17 fireball

[YoungGun96]

Who else shoots a 17 fireball? I have one in a rem 700 limited stainless fluted barrel in a bedded boyds thumbhole. It shoots great with factory ammo but I have very little. Where do you guys find the ammo/ brass or what do you form it from?

[AB2506]

The Remington Premier factory load is very accurate, but very pricey. I have never seen the UMC loads offered for sale, but they are less costly, sold in 50 round boxes.

So far, I have just held my nose and bought the Premier. I haven't shot it beyond a fox, coyote and sight ins. Basically just building up brass, already have dies, bullets and powder ready to go. Never gotten around to reloading.

If you can't find fireball brass, you can make it using 204, 223, 222, 222 mag, 17 remington, but the easiest would to use brass that it took it's name from, the 221 Fireball. Now that brass isn't exactly common either, but it is out there. Anything on a 222 head size will work, but some will take more effort. Just guessing but the 221 Fireball and 17 Remington would be the easiest.

[elkhunter11]

I have a Cooper in 17 Fireball. I run Nosler 221 Fireball brass though my 20 Vartarg die, and then a second time through my 17 Fireball die. Running brass through the Vartarg die is easy, but you need to be careful with the 17 Fireball die. I lower the handle about 1/2 of the way, then raise it and rotate the case 1/2 turn, and then lower the handle the rest of the way. I use Imperial sizing wax, but don't overdo it, or you will end up with dents in the shoulders. Then I anneal the case necks and shoulders. No neck turning is necessary with the Nosler cases. Now you can find Lapua brass easier than Nosler, but the necks are thicker, so neck turning may be required. My rifle easily puts five 25 gr v-max bullets sub 1/2 moa at around 3800fps.

[Dean2]

Great round. I bought a lot of Rem 17 FB brass when I bought the gun cause I found I just loved shooting it, especially on gophers way out there. 221 brass makes good 17 FB but it is very pricey. If I was making some I would get a few thousand 223 once fired, all the same make and batch, and form them down to 17 FB. It is a little bit of work but 223 brass is 30/1000 rather than 120/100 for 221 Lapua or Nosler brass. I made some just to try it out. I used the 221 FL die, trimmed too length with a chop saw, then the 17 FB neck die. The 223 brass makes into really nice 17 FB brass when it is done.

[southernman]

I have had three, a rem 700, a model 7, and now a sako L46,
Neither of the Remington were anything special, in fact terrible would be closer to the truth. But the Sako is, This is by far my most accurate rifle, 25gr v-max and benchmark. Consistent, fingernail sized, five shot groups.
I sold my factory ammo off, and reload,
Bought both Remington and lapua .221 brass, what ever I could get, and resize down, via a 20vartarg die, as elk said above.
When I bought the sako, it came with a bunch of .223 brass, that was cut and resized, most of it is gone now, accuracy wasn't very good, and lots of neck splits. Probley need annealing, and retriming.
I have a 700 odd .222 brass I can rework/resize if need be.
I took it back to New Zealand, had it threaded, bought a suppressor, and have had a lot of fun with it the last 6 months, a few goats, one deer and quite a few rabbits and hare's have fallen victim.
I use 25gr HP point for bigger game. gives

[Dean2]

I have heard of a few guys who wren't happy with their reminton 17 FB but I must have got luicky. Both of mine will put 3 shots under .200 MOA at two hundred yards. Both are glass bedded in Boyds stocks and one had the J-lock replaced but other than that they are stock. One in LH SPS Varmint barrel the other in RH Stainless fluted Varmint.

This is the Stainless with 30 grain Berger at 200 yards. Tou can shoot gophers consistency out to 500 yards with these.

Target squares are 1/2" on a side.