Thread: >17's

Hey guys So I was looking at a .17 HMR but then told a .17 Fireball from Remington would better suit my long range magpie and rabbit ambitions.

Has anyone had any trigger time on this model?

Just to confuse matters further...

http://m.hornady.com/store/17-Hornet

.17 ackley hornet

The .17 Hornet seems to be interesting
Plus reloading abilities

I had a HMR - sold it and have a .17 hm2 - reason sold - was too much at the ranges normally used (close up on possums), yet the hm2 was still good and flat for rabbits out to nice distances
HMR was getting close to 223 cost, but no ability to reload - yet not as powerful - so only for small game

See this thread too
http://www.nzhuntingandshooting.co.n...-caliber-9813/

at the risk of opening a can of worms im loading 10.5 grains of powder and IMHO MY 17 HAS MORE KILLING POWER than a 223 by the simple fact that the bullet never exits the body of the target animal so all its energy is expended ... less recoil less noise and you have a win win situation

Originally Posted by sakkaranz

at the risk of opening a can of worms im loading 10.5 grains of powder and IMHO MY 17 HAS MORE KILLING POWER than a 223 by the simple fact that the bullet never exits the body of the target animal so all its energy is expended ... less recoil less noise and you have a win win situation

to put up the other side of the debate, he said long range magpies etc. your 17 might be fast and flat shooting, but it wont have the wind bucking abilities of the higher b.c .224 projectiles.
as far as killing power, any projectile will kill a varmint.
but I guess all this depends on your idea of long range. each to there own

Originally Posted by sakkaranz

at the risk of opening a can of worms im loading 10.5 grains of powder and IMHO MY 17 HAS MORE KILLING POWER than a 223 by the simple fact that the bullet never exits the body of the target animal so all its energy is expended ... less recoil less noise and you have a win win situation

You may find the retention inside the animal has more to do with the projectile than anything else. Unless you fire a similar load in charge and projectile weight I fail to see how you can even start to compare them.

I have shot deer with a .223 at ranges I would never consider attempting with a .17 of any configuration.

Originally Posted by sakkaranz

at the risk of opening a can of worms im loading 10.5 grains of powder and IMHO MY 17 HAS MORE KILLING POWER than a 223 by the simple fact that the bullet never exits the body of the target animal so all its energy is expended ... less recoil less noise and you have a win win situation

Shooting beside my mate with his 17 Hornet (using 20gr zmax) and me with my 20 tactical (using 40gr vmax) there is absolutely no comparison. The 20 cal tears rabbits apart and hits with much more authority at 300m than the 17 does at 100m. As said above, when using similarly constructed projectiles there isn't a comparison

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Originally Posted by .375H&H

Hey guys So I was looking at a .17 HMR but then told a .17 Fireball from Remington would better suit my long range magpie and rabbit ambitions.

Has anyone had any trigger time on this model?

I had a 17 fireball briefly but it was completely over shadowed by my 20 tactical so I didn't use it much... I have considered a 17 Hornet, but think I will just get more brass for the 20 and use the funds that would have gone into a 17 on reloading components for the 20...

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.221 Fireball has always interested me. 45-50 gr projectiles @ 3000fps.

I personally, would not have a use for a centerfire .17 but would like a rimfire one eventually.

Originally Posted by R93

.221 Fireball has always interested me. 45-50 gr projectiles @ 3000fps.

I personally, would not have a use for a centerfire .17 but would like a rimfire one eventually.

20 vartag is a cool round to with 32gr projectiles... (221 fireball necked down to 20 cal)

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see lol

Originally Posted by .375H&H

Hey guys So I was looking at a .17 HMR but then told a .17 Fireball from Remington would better suit my long range magpie and rabbit ambitions.

Has anyone had any trigger time on this model?

I'm a big fan of HMR's. Cheap to run and really reliable (for me). In order to answer your question - we really need to understand what other rifles you have and therefore which calibre plugs the gaps (as it were) in your collection. Here's what I shoot depending on the type of game & distances I'll face.
20 > 80 yards = .22LR (usually my subsonic but I also have a HV rig as well)
50 > 150 yards = .17HMR (suppressed)
100 > 250 yards = .223 (lightweight suppressor for walk around)
100 > 400 yards = .204 (heavier weight barrel & suppressor for varminting (drive or sit))
... but I also like buying/owning firearms!
Keep safe in the hills.

Dump all energy in animal theory is flawed.
Haven't recovered a Barnes yet but they drop on the spot.
Conversely have had substantially more than one fail on well placed shots at close range with frangible projectiles.

your 223 vs 17 argument is all outta whack unless your comparing vmax to 223 fmj

as this is a varminting and small game post then to compare the overkill ability on deer of the 223 is out of whack .. the original question was is the .17 suitable for rabbits and magpies