Well just durn...The .17 Fireball....

[Graybeard]

Didn't do better than 0.5" at 100 yards on its first time out on the range but it did do that. In fact the first group at 100 yards was an almost equal lateral triangle. The bottom leg as 0.5" CTC and the other two legs were each 0.4" CTC so the group came in at an even one half inch. I'd have shot more but I don't have much ammo for it right now so can't afford to waste more than needed until more comes in.

I used the factory load from Remington using the 20 grain plastic tip bullet at a supposed 4000 fps. I didn't run it across the chrono to verify but since the barrel on my little Remington Model Seven Predator is only 22" I doubt it's moving quite that fast.

The rifle wears a Bushnell Elite 3200 7-21x40 scope in Burris Signature rings set on Weaver #35M and #421M bases. The first shot at 25 yards was low and left by a few inches. I made a coarse adjustment and fired again. Then I made a more refined adjustment and fired one more at 25 which put it dead center.

Next I moved to the 100 yard target I had set up and cranked it up to 21X and set the parallax adjustment to clear things up. The group was centered 2" above point of aim. For now I'll leave it there and see if I can figure out what that might mean is a zero point but I'm thinking close to 250 yards with the bullet moving out darn near 4000 fps. That would mean a center hold on a prairie dog at 100 yards would be just about a heart/lung hit and a head hold at 400 yards should result in a dead PD as well.

I have bullets on the way from Hornady and 200 new cases from Remington sitting waiting the dies which are also on the way from Hornady. I bought 60 rounds locally and have 100 more rounds of factory ammo on the way from Able Ammo. After seeing how well it shoots the factory stuff I'll likely order another batch from Able since they seem to be the only one with it in stock. Of course since I've not yet received that order and have never dealt with them before I hesitate to order until the first order arrives.

This little bugger is gonna be a winner for sure.

The way the mil dots on the cross hair work the first dot above the cross is dead on at 100 yards. I'm pretty sure the cross is gonna be on about 250 and that first dot below is likely to be good around 375 to 400 yards but that will have to wait until I get somewhere I can shoot further than 100 yards I have on my home range to prove.

I consider the Bushnell Elite 3200 7-21 about a perfect match for this small rifle as the scope isn't a really large one but has enough power to take advantage of the accuracy the rifle has. The only thing I've done to the rifle is adjust the trigger pull to 2.75 pounds and clean the barrel prior to firing it. I of course put some lube on the bolt lugs and began shooting.

I LIKE IT! I LIKE IT! I LIKE IT!

[KenSel]

 GB, that's a pretty durn good report!  Glad the rifle is working out for you.  Of course you know now that you're gonna be the one I blame when the wife catches me carrying one home! 

Ken

[DalesCarpentry]

Good for you GB!!!!!! Looks like you have a keeper. I would think the groups would even tighten up a bit more after it gets broke in. Dale

[sniperVLS]

Congrats Bill!

Able Ammo is great in regards to "in stock" ammo and pricing, I've recently been buying some Hornady .308 Match HP from them. Only problem for me is it takes forever to get here from texas, it took them 2 or 3 days to actually ship it but once it arrived I relaxed when I remembered how much cheaper they were. Natchez is even cheaper but they never have anything I need in stock

I was thinking of getting that same Elite model for my .223, I had no doubt it would be good but your opinion of it helped make my decision

[nomosendero]

Bill, I am sorry you did not get the memo that Remington's don't shoot! 

Seriously, I get great results from Rems, moreso than any I have tried. We know that rifles shoot better as a general rule after several
bullets have gone down the tube, so I expect you have a shooter!

[Graybeard]

Yup I must not have been on distribution for that memo. Here is the target:



And a not so great photo of the rifle:

[DalesCarpentry]

Very nice group GB. Dale

[Cheesehead]

There is a lengthy, interesting article on the .17 Fireball in the most current issue of Handloader.

Cheese

[jvs]

I used the factory load from Remington using the 20 grain plastic tip bullet at a supposed 4000 fps.

 

I found more of the .17 FB ammo on Cheaper Than Dirt.  I don't think it is any more expensive than where you found it, but it is another outlet if and when you need more factory loads. 


]http://www.cheaperthandirt.com/17reming_cife.htm]

[crash87]

Graybeard, that is one fine 5 shot group, It is a 5'er isn't it? All kidding aside, I was just a little more than happy when I saw Big Green was going to, not only chamber it in the fireball, but bring out the M7 in the predator configuration. Looking at yours I can see its not only a fine rifle, it also shoots. I haven't seen any around here yet, (Wis.) I'm told there coming, and I'll be there when they do. CRASH87

[Graybeard]

Graybeard, that is one fine 5 shot group, It is a 5'er isn't it?

Normally it would be yes but at this time my ammo supply is just too short to be firing it up on paper with a PD hunt looming. I prefer to use five shot groups for all target/varmint rifles but this group really told me all I need to know about the little rifle's accuracy and now I can use the rest of the ammo to pop prairie puddles.

The other day when I was ordering neither Cheaper than Dirt nor Midway who owns them had the ammo in stock. They are a bit more expensive by a few cents than Able. Dunno about shipping charges but in general Midway's shipping is the most expensive out there and I'm not sure about CTD.

[sniperVLS]

CheaperThanDirt aint so cheap anymore. For the ammo I compare, they end up charging more. And who owns Able? Maybe I haven't had enough coffee yet(yeah that's my excuse) but they own Able? My head is spinning, if none of this makes sense just close thread immediately lol.

Wow I need more Folgers

[safetysheriff]

bill'

the 'blems' i bought a buddy from midway usa seem to be great shooters in his .25-06.   i don't know that they'll beat what you're doing right now with the .17; but they might also be an option if they become available in your caliber.    

the 'blems' are not showing up too much with them, however.    they haven't had any in .25, .27, nor .308 caliber in a long time.  

i bought some .270 blems, however, for my own use that didn't look anywhere near as well-formed as the .25's i gave my buddy.    i haven't loaded any yet; but the tips of them were definitely 'blems'.  

your post is one more endorsement for Remington.    i could eat this up with a spoon!

ss'  

[Graybeard]

Blems are pretty much always just bullets. I'm talking factory loaded ammo here. I have bullets coming from Hornady and have some Bergers on the way as well from Midsouth. But the group was shot with factory Remington brand ammo and that is what I need to pick up some more of since it shot so well.

I expect my dies and bullets from Hornady as well as the Bergers from Midsouth to all show up some time next week and then I'll begin looking for a load for it but the factory stuff is looking like one half MOA right out of the box so I'd like to get some more to use on PDs until I have time to develop a good accurate reload for it that will do as well.

I also looked thru my stock of .223 ammo today for the SPS Varmint I picked up at the same time. I have close to 1000 rounds loaded up with the Hornady 40 V-MAX and W748 that turned in some really tiny groups with previous Remington Varmint rifles for me. It chambers well in this one and the two groups I shot with it the other day both ran right at 0.9" but I think it will do better if I get serious with it. I have the Mueller APV 4.5-14 on it so can't crank it up beyond 14X and I'm sure that hurts a little in group size. The cross hairs on the Mueller are a bit more coarse than on the Bushnell as well and that likely opens the group a little. Still I'm pretty sure this load I have so many of will get down a bit less after I've worked some more with it. The gun has less than a dozen rounds down the barrel at this time.

[jvs]

How does the Powder Charge in the .17 Fireball compare to the .17 Rem. ?

At 4,000 fps, the Fireball should be a Screamer and a Barrel Burner just like the .17 Rem is.

[Graybeard]

I don't have any source data to compare the two really. There are darn few sources of data for the new Fireball. Hornady has data for the Mach IV which is basically the same as the Fireball and the .17 Remington both but they didn't use the same powder in any loads for both.

The case of the Mach IV is 1.4" and I think the Fireball is with a very few thousands of an inch of the same. The .17 Remington case is 1.796" long so you could say almost 0.4" longer which translates to a bunch more case capacity percentage wise. Still the little Fireball comes within about 200-250 fps of the .17 Remington performance and is much milder on barrels.

I have a magazine article with loading data for the Fireball and data from Hodgdon's website and that's really the only published data I've located specific to the Fireball. I have found a bit of additional Mach IV data to use as a comparison.

It seems that 4198 both IMR and Hodgdon are the top performing powders in the round from the sparse data I have on it. Accurate Powder has some data for the Mach IV and maybe the Fireball as well and I'll likely be using mostly Accurate Powders in my initial attempts at loading for it. I don't have any 4198 from either brand on hand but do have a lot of AA 2520, 2230 and 2460 on hand and have data for all three from reliable sources. I kinda prefer ball powders in such small cases as they meter far more reliably than do any type of stick powders. I have full confidence in metering these powders in small cases thru my RCBS powder measures.

I probably will not try to push this one to the max initially but will just stick to what data I have that shows safe tested pressures and accept anything from 3700 fps up as working loads for now. My dies and bullets should be showing up this week I hope.

[mjbgalt]

big deal, Bill. You missed the orange dot by a long ways. 

-Matt

[Graybeard]

big deal, Bill. You missed the orange dot by a long ways. 

-Matt

Tis true by 2" to be more precise but then there is some method to that madness. The scope wears a mil dot reticle and the first dot above the cross wire is precisely where the group impacts at 100 yards such that the gun is sighted in for about 250 at the cross wires and about 375-400 on the first dot below the cross wires. Dat's a pretty nice zero iffen ya ask me fer prairie dogs and I expect it to pop a bunch of them. I ordered 10 more boxes of the factory ammo this morning. Able says the first shipment of five will arrive today via UPS.

[dw06]

Looking good G.B. Be interested to see how the handloads do,just to see if you can beat factory load or not. Will be looking for the range report!

[jvs]

Bill,

     Maybe this will help you.


http://www.17remingtonfireball.com-a.googlepages.com/home

[BBF]

I had trouble enough holding 22 cal bullets on the case as I was pushing them up to the seater die. I guess a set of small forceps would be in order ..... hey,  use chopsticks, much cheaper

[Emmett]

   I think I may have posted this somewhere here before, but here it comes again.....I haven't started to load for my .17 Fireball yet.....almost half afraid that I'll be disappointed in my efforts. I've got everything to get going with, dies, casings, bullets, new trimmer shaft and pilots, powder, etc....
   After barrel break-in with a series of one shot & clean X 3, 2 shots & clean X 3, my second and third series of 3 shots & clean were giving me groups just slightly over .250" @ 100 yds. I was shooting the factory 20 gr. loads through my 700 SPS Varmint. It's topped with a Leupold straight 12X in Leupold bases and rings. I'm a little worried that my reloads are not going to be able to match or better that, but who knows until I get after it. I also just got a new Marlin 1895 and want to start getting some good 45/70 loads worked up, and my .243 Win. A.I. is still sitting halfway down into it's new stock waiting for me to finish it. So much to do.....so little time

[Graybeard]

I know what ya mean Emmett it's gonna be hard to match much less beat the way the factory ammo shoots. I'm just back from using mine on a prairie dog shoot and it sure worked fine. I think everything inside 300 I fired at was hit and it does a fine job on them. Some doubles were killed with it. The wind was running 25-35 steady and then gusts much higher. I did put it away when the shots stretched past 300 due to the wind.