Thinking of getting a 17 but not sure which caliber. Mostly plinking around. Accuracy at 100yards a must....and little critters of course.

I have a 17 fireball and it is a riot. Very little powder, very much splat. Recoil is nary a push.

Here are some for which I load.



Left to right: 17 ackley hornet, 17 hebee, 17 fireball, 17 mach IV, 17 remington, 20 vartarg, 20 Tactical, 22 hornet,218 bee, 221 fireball, 222 rem.

Pretty much will cover the varmint spectrum (varmints, not chamberings).

There are other 17’s.

I load from 18 gr. to 30 gr. bullets over 10 to 25 gr. of powder. Velocities generally range from the low 3,000 fps to well over 4,000 fps. They are not the barrel foulers that you’ve heard in the past.

You might start with the 17 fireball. Brass is available and does not have to be fireformed like the 17 hornet, 17 ackley hornet, 17 ackley bee, 17 hebee, 17 javelina.

The fireball/mach iv are typically very accurate. Very efficient, and very economical.
A 17 ackley hornet and 10 gr. lil gun, that’s close to 700 rounds from a pound of powder.
A 17 fireball at 18 gr. h4198 is over 380 rounds from a pound.
And the fireball/mach iv is capable of fine accuracy.
Here is a group I shot out of one of my Coopers at 100 yds off the bench.



Todd Kindler published a magazine called “Small Caliber News for about 13 years. If you could get your hands on some back issues there are any number of articles on the 17’s. He also published a manual entitled “The Sensational Seventeens, a number of years ago. It remains available for purchase. His web address is www.smallcaliber.com.

He also has anything you need to get started and keep going in the way of reloading the seventeens. His phone number at the Woodchuck Den is 330-897-0614.

Hornady publishes data in their 8th edition. Also Hodgdon annual manual has loads for several 17 chamberings.

www.Saubier.com is another place to find 17 cal fanatics.

www.varminthunter.org is home to the Varmint Hunters Association

www.6mmbr.com also has 17 caliber data.

Remington has/does chamber rifles for 17 fireball and 17 Remington
CZ has chambered for 17 remington. Don’t recall about the fireball

Cooper chambers for all the 17’s.

Any of your aftermarket suppliers such as Match Grade Machine, Mike Bellm, Bullberry/Woodsmith, TC custom shop EA Brown Co. etc will make you up a barrel to your specifications for either Encore or Contender. If you’re going to do a TC, in a 17, do a second generation Contender frame, and have a trigger job done.

Best
GWB

I have a 17 Ackley Bee and a 17 Fireball.For ease of use get a fireball.

.17 HMR , factory ammo a plenty, not exactly cheap but not exactly expensive, can get a fairly accurate savage gun for abot 200 bux........

quote:

I load from 18 gr. to 30 gr. bullets

Where are you picking up the 18 grain bullets? I'd love to shoot something lighter than 20 grain.
I'm shooting the 17 ackley bee and 17 mach IV. (similar to the fireball)
Sweet shooter, my 6 year old loves to shoot milk jugs at 200 yards with the mach IV. It is based off of a CZ527. She tells me that she likes to shoot it because she can see the jugs blow up in the scope.

+1 for the fireball.

i purchased my dad's "extra" 17 rem(rem700 bdl) when i was about 15. didn't even pick up a 22 for several years after that. i never reloaded for it and don't have any experience with any other 17 but advise you to get one for the pure fun of it.

17 rem story

mine had an 8x weaver on it. i would sneak up on a cattle tank( that's a "pond" for all you yankees) and glass around the edge with the scope. every time i saw a bullfrog i would zap it. didn't matter if it was 20 yards or 100 yards. after killing every frog in sight i would go gather them up and give them to my grandmother(after cutting the legs off and skinning them) and we would have dinner. i did sometimes lose a leg to the explosion, but not often. get a 17 and go have a blast!

Years ago we had a 165 acre "farm" near Cut N Shoot Tx. It was two miles north of SH-105, surrounded by 4500 acre private holding, backing up to Davy Crockett National Forest. Had a mile of frontage on Peach Creek and a 4 acre lake.

I started with a 17 mach iv around 1995. Could watch the lake and road in both directions, as well as the pines and hardwoods behind me. I'd have a bench, a bipod and shooting stix. Would bait the roads with corn at 100, 150 and 200 yds along the road in either direction. Could also snipe the lake. I'd take a six pack of my favorite beverage, a book and a pair of binocs. Crows, turtles, frogs, pearl-do's, starlings, snakes, squirrels, cottontails, aramdillos, coyotes, dragonflies (when lit) were fair game.
I remember one instance. I dropped a crow at 150 yds. While he was flopping a coyote came out to get him. Nailed him too. That was a good day.

Best
GWB