reloading 17 fireball

[andy221]

I have a remington 700 VSF in 17 fireball and am looking for some advise. I am having a hard time getting consistent groups out of it. 5 shot groups range from .5's to 1.5 with the same load on the same day. It shoots roughly .5's with factory ammo. I am wondering what is working for other people. I have tried 20 and 25 gr. v-maxes also 20 gr. acu-tips. I am neck sizing and using a hornady seater. there is a lot of run out (.006-.009) on my bullets which i am sure is having an effect on my group size. I checked the factory ammunition's run out and it is about the same. I have tried H-335, IMR 4198, and ramshot-xterminator. IMR 4198 seems to show the most promise. Also I have tried numerous seating depths. I have changed stocks from factory to boyd's thumbhole with same results, neither one is bedded. any experiences and/or advise would be much appreciated

[andy221]

is anyone else out there having run out issues with there .17's, if so, any fixes? please help :)

[bootsmcguire]

Are you letting your barrel adequately cool down between groups? How clean are you keeping the bore?

I am not a .17cal shooter (yet ;D) but I have read that the .17s foul bores pretty quick, some cartridges more than others. I don't know but just a stab in the dark.

[andy221]

yep, I do let it cool adequately between groups. also I usually clean the barrel between sessions which is usually 25 or 30 rounds, making sure i get all the powder and copper fouling out. I have gone up to 100 rounds and nothing seems to change.

I dont know if you (boots mcguire) have shot any 17's but they are great to shoot. hopefully I can get mine shooting good. I'm going to try changing the bullet seating depth and see if that helps. thanks for the input :)

[andy221]

I got a redding competition seating die and that seemed to help. also full length sizing seemed to lower the amount of runout too. .001 to.004 is what i am getting now

[sharpshooter]

It could be the primer. Small cases as such are more particular about primers and consistant powder charges. I use Rem 7-1/2 with good luck. Federals always give me a fit. Try some Hodgen Lil'gun.

[leather5to1]

All 17s are fussy because you aren't dealing with a lot of leeway, the smallest bullet weight, powder difference, or case inconsistency will change a lot more than any other caliber. You have to be very thorough (benchrest crazy) to achieve target accuracy consistently. I know a guy who weighs his primers. :) If you can hold an inch group that should be adequate for hunting because at 150 you are about out of steam. I run BLC2 in my 17 remington but I don't think it's even listed for the fireball.

[andy221]

thanks leather5to1

Today I tested my new reloads and finally got some consistency. I fired 3 3 shot groups they measured .518, .526,and .698. this is

I tried a few different things this time which were, trimming the outsides of the necks and i used a redding competition seating die. also I full length resized which eliminated the runout of the empty cases. My bullet runout was reduced to .001 to .004 from .006 to .009.

I am going to weigh my cases and mess with my seating depth next time, maybe that will tighten things up some more :)