What 25 calibers are yall shooting?

Mustang72 said:

Personally if I was going to build a 25 something and didn't want a 25/06 then I would wait a year unless I wanted a 25 sst. With the fast twist barrels and high bc bullets becoming more available i think the 1/4 bore is about to finally get some much needed and deserved love!

Click to expand...

Almost, if not all, factor rifles have historically used a 1 in 10" twist in their 25 caliber rifles. That is much too slow of twist rate for high BC/Low CD .257" diameter bullets. Tragically, because of this slow twist rate in the vast majority of .257" bores, major bullet manufacturers did not persue development of heavier high BC .25 caliber projectiles. If the bullet manufacturers had made the high BC .257" bullets readily available, I believe that the rifle manufacturers would eventually have provided the rifles with an appropriate twist rate.

Cuss the 6.5 Creedmoor all you want but, because of its success rifle manufacturers are beginning to see just how big the wave of new longrange shooters is and the enormous market opportunities for faster twist rifles and high BC/low CD bullets in all calibers is.

Personally, I'll probably build a fast twist (1 in 8" or 1 in 7", depending on what Hammer bullets are available) 25-06 AI next.

T shoot a 25-06 and a 257Wby the 257 has a edge in speed. My Ruger#1 is not a great shooter but working on it. My Tikka 06 was great with any wieght bullet from 75 to 120. Then I got my 257 and I am shocked at hw well this thing shoots. A friend used it in November to flatten a big mulie buck at 500yds bang flop. If it were me I wouid look at a 257Wby with a 7.5 twist.

Mustang72 said:

Personally if I was going to build a 25 something and didn't want a 25/06 then I would wait a year unless I wanted a 25 sst. With the fast twist barrels and high bc bullets becoming more available i think the 1/4 bore is about to finally get some much needed and deserved love!

Click to expand...

I agree with you here ...

I've got a 25 Creedmoor that shoots 1/3 MOA after some initial load development. Easily fits in my DBM despite running the longer blackjack bullets.

.257 wby....flat out shooter's! Ive taken alot of game with that caliber, more than any other. Absolutely has never failed me from coyotes all the way up to elk.

WildBillG said:

T shoot a 25-06 and a 257Wby the 257 has a edge in speed. My Ruger#1 is not a great shooter but working on it. My Tikka 06 was great with any wieght bullet from 75 to 120. Then I got my 257 and I am shocked at hw well this thing shoots. A friend used it in November to flatten a big mulie buck at 500yds bang flop. If it were me I wouid look at a 257Wby with a 7.5 twist.

Click to expand...

Bump it up to a .25-06 AI and no more speed advantage for the .257 Wby.

Just went back and re-checked my load data... I'm around 3,600 FPS MV with 7828 SSC with 115 VLD in my .25-06 AI 40º...But that's MAX load. At that point, it's pushing blowing out a primer. That technically means there is zero difference in the .25-06 AI and .257 Wby...Except the Wby uses more expensive brass, less available brass, more expensive factory ammo, more powder, less barrel life, more recoil, and more muzzle blast.

Maybe l am a bit old school, but, l use a 25-303, dies purchased from Simplex Reloading Australia, still an extremely accurate calliber but only made in Australia as far as I know, with the overabundance of 303s after the war(11) a lot where rebarrelled to 25, 270, 243 & 22 calliber with the 303 up it's butt, great rifles that can be picked up here for a couple of hundred dollars.

I have a 257 AI, and it shoots great, but it is too heavy for deer rifle.

A few years ago, I built a 25 Souper for my hunting partner on Feather weight Mod 70. Thing is amazing.

The 25 Souper is basically a 308 necked to 25cal. Super easy to form brass.

The rifle was built to be used for CA deer, so we had to deal with the solid copper bullets.

I ordered a Bartlein 9 twist Featherweight barrel with plans to shoot the Barnes 100 gr TTSX.

We hit the combo perfect!

A friend in Oklahoma swears by it for White Tail in North West OK.

.250 Savage and .25-06 is what I have. I bought the custom .250 Savage as a light kicking deer rifle for my daughter but she went straight from a .223 for deer to .300 Savage and now .308 Win.

Read the current issue of Trigger magazine. Cover story on 25 caliber fast twist rifle shooting the 131 ACE bullets and lighter ones as well. Got my issue at Basspro last week.

OP wrote:

DXHI said:

Considering building a .25 something once I'm done with my 6.5 build...Are there any short actions that are easy to get brass for? <SNIPPED STUFF>

Click to expand...

Then Randy wrote:

Randy Tidwell said:

<SNIPPED STUFF>
A few years ago, I built a 25 Souper for my hunting partner on Feather weight Mod 70. Thing is amazing. The 25 Souper is basically a 308 necked to 25cal. Super easy to form brass. <SNIPPED STUFF>

Click to expand...

Seems to me this is a winner. Short action. Brass is easy (.308 Win or .260 Rem can be necked down or .243 Win can be necked up). It's not more powerful than the .25-06 though, so you'll have to reconcile that in your mind.

I did like the other suggestion you were given by Wolf76: neck the .270 WSM down to .25 cal and call it a 'win'. Brass isn't prolific, but it is available. And it would be a relatively unique round, so that could be fun, too.

I like my 25-06? I have taken a bunch of deer with it. I use 100 Gr. Partitions.

KyCarl said:

I like my 25-06? I have taken a bunch of deer with it. I use 100 Gr. Partitions.

Click to expand...

I like the .25-06, too. Amazing round for the size. But he was looking for something in a SHORT action.

257 Roberts. This is what I have been waiting to buy. I am looking forward to finding the one I really like!