.25 Cal (Quarter Bore) / Big Game Success - 25 Creed, 25-284, 25-06, 25 PRC, 25 SAUM

[sportsmans challenge]

For the 25 SAUM are you just necking down 6.5 SAUM brass?

For the 25 MAX are you fireforming the 25 SAUM brass?

Thank you in advance for your patience with all my questions.

25 saum, just neck down 6.5 saum brass

 

[jjohnsonElknewbie]

Anybody been able to get 3,000 MV with the 134 or 135 in an 18" barrel? If so, I'd love to hear about the cartridge and load. My daughters 18" 7-08 is the ideal length IMO to run suppressed in a hunting rifle, and eventually I want to build a .25 that can run close to 3,000 at this length as well.

NVM- I just found the other thread with @sportsmans challenge results with his 22" 25/7 PRC. Subtract 100 FPS for the 18" barrel and a guy should be able to get 3,000 fairly easily.

 

[B23]

For the 25 SAUM are you just necking down 6.5 SAUM brass?

For the 25 MAX are you fireforming the 25 SAUM brass?

Thank you in advance for your patience with all my questions.

Like Sportsman Challenge I'm necking down ADG 6.5 SAUM for my 25 SAUM one pass .284 bushing. It's about as easy as it gets.

Isn't the 25 Max a straight SAUM improved with 40° shoulder, it doesn't have the shoulder pushed back to increase neck length or anything like that correct?

The SAUM case, like most short fat cases, is already relatively straight so I can't imagine you gain much case capacity but a 40° does hide pressure better so maybe that's where the increased velocity comes from.

 

[Piercision Rifles]

For the 25 SAUM are you just necking down 6.5 SAUM brass?

For the 25 MAX are you fireforming the 25 SAUM brass?

Thank you in advance for your patience with all my questions.

No worries. For the 25 saum Im just using a bushing with the 6.5 saum brass and necking it down. For the max Im necking it down from 7 max and will be neck turning it. Necking down that much will make the necks a bit thicker and I want to get them uniform. A guy could use regular saum brass and form it out though. I just want something that says max on the base so i don't get em confused.

 

[slatebuilder]

My son shot a whitetail doe with his .257 Weatherby Mag. The rifle is an out of box vanguard with a 26” barrel topped with a vx3 3.5-10 leupold. The load:
95G hammer hunter tipped
68.5G IMR4350.
CCI 250 primer
Weatherby Brass
Without a chronograph velocity is just an estimate (3500ish? at the muzzle probably). The shot was 288 yards.

The deer was quartering to us pretty hard. There was a 3/8” hole in the hide on entry. The flesh just under the hide, the rear part of the shoulder meat, had a hole that looked almost like a lot of exit holes (sorry didn’t get a picture of this). The bullet entered the left side of her rib cage dead center vertically between the 6th and 7th rib. Where the bullet entered the rib cage, rib 4 was broken in one place, ribs 5 and 6 were completely smashed and splintered 2” above and below the rib cage hole, rib 7 was intact. The hole in the rib cage was around 7/8” wide and about 1 1/4” tall. There was a good sized hole through one of the lungs, probably 2”x4”. At that point through the liver area into the stomach it became hard to follow the wound channel as it was reduced to .257 very quickly. After leaving the body cavity the bullet went into the right hind quarter, leaving a .257 diameter hole becoming lodged on the skin. Other than the nice hole in one lung, the other lung and other major organs seemed heavily bruised but intact with minimal internal bleeding. One other item of note, there seemed to have been a large amount of pressure inside the body cavity, we found grass and stomach matter pushed back through the entry wound and layers of meat in the front shoulder and rib cage, it was a real mess between the hide and rib cage on the entry side.

On the shot the deer launched forward into 6’ tall grass and disappeared. For the penetration, energy, and knock down power disciples this should have been a lights off switch, it wasn’t. The bullet penetrated roughly 36 inches. 20 minutes after the shot we found the animal 30 yards away, alive but unable to move as we were looking for blood. It took a finishing shot to the head neck junction.

It seems like the bullet shed its petals and did its work in the first 6”. This shot should have turned everything inside of the deer to slush but it did not. The wound looked like it was mostly severe bruising leaving the animal very uncomfortable but not dead as quickly as it should have.

 

[bmart2622]

Yep, sounds like a monometal bullet

 

[eoperator]

Yep, sounds like a monometal bullet

X's2

 

[yycyak]

Anyone have any comments on the 115gr Ballistic Tip in a 25-06 package? I've heard really good things about the .243/95gr BT combo, but wondering if the same applies to the 115gr .257?

I've got a 30-06 action sitting around collecting dust that I'm considering throwing a 25-06 barrel on. All factory stuff, so I'll be limited by the 1:10 twist.

 

[jjohnsonElknewbie]

Are you saying the 25-06 barrel is factory with 1:10 twist? If so, then yes, the 115 NBT, 117 VLD, and 120 Fusion are all well regarded bullets for big game.

On Ammo Seek the 120 Fusion can be had for around $33/box plus shipping. The NBT is less than $30/box.

 

[BigNate]

Anyone have any comments on the 115gr Ballistic Tip in a 25-06 package? I've heard really good things about the .243/95gr BT combo, but wondering if the same applies to the 115gr .257?

I've got a 30-06 action sitting around collecting dust that I'm considering throwing a 25-06 barrel on. All factory stuff, so I'll be limited by the 1:10 twist.

IMHO the 115gr BT works well. As do many others at the ranges I've used them at. The velocity at impact has everything to do with how bullets work, so limit your range to the designed minimum upset velocity.

If you're rebarreling why not pick a faster twist so when heavier factory ammo is available it would work well?

 

[jjohnsonElknewbie]

If you're rebarreling why not pick a faster twist so when heavier factory ammo is available it would work well?

My impression was that his available 25-06 barrel is factory 1:10. However, I totally agree that if rebarreling to a new barrel a 1:7.5 would cover every scenario.

 

[WormSportsman]

Anyone have any comments on the 115gr Ballistic Tip in a 25-06 package? I've heard really good things about the .243/95gr BT combo, but wondering if the same applies to the 115gr .257?

I've got a 30-06 action sitting around collecting dust that I'm considering throwing a 25-06 barrel on. All factory stuff, so I'll be limited by the 1:10 twist.

I picked up a .25-06 last year and loaded up the 115 BT’s for it. Shot a muley buck at 375 last year and an antelope this year at 290. Both were dead right there and after seeing what the bullet does I would not hesitate to use it on elk either. Liked it so much that I picked up another used .25-06 I found at my local gun shop that shoots the 115 BT well also.

 

[jjohnsonElknewbie]

Here is some Nosler load data if anybody is interested.

 

[FLS]

I’ve tried most of the 25 cal bullets suitable for a 25-06. If I had to pick just one it would be the 115 Nosler BT. It’s shot well out of every 25-06 I’ve owned and the terminal performance is outstanding.

 

[jjohnsonElknewbie]

I may have to experiment with some Retumbo and N560 in my 25-284 with the 115. With a 22" barrel I should still be scratching 3,100. With the added speed, ballistics at 500 with a 15mph wind are pretty close to my 134 ELDM load. Looks like .3 Mils better in elevation and .3 worse in windage. At 300 the 115 is better in both areas by a couple Mils.

 

[wind gypsy]

I may have to experiment with some Retumbo and N560 in my 25-284 with the 115. With a 22" barrel I should still be scratching 3,100. With the added speed, ballistics at 500 with a 15mph wind are pretty close to my 134 ELDM load. Looks like .3 Mils better in elevation and .3 worse in windage. At 300 the 115 is better in both areas by a couple Mils.

I doubt there is any scenario where the 115 BT is better in wind deflection than the 134 ELDm.

 

[jjohnsonElknewbie]

I doubt there is any scenario where the 115 BT is better in wind deflection than the 134 ELDm.

At 300 yards, my 134 load at 2820 is deflected .2 more compared to 115 at 3100.

 

[wind gypsy]

Ye

At 300 yards, my 134 load at 2820 is deflected .2 more compared to 115 at 3100.

That is not the case with any calculators I’ve put similar data in. There is a large BC gap between the two.

 

[jjohnsonElknewbie]

That is not the case with any calculators I’ve put similar data in. There is a large BC gap between the two.

Thank you and my bad. I transposed the .5 and .7 in my head. The 134 is .2 better windage at 300.

 

[sportsmans challenge]

Just migrating some 25-7prc info over here from another thread so it is all in one big 25 thread

I had a 25-7prc done after talking to @T_Widdy about his. After finding my load we are within .oo5 of oal in the same chambers done at different times by the same guy.

I had mine done on a tikka t3 with a 22" mcgowan #4, helical fluted by kampfeld customs, then chambered and threaded by twisted barrels In Wyoming, this sits in a rokstock, now with a trijicon tenmile and running a thunderbeast ultra 7.

Using adg 7prc brass necked down by redding 7 prc s type bushing dies, hornady 134 eld m's, fed 215m, n570 I am settled and feal dialed at 3240fps using the hornady provided b.c.

Yesterday shot this from a tailgate while spotting for a friend.