Rem 700 body guns in small calibers - which is the best?

[varmintshooter]

With the17fb I think it's the crack rather than the boom that makes it sound loud. I remember a couple years ago on a really cold nite I shot a red fox with my 17fb and it echoed for what sounded like forever. On another occasion a fellow came over from the pistol range and asked if I was shooting a 50 cal. I don't think it's all that loud but the 222 is not as loud. For what it's worth my 222 is a 9 twist @ 20" and I am shooting 55 gr sgk bullets @ about 3100 fps. The 17fb shooting 20 vmax is 4200 fps so that may account for some of the noise. I also like the 222 killing power for predators.

[Danny]

What is a Remington 700 BODY gun????

[Johnly]

M700 221FB

https://www.gunbroker.com/item/883851840

[coyotespotter]

I have shot hundreds of red fox,coyote,raccoon everything from 22 rim fire rifles and handguns to 7mm mags. During the day,especially on sleeping critters, it seems the weight of the bullet passing by(on a miss) determined how much negative reaction was observed. A miss or a first shot on a pair of animals with a bullet less than 35 gr results generally in a closer or slower moving(animal)second shot. I haven't seen much difference(animal reactions) between a 40 gr rim fire and a 20p or 223 with 40's, and stepping up in bullet weight always resulted in more flight response. Until I started shooting suppressed, the least amount of flight response was always to my 17 rem. I shoot Berger 25 gr mef for Red fox and raccoon, 29 or 30's for coyote. Shooting suppressed has given me many more double opportunities with the 22 centerfires(50-55 gr bullets) than unsuppressed, if you hit and kill on the first shot. A missed suppressed 50 gr bullet is a running animal. I haven't threaded any of my 17's, yet. That could make for some interesting observations. As does when animals are on soft snow, my buddies and I always say miss long(high), there is a better chance of a second shot.

[df06]

I have used all of the cartridges mentioned in the above conversations. And I’ve killed coyotes with all of them. In my view, the 17 fb and lesser cartridges are marginal for coyotes. It works fine when everything goes just right. That is often not the case.

[coyotespotter]

I have loaded my 17 rem down to furball velocity with the 29-30's saw some penciling(on coyote) on shots past 250 yards. With the 17 velocity is king, I start all loads over 3900, 4000 on the 25's if accuracy holds up. I run a 26" barrel. I haven't had any issues with coyote shot, almost all inside 300 yards haven't even made a step. It is definitely a different looking kill. That said if I had thermal and hunted a lot at night, don't think the 17 would be my first choice,especially in or around cattails swamps. A high percentage(90%) of valuable Red fox, would change that. Especially if the coyote were low quality fur. Another issue is the availability of brass, then the 17/223,17/204 need to be considered. Grey fox and cats would require some load testing I'm sure, to minimize fur damage.

[Bill K]

[quote=coyotespotter;293312]I have loaded my 17 rem down to furball velocity with the 29-30's saw some penciling(on coyote) on shots past 250 yards.

If you saw the penciling, then they must have still died and you could check them out, so it still worked and killed them, even if you had to track or follow them some, too see the amount of bullet damage.

[coyotespotter]

Yep, open farm country. Picked up and skinned. No sewing.

[Bayou City Boy]

Coyotespotter sounds like a gentleman who fully understands what may or may not work in all types of hunting conditions.

In open country a bullet that pencils through will typically kill a coyote effectively if the coyote is hit properly in the kill zone on his body. And they can usually be found even if they run in open country.

As I'm betting that he is fully aware that finding them in more closed in country can be a huge problem at times. Bang flop with lots of bullet velocity is always the best solution for those scenarios.

In my own world, the smaller case 17 caliber cartridges work great on pd's and such with light bullets. For coyotes in any terrain, more velocity from a larger 17 caliber cartridge case with a heavier bullet equates to quicker kills and faster recoveries if the coyote is hit properly.

JMO - BCB

[sbranden]

Lots of great info. That classic up for sale now looks sweet, but does any one know for sure if a classic is drilled exactly the same as older Rem 700's? I don't think a Model 7's mounting screws would line up for example, and I need the rail that is currently on my '79 Rem 700 BDL to work on any new Rem now.

I actually found a buddy who had one of the 700 lvsf's in 17Rem, but he doesn't want to part with it. Said he would let me use it, but I would want to buy my own.

I've heard others say the 17's really crack but I've loaded for one and it didn't seem that bad to me.

Brass is a key consideration, but Nosler makes for 17Rem, right? And I thought I had seen where you could still get for 221 as well. 17 Rem Fireball might be trickier and I definitely want to avoid the 221 to 17fb conversion type thing.

If a person had either 17rem, or 221 fireball - which would make a better donor for a 20 vartarg somewhere down the road?