.17 Remington Fireball

[Purr-verted]

Hello all my first post in the forum.

I am looking to purchase a .17 Remington Fireball bolt action for hunting small game back here in Australia. I though I would get some feedback from you gurus out there on what you would recommend to be the best rifle to purchase and why.

I intend to get a large order of brass and reload my own ammo once I have the rifle sorted.

Also recommendations on what optics you would use for hunting out to about 350m would be usefull also.

Cheers

Chris

 

[Drumie]

Re: .17 Remington Fireball

I have 3 Remingtons in 17 Fireball. A 700 VSF, a Model Seven Predator, and a 700 SPS. The SPS I sent to Short Action Customs and he put it in a McMillan stock, trued the action and installed a Lilja 23" fluted barrel for me. All guns would shoot the 20gr Remington loads under 3/4" at 100 yards. But none of them liked the 25gr Remington loads. Now the one that Mark built for me will put the 20gr and the 25gr to the same point of impact at 100 yards and keep them both under 1/2 inch all the time. The VSF is a nice gun, kinda heavy for what I do with them. I use it as a walking varminter. I love this round for woodchucks. The model 7 Predator is a nice light gun, but I was loosing almost 200FPS vs. the VSF. Now my go to gun is the one Mark built for me. I it light enough to carry and still heavy enough to keep it steady. As for the fireball round it is my go to for woodchucks. No recoil, not very loud and I haven't had one move after being shot with one. I have taken them out to 312 yards with mine so far. Just gotta watch the wind with the light bullets. As for a scope, I got a Swarovski Z5 5-25x52 on it. It is a light enough scope, great mag range and I have the Ballistic turret on it. Works great for what I do.
As for a gun for you, well you are limited on who makes guns chambered for the 17 fireball. I think Remington, Cooper and Dakota are about it making them. Unless you go the custom route. The remintons are good, just gotta do something with the stock trigger. The Coopers are great out the the box, but the don't make a repeater. If i was going to build another one I would start with a Tikka T3 action, have a smith put a Lilja barrel on it and put it in a Manners stock.

 

[Shortdraw]

Re: .17 Remington Fireball

I think Drumie just about covered it. It makes for a very good varmint round and it is about the easiest on fur for predator hunters. It can be difficult in the wind. I assume you'll be primarily shooting hares and foxes?

 

[vman]

Re: .17 Remington Fireball

Chris,

having seen whats on offer in this Country I would say a remington would be your easier option.

Good news is there seems to be bulk .17 projectiles around which means reloading is cheap as.

Im interested in this round, but for the time im using a 17hmr. I would probably be cheaper for me to reload a 17fireball than actually buy 17hmr long term...

 

[BERTMAN77MK2]

Re: .17 Remington Fireball

love the 17 Fireball for minimum pelt damage on foxes, coons,
bobcats, and coyotes---I use it in brushy areas where 200 would be the longest shot and 50 to 125 is the norm----Rem 700 varmint
restocked and a trigger job is a half MOA gun for me--will re-barrel when necessary---using a Burris XTR 3x12 and/or Bushnell 2x16 --have not owned an HMR yet as the 17Fireball meets and exceeds my needs for varmints and such

 

[Purr-verted]

Re: .17 Remington Fireball

Thanks for the feedback guys, depending on the range I may also take a crack at headshots on small wallabies if they are in big numbers. I generally don't shoot native stuff unless they are in big numbers.

Does anyone know if there is a rifle that comes stock standard with a detachable magazine in this cal?

 

[Purr-verted]

Re: .17 Remington Fireball

Bump, is there a stock .17 Fireball rifle that comes with a detachable magazine?

If not is there anyone out there that does custom stuff like this to retrofit?

 

[mavrick]

Re: .17 Remington Fireball

I had a 17 fireball but I used the action for a 300whisper build. I am not for sure but I think the poly AI .223 mags would work for 17 fireball. They work great for my 300Whisper,300/221, 300 BLKout what ever you want to call it.

Dustin

 

[Purr-verted]

Re: .17 Remington Fireball

Thanks Maveric, after seeing Coldbores 223 build I may look at getting a custom rifle built in .17 (just a bit lighter).

 

[Ewburgess]

Re: .17 Remington Fireball

I have 3 Remingtons in 17 Fireball. A 700 VSF, a Model Seven Predator, and a 700 SPS. The SPS I sent to Short Action Customs and he put it in a McMillan stock, trued the action and installed a Lilja 23" fluted barrel for me. All guns would shoot the 20gr Remington loads under 3/4" at 100 yards. But none of them liked the 25gr Remington loads. Now the one that Mark built for me will put the 20gr and the 25gr to the same point of impact at 100 yards and keep them both under 1/2 inch all the time. The VSF is a nice gun, kinda heavy for what I do with them. I use it as a walking varminter. I love this round for woodchucks. The model 7 Predator is a nice light gun, but I was loosing almost 200FPS vs. the VSF. Now my go to gun is the one Mark built for me. I it light enough to carry and still heavy enough to keep it steady. As for the fireball round it is my go to for woodchucks. No recoil, not very loud and I haven't had one move after being shot with one. I have taken them out to 312 yards with mine so far. Just gotta watch the wind with the light bullets. As for a scope, I got a Swarovski Z5 5-25x52 on it. It is a light enough scope, great mag range and I have the Ballistic turret on it. Works great for what I do.
As for a gun for you, well you are limited on who makes guns chambered for the 17 fireball. I think Remington, Cooper and Dakota are about it making them. Unless you go the custom route. The remintons are good, just gotta do something with the stock trigger. The Coopers are great out the the box, but the don't make a repeater. If i was going to build another one I would start with a Tikka T3 action, have a smith put a Lilja barrel on it and put it in a Manners stock.

You be interested in selling the Remington model seven predator

 

[Mike Casselton]

Holy necro thread resurrection Batman.
Just shy of 14 years old.


And, trying to purchase outside the PX to boot.

 

[Mr. Z]

To be fair that fella is probably tired of that rifle by now.

 

[nagantguy]

Is this still available?

 

[Modoc]

To be fair that fella is probably tired of that rifle by now.

. I still consider this cartridge every so often, but love my Remington 700 Classic in 221 Fireball and can’t quite justify another caliber in the stable. New load development is happening this week on a tried and true cartridge!

 

[steve123]

Old thread but hey I'm not busy being retired and all.

Years ago I bought a 17K Hornet, just not the power I was looking for, tried 17 Rem twice, then 22 Hornet, 218 Bee AI, 222 Rem, 223, 22-250, 220 Swift, the 6mm's, 2nd to last I tried was 204R.

Then arrived at 5mmFBI.

20 Vartarg, or the AI version which I have/5mmFBI, are pretty much varmint cartridge nirvana even though it requires reloading.

Barrel heat doesn't become an issue.
Long barrel life
Low recoil
Low SD
6mm PPC like precision
22-250 ballistics
19 grains of powder
Found a guy to form brass from once fired 223LC, clean, anneal, trim, and turn necks for a great price.
Easy to reload for once that is done
And the loaded case is cool looking

Most of the time I make the cold bores on our 421Y turkey silhouette. It's easy!

Recent story- A friend was trying to hit our 24"x20" steel at 1122Y with a 270 Bren XP100 pistol. Nope didn't happen but it only had iron sights and we had to aim at objects high up on the hill to get close to the steel.
I though well hmmm why not try my 5mmFBI since we're just goofing around anyway. Using 14.2 MILS I got it on the 2nd and 5th shot! I asked my friends who were watching if they wanted to give it a go and they made some hits with my gun as well. Yes it was calm-ish and even though the 32gr vmax starts at 3760 fps it's arriving at that distance at 886 fps according to my app, ain't that somethin, lol. I was excited because the vertical was way better than I thought it would be way out there. I weigh charges to less than a 20th of grain on my Scott Parker tuned beam scale which I attribute the low vertical too.

The little one that could.
Except that bullet is a cheap Nosler HP blem I use for my reduced loads at 2700 fps.

 

[carbonbased]

Old thread but hey I'm not busy being retired and all.

Years ago I bought a 17K Hornet, just not the power I was looking for, tried 17 Rem twice, then 22 Hornet, 218 Bee AI, 222 Rem, 223, 22-250, 220 Swift, the 6mm's, 2nd to last I tried was 204R.

Then arrived at 5mmFBI.

20 Vartarg, or the AI version which I have/5mmFBI, are pretty much varmint cartridge nirvana even though it requires reloading.

Barrel heat doesn't become an issue.
Long barrel life
Low recoil
Low SD
6mm PPC like precision
22-250 ballistics
19 grains of powder
Found a guy to form brass from once fired 223LC, clean, anneal, trim, and turn necks for a great price.
Easy to reload for once that is done
And the loaded case is cool looking

Most of the time I make the cold bores on our 421Y turkey silhouette. It's easy!

Recent story- A friend was trying to hit our 24"x20" steel at 1122Y with a 270 Bren XP100 pistol. Nope didn't happen but it only had iron sights and we had to aim at objects high up on the hill to get close to the steel.
I though well hmmm why not try my 5mmFBI since we're just goofing around anyway. Using 14.2 MILS I got it on the 2nd and 5th shot! I asked my friends who were watching if they wanted to give it a go and they made some hits with my gun as well. Yes it was calm-ish and even though the 32gr vmax starts at 3760 fps it's arriving at that distance at 886 fps according to my app, ain't that somethin, lol. I was excited because the vertical was way batter than I thought it would be way out there. I weigh charges to less than a 20th of grain on my Scott Parker tuned beam scale which I attribute the low vertical too.

The little one that could.
Except that bullet is a cheap Nosler HP blem I use for my reduced loads at 2700 fps.

View attachment 8290635

Huh. I shoot mainly 204 with 32gr & 40gr vmax factory ammo. Never chrono’d either as I just got a Garmin, but according to Hornady the 32gr comes out of the 204 at 4225fps/26” barrel (which I use).

I should try long distance 204 for kicks! I love small calibers.

And yeah, that 5mmFBI / 20 Vartarg AI cartridge looks cool, I agree!

 

[supercorndogs]

20 practical is just one pass through the die from 223 brass. I get about 4k with 32g bullets out of an 18" barrel ar-15.

 

[Modoc]

Damn you guys! Now I’m looking into the 20 Vartag AI and the 20 practical! I don’t NEED another chambering/cartridge and am trying to stomp down the WANTS!
Anyone have Gen 1 TC Contender Carbine furniture and a barrel (in these calibers) they want to get rid of?
Oops! HH6 just looked over my shoulder and thumped me!

 

[carbonbased]

Damn you guys! Now I’m looking into the 20 Vartag AI and the 20 practical! I don’t NEED another chambering/cartridge and am trying to stomp down the WANTS!
Anyone have Gen 1 TC Contender Carbine furniture and a barrel (in these calibers) they want to get rid of?
Oops! HH6 just looked over my shoulder and thumped me!

Twoooooo oooohhh fffoooouuurrr…
twooooooooo ooooooohhh fooooouuuuuuuurr

 

[supercorndogs]

Damn you guys! Now I’m looking into the 20 Vartag AI and the 20 practical! I don’t NEED another chambering/cartridge and am trying to stomp down the WANTS!
Anyone have Gen 1 TC Contender Carbine furniture and a barrel (in these calibers) they want to get rid of?
Oops! HH6 just looked over my shoulder and thumped me!

Dude come on. What else you gonna do with all that 223 brass? chunk in goes 223 chunk out come 20 practical. Like magic.

 

[steve123]

Huh. I shoot mainly 204 with 32gr & 40gr vmax factory ammo. Never chrono’d either as I just got a Garmin, but according to Hornady the 32gr comes out of the 204 at 4225fps/26” barrel (which I use).

I should try long distance 204 for kicks! I love small calibers.

And yeah, that 5mmFBI / 20 Vartarg AI cartridge looks cool, I agree!

Factory ammo was nice but its a surprisingly loud cartridge which kinda correlates to sight picture upset and the barrel gets hot quick. Kinda reminded me of a smaller 20 cal 220 Swift. When shooting PD's I had to stop and let the barrel cool. I should have brought a 2nd gun but hadn't even thought about that aspect back then. Though don't get me wrong I enjoyed the cartridge and I'd rather have it than the larger 22 cals.

I forgot to mention I also built a 20x47Lapua, and what a beast! 55's, .38BC at 3830 fps, and that was slowed down at the lower node. However bullets started blowing up 300 rounds in which majorly sucked! Grrr, I'd almost buy another barrel to try it again but instead this time a straight 28" vs the lightweight 26".

I had found a sweet spot using my 17 Rem with a bullet called 30 grain Golds. These had a .27BC, could be launched pretty fast and with lower recoil. I liked those boutique bullets but the guy quit making them. Once I found my 5mmFBI I sold the 17 to a friend including the bullets I had left then when he got low he sold it. We both miss that cartridge using that bullet.

Yeah try it way out there but best done on a clam day otherwise the wind is gonna blow those low BC varmint bullets all over the place. One of my misses at 1122Y was around 12 feet left and we couldn't even feel that difference of wind at our bench!

BTW one of my friends commented saying that my 8 pound 5mmFBI recoiled like a 22rf.

5mm FBI is Truly a fantastic combo of great attributes so my varmint cartridge search had abruptly ended!

 

[steve123]

Dude come on. What else you gonna do with all that 223 brass? chunk in goes 223 chunk out come 20 practical. Like magic.

One of my friends wants to build one off a Tikka and another friend bought a AR upper but it doesn't work right. He found out the headspace wasn't correct and almost blew my other friends face off, same friend I mentioned wanting to build off of Tikka. Out of battery explosion.

 

[carbonbased]

Yeah try it way out there but best done on a clam day otherwise the wind is gonna blow those low BC varmint bullets all over the place. One of my misses at 1122Y was around 12 feet left and we couldn't even feel that difference of wind at our bench!

Oh yes, agreed, a calm day would be needed indeed.

Kinda reminded me of a smaller 20 cal 220 Swift. When shooting PD's I had to stop and let the barrel cool.

With your 5mm FBI, how many shots in a row (in a hurry) can you take before the barrel gets too hot? With my 204, I try to stop at 10 rounds.

BTW one of my friends commented saying that my 8 pound 5mmFBI recoiled like a 22rf.

That’s pretty impressive. My 204 is in an 18 lbs chassis and thus of course has very minimal recoil (and my recoil mitigation skills have improved after discovering Frank’s tips on SH).

But when it was in the factory Remington laminated thumbhole, it recoiled slightly less than a .223.

Your rounds have 19gr of powder, correct? I’m not a reloader, so tell me, how many grains do you think Hornady Superperformance 204 32/40gr ammo use? I know it’s some publicly unavailable powder, so maybe that negates any comparison. I ask because, given identical rifle/bullet weights that would be the reason for any recoil differences between 204 & 5mmFBI, right?

Over on Accurate Shooter forums, there’s always a lot of talk about the various 20 cal Practicals, Tacticals, etc etc. Maybe I’ll reload when I retire, but is there a resource, a primer, on all of the different 20cal variations (including the AI ones)? Not talking about a reloading resource, but an article.

For the uneducated (like me), I’ve just come across what AI/Ackley Improved means and who the man was. Ron Spomer also talked a little about the topic too, but he shoots larger things (thus he thinks 1.5 moa is ok for sub-500yds). I don’t really know much about Ron, but the article he wrote seemed decent.