17 Fireball off a 204 Ruger?

[Jevyod]

Just recently fell in love with the round. My friend has one, and we have done some groundhog shooting with it. The thing I really like about the round, is there is so little recoil you can see the hit in the scope (or miss!) anyway, they are few and far between, and rather expensive. How easy would it be to build one off a 204 Ruger? What all would that entail? I believe I read that the bolt face would already be the correct size, so no need to rework that. Is that right?

[MT Chambers]

Correct, you need a new barrel, chambered and installed(headspaced), some barrel makers sell barrels already chambered and/or "short chambered", prolly a $500 project.

[376Steyr]

The Fireball is a much shorter round than the .204, getting it to feed out of a magazine might be a problem. I'm assuming you have a standard bolt action that doesn't use detachable magazines. Quickest solution would probably be to stick one of those convert-to-single-shot aftermarket magazine followers in.

[durango]

I'm in the process of building a 17 Fireball as well. After researching the various 17s, I found that the cost of the forming dies and the amount of time it takes to start with a longer 223 family case is just not worth it. If you already have the 204 brass, I would suggest that you sell it and buy 221 Fireball brass--one or two passes through the sizing die and you're done.

OK- I just went back and reread your OP before signing off. Maybe you're asking about the RIFLE, not just the brass???? If that is the case, unless you have a Savage, I would still sell it and buy another rifle. Obviously, I would recommend a 110 (model 10, 11, or 12) series Savage and do the switch barrel trick. Go to Savageshooters.com and browse the site if you're not familiar with the Savage line and the possibilities they offer. If you have any other questions, I would be happy to help. Steve

[MarkP]

Remington's have a 3/8" block in the rear of the magazine to take up space on factory chambered Fireballs.

[376Steyr]

Remington's have a 3/8" block in the rear of the magazine to take up space on factory chambered Fireballs.

Yes, they do. With a matching follower and mag spring too. My M700 221 Fireball uses this, which makes loading just a little tricky. How well a Fireball would feed out of a unaltered 204 magazine is the question. I suspect rounds would slip, shift, slide forward, and in general try to tie up the gun.

[Von Gruff]

You could also think about the 20 VT which is what I did off a 204 in a Rem X R 100 rifle. The barrel was shortened by 16.35mm and simple rechambered for the 20 VarTarg (20 cal on the fireball case) and I have a great little rabbit rifle now. 35gn bullet at 3700fps and 1/4" accuracy. Better reach than the 17 on the same case. I have made 100's of cases from 222 and 223 brass.

[Herb in Pa]

If you compare a Remington 700 bolt in the Fireball/Blackout configuration you will notice that the ejector is in a different position than the 204/223 configuration.......

[CENTEX BILL]

PM sent to you.

Bill