anybody used one ? whats it do
im talking about the one remington came out with a coupl yrs ago

I have one albeit modified a bit. I absolutely love the .17 and .20 calibers for varmints!!
The .17 Fire Ball duplicates the .17 caliber wildcat many of us have been shooting for years, the .17MachIV.
Fast, flat, accurate, seldom ever any kind of ricochet's. Easy on components, quiet next to zero recoil so you see all your hits in the scope and don't loose the sight picture under recoil.
"VERY" efficient!! "VERY" addicting!!
Small on caliber HUGE on fun factor.
By now you've probably surmised I love em?

on coyote and fox will it ruin the hide

anukpuk, I haven't shot a coyote or a fox with the 17Fireball yet but with what experience I've had with 25 grain Hornady VMAX performance on groundhogs, I would doubt it would ruin many pelts! I have yet to have a 25 grain VMAX exit a groundhog shot from 80 yards to past 400 yards! Just dead groundhogs! Trigger is pulled, no recoil, very little report and another groundhog has his lights turned out! It is defintely a 17HMR on SERIOUS STEROIDS!! GHD

You couldn't get much of a better fur gun. BB sized hole going in, none coming out.
If I were going to shoot fox with it I would probably load up either 25 or 30 grain bullets of a less explosive design like the Berger Match bullets as opposed to Hornady's much more frangible V-Max's. For coyotes either the 25 grain V-Max or 30 grain Berger or Kindler Gold etc. and limit my range to 250ish. or so yards.
.17 calibers are very popular with fur hunters for all the reasons I like em, not dramatic but very efficient. No parts and particles flying, just graveyard dead like someone flipped a switch. These two badgers were shot with a .17 machIV and Berger 25 grain Match bullets a number of years back. That one red dot was all the damage visible but neither of em moved 10 inches after being hit.

I've owned 3 17 Mach 4s. It's possibly the best varmint case ever invented. 20g V Max at over 4200 fps shoot like a laser.

+1 on the 17 Mach IV /17 Fireball

muck

Doug, Just like I told you back in August when after you sent me the 25 grain VMAXS and i took the rifle afield for the first time and I told you about the 13-14 lb groundhog that was on the rock.............."he just bowed his head and prayed!" No flying pieces, no acrobatics.............just DEAD RIGHT THERE........."DRT"!! It's a varmint hunter's dream machine out to 400 yards!! After that, vermin are better served with the 204 or Tactical 20 or the 20Var Targ. From then on it's whatever you are comfortable with and proficient with!! Be it the 22-250 fast twist, 243, 6mm Rem(all other 6's pail in comparison for ease of components and effectiveness), 25-06 or the 260 or 7-08 or your choice of 30 calibers(my choice is the now defunct 300SAUM.........a choice Remington had and let fall by the wayside!!) to anchor vermin from a long ways off!! GHD

I just love the .17 Furball for reds. It's one tiny hole in and nothing out with chest and shoulder shots. Nearest shot being 14 yards as shown in photo with entrance wound and no exit. Foxes are dispatched instantly.


20 grain V-Max bullet

Its tough to beat the .17's for saving pelts. Berger bullets do a great job with both accuracy and little to no damage. The heavier the bullet, the better. 25 or 30gr, you'll love it!

If you reload use the 25 gr Berger Match bullet. Extremely predictable on fur, tiny hole in and no exit.
Shot placement is critical though; center punch the chest on a frontal shot, broadside shots aim for the chest like a doulbe lung archery shot on deer, and avoid the shoulder like the plague.

Chris

I'm looking into either adding a .17 Fireball or get a 22/250 to compliment my AR-15 in .204 Ruger

Love these lil guns!

About two years of using the 17 Fireball now, not had any fox runners so far, goes out lamping more than my .223 currently. getting low on H322, if the shortage nationally stays the same , will need to find something else to fill cases with.

quote:

Originally posted by anukpuk:
on coyote and fox will it ruin the hide

I shot a couple truckloads of coyotes with a 17 Remington with Hornady 25 grain hollow points and only ever had one pelt ruined. It wasn't the bullets fault. The called coyote made me just as I broke the shot. He dropped and spun in an attempt to get out of town. In doing so the bullet struck him along the top of the back, running the length of him, and unzipped him like a duffle bag. Took another shot to anchor him and the pelt was about cut in two length wise. Every other coyote I shot had one hole going in. None coming out.

My experience has been hugely favorable with the 17 Remington. I would expect the 17 Fireball to perform as well. Several guys here have had great luck with it. I'd go afield with a Fireball, pile up the fur and have a ball.

I picked up a rebarreled m70 Winchester in 17 mach IV... which , according to 'cartridges of the world: is the same thing... i'm shooting factory Remington 20 gr...and at 100, 3 shots go into s nickel.... I paid around $650 for it with 2 boxes of ammunition... the older bushnell banner scope is clear... and will eventually be replaced with something else... so far I like it, but have only sho
t paper..

I've never shot a .17 centerfire so my opinion is a wag (wild ass guess). I have shot .17 air rifles as well as .20 and 22's. My pick of that litter is the .20's, to me the best of both. For that reason I think I'd like a .204 Ruger.

What is the parent case for the 17 Fireball? Can brass be made from other calibers or is it best to find factory brass?
Carpetman, the 204 is my primary prairie dog gun and I don't have any issues taking them out to beyond 500 yards if I do my part. There are several guys here who have extensive experience with the caliber. I hope they will chime in with their reports.

parent case is .221 fireball.....

I have two custom Rem 700s in 17 FB. The heavy barrel gets used on PDs with 20 V max and it performs exceptionally well.
The sporter barrel gets less use but I have shot two coyotes with 25 Bergers. Both dropped in their tracks, but had good shot placements.
I like the cartridge a lot.

quote:

Originally posted by jimatcat:
parent case is .221 fireball.....

I had that part figured out. I suppose I phrased my question incorrectly. From what cased are these two calibers formed? Is it the 222 Rem?

quote:

Originally posted by df06:
I have two custom Rem 700s in 17 FB. The heavy barrel gets used on PDs with 20 V max and it performs exceptionally well.
The sporter barrel gets less use but I have shot two coyotes with 25 Bergers. Both dropped in their tracks, but had good shot placements.
I like the cartridge a lot.

How do the 25 grain pills behave in the wind?

Have shot 17's off and on since 1952 (17Hornet and 17 Bee) had one of the first factory 17's a nice H&R. Absolutely hated loading for them. You actually seem to have to put powder in one grain at a time. Bought a 17MachII when Kinber built it's first one. Shot beautifully but just would not stop a coyote reliably. So I gave it to my Son in law and bought a 17 HMR Savage. It would do the job and shot like a house a fire. Also reloading wasn't a problem. It then went to my Grandson as I'm pretty much finished with hunting. I have spent a wonderful 60+ years with the 17.

quote:

Originally posted by Cliff Lyle: How do the 25 grain pills behave in the wind?

I used mine primarily for called coyotes so most of my shots were under 200 yards. Often much closer than that. I never noticed any issues with the 17 and excessive wind drift. IMHO I believe time of flight has a fair amount to do with defeating wind drift, to a point. Once the little bullet gets out past 250 yards, the velocity is falling off pretty fast and the wind will start to play havoc on it. For a fur hunter, especially a caller, I think it's tough to beat a 17, either the Remington or the Fireball.

I experienced more one shot DRT coyote kills with the 17 Remington than with any other varmint round I've used. The 17 Fireball doesn't lag much behind it so I would expect similar results.

Good information. Thanks for that.

Used mine last night, banging out rabbits at 200 / 220 yards, scope stays on target & I can see exactly what results are, the typical Whop sound confirms too.

The Remington .221 Fireball was developed in the early 60s and chambered for the Remingtom XP 100 bolt action pistol. Parent case is a shortened .223.
The .221 has been wildcated into a bunch of different rounds. When/if the Remington brass was hard to come by, folks were/are making brass out of .223/5.56 brass.
Differenct case capasity so you go slow when working up loads.

Mikey,
.221 Fireball is the parent case, developed by Mike Walker. Fireball cases can be made from other cases,222,223, but why bother?
I had some 222 mag brass and decided to make some 17 Remington cases from it.... I made exactly one and that was enough for me! Too labor intensive for the return.

Stepchild