L Cazador

Nice rifle! What's your twist and freebore?

Measure the twist on your rifle with a cleaning rod. If it's a 14, which most Remingtons are, you'll have to stay with 50g lead bullets. The Barnes 55g is about as long as any of the 60g lead projectiles around so it probably won't stabilize in a 14 twist.

I'll take the brass if you can send it to me. I'll be glad to pay for shipping. That will probably run about $14 in a flat rate medium box, USPS. I'm in Tucson. Butch

Sounds like a nice rifle. You should always have a dealer that will receive for you before you bid. That's the usual SOP. There is a place on Gunbroker,"find a dealer",that gives several dealers in your zip code. Everybody has different charges and restrictions, so it's best to line yourself up with a dealer first. I've been doing business at Gunbroker now for over 40 years, great place!

You should consider that fluting a barrel should also include stress relief.

You're stabilizing length not weight. Copper bullets like the Barnes tend to be longer so a 12 twist may not stabilize such bullets in a given weight range. Contact the bullet manufacturer for the best twist on a given bullet design and weight. You can usually overspin a bullet and still get pretty good accuracy as in your 9 twist with 55 grain bullets.

Savage makes a better barrel and therefore a better rifle. I

If you have a synthetic stock you may have to add some weight to the butt to properly balance the rifle. The extra weight will also help reduce recoil. We're talking a few extra ounces here not pounds. Butler Creek makes a stretch rubber sling that grips your shoulder.

Well after trying them all, Sightron has about the worst possible customer service and also the least longevity and Vortex isn't much better. I'm talking tracking and consistency of adjustments, you have to hit what you're shooting at. What good is a lifetime guarantee when the product fails at the worst possible moment, right in the middle of that hunt of a lifetime or right at moment you're about to shoot that perfect score in the match of your lifetime. Pay the price and cry only once!

Sightron is garbage at any price right next to that brand that starts with a V and ends with an X. I hear the landfill is full of them, LOL! I don't understand spending good money on a custom gun and then even more on a hunting trip, only to have your optics fail when you need them most. If you can't afford a Leup or a Nightforce, save your money till you can.

Are you sure it's Hornady brass? I thought it was Norma or Nosler which is made by Norma. Use a tapered expander plug or you'll buckle the case. Redding and RCBS both make tapered expander. Expand to 308, fireform and then work up your load. Necking up usually ends up with brass being a little shorter. I'd check overall brass length when done. Hornady brass has not been very good of late. Maybe the Lazzeroni stuff will be more consistent.

Your 7mm case has stretched beyond the dimensions of your chamber, that is why it will not fit your chamber now. You'll need to restore the case to minimum dimensions by using a full length die. Careful die set up will help reduce any further stretching. You'll need a Hornady or Sinclair headspace guage to set the sizing die up properly. Measure the headspace as it is now and then bump the shoulder in 2 thousands intervals till it fits the chamber. Make a notation of this measurement for future reloading of this brass for this rifle. Once you've done this you will have a minimum of brass stretching or "brass movement" which is conducive to good accuracy. Use of a bushing die with a set of competition shell holders is the simplest way to go! Competition shell holders are in 2 thousands increments.

Did you try Brunos on Deer Valley?

My favorite load for my 1892 25/20 is 11g of Lil-Gun with Speer 75g flat point. I use Rem brass with Fed 205 match primers for 1980fps. Seat the bullet to the cannalure and start at 10g and proceed in .2 increments. Your rifle may not be able to handle this load, so caution is advised.

The 25/20 really shines when you reload for it. Factory loads are usually under loaded. It's a fun little cartridge. Enjoy!

Talley rings are inconsistent in their fit, so they need to be lapped. While there are some rings that provide a good fit without lapping, all scope mounts will benefit from a proper lapping job. Since all rifle actions are different, lapping the rings will custom fit the scope mount to the action. Once you have finished your lapping job be sure to mark your scope mounts so that everything goes back in the same place as before!

Great post, yeah what shoot's great in one rifle isn't always going to shoot great in another rifle! This is why you should only use a friend's recipe as a reference point. Weatherby uses a proprietary powder which I'm sure they won't reveal. Norma MRP2, H1000, and RL-22 are all great powders for the 257WBY with 100-110g bullets. They worked great for me with Barnes TTSX 100g. Oh by the way use only magnum primers for consistent ignition. Don't get too crazy experimenting with loads or you'll burn the bore out before you find one, lol!

What direction and what intensity was the wind? Obviously unless you have a match barrel, you need to clean more often and probably a lot more thoroughly. Forty shots is a lot for a factory barrel. Bronze brush, Sweets, bore shine and four strokes for every shot for factory barrels and lot of dry patches afterwards!

Suggest you use the 95g Hornady SST instead of the 105g AMAX. I've used the 105g Amax out of my 8 twist on prairie dogs and if they expand on prairie dogs they're a bit fragile for deer sized game. Also the 95g will be more suitable for your 9 1/2 twist. I've used the Nosler partition with excellent results in the 243. The 243 is an excellent big game cartridge with the right bullet.

If you have a comparator for your caliper? You need to check your bullets from bullet base to ogive. I'll bet your bullets are off. They can vary anywhere from .002-009 easily.

I shoot my 6BR with 95g bullets and my 22BR w/80g bullets for 600-700 yds P-D shooting. I've been doing these two calibers with great success for about 40 years on PD's. The problem with lighter bullets in the 224 diameter is that it is very difficult to spot your own shots. Not because of recoil but because of the very small dust signature from the lighter bullets. And if the wind gets to blowing ( when isn't it blowing) it blows the dust signature right off. I've tried different calibers and yes I still shoot the 222 and the 221 Fireball but for closer distances like 350 and under. Once you get out to 600 yards you lose a lot of velocity with the lighter low coefficient bullets. My recommendation is go with a Stiller action, a laminate stock for extra weight, and a heavy varmint contour barrel with 8 twist, and a Nightforce benchrest scope(1/8 minute clicks). This will give you about an 18 pound rifle with easy to spot shots and low recoil. I still have trouble spotting shots with my 222 varmint weight barrel when I go to shooting the 55g bullets(12 twist is essential for this weight). Another thing you will find is that the image dissolves quickly at 700 yds in the cheaper scopes like Vortex, Burris, Sightron, and Nikon. A Leupold in 6.5/20X50 would be my absolute bottom line recommendation. When you get your barrel chambered be sure to specify extra freebore for the long bullets. I use a .120-.140 freebore so my bullets in these two calibers are seated well ahead of the shoulder neck junction. And yes I neck turn my brass for best results. By the way I shoot 221, 222, 20 Vartarg, and 223 out to 400 yds. Then for my in between rifles 400-700yds I shoot 22BR and 6BR.. For long range 700-1500 yards I shoot 6/284 and 6.5/284 these rifles have Vais muzzle brakes. One note is that on wet days nothing but the great big rifles leave a shot signature in the mud! I use a fully adjustable front rest with a heavy rear bag and I shoot off a 360 rotating bench. On a windy day you're not going to make those long shots off a bipod or by using Kentucky windage!!

Like someone else mentioned, a lead sled introduces human error because it leaves positioning of the rifle in the sled to the operator and it must be repositioned exactly for each and every shot. A bipod and even sand bags will also do the same although with much less variations. The key to consistent groups is eliminating the human error factor by having a rest that will let the crosshairs settle perfectly on the aim point without any introduction of force from the shooter. Any force that is introduced regardless of how small or light will change the group size. This is why the sled doesn't work as well as you have to force the crosshairs into shooting position to shoot the groups. I use wind flags everytime I shoot for group so that I'm again eliminating as much human error as possible. I also use a front rest with windage and elevation adjustments and a 30# rear bag so it doesn't move with high recoil. And then I also use an adjustable stool so that my body is in exactly the same place for every shot. Some tips on getting the best possible groups regardless of what equipment is available are: 1. try to shoot the same wind condition if possible, note the wind direction and intensity when you shoot that first shot and then try to shoot that same condition throughout the group. 2. Try to position the rifle in the same exact position as when you fired the first shot. In other words make sure the fore end and butt is supported in exactly the same place as when the first shot is fired. Also try to use the same amount of grip and cheek pressure on each and every shot. 3. Use wind flags and check the wind condition. 4. shoot one fouling shot before shooting your first group. 5. Another thing to note is barrel temp. A hotter barrel can increase pressure, change velocity, and may introduce larger groups. So try to shoot with a good cooling period between groups.The right load should shoot well regardless of barrel temp, well to a certain extent anyway. Each and every rifle is different! After you find the best load, I recommend doing some long range shooting with wind flags and a wind meter so you can have an idea of what certain wind conditions will do.

High brass or 1oz loads in the 20ga are a good reason to handload. You can load your favorite load into a high brass or low brass empties, and you can also load special loads like #4 buck for predators. For waterfowl you can also do tungsten or bismuth shot at a heck of a price!

I've been reloading shot shells for about 45 yrs. I reload 12,16,20,28, and 410. The subguages are where you really save money. Also if you want ultimate performance, you'll save even more. All of my loads move at about 1300fps with all the different gauges, I standardized on this velocity for all my shotgun shooting. So buying the same load in a factory offering, if I can find it, costs extra. I shot sporting clays, trap and skeet over the years. So that's another plus. If you're doing any kind of volume shooting you'll save exponentially!

That looks like a case of over tightening the rings. Anything more than 20 inch pounds will affect the adjustments and damage the scope tube! You're lucky if they make that good.