Primer change and no more flyers!

[pacificman]

I bought a savage model 25 in 22 hornet end of last year and got it to shoot .7 to .8 groups with a few flyers witch made things worse. I was using Winchester small pistol primers. Well I ran out of them and decided to try some Remington 7.5 primers. By making just a primer change there are no more flyers and groups are now .5 and consistent! I would not have thought this would make that big of a difference but very glad it did. Everything in life is good when yer guns is shootiin the way you think they should!!! ;D

 

[FroggyOne2]

Yeah, sometimes the lil things in the recipie can make a big change in a load. Congrats!

 

[5spd]

I think you just are shooting better IMO.

 

[pacificman]

Well maybe I am shooting better but either way I'll be using the Remington primers from now on. I didn't think this 22hornet was going to shoot any better till the change and I'm very happy with the better groups. The prairie dogs are very scared these days! ;D I enjoy my other varmint rifles (204, 22-250. 223 and a few others) but I just love to shoot this hornet more these days....maybe till the newness wears off anyway. It's basically a 200 yard gun and challenging to shoot farther. I really like the fact that a pound of powder will go a LONG way with this little round! a big plus with the shortages. Thanks for the replies fellas!

 

[FroggyOne2]

Your welcome sir and not to inject a chance of a hijack, but I have often toyed with the idea of shooting a 17 Remington @ 600 yards. Nothing like a small challenge.

 

[jonbearman]

I had a hornet(ruger) and it wouldnt shoot anything and sold it not knowing that the hornet is so accurate out of a good barrel.I have 2 .218 bee's and wish I would of rebarreled the darn ruger as many have.It is a fun round and deadly accurate as I have witnessed my friend shoot his ruger#1's and #3's to beat the band.Great cartridge just wish they made really good brass for it.Like lapua or something.

 

[BigDMT]

Yeah, sometimes the lil things in the recipie can make a big change in a load. Congrats!

The primer is probably the 2nd biggest part of the recipe behind the powder type. That's exactly why I keep 1000's of different primer types for testing.

On the extreme side of things, I have seen a simple primer change take a hopeless 7" three shot group down to a decent 3/4" group at 100 yards in a 7mm mag hunting rifle. So a primer is definitely not a little part of the recipe

Sometimes the change will be minimal, sometimes significant, sometimes nothing at all. In my experience, different primer types (brands and mag, or standard) can have almost as much effect on a load as changing brands or burn rates of powder.

 

[LHSmith]

Yeah, sometimes the lil things in the recipie can make a big change in a load. Congrats!

The primer is probably the 2nd biggest part of the recipe behind the powder type. That's exactly why I keep 1000's of different primer types for testing.

On the extreme side of things, I have seen a simple primer change take a hopeless 7" three shot group down to a decent 3/4" group at 100 yards in a 7mm mag hunting rifle. So a primer is definitely not a little part of the recipe

Sometimes the change will be minimal, sometimes significant, sometimes nothing at all. In my experience, different primer types (brands and mag, or standard) can have almost as much effect on a load as changing brands or burn rates of powder.

Not in my experience with Short Range BR....the primer takes a backseat to every other component used. Small cases like the Hornet and Bee are an exception.....the Fireball-not so much.

 

[BigDMT]

Yeah, sometimes the lil things in the recipie can make a big change in a load. Congrats!

The primer is probably the 2nd biggest part of the recipe behind the powder type. That's exactly why I keep 1000's of different primer types for testing.

On the extreme side of things, I have seen a simple primer change take a hopeless 7" three shot group down to a decent 3/4" group at 100 yards in a 7mm mag hunting rifle. So a primer is definitely not a little part of the recipe

Sometimes the change will be minimal, sometimes significant, sometimes nothing at all. In my experience, different primer types (brands and mag, or standard) can have almost as much effect on a load as changing brands or burn rates of powder.

Not in my experience with Short Range BR....the primer takes a backseat to every other component used. Small cases like the Hornet and Bee are an exception.....the Fireball-not so much.

Agreed. When a rifle already shoots in the .2s at 200 yards, there's not much left for a primer change to do.
But it can make a big difference in the long range BR game, hunting rifles, varmint rifles and especially in a Savage model 25 in 22 Hornet which is the rifle this topic is centered upon.

 

[FroggyOne2]

BigDMT,

Outside of the granuals of the powder, the primer is the next "lil" thing in the construction of the loaded round. That is what i meant by "lil". Just so that you know. Favor center friend.

 

[BigDMT]

BigDMT,

Outside of the granuals of the powder, the primer is the next "lil" thing in the construction of the loaded round. That is what i meant by "lil". Just so that you know. Favor center friend.

Oh! You meant size wise

 

[FroggyOne2]

Yeup! That was the underr laying intent.

 

[pacificman]

Your welcome sir and not to inject a chance of a hijack, but I have often toyed with the idea of shooting a 17 Remington @ 600 yards. Nothing like a small challenge.

Funny you mention the mighty .17 Remington. I have one with pac-nor barrel and my farthest shot I have ever made was 538 yards on a prairie dog with that rifle. Actually it was a lucky shot as there was some hold over involved...I saw the first round hit about a foot low so I held a foot high and killed the little varmint! I enjoy the long range stuff witch is challenging. I only wish I was better at it. I know there are many here that shoot 600 and 1000 yards all the time. Someday I would love to go to one of the long range matches and learn a few things.

 

[FroggyOne2]

Yeah i think that it would be a gas. The whole concept behindd it was brought on by watching Corbin Shell clean the 600 yard target with one.

 

[Bangs OH]

Glad to see you solved your 25 Savage flyer problem, pacific man. Unfortunately, others with that rifle (in both .22 and .17H) aren't so lucky. My .22H is "doing time" back at Savage Arms for a similar crime, although my most extreme and numerous flyers were most-often (but not always) with a cold barrel. Many of the problem 25s, from what I've read/heard share a burr problem at the barrel crown; mine had it. Of the small cf's, I'm more of a .221 Fireball fan (I have 2), but bought the Hornet mainly because it's the "quietest" centerfire out there, and sometimes one needs something more than a .22WMR. Will try your fix is Savage's repair shop doesn't improve things. Thanks for the post.

 

[pacificman]

Well hopefully Savage will fix your .22 hornet and all will be good again. The flyers were driving me crazy until the primer change. You mention 221 furball. I have a cz in that caliber and have tried lil gun powder and imr4198 (which I have on hand) with mediocre results. I am waiting to try some RL-7 whenever it becomes available. I can't wait to get this rifle to shoot but with the shortages I will have no choice. I really enjoy reloading is one of the reasons I bought the hornet and I found that my reloads are cheaper than factory 22wmr or 17hmr. Well cheaper until I start shooting em like a crazy man...LOL ;D

 

[CatShooter]

Well hopefully Savage will fix your .22 hornet and all will be good again. The flyers were driving me crazy until the primer change. You mention 221 furball. I have a cz in that caliber and have tried lil gun powder and imr4198 (which I have on hand) with mediocre results. I am waiting to try some RL-7 whenever it becomes available. I can't wait to get this rifle to shoot but with the shortages I will have no choice. I really enjoy reloading is one of the reasons I bought the hornet and I found that my reloads are cheaper than factory 22wmr or 17hmr. Well cheaper until I start shooting em like a crazy man...LOL ;D

Not too many people ever save money reloading ;D

 

[BigDMT]

Well hopefully Savage will fix your .22 hornet and all will be good again. The flyers were driving me crazy until the primer change. You mention 221 furball. I have a cz in that caliber and have tried lil gun powder and imr4198 (which I have on hand) with mediocre results. I am waiting to try some RL-7 whenever it becomes available. I can't wait to get this rifle to shoot but with the shortages I will have no choice. I really enjoy reloading is one of the reasons I bought the hornet and I found that my reloads are cheaper than factory 22wmr or 17hmr. Well cheaper until I start shooting em like a crazy man...LOL ;D

Not too many people ever save money reloading ;D

Yep. Us reloaders only save money to shoot more

 

[langenc]

For all those having 'problems' w/ Hornets--try small pistol primers.

 

[SmokinJoe]

Not disputing the recommendation to try small pistol primers, but that is where the OP started. My recommendation is simply to try a variety of primers, not easy in the current market. I find it incredible that the OP got the results he did because it goes against the grain of most Hornet shooter's recommendations, but hey, if it works that is all that counts. For the most part, I use either Rem 6 1/2, which are pretty hot but soft cupped, or Wolf std SR, which are both mild & soft. I load for one Hornet & 3 K-Hornets. Actually, when I ran a primer comparison test on one of the rifles a couple years ago with old nickel plated WSR, new WSR & Fed 205M, the 205M gave the nicest groups. Have since picked up the 2 I've been using lately, and will probably play with SP primers when I get back to the Hornets eventually. I try to follow these type threads here & on saubier.com so I have an idea of what might work better on the next go round. Thanks for all the discussion. Joe