17 hornet vs 17 fireball

K

kuca_2004

New member
Ok I started this thread to hear opinions on these 2 calibers. I want reload and I want a small .17 or .22 caliber for prairie dogs and other varmints. What do you think of these 2 calibers??
 
Honestly... you likely saw my post in the other thread... if P Doggies are what you're after for use... just go with the 223 / 5.56... components & guns are so easy & cheap

between the 2 you titled... the 17 Hornedy Hornet has the volume of components you need to really "shoot" P Doggies
 
Magnum Wheel Man

Yes I read your post in the other thread. It was very informative. I appreciate your opinion. Just trying to decide what to get.
 
Midway is where I look to see what's available, Stateside. .17 Hornet ammo and brass is readily available. .17 Fireball is not. The former is only loaded by Hornady, but at least you can get it. Remington is not currently producing anything in .17 Fireball.
Ditto for Graf's.
I'd still listen to Magnum Wheel Man and go with a .223. .17 calibre bullets may not be easy to find either. Buying components on-line gets really expensive quickly due to the shipping costs of heavy stuff.
 
I have a few P-dog calibers that I reload for. 204, 22-250 and even 25-06. The thing about the smaller calibers is simply getting the powder and bullets into the cases. I am an auto tech by trade and have pretty good dexterity in my hands and loading those little 32gr .204 pills is a delicate matter, much more so than a 87gr .257 bullet. Even the 22-250 bullets are much easier than the 204's for whatever reason. Another thing one must consider is your propellant choice and how one goes about getting it into that tiny opening (be it .17 or .20). Most "standard" powder funnels only properly fit .22 caliber and up. Now I'm not saying that small powder funnels aren't available but I do find that you should definitely cut back on the coffee before attempting to use one.

Of the two choices I would take the .17 Hornet.
 
Don`t have ether, but do have both of the wildcats they were cloned from. The Fireball is the one I would chose if coyotes were on the target list. For anything smaller the only real difference is the extra range you`ll get with the Fireball, and the powder you will save with the Hornet.
 
My most favorite rifle of all time was a Win. Mod. 70 "Varminter", with a 26" barrel in .223. The most attractive thing about .223 is free brass. If you can't find it, you ain't looking.
This one had a 12" twist, so I settled on the Nosler 50 gr. ballistic tip with 28 gr. of W748. That chrono'd @ 3,500 fps. It was topped with a Burris 6~24 Signature. There is nothing more to want in a p-dog bolt gun. My longest confirmed p-dog kill with that rig was just over 700 yards.
 
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