17 cal decision

[mrmurl]

I recently purchased a 17 HMR from a fellow on this board.  I believe that it has not been shot only shot a few rounds.  This is a T/C contender 23 inch barrel and does not have any rub marks on the sides of the mounting lug. 
 
Now to my question.  I am thinking about having it rechambered to a center fire cartridge. 

Question one; In the opinion of the much learned folks on here which cartridge 17 Fireball or 17 Hornady Hornet.  This would be for prairie dogs and or small vermin around mid-Missouri.  Perhaps another variation?
 
Question Two; Who to do the rechamber work?  There are several choices that specialize in T/C barrels, just some ideas from y'all.
 
Thanks and may God bless.

[Ladobe]

TC uses 1:10 twists in all of their 17's, so any 17 cartridge that can utilize 17-25 grain bullets efficiently for your purposes would work fine in a rechambered 17HMR, and it might even get away with 30's.   
 
In general the commercialized 17 Hornet (17 Ackley Hornet) and 17 Fireball (17MachIV) choice would depend on what the longest ranges are you will be shooting regularly, what the largest species is you will be shooting at those ranges, and what range/species you will shooting the most.     So without knowing that it's pretty hard to recommend which 17 to choose for your main use while still having the versatility to do it all.   Also depends on if you will also dwell into wildcatting and look beyond the store bought ammo and reloads of them.   There are some very fine 17 wildcat choices that have not been commercialized yet like the 17AH and 17M4 now has that can be matched to specific uses to fill in gaps and exceed what the 17FB can do.   I've had just about all of the 17's on the Contender platform in handgun lengths, some as carbines, and many also as custom bolt rifles.
 
Not all TC custom barrel makers will rechamber TC factory barrels.   If the barrel meets minimum tolerances, JD will at SSK.   Fred at Bullberry will not, period.   I don't know what MGM is doing "this week", but at one time anyway they would not either.    Non TC shops could do them as well if they have the reamers.   Some shops could also have multiple reamer sets for chamber choices for some 17 cartridges so you don't have to settle for a SAMMI chamber/lead.
 
There is no poor choice in 17 cal cartridges IMO, so whatever you decide you will have a very fun and accurate Contender that will become a favorite.
 
 

[Iowa Fox]

I would keep the rimfire barrel and get a second barrel in centerfire. I have barrels in 17HMR-17AH-17MacH 1V-and the mighty king of the hill 17Rem. They all have their place just like a good selection of shovels or spades for different work.

[mrmurl]

Iowa Fox
Truth to tell I already have a 17 HMR barrel that shoots lights out, and leaning heavily to the Hornet.  Being lazy I am leaning that way because of the availabilty of components for the hornet.

[Ladobe]

Hey IF... the 17Rem is King in commercial 17's, but the real 17 Kings are the 17 DT, 17 Classic and 17 Athena wildcats.   Of them only the 17 Classic can be used in the Contender though.
 
I don't understand why component availability would be any different between the 17 Hornet and 17 Fireball?   Brass for either should be plentiful, and there is plenty of 22 Hornet and 221 FB brass around to form your own.
 
Regardless, if you go with the 17H you will greatly enjoy it.   Years ago (before the 17 rimfires) some of us old wildcatters used to say the 17AH was the most fun you could have with your clothes on.   The 17AH was a PITA to prep and load for in large quantities like I did, usually 1000 at a time until I had around 10K formed cases.  But it held up very well since I didn't push it too hard with my loads.   If you reload the 17H just keep in mind that in the small case it doesn't take much powder to spike into the unsafe zone.   1/10 of a grain can do it when you get close to max, and neither the Remy or Winnie brass is very strong.   Ambient air temp swings can also be an unsafe situation with near max loads, leaving ammo in the sun even worse, so I had summer and winter loads - and in the summer kept the ammo in coolers when out hunting.   Maybe overkill, but when you live on a desert the smart move.    Lots of folks swear by Lil'Gun or N120 as the powders of choice in the 17AH, I mostly used MilSup680 in all of mine the latter years when the volume of shooting was so high, 4227 or H110 before that.   Had a couple of jugs of Lil'Gun and one of N120 bought just for the 17AH's, but never used any of it.  Those powders would all work just as well in the 17H.  While I did shoot some lighter bullets in my 17AH's sometimes (custom 18's/commercial20's), my decided choice for all my hunting loads were based on the commercial and custom 25's, and custom 24's for all my 17's from the 17 Squirrel up, with the lighter bullets standard only in a custom 17CCM.
FWIW