Anybody mess with a 17 Fireball?

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forindooruseonly

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I've always wanted a .17 centerfire and recently got a Contender barrel in .17 Fireball. Factory ammo is nonexistent right now, so I've been gathering the tooling and components to reload. Probably going to use 322 powder with Nosler 20 gr. bullets.

Anybody ever reloaded for this, or hunted with one? Any thoughts or suggestions? I don't see much talk about the 17s, but components and ammo seems to get snapped up pretty quick when I find it online and hesitate to buy.
 

clintbailey

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Not sure how close that is to the old 17 Remington, but my buddy has one of the Rem's in a Rem700 and it shoots great. He did say he has to swab barrel every like 15-20 shots or it starts shooting everywhere, gets dirty pretty fast. He's killed a couple coyotes with it while we were hunting, but I can't say I'd call it a great coyote round. Good luck and let's see some feedback, esp if you get it afield...
 

DRC458

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Buddy of mine also had a Rem 700 in .17 rem. He, too, got tired of the constant cleaning and got rid of it. I think he was only firing five to ten shots before groups went south and required cleaning.
 

Snattlerake

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I knew a guy that had a 221 fireball he shot silhouettes with in the 70's.
Is that anywhere close to a 17 Fireball?
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Smaller neck, smaller bullet, Faster?

I read where the 17 Rem is the fastest production round a 4250 fps.
 

DRC458

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forindooruseonly

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Supposedly the Fireball reduces the need for constant cleaning that the old 17 Rem needed - less overbore and fouling. That was what got me interested, because I have a friend who loved the 17 Rem, but hated having to clean it as much as he did.

Plan is to shoot at a prairie dog town where we have access. It will be a challenge, shots from 150 out to 400 or so.

Hopefully I can get the last of the things I need this week and start playing with some loads to see if I can get something that groups well enough to hunt with.
 

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