Splitting cases and sticking

[Big Joe]

I have the M25 in 22 Hornet and I will split 1 in 50 store bought Hornady. Reloads are much worse, 50% are splitting or sticking in chamber. I annealed them, did all the normal prep and still got no where. Sent it back, they found no problem, got the standard use only new factory loaded ammunition in the rifle form letter. Yeah, I know its standard lawyer mumbo jumbo but its twists my shorts. Any suggestions, I have many other Savages and have no complaints and don't really want to start now. I need some help and answers.

[short round]

Please explain what type of splits. Are they neck splits, are they splitting near the rim? As for sticky chamber, it may need polished. Are the reloads from the Hornady brass? If so I would try new brass from another manufacturer.

[Big Joe]

It's splitting the necks and now ringing near the heads. It somewhat acceptable when using out of the box new Hornady with a 1 in 50 rate. its only when I reload them same brass it goes down hill. I anneal the cases, trim to length, but its still happening. Using 40gr BlitzKing seconds I picked up before the shortage hit with a mid range load of LilGun I am still losing 40-45% of 50. I am going to call Savage again and fuss with them to see if I can send it back and they need to really fix it this time. If I cant get it fixed, its gone and a CZ with replace it. All of the my Savages have been great out of the box, this is a two time loser. I am not having a bad one in my basket of good Savages.

[rjtfroggy]

Big Joe I have the exact problem with a mod. 40, splits necks, case head seperations,stuck cases, fails to eject you name it ,it does it. I sent it back and all they did was put in new extractors said problem was fixed. It is not. As for all the blown cases they said stop reloading for it and use factory ammo only. So until I find the time to polish the chamber a little it sits in the safe.
Good luck with yours cause mine sucks.

[plinkin]

My M40 stock a few in the chamber. I found that every since one of them that stuck the case was long, to long. They were also Prvi loads. That model 40 was scary accurate with the PRVI and wicked with the Hornady. My handloads sucked though.

[Big Joe]

Ok, I have update. Monday morning its going back to Savage, I talked to a "new" person in the pool. Anyway, he told me send it back and they will look into why its having these problems. I told him this is the second strike against it and Savage as far as my willingness to say nice things about this model. I ask just how can it be so screwed up when I own several good Savages. He promised that it would get top priority (oh I've heard than one before too) in the service department. I started to send it and get barrel set back and reamed into a K but I will give them one more go at it. I don't want to be a disgruntled customer but they making it hard to be happy with this one. Guess its time to get the old 340 back out if I'm going to play with a hornet here. At least for now. Will keep you posted on my progress. I am still trying to have positive thoughts

[Big Joe]

Well, I finally have an update that I can proudly post. Sent rifle back the second time and for a while I thought it was lost. Nothing from Savage and when I emailed answer was - we are still looking into it. Ok last week I get call from my FLL guy saying I have a package from Savage with your name on it. I leave work early so I can get it picked up. Well the letter that came with it as to what was done to rifles is vague but it states that they believe any problems I had in the past are now corrected. Ok, to cold to work today so off the only indoor range that will let me shoot it. Get checked in and set up. First group to reset scope. Used factory rounds the after getting everything the way I wanted it, shot 5 more - nice tight group and no splits or sticking. Switched to handloads (running same FPS as factory), and ran 5 more - tighter grouping and still no problems. I settled down and ran 20 rounds though it without any hickups. As it stands now I am back on the praise Savage wagon. I placed a call to the guy I last talked to there and he will return call after his lunch break, or at least that is what I was told. I just need to find out what they did, so far its seems they did a very good job. Wife thinks I'm nuts but who can argue with a wife? Been cleaning it and talking to it I suppose - that's what the claim is anyway. Will report back when I know more, but at ting time I am a Happy Camper.

[Blitzfike]

Glad to hear that Savage took care of it. I have a 340 in 22 hornet and love it. It is an oldie, I had some problems with splitting and went to a collet die set and that seems to help, I'll know more after I get a chance to work it out at the range. Let us know what Savage did to fix it if you would please.. Thanks.. Jim

[Big Joe]

Ok, after talking to the guy here's what I know. He said they changed out the barrel and checked everything else. All else was good to go. And for good measure he tossed out all the technical terms to back his statement, thec smeck I don't care just make it work as it should. I knew barrel had been swapped as I had put a small witness mark on bottom (trick I learned dealing with Rem), doesn't take much just small dot from a center lunch that only you know about. I have ran another 50 rounds thru it and all is still well and I am really starting to like this one. I have a new unfired M25 setting in corner in 17 H that I will now start on, am praying its good to go as I don't have much hair left to pull out. Have plenty of factory stuff for the brass and will be able to tell pretty quick if its staying or going, I don't want to go this road again. Happy now but there were moments of pure disgust with it.

[Flyndutchman]

Sounds like you had an oversize chamber or headspace problem and they fixed it. My hornet shoots great but has some extraction problems with under sized case rims. Remington brass in particular. The PPU brass works great. It is thicker and seems to hold up for multiple loadings. I have not lost a case yet. Some have 10 loadings on them.