favorite gun dealer get my name on a .17 Fire Ball in VLS as soon as possible (wish they'd make it in the XR100 but that's not slated for now). Even being into wildcats I intend to get one to show my support for Remington getting behind the small calibers.
Still curious as to whether it will be exactly the same as the MachIV or if Remington will change it a bit to keep some wildcatter from hurting himself with factory ammo in his custom chamber and calling his lawyer. Either way it should be a dandy. Get Hornadys new 25 grain .17 cal V-Max to around 3,800fps and it's a p-dogs worse nightmare (I think that 2,700fps with a 25 grainer might be a misprint), great fur rifle as well. Best of all in a 10 lb rifle you'll see every hit, and do it with 16 to 18 grains of powder.
Now if they could only get the rights to the .20 VarTarg away from Dakota (same .221 case necked to .20 cal) and standardize it I'd be really pleased. Sub .22caliber rifles are a riot.

It seems the VLS isn't to be either. It will be initially released in the CDL Limited, the VSF (which I placed an order for as soon as they are released), the SPS Varmint, and the Model-7.