Hi all. I just bought a new Savage Model 25 Walking Varminter in 22 Hornet. So far, I have to say I'm really pleased. I mounted a cheap 3x9 40mm scope I had lying around and took it to the range with some Hornady 35gr Vmax ammo and some handloads. I was only sighting in at 50 yards but I was getting 3 shot groups under a half inch which is better than I can see with my 60 year old eyes. I hope to try it out at 100 yards tonight.

Some of my reloads had 40gr Vmax bullets loaded to an OAL of 1.850". These were too long for the magazine. I tried to single load them into the chamber but that port is too small and my fingers too fat. I ended up loading one round in the magazine, inserting the magazine, then chambering the round. That's not very convenient. Does anyone have a good technique for single loading the chamber?

By the way, all cartridges with the shorter 35gr Vmax bullets fed from the magazine without problems. Firing, extraction, and ejecting were flawless.