Savage 25 .17 hornet ammo question.

[Johnhenry]

Just bought a Savage 25 LTWT in .17 Hornet. I dont reload so my ammo choices are the Hornady 15.5 and 20 grn offerings. So the question
arises. Which one has provided the best accuracy based on your experiences with the rifle?
Thanks,
Johnhenry in CT

[langenc]

Check around and find someone to help you load. Try the range where you will be shooting. Many loaders around. Just ask one what hou have to do to get some help.

Many loaders will NOT just load for anyone but buying own dies. powder etc would help find a helper, Id think. I know it would around here.

[JLShipley]

20 gr. V Max ..have fun

[Cowmooch]

20 grain are deadly fun.

[Johnhenry]

Thank you all for the replies. Finally had time to sight it in yesterday. Put a Burris 6 x 20 x 50 Fullfield Burris scope on it with an EGW base and EGW rings. (I like those EGW scope rings)

Had a tough time keeping a 6" group at 100 yds. (20 grn) using a Harris bi pod. Sucked real bad! Put it on sandbags and the group narrowed down to 3/4" @ 100yds which made me kinda happy. Then I shot 3 consecutive shots that cloverleafed a 1/4" group with the 15.5 gr Hornady`s. Next range session I expect to retest and eliminate "operator error" as I would think the 20 grainers would group better then the lighter 15.5`s.

I shoot off a bi pod often with my Ruger m77 223 Predator and group sub MOA regularly, Just dont know why the Savage doesnt shoot well off a bipod. Hope to play with it a bit more in the coming weeks and find the answer. Much easier to varmint shoot off a bi pod than lug sandbags into the field. Always interesting.....
Johnhenry

[GaCop]

I'm not familiar with your Model 25. Does it have a wood stock or plastic? If plastic, the fore end my have been putting pressure on the barrel when you were using the bipod.

[Johnhenry]

I'm not familiar with your Model 25. Does it have a wood stock or plastic? If plastic, the fore end my have been putting pressure on the barrel when you were using the bipod.

Factory supplied wood laminated stock. Hope to hit the range again tomorrow if the rain clears out and try to pay more attention to "consistent hold". I did torque the action mounting screws last nite to 35 inch pounds. as they werent very tight at all. Hopefully that will improve things.

[Willy]

The 20 g has better ballistics than the 15 g for long range, 200-300 yds. Check the crown on your muzzle, as I stated in another thread, the crown on my identical gun which I just purchased has a tiny burr around the bore.

[Johnhenry]

The 20 g has better ballistics than the 15 g for long range, 200-300 yds. Check the crown on your muzzle, as I stated in another thread, the crown on my identical gun which I just purchased has a tiny burr around the bore.

Crown look okay.
Just shot it this morning. 1.2 inch groups at 100 yds with 20 gr Hornady
The 15.5 gr. Hornady shoot nickel groups.

Id rather the 20 grainers shoot better for the longer shots but until I figure how to improve their accuracy The 15.5 will have to do.
Ill keep playing with it till cold weather then maybe trade it on a Ruger 17 Hornet. Maybe they will handle the heavier bullets differently.
Thank Johnhenry

[bighslb]

I am also a mixed luck m25 .17 hornet user but I also reload for this cartridge. I have found that Hornady factory 20 gr. is either good (~1.2.-1.5" @100yds) to excellent (0.75" or slightly less). At my elevation (7000 ft) velocities often exceed factory listings at about 3700 fps. My handloads basically reproduce this. My rifle also has an obvious burr at the muzzle but it appears to have no effect on accuracy. I bought a Boyd's stock to take out any of the barrel/plastic stock contacts and frankly, I've noticed almost no difference in accuracy. I generally find the 20 gr. vmax is near an inch with factory or handloads - often well under. The m25 is a bit of a cipher overall in that it seems to either really suck or be borderline genius. I seem to have lucked out. I will say that Accurate 1680 is, without doubt, the powder for this round. I've tried numerous powder/primer/bullet combos and all of them struggled to achieve even modest accuracy. L'il gun and Rem 7.5s are ok but Rem 7.5s and A1680 absolutely rule with any bullet I've tried (which aren't many unless you are really dedicated to .17s). Needless to say, J. Barsness has described all of this before me. I merely tried his recipes out and found them to my liking. -h