The TC Contender originally came out as an 8" octagon barrel chambered for 38 Special or 22 LR. About all it was used for was hunting, plinking or informal target shooting. By the time Handgun Silhouette started they were chambering for larger cartridges, and the Contender bacame the goto gun for single shot silhouette competition. It has been chambered for cartridges from the 45-70 down to the 17 Mosquito and everything rimfire. The one in the pic is dressed for varmint hunting although in about two minutes it could be ready for deer, elk or bear.

Dimitri
I bought a real fun little rifle a few years ago. It is a 17-222.
A 17 calibre bullet on a necked down 222 case, built on a Remington 600 rifle. It has a douglas barrel on the action, and is a fine little rifle.

The only trouble I have with the rifle is wind. Here in Nebraska when the wind doesn't blow, everyone falls down. Seriously though, it is not a rifle for you if you have winds over 15 mph.

I like the rifle, love to reload for it.

Neat!

Dimitri

I have two .17 Remingtons (both M700s) and love to play with this cartridge. With the advent of Hornady's little 20-grain VMax it just gets better. Sighted in at 250 yards and pushed to 4,200-4,300 fps it is only down 2.5 to 3" at 300 and wind drift, often held to be excessive in the .172 caliber class, isn't too far off that of a 55-grain bullet out of a 22/250 out to 300 or so yards (1 to 1.5" more). This is partially due to the speed of the .17 as well as a result of a much smaller profile being presented to the wind.

I have a Tikka 55 in 17 rem and love it. the 17 was huge in Australia for fox shooting but all but died with the colapse of the fur trade. I use mine for roos and rabbits and the ocasional fox - not many in my neck of the woods. I also have two martini actions chambered in 17 ackley hornet and 17 ackley bee.

Rereading this post makes me thing my next rifle will be a dedicated varmint rifle, and I'll hold off on the 30-06 for now. Got a couple of Caliber ideas not too sure what I'll be using yet though.

Dimitri

Dimitri, where you're at I believe groundhogs (marmots to westerners) and coyotes are the varmints of choice... You would probably end up hunting these on 200 acre farms, that are cut up into fields of varying sizes.

How 'long' would be the shots taken on these fields?
How heavy are your coyotes?
Think of a .204 to .223 to .22-250 progression, with the latter best suited for the longer/heavier scenarios.

Yup mainly groundhogs, coyotes and sometimes wolves as far South as a hour east of Toronto (based on the highways NOT geography/compasses, otherwise your on top of lake Ontario. ).

Most farms I've seen and/or hunted on makes me think a 400 yard shot is about as far as you'll get away with on the larger farms I've seen (but then again not looking to reach out that far, about 300 yards max for groundhogs). Not sure how heavy the coyotes around here are, medium sized dog weights I think.

Only caliber restriction I'm going to base my decision on is that it has to be smaller then a 270/6.8mm as it will then be legal for small game anywhere in the province.

You know this thread reminds me I bought a couple of calls recently for varmint hunting, a mouse call and a rabbit call meant to attract predators.

Dimitri

If you're more likely to be near built up areas (is hunting or shooting even allowed in the GTA?), smaller might be better wrt noise. The 22 Hornet is quiet...but expensive unless you reload.

A fun way to hunt groundhogs is up close (creep up within range using folds in terrain) and use a target grade 22LR with target turret scope. Not much good on coyotes though.

is a 17 remington and 17 remington fireball the same thing.

menace wrote:

is a 17 remington and 17 remington fireball the same thing.

No there not, there two different cartridges. The .17 remington fireball is based off the .221 remington fireball case and .17 remington is based off the .223 remington case. Both being necked down to .17
Joe

You might consider the 204 Ruger. It's a fairly long range varmint killer with better BC & downrange energy than the 17 Rem. If you plan to go for wolf & Mt. Lion the 243 is probably a better bet.

Since you already have some calls, I'll mention that calling frequently results in short range shots coming from an unexpected direction. And calling doesn't always bring in the game you're expecting. Two fellows in CA were calling 'yotes and would up with a mt lion staring at them from about 20 yds.

Its my favorite caliber, that being said she is a finicky, demanding and rewarding caliber, I own two a lvsf and a custom. A friend of mine who is also married was thinking of cheating on his wife. I explained to him the real meaning of community property. He after 20 years of marriage was horrified, and considered suicide a cheaper option. I then suggested that he buy either but not both an old Jaguar or a 17 remington. Either of these choices will take up all his free time and money that he has available for dating, the need to sneek about either buying parts or new barrels, stocks, ect. would also be satisfied. The 17 remington is never boring like many other calibers that once you have them figured out thats it. Things can change from group to group, less so with a pac-nor three groove, but change is going to happen. Loading discipline has to be the watch word because small variations in charge will make big changes in pressure. As far as hunting varmints with 17 remington it will have the most stone faced warrior giggling like an seventh grade girl.