17 Mach IV and 17 Rem Fireball

[Durby]

So Remington now has a newer cartridge out, the 17 Fireball, which is just like the older 17 Mach IV wildcat. I have access to a Mach IV reamer, and I was thinking of building one, but now that there is a factory version out, I need to know if the two cartridges are identical. Anyone out there know anything about these cartridges and if there is a difference?

 

[rangerruck]

check some stats here; it sounds okay to me.
http://saubier.tempwebpage.com/forum/showthread.php?t=2324

 

[gunluvr17]

Is the fireball a center fire?
Will it shoot through the same rifle as the 17 HMR

 

[rangerruck]

yes it is centerfire, no, it will not work through a 17hmr. totally diff in every way, except the caliber.

 

[MachIVshooter]

Admittedly I don't know much about where you live, but it would seem to me there isn't much use for a dedicated varmint cartridge in the SF bay area

Just curious

That said, get the original hyper-velocity .17-the .17 Remington. I push 20 grain pillls out of mine at just under 4,300 FPS.

 

[cmidkiff]

I've been looking at the Fireball as well... American Rifleman had an article about the caliber a few months back. According to the article, .17 MachIV and .17 Fireball are nearly identical, but you shouldn't shoot .17 Fireball in anything that isn't stamped .17 fireball. The MachIV is a wildcat, there were many variations on the theme. It might be ok, and then again, it might not!

I wouldn't want to find out by chambering a factory fireball round and squeezing one off!

If you do want to use your .17 MachIV reamer, I would plan on working up a load for it, just as you would with any wildcat. If you end up with a safe load that matches the Fireball in dimensions and pressure, then you know you're OK.

I don't know why you wouldn't load your own ammo for such a critter anyway, and if you're going to do that, then the MachIV would be just fine.

 

[TAB]

the 17 rem is hotter then the 17 rem fireball... just a FYI.

 

[Clipper]

My buddy and I are going to play with my new H&R synthetic in .243, by having a new barrel fitted to his .17HMR, and then rechambering it for .17 Fireball, to use on my receiver. I had thought about starting with a .17HMR sportster, but would rather tweak the barrel fit than re-machine the firing pin block to make the rimfire receiver a centerfire. Reprofiling the ejector, or even machining a new one isn't a problem (We're both Journeyman Toolmakers, and I have all the shop machinery needed).

The reason I'm going for the Fireball instead of the .17 Remington is simple economics. I may lose around 300 FPS, but I only need 15gr of powder to get 4000 FPS. I'll get over it. I'm sure the critters I shoot with it won't be able to tell I'm using the slower round...

According to the specs we've seen, the Mach IV is ever so slightly longer in the neck than the Fireball, but otherwise the same, so Fireball ammo should, in theory, be safe in a Mach IV chamber, but not the reverse.

BTW, I recently saw an ad in Shotgun News, I think, or maybe it was American Rifleman, for Mach IV ammo really cheap...