The Remington 17 was produced by Remington from 1917 to 1929, I believe, in 20 gauge only...After that, the patent was bought by Ithaca and became the famous Ithaca M 37, with a few minor changes..

I have a Rem 17... My Dad bought it used back around 1950 for $35 and it it still in excellent condition....It is perfectly safe to fire with any standard 2 3/4" 20 gauge factory loads, including foster type rifled slug loads.....I don't know about some of of the fancy steel alternative or modern alternativeslug loads, but it is fine to shoot with any standard modern plastic shotshells loaded with lead shot..