Weatherby releasing the 25 RPM makes a ton of sense. I bet they have been sitting on this one for a while, waiting for the right market and components to become available. The 25 Creed popularity drove the industry to develop some great new high B.C. bullets. Weatherby is pairing this cartridge with their silly lightweight sheep gun. While a fast quarter bore is not my first choice for an ultralight rifle, the 25 RPM is probably the most practical Weatherby cartridge released in recent times.
Recoil should be slightly more than a 6.5 PRC but less than a 280 AI. It would be manageable in a 6.5 lb gun with a muzzle brake. One thing I can say after some trigger time on the peak 44 stocks is that the recoil pad is pretty awesome. Based on the new high B.C. copper bullets available, 25 RPM should be a solid option for lead-free areas. It will be interesting to see if any other gun companies adopt the cartridge.
Comparing it to 25 Creed will be interesting once people have a chance to chrono both cartridges and check the B.C.s on the new bullets. Hopefully, Hornady is accurate in their velocities this time and doesn’t come up short as they did with the 7 PRC.