.17 Remington Fireball

Loading 20- and 25-Grain Bullets.

- Stan Trzoniec

The .17 Remington Fireball could be called a copycat.Essentially this cartridge is a close twin to the .17 Mach IV wildcat from the 1960s and uses the .221 ireball case necked down to handle a .172-inch bullet without all the fuss of case forming, then fire forming, to get everything right. Remington has done all the hard work, including new factory brass, bullets and rifles. At last count, it appears that Remington offers the .17 Remington Fireball (RFB) in both the Model 700 in various models, as well as the Model Seven.

Since I have a soft spot for the Model Seven, I decided to go first-class on this project by ordering a rifle from the company’s custom shop. While not fancy or engraved, it features a nice stock with a straight (classic) comb, cheek piece, ebony tip and grip cap, traditional point-pattern checkering and a glossy finish. The metalwork is matte finished, and a Leupold VXIII 2-9x 36mm scope was added in Leupold rings on a one-piece Burris base. While some shooters might balk at the mild magnification of the scope, please take into account the cartridge and the ranges at which I will be shooting (between the stone walls here in the Northeast). This is a “walking” varmint rig, so light is good. To finish the package, the rifle has a 20-inch barrel with a muzzle diameter of .560 inch, a target crown and a trigger that breaks at 2½ pounds.