.257 wildcat build

[Welderboy11972]

Hey guys, I've got a few questions about a 25 cal wildcat build.

I've been reloading for about a year for 3 factory rifles. ( 2 25-06 & 300rum) I feel like I'm ready for my first custom build. I'm a big fan of the quarter bores. I was thinking of a 300 win mag necked down to 25. I was looking around on the net for barrels, brass, dies and so on. I happened across a set of redding 25-300 saum dies at a really good price and that got some wheels turning in my head.

Is a 25-300 saum a good idea or is it just way to over bore?
Would 25- 300 win mag be a better idea?

I did a search and only came up with 2 posts on the 25-300 saum.

Any advice on this would be great, thanks

 

[Edd]

A 25-300 Win Mag would be more overbore than a 25-300 SAUM.

 

[mtwarych]

I also have a soft spot for the quarters.

I was also interested in a large capacity 257 but the ones that I have read about are all screamers and barrel wreckers.

I will try to find the articles that I read and post them here for all.

I can't remember what the loadings were named so this might take a day or two.

 

[Edd]

If you are wanting a hotrod 25, I think a 257 Weatherby is about as good as it gets. If you don't like the Weatherby shoulder you can get a custom reamer and blow it out to whatever your favorite angle is. If you want to equal the performance of the 257 Weatherby in a short action, you will need to look at the WSM cases.

 

[Welderboy11972]

Thanks guys.

Thanks edd,
What kind of real world velocity numbers would I be looking at with a blown out 257 weatherby? I don't have my manual handy. ( it's in storage cause of work) I did a quick search on the net of the 257 weatherby and got 3400 fps with a 117gr.

 

[Edd]

Thanks guys.

Thanks edd,
What kind of real world velocity numbers would I be looking at with a blown out 257 weatherby? I don't have my manual handy. ( it's in storage cause of work) I did a quick search on the net of the 257 weatherby and got 3400 fps with a 117gr.

Blowing out the shoulder isn't going to change anything except the way it looks.

 

[Rich Coyle]

Hey guys, I've got a few questions about a 25 cal wildcat build.

I've been reloading for about a year for 3 factory rifles. ( 2 25-06 & 300rum) I feel like I'm ready for my first custom build. I'm a big fan of the quarter bores. I was thinking of a 300 win mag necked down to 25. I was looking around on the net for barrels, brass, dies and so on. I happened across a set of redding 25-300 saum dies at a really good price and that got some wheels turning in my head.

Is a 25-300 saum a good idea or is it just way to over bore?
Would 25- 300 win mag be a better idea?

I did a search and only came up with 2 posts on the 25-300 saum.

Any advice on this would be great, thanks

If you want to go really radical you have two guys who went before you. Both made 7mm wildcats so you might be the first .25 caliber to use that case. Using a .243 Remington short action I made a Short Fat Seven on a shortened .378 Wea case. (Long before short fat was in.) I used a 40* shoulder with a 1/4" neck for a case length of 2 1/4". Dan Lilja did the same thing except he used a longer neck and made his case 2 1/2" long. I would copy his if I did it again.) The case has the same volume as the .300 Weatherby case. Dan told me he was firing 160's at 3,400 feet per second. I fired 175's at almost 3,200 feet per second. I don't remember his barrel length, but mine was twenty-six inches long.

He did me one better: He designed and built his whole rifle; including the action!I used a Bell&Carlson stock. On a bad day mine got 2" groups at 300 yards. Once I got a 1/2" at 300 yards. I have no idea about the accuracy of Dan's. Mine would hold one in the magazine and one in the chamber. I had to reverse the magazine direction in order for it to hold the down cartridge.

 

[Welderboy11972]

Edd, looks really don't bother me when it comes to cases. I was looking to exceed past what my 25-06 LR is getting but in a short action. I just have to find a cal that will do the trick without alot of case work.

Wildcater, that sounds pretty good, if I read the first part of your post right. Was you suggesting I use one of the 7mm short action cases to build on? If not, then I might of read it wrong.

 

[MudRunner2005]

.25-06 AI will nearly mimic the .257 Wby with the same bullet, and less powder consumption, and more efficiency. I have had both.

Both are great calibers, but the only reason I would ever own another .257 Wby is simply because I have so much brass and factory ammo sitting around that it would be cheaper to just buy/build a new rifle for it, than the loss I would take on selling all the components and ammo.

 

[Edd]

Edd, looks really don't bother me when it comes to cases. I was looking to exceed past what my 25-06 LR is getting but in a short action. I just have to find a cal that will do the trick without alot of case work.

A 25-300 SAUM will accomplish that. The performance won't exceed it by much but it should easily reach 25-06 AI performance. You can also simplify your case forming by using GAP's 6.5-4s brass.

 

[Rich Coyle]

Edd, looks really don't bother me when it comes to cases. I was looking to exceed past what my 25-06 LR is getting but in a short action. I just have to find a cal that will do the trick without alot of case work.

Wildcater, that sounds pretty good, if I read the first part of your post right. Was you suggesting I use one of the 7mm short action cases to build on? If not, then I might of read it wrong.

The suggestion was the case. I happened to be into Remington at the time. Now I would use a Savage. The short action is about four ounces lighter. The longer action allows the use of heavier bullets seated longer. Longer necks allow barrels to last longer.

 

[600BP]

I may be off base here but the 257STW is a screamer. I've been shooting a 257WBY for years and if I wanted to go hotter, that's what I would look into.


Regards
Erik

 

[Trickymissfit]

just to add to this, I once knew a guy that built a .25/.284 that was about .050" shorter at the shoulder. Shot extremely well with a pretty good throat life. I think his first rifle was simply a .250 Savage barrel rechambered (barrel set back). After the idea panned out he did another off a 26" blank (maybe a Douglas).
gary

 

[MudRunner2005]

just to add to this, I once knew a guy that built a .25/.284 that was about .050" shorter at the shoulder. Shot extremely well with a pretty good throat life. I think his first rifle was simply a .250 Savage barrel rechambered (barrel set back). After the idea panned out he did another off a 26" blank (maybe a Douglas).
gary

That's an interesting wildcat... Directly in-between the 6x284 and 6.5x284. That sounds like it would make for a great whitetail hunting round.