Thoughts on ar15 in 25-45

[Ghostwolf308]

So as I am closing in on completing my spr build I find myself thinking about the new 25-45 Sharps. What are everyone's thoughts on this new caliber?

 

[mtwarych]

I am not a cartridge guru, but, I would like to see and use a viable 25 cal.
I have a soft spot for the quarters.

 

[snox801]

After looking a bit more looks like the sharps is the same as the old 25x45 or am I missing something. If that is the case I went through this about two years ago cause I love .25 s. My only problem was finding a hunting bullet in 25 that didn't take up to much case capacity. Still a very cool round but if your looking for pure performance out of an ar look at the 6x45. That is what I ended up with. Better punch than 223 and I am able to hunt whitetail and hogs with it. Also works great at the range as I use 85 he interbonds 90 he nosler by and 95 gr sst all with great results.
That being said I would love to own a 6x25 some day. Was hearing guys getting good results with the 100 gr bt by cutting off the plastic tip for more case capacity and didn't seem to effect accuracy out to 300

 

[Jerry M]

It same as the old TC series. Nothing new here. You need a bigger case with more powder capacity to have more energy, then the 6x45 as stated above.

 

[snox801]

That's what I thought by looking into the sharps. I really wanted a 25 but the 6mm just won out with the smaller case. Plus you can get really good bc bullets in the same weight as the 25. Now if I wasn't so quick to get one my brother did a 25 dti from dtech. That's the 25 for a ar. Uses 6.8 brass with the shoulder pushed out for more capacity really a sweet rig

 

[Thebear_78]

My concern is more the fact that most 25 caliber bullets are intended for really high velocity cartridges. Leading me to believe that they won't be as effective at lower than designed speeds. I had a 6x45 and it was a good cartridge but still run into the problem of bullets designed for higher speeds and needing to play with varmint style bullets to get the terminal effect I was looking for.

I have been playing with the 277 Wolverine for a while now. Similar speeds as the 6x45 or 25x45 but the bullets are designed aroudn these lower velocities. There are several realy good bullet designed for the 6.8 SPC that are tailer made for running at atainable ar15 speeds.

90gr nosler bonded and 90gr accubond @ 2700fps, 85gr Barnes @ 2750fps. All decent bullets with good terminal performace and minimal recoil. Whats not to like?

 

[snox801]

The problem with the Wolverines is those speeds are almost obtainable with the blk. I'm just finishing my ladder for my new blk and was getting close to 2600 with the 100gr raptors. Not showing pressure yet. Plus now hey are offering a flat base that should fit more powder for more fps. I'll know my max after this week when I get to hit my upper loads.
I'm actually so impressed with this 100 gr raptor I find myself at a loss for my 6x45. I had an 16 inch tube for a walk rifle but now it is no more accurate than my 300 blk in a and is heavier. So I either rebarrel to a longer 6 and go high bc bullets. or just carry my blk. Which held a 2.2 inch group at 300 and had lots of energy left.
Now if you are still looking for a 25 cal bullet that would work my brother is having gs customs build some for his 25 dti to try and ring it out a bit 68 gr I think but it's a mono bullet so it will not explode on deer.

 

[Thebear_78]

2600 in the blackout is pretty impressive. I haven't seen any data out there that goes above 2400fps for any 100 gr bullet. The problem with the blackout is that its best with heavier bullets, especially subsonic. The 277 will always have better BC and SD for equal weight bullets.

I've never played with the raptor bullets but that 100gr for the 300 BLK looks pretty interesting. The 85gr .277 version looks pretty good too.

 

[snox801]

The raptors are everything they advertise. I bought a box for my socom a few years back and actually had to call them because my speeds for a 300 gr bullets were way over anything I found with both my f1 and magnetospeed. They replied that is pretty normal for that round. Now that I'm settling on a final load for my 300 I'm gonna do a 10 shot rung and find the true fps average not just five shots on one day.
On a side note the bc must hold very good in the 300 blk cause while talking with others that have switched there have Been a few whitetail a dropped at close to 500 yards with this bullets. Acting like a Barnes when speeds drop. They just mushroom instead of petal. I've yet to get to 300 on a deer with it I should be there in two weeks when season opens but can't help but think that bullet must make a rainbow to hit 500 yards. Lol I won't be trying that

 

[snox801]

Almost forgot to update. Didn't quite get to 2600 but close. This is my final load just started to show what I think are small half moon marks from the bolt. Not much in the way of flattening primers. I figured I'd stop here cause the case is getting full and don't want to compress a load for this gun. I kept waiting for the primers to flatten a bit but nothing just nervous cause I'm getting a full case and great fps. With these results and the fact that is a shooting well under moa I've made this my go to hunting gun for limited range. Really feel dumb building my 6x45 now. Plus theses raptors really lay a hit on game animals very impressed.

 

[snox801]

Almost makes me wanna try the flat base for more powder to see if I can pick up a bit of fps. Problem is I just bought 200 boat tail raptors before the flat base came out.

 

[snox801]

Just an update. Brought his gun and load to south Florida for some hogs. In the heat it just started to very slightly flatten the primers. And I as able to take 9 hogs and only one was able to run any amount of distance. Hit it at about 120 yards it topped by get and got up a few seconds let to my to run needed follow up shots. All others were drt.