221 fireball magazine

[tdnichols]

I am just installing a 221 fireball barrel onto my receiver and I noticed when feeding from the mag the the cartridge flips out before entering the chamber. I figure it is because the fireball is shorter that the 223 REM . I was just wondering if Savage ever made mag for 221Fireball or will I just have to try and modify 223R?em mag to lengthen the ears on the top of the mag to hold @@!Firebal in just a little longer until closer to chamber and feed ramp. Does this sound like I am on the right track to correct feeding problem?

What do you guys think

Terry

[laportecharlie]

I just use a single shot follower.
Charlie

[davemuzz]

This may (and I say "May") help you. Last summer I re-barreled a Stevens 200 with a 17 Fireball chambered barrel. Now, in addition to the barrel, I wanted a detachable magazine so I could load and unload the gun easy.....because this rifle would be used for hunting fox at night....and who wants to fumble with a blind mag in the dark?

Well, I cut the bottom out of the tupperware Stevens stock, and I bought a CZ detachable .221 Fireball mag. (the .221 Fireball is the same as the .17 Fireball except for the bullet size).

So....how does this help you? (Yeah....I know your askin). Well, I had the same issues initially that your having. The bullet would "hit" the barrel to the right and just a bit low.

The magic answer is in the feed lips. Actually, on my 17 Fireball, I had to extend the feed lips from the detachable mag so the cartridge would be in the barrel before it "popped" out of the mag. So, you have to take a pair of needle nose pliers AND VERY CAREFULLY tweek your feed lips (yeah....don't leave any burrs on 'em) so the cartridge will slide right into the barrel.

In addition......for those faint of heart....one other thing that I did was I took my trusty Dremmel (wait....don't pass out yet!!!) ... you gotta remove the action from the stock, and you gotta remove the mag from the action if you have a blind mag.....but take your Dremmel, and put one of those white soft fuzzy polishing gizmo's and put some Flitz on it and polish the lower part of the....well, on a 1911 it's the feed ramp, so let's just call it the same. I'm talking about the lower part of the action or that "round" part that the cartridges pass thru before they enter the barrel.

I also polish the feed lips (inside where the brass rides) of the magazine. It makes loading the cartridges a bit eaiser. Especially the top ones when the most pressure from the spring is on those.

Anyway....here is a pic of the "rough" 17 Fireball before I cleaned up the extended feed lips and polished stuff up. I hope this helps. Dave

BTW....Brownells sells a "Feed lip tweek tool" that can help you make your feed lips work perfectly. You will defintly have to extend the feed lips to make the short fireball cartridge work. But, once you "get it there" you won't be sorry. My 17 Fireball is one accurate gun!!

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a212/davemuzz/MagWalnut.jpg

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a212/davemuzz/MaginStock.jpg

[kweeks10045]

I built my 221 FB on a model 16 lefty action. I had a similar issue, which was corrected inadventantly. I set my bullets out to contact the lands (little extra oal). In doing so, the bullet hit in just the right spot on the feed ramp and it began working great. Ejections can be a little iffy however. 53 gr SMK over 15.5gr of IMR4227 gives me 3000 fps with 1/2" 5 shot groups.

[17fireballgrandpa]

:cool:
This may (and I say "May") help you. Last summer I re-barreled a Stevens 200 with a 17 Fireball chambered barrel. Now, in addition to the barrel, I wanted a detachable magazine so I could load and unload the gun easy.....because this rifle would be used for hunting fox at night....and who wants to fumble with a blind mag in the dark?

Well, I cut the bottom out of the tupperware Stevens stock, and I bought a CZ detachable .221 Fireball mag. (the .221 Fireball is the same as the .17 Fireball except for the bullet size).

So....how does this help you? (Yeah....I know your askin). Well, I had the same issues initially that your having. The bullet would "hit" the barrel to the right and just a bit low.

The magic answer is in the feed lips. Actually, on my 17 Fireball, I had to extend the feed lips from the detachable mag so the cartridge would be in the barrel before it "popped" out of the mag. So, you have to take a pair of needle nose pliers AND VERY CAREFULLY tweek your feed lips (yeah....don't leave any burrs on 'em) so the cartridge will slide right into the barrel.

In addition......for those faint of heart....one other thing that I did was I took my trusty Dremmel (wait....don't pass out yet!!!) ... you gotta remove the action from the stock, and you gotta remove the mag from the action if you have a blind mag.....but take your Dremmel, and put one of those white soft fuzzy polishing gizmo's and put some Flitz on it and polish the lower part of the....well, on a 1911 it's the feed ramp, so let's just call it the same. I'm talking about the lower part of the action or that "round" part that the cartridges pass thru before they enter the barrel.

I also polish the feed lips (inside where the brass rides) of the magazine. It makes loading the cartridges a bit eaiser. Especially the top ones when the most pressure from the spring is on those.

Anyway....here is a pic of the "rough" 17 Fireball before I cleaned up the extended feed lips and polished stuff up. I hope this helps. Dave

BTW....Brownells sells a "Feed lip tweek tool" that can help you make your feed lips work perfectly. You will defintly have to extend the feed lips to make the short fireball cartridge work. But, once you "get it there" you won't be sorry. My 17 Fireball is one accurate gun!!

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a212/davemuzz/MagWalnut.jpg

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a212/davemuzz/MaginStock.jpg