17 fireball vs 17 rem

I've killed a half dozen or so with 17 fireball. It is really good out to 300. But much past that and bullets might not explode like they should. Out to 300, I'd go fireball. Quiter, easier on barrels, uses less powder. But if you want to go 350+, then 17 rem. Both are way easier on pelts than any of the 224 offerings. But if you don't care about pelts, then go 338 Lupua.
 
I head shot two hogs once with mine. There is an old thread on here somewhere about it.
 
I suspect a 17 hornet would work just as well as the other 17's, but within a shorter range. I know the performance of my Fireball decreased pretty rapidly past 300. So I would suspect that the 17 hornet would perform best within 150 -175 yards. Of course it would be able to kill well past that, but you would likely just cut a 17 caliber cookie cutter hole.
I killed one with a 17hmr, but range was only 50yds. Shot with him facing me, square in the chest, and he never stepped out of his tracks. Much like the other 17's, I couldn't find the entry hole, and of course no exit.
 
Buy both, or heck all three (including .17 Hornet)

I have no personal experience shooting coyotes with a .17 calibre anything.

But I have owned three or maybe four rifles in .17 Rem and two in .17 Fireball (and just got a .17 Hornet). As rpcw said, the .17 Rem gets dirty in a hurry, and groups expand a LOT. I used to clean my .17 Rem after six shots, maximum nine (shooting three shot groups) or accuracy would go downhill in a hurry. I did not have this experience with the .17 FB (and have not yet shot the .17 Hornet).

Based on shooting PAPER ONLY with the .17s, I would not advocate their use for 300 yard shots on coyotes. As others have said, the small bullets don't do very well in the wind. I admit I do not recall the ballistics of either cartridge, but the .17 Rem is a pretty flat shooter. Having said that, most folks are not particularly gifted when it comes to estimating distance, and the longer the distance the less accurate MOST people are at judging it. So a rifle sighted at 200 yards (for example) might only have a drop of three to four inches at three hundred, but at 350 that drop might be six or eight inches. These factors influence my opinion as to whether a .17 calibre rifle is a suitable choice for MOST people who wish to hunt coyotes at longer ranges.

JMOYMV

Doug
 
I have shot a lot of coyotes with a .17 Remington, starting back when Hornady first came out with their 25 grain bullet. I found it to be excellent out to 250 - 300 yards on broadside chest shots. The bullets never exited. I would not shoot at a coyote running away though. Almost guaranteed to wound at that angle.

The .17 had considerably less wind drift than a .222 with a 50 grain.
 
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