17 Fireball Rifle Opinions Please

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daisy2007

New member
I am in the market for a 17 fireball. Just wondering what y'all have; and likes/dislikes of your set up.
As of right now I am leaning towards buying a CZ 221 Fireball and having it rebarreled to 17 fireball. I have read where this works out really slick. (believe one of you on here has one done like this)
Just looking for other ideas/options.
 
If money is no object and you are willing to modify new guns I'd recommend calling Bob Green. He can set you up with a real nice gun and recommend the initial donor action to send him.

Otherwise, I know my Model 7 shoots great for a stock rifle.
 
I'm not necessarily wanting to have a complete custom rig made. I am also not against an out of the box rifle. Just looking for ideas. Thames for the idea though. I will look into it.
 
+ 1 for Bob Green and for the mod 7.
You can have Bob Green just set back you barrel if you need it or just rebarrel a rifle it does not have to be a full custom but he will do a excellent job on it I had him true up my mod 7 and put a Pacnor Barrel on it then bed it in a HS stock and it is a tack driver
 
Originally Posted By: daisy2007
As of right now I am leaning towards buying a CZ 221 Fireball and having it rebarreled to 17 fireball. I have read where this works out really slick. (believe one of you on here has one done like this)


Yep, I've got one.It's my favorite rifle.
It'll cost ya more than simply buying a Remmy, but it's well worth it IMO.
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My buddy down in NV has a M7 CDL that shoots pretty good too after bedding and installing a decent trigger. We call em the dueling FB's. They're both excellent little walking varminters.
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One thing worth mentioning is that since Remmy's discontinued the 17FB, brass supplies have dried up. Probably just the usual panic buying and hoarding right now, but just like the 221FB, brass will probably be hit and miss in the future.
You can always make your own from 223 so I certainly wouldn't let it stop me from building/buying a rifle chambered in 17FB, but it's something to consider.
Luck
 
RePete,
That is exactly the rifle I was referring to. Is that the sporter or varmint weight barrel?
Who did you have rebarrel your rifle?
I'm pretty sure that is the route I am gonna go.
Also, did you have the magazine machined down (or however they do it) if so do you think it was worth the work/money/hassle?
Any other work you've done to your rifle?
 
Originally Posted By: daisy2007 Is that the sporter or varmint weight barrel?
Who did you have re-barrel your rifle?
Also, did you have the magazine machined down (or however they do it) if so do you think it was worth the work/money/hassle?
Any other work you've done to your rifle?

1) Sporter weight. (American)

2) I sent the rifle to Pac-Nor and had them screw one of their excellent SSSM 9twist 3grove barrels on it. PN has the CZ American barrel contour in their CNC library.

3) RVB Precision machined the bottom metal and cut the magazine box and spring down. Just like everything else these days, his price is double what I paid when I built mine, but if you can afford it, I'd sure recommend it.

4) I also did the bolt handle swap with Calhoon (which has also almost doubled in price
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) so I could use the lower (Warn) rings.

The one thing I'd caution you about should you go forward is to be sure and use a 222 or 221 for the doner as the 223/204 rifles have different bottom metal/magazine. The smaller 221/222 magazine feed the 221 sized cases flawlessly. No sense building a rifle with feeding problems if ya know what I mean.
I'll also add that while I'm a big fan of PN, their price for installing the barrel has near doubled since I built mine so you might save some money by just buying a barrel and having a "Good" smith do the work.

Edit,,, Keep in mind that with the cost of things these days, you're getting pretty close to the price of a Cooper with a build like this. Course they're single feed, but depending on what your intended use for the rifle, it's not the handicap you'd think it is..

Anyway,,,, sorry for the novel, but you asked.
Luck
 
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Thanks for all the information RePete. I appreciate it.
I was just about to ask if you thought using a .223 would be a viable option. Sounds like it is best to not. Thanks again.
 
Yea,,,, the 223's cheaper and you can get it in the new M1 configuration which already has the magazine modified but 221 sized cartriges can be tricky to feed so I don't think I'd chance it.

Again,,, while I love this rifle and wouldn't trade it for any thing, I'm not sure I'd do at todays prices.
When I did mine, CZ's could be had for 485.00. I think I had about a grand total in the build. The exact same parts and pieces are close to 1500.00 these days, and if ya shop a little, you can pick up a Cooper M21 Classic in 17FB for that price.

FWIW,,, I know of a few guys that had good results buying Remmy's and having Bob Green set em back and rechamber with his min spec reamer.
Course there's the trigger and cheap stock issues that come along with some Remmys, but it's an option.
Lots of ways to skin this Cat but it's definatly worth skinning.
 
I got the first 700 SPS sporter in 17FB that came into our shop. It shoots sub 1/2" groups at 100 and even shot under 1 1/2" at 300 in a fun match once. Handloads with 25 gr Bergers and H322 or 8208 are what mine likes. All this from the cheapest rifle Remington makes. (Not counting the 770's which aren't even worth the box they come in if you ask me)

RePete's right about feeding, but mine feed well. Some problems are with extraction too. Rem modified the extractor to fix this on the 17/221FB rifles. I don't think you'd have any issues with the CZ extractor though.
 
Originally Posted By: bownut

RePete's right about feeding, but mine feed well. Some problems are with extraction too. Rem modified the extractor to fix this on the 17/221FB rifles. I don't think you'd have any issues with the CZ extractor though.

Right you are bownut. I should have mentioned the extraction/ejection problems , but sometimes my fingers get ahead of my feble old brain.
Even with the clocking of the extractor some of the new Remmy's still seem to have problems but starting with a reg 700 is almost a guarantee of "feeding" extraction problems.
 
Quote:When I did mine, CZ's could be had for 485.00. I think I had about a grand total in the build. The exact same parts and pieces are close to 1500.00 these days, and if ya shop a little, you can pick up a Cooper M21 Classic in 17FB for that price.


Wow RePete, I don't have to much more than that in my rebarreled Kimber Montana and I bought the rifle new and the barrel is a new Lilja.
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Yea Jim
Ya figure a new CZ's 650 by the time you get your hands on it.
PN's another 650 with shipping and all.
Calhoon's getting close to 50 for the bolt handle.
And Roy was about 70 last time I checked.
As they say, "do the math".

Like I said,,,, "I wouldn't do it these days" but I'm sure glad I did when prices were right.

PS,,, as much as I like Kimbers, I'm not to sure their actions are any better than CZ's.
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Prettier, and a little smoother, but I'm not convinced that they're more accurate.
 
It's funny you mention Cooper, I was just looking at them last night. As I had it figured in my head, I was thinking it wouldn't be that much cheaper to go that route either.

I couldn't quite figure this out on my own so maybe one of you can help me out. But is it possible to get the 17fb as a repeater from Cooper?
 
Quote:pS,,, as much as I like Kimbers, I'm not to sure their actions are any better than CZ's. shocked
Prettier, and a little smoother, but I'm not convinced that they're more accurate.

That is true.
 
Originally Posted By: daisy2007

I couldn't quite figure this out on my own so maybe one of you can help me out. But is it possible to get the 17fb as a repeater from Cooper?

I've heard that Cooper's started (or will soon start) making the smaller caliber/actions in repeaters, but I don't know of anyone who has one yet. Best thing to do where Cooper's concerned is call em.
As far as single shot "Coopers" being more accurate? It stands to reason that they would be, but it's hard to say. They've just started making small cals in repeaters so there's really nothing to compare. You can rest assure that their repeaters will be plenty accurate though or they'll make it right because nobody stands behind their product better than Cooper.

As far as 17Rem goes. You can still find brand new CZ's in the varmint model but it sounds like you'd be "settling". As for Cooper, when/if they start making repeaters you should be able to get them in either caliber. But again, don't take my word for it. "Call Cooper".

BTW,,, My 1500 est. was just a comparison. With some patience and smart shopping you can still build a CZ similar to mine for less. Not a whole lot less though, maybe 1200-1300.
Luck
 
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