You wouldn't believe...
... how much louder the 17Rem is than the 17FB/M4!
At one time I had two identical 17M4 and 17Rem's. Both were 20 inch barrelers. I'd shot the 17M4 several times without hearing protection, but didn't make a habit of it.
So, one New Years day, I was taking the holiday debris to the local dump, and on the way out noticed a skunk in the field behind the dump. Took the 17Rem and shooting stix and walked about 100 yards and set up. Realized I didn't have my ear plugs. "What the heck," I thought, "I've shot the 17M4 without my plugs and it was loud, but didn't hurt." WRONG! My ears rang for a week or more, and I'm sure I lost at least 10 dB of my already bad hearing.
Sold the gun that Spring, very foolishly. Sure would liked to have had it rebarrelled to 20VT.
Alex
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