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Author Topic: .17remington fireball  (Read 2854 times)

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Offline nebshooter

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.17remington fireball
« on: May 31, 2007, 05:24:17 PM »
brand new this year. the guns chambered for this round are starting to hit the gun stores.   a couple of the gun stores i went to today said they are starting to sell a lot of this ammo in the last 30 days. anybody have any experience with this round yet or any thoughts on this round. sounds kind of fun, thinking of buying one.
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Offline LaOtto222

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Re: .17remington fireball
« Reply #1 on: June 02, 2007, 04:25:46 AM »
I have two 221 Fire Balls. I like them a lot, they are fun. Case life is long (as long as i do not push them too hard) and I get good velocity out of them. Cases for the 17 could be made out of 221 FB, 222 or 223 cases in a pinch. I am so enamored with the 224 caliber guns, but it does sound intriguing. The .17 Mach IV has been around since the 60's and is essentially the same thing. Remington has just legitimized the Mach IV. Much like they did with the 22-250. It was a wild cat round for years called the 22 Varminter among other names before Remington picked it up and made it a standard round. Velocities are in 4000f/s range for 20 grain bullets, about 3700 - 3800 for 25 grain bullets. It is an efficient cartridge, little gun powder to get to 4000 f/s. I have always liked efficient rounds no matter the caliber.;D
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Offline hicard

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Re: .17remington fireball
« Reply #2 on: June 12, 2007, 10:21:43 AM »
I have both the 17 Mach 4 and the new 17 fireball and love them both.  I am currently loading my fireball ammo with the 17 mach 4 dies and they seem to be working fine.  Shoots flat and blows ground squirels up and I am able to see it all through the scope as recoil is non-existant.   
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Offline LaOtto222

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Re: .17remington fireball
« Reply #3 on: June 12, 2007, 11:42:06 AM »
Just a few questions...What are the twist rates on your two 17's? What is the heaviest bullet you can shoot accurately? What barrel length are on your rifles? What action/model do you have your 17's built on. What kind of accuracy do you get out of each rifle? Are they heavy weight barrels or light weight barrels? How many shots in a row does it take before the barrels heat up and they need a "rest"? How many rounds have you shot through your Mach IV? I think I know the answers to most of the questions based on my 221's, but would like you to confirm it in the 17's. Yes I am intrigued. ;D
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Offline trotterlg

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Re: .17remington fireball
« Reply #4 on: June 15, 2007, 06:11:00 PM »
I shoot a 17 remington and really don't know why someone would go with a fireball when a 17 Rem has a lot more zip to it.  Guess it is the new flavor of the month.  Larry
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Offline nebshooter

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Re: .17remington fireball
« Reply #5 on: June 15, 2007, 07:23:59 PM »
the reason for the .17 fireball is it does almost everything a .17 does but with half the powder charge, which means it does not have to be cleaned as much as a .17 and much less barrel wear. performance wise 4200 ft. per sec. to 4000 ft. per sec. is pretty close when you consider it gets there with half as much powder and once you hit the 4000 ft. per sec. barrier 200 ft. per sec. is really  not worth worrying about.
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Offline saltydog

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Re: .17remington fireball
« Reply #6 on: June 16, 2007, 04:03:27 AM »
I have experience w/ 17 Remington - needs lot's of powder and produces copper fouling but love the 4000 plus fps. However I now find the 17 HRM (cheaper to shoot) and 204 Ruger (fast and accurate) have replaced the 17 REM for my small bore use. The parent cartridge 221 Fireball should get more respect. I can see the thought behind the 17 Fireball but there is already the 204 Ruger which more than adaquately covers the under 224 caliber arena - if you are going to shoot a centerfire 17 (why ?) then the Fireball is the best of the group. 
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Offline Catfish

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Re: .17remington fireball
« Reply #7 on: June 19, 2007, 11:44:33 AM »
   I like to play with small cal. varmint rifles. I`ve never owned a .17 Mach IV, but do have a .17 Rem., a .17-223 and a .17 AH. I also have a .204 and 6 different rounds in .22 cal. I can also tell you the advantages of each and show you on paper to prove it. In fact I have to show you on paper because in the field there is little difference in the performance of any of them on game up to and including groundhogs. My little .17 AH, using 10.4 gn`s. of powder shoots flat to abt. 290 yrds. with a 19 gn. bullet. The .17 Rem. and the .17-223 are so close they are abt. identical, but the new .17 Fireball would be abt. 1/2 between them and my .17 AH.
   The real reason they bring out these new round is not to fill a nitch that has never been filled befor, it is TO SELL GUNS! You see there are guys like me that just have to try every new factory round, and when they don`t bring them out fast enough we build Wildcats.
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Offline hicard

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Re: .17remington fireball
« Reply #8 on: July 04, 2007, 03:30:26 PM »
LaOtto222  I don't know the twist rate on my two rifles.  The 17 Mach 4 is a custom Van Horn contender sporter weight stainless 21" and the 17 Fireball is a new Remington 700 CDL SF fluted light varmint weight 24".  I have only shot 20 and 25gr bullets, mostly Hornady v-max bullets and have been happy with both as far as accuracy goes. I have never fired large numbers of rounds out of either rifle until last week end I fired several dozen rounds out of the 17 Fireball at ground squirrels and it did not heat up excessively.  My loads were on the lighter side though and I intend to increase my load to near maximum next time out. My only complaint is that I am shooting my Mach 4 loads out of my 17 Remington as I do not have loading dies or factory cases for the 17 Remington yet and I am getting a lot of neck splits I am told from over worked brass that I need to anneal. 
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Offline LaOtto222

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Re: .17remington fireball
« Reply #9 on: July 05, 2007, 01:07:04 PM »
Hicard - thank you for the response to my many questions. ;D Do you think the neck (chamber) on the Van Horn barrel is tighter than the new Remington? It could be the combination of over worked brass and the expansion to the Remington neck is splitting the necks. At any rate annealing should help that.
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Offline tuck2

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Re: .17remington fireball
« Reply #10 on: July 07, 2007, 04:49:46 PM »
I picked up a Rem 700 Limited 17 Fireball because it is fun to try out new rounds. But Im going to wait until 08 to shoot it when Remington will sell empty brass and I can get reloading dies.
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Offline trotterlg

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Re: .17remington fireball
« Reply #11 on: July 08, 2007, 02:56:09 PM »
hicard :

Quote
My only complaint is that I am shooting my Mach 4 loads out of my 17 Remington as I do not have loading dies or factory cases for the 17 Remington yet and I am getting a lot of neck splits

Lets see............................................Shooting a Mach 4 in a 17 Remington and you wonder why the neck splits?  This was a joke post right?????????????????????  Larry
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Offline saltydog

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Re: .17remington fireball
« Reply #12 on: July 10, 2007, 03:42:58 AM »
Quote from: trotterlg on July 08, 2007, 02:56:09 PM
hicard :

Quote
My only complaint is that I am shooting my Mach 4 loads out of my 17 Remington as I do not have loading dies or factory cases for the 17 Remington yet and I am getting a lot of neck splits

Lets see............................................Shooting a Mach 4 in a 17 Remington and you wonder why the neck splits?  This was a joke post right?????????????????????  Larry

Tlg - It seems a reasonable question. The 17's require more case prep work and attention than larger calibers and case life is typically shorter. The classic MACH IV Fireball and 17 REM MAG need to have attention paid to case neck thickness and you will also have to turn the neck after a few trims. You could also have a chamber length issues as the Van Horn is a custom and COL for MACH IV chambers can vary from rifle to rifle let alone what Remington reemed the Fireball at. You should check the relative COL for both rifles. 
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Offline trotterlg

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Re: .17remington fireball
« Reply #13 on: July 10, 2007, 01:34:54 PM »
Shooting a Mach4 round in a 17 Remington and wonders why the neck splits?  Lucky it doesn't just blow up.  If you haven't compared the rounds the Mach 4 is quite a lot shorter.  Larry
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Offline saltydog

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Re: .17remington fireball
« Reply #14 on: July 10, 2007, 03:23:37 PM »
The hot .17 Mach IV is essentially a necked-down .223 case chopped from 1.75 to 1.40 inches with a 30 degree shoulder. The new Remington 17 Fireball case mimics the .17 Mach IV, with a 1.41-inch case and 30-degree shoulder - so if you consider this length difference of .01 alot - I guess you have a point. However from the information I think the split necks are because of old brass with unturned necks.
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Offline dw06

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Re: .17remington fireball
« Reply #15 on: July 10, 2007, 03:28:49 PM »
I thought hicard was shooting the Mach4 round in a 17fireball chamber,and not a 17 remington which I don't think can be done as wouldn't the Mach4 slid into 17 remington chamber and firing pin never touch it?Or am I missing something?
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Offline dw06

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Re: .17remington fireball
« Reply #16 on: July 10, 2007, 03:41:34 PM »
OK I reread his post and he does say 17 fireball,then says 17 remington towards the end and think he means the fireball instead.Had me worried there for a min.
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Offline RangerRiz

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Re: .17remington fireball
« Reply #17 on: August 15, 2007, 12:42:27 PM »
Have never owned any .17 centerfire, but if i was going to buy one it would be the Fireball. If i were a betting man i would lay cold hard cash that when people say .17 Rem. 25 years from now they will be talking about the little case not the bigger one. I will get myself one of the small cased wildcat.17s first and i think if i need anything bigger it will be a .204 or a .223.

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