Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Short action 25

Damn, Wrangler. I can read your post without glasses.

+1

25 cal projectiles aren't so long that they need extra mag like 6.5s & 7s can.

284 is brilliant IMHO.

Simply put,a 243Win S/A at 2.815" and twisted 9" or better(Remmie/Ruger),will slap a 25-06 fhuqking silly. Bullets matter more than headstamps and the 25's are all devoid one constant...and that'd be slicker boolits.

I'd rather shoot my Montucky 20" 6BR than anything .25cal and I've had them all. The 6-284 slaps a 257Wby silly and I've had more than a few. Nothing sucks more ass than a Bob or Better Bob and if forced to gun a 25,it'd certainly be 25-284 S/A and no more than 23" of spout(got 'em in 22,23 and 24").

Bullets,bullets,bullets.

Roughly in that order.

Hint...................

Lots of good ideas here, mostly on the .473 boltface.

I'm wondering if a .25-204 might be the ticket ?

I guess that it would depend on your definition of "all around". I like the 25 WSSM, but recognize that it is dying and a PITA to find ammo and brass for, so I wouldn't recommend it to anyone.

Tracks, just trust your old Buddy and build a .250AI. If worse comes to worse just load the 117gr Interlokt at 2850fps and have a nice carry rifle for elk. It will shoot the 85-115/17gr bullets easily. powdr

Ken,
Got plenty of Elk rifles, and just finished my last hunt, as in no more. (Well maybe some 'lope hunts)
This is for someone else.
I'd like it to be commercially available so to avoid the need to hand roll the ammo.

In SA, that leaves the Bob ;-)

My current favorite 257 Roberts, out of 12, is a 700 CDL-SF SA bedded in a McM Hunter stock. Since the heaviest/longest bullet that I shoot in this rifle is the 110 grain AB, the COAL limitations of the magazine box don't cause any problems.

The problem that I see with limiting yourself to factory ammo is that there isn't much variety in terms of bullet weight options, so that makes it less of an all-around cartridge than it can be if you handload for it. I load, or have loaded, 75, 87, 90, 100, and 110 grain bullet for my 257 Roberts rifles, depending of the intended use. I initially loaded and shot a lot of 90 grain Sierra HPBTs for all applications, but stopped using them on deer when I decided that they were a little more fragile than I would prefer. Some say that the 100 grain BT is an all-around bullet in this all-around cartridge, something that I couldn't argue against.

Tracks,

It ain't a .25, but in that case, I'd go .243Win without hesitation.

Kimber Montana, .243, load TSX or TTSXs or 105 A-Max for everything, and keep on hunting.

The 25-204 makes a nice mild mannered rifle. It is a clone to the 257 Kimber and you can use the data. I built one in 2004 and is my deer rifle for stand hunting. 100 gr Partition at 2800+ fps that is a recipe for success.

For commercially available ammo the quarter bore is limited to 250Sav and 257R and some of the newer WSM SAUM, etc none of which are common although they are "available". Maybe the 243 would be a better choice in this case.
If 25cal is the only thing that will do my vote goes to the Bob.

In this case, I'd be running with a .243 Win.

I guess the 243 would be the best choice for what I want it to do, but for some reason I've never learned to like the 243.
I'll do a bit of study before I decide.
Thanks to all for the input.

Once you start messing around with the .243, it grows on you. Really fine little cartridge.

just be selective regarding bullets and you'll be fine.

Think hard about a 243AI with a 105 A-Max at 3100+ fps. It works just fine in a factory 9 twist and answers a lot of questions.

Yabba... How him do dat?

How about a 6mm Remington?

Tracks is looking for a SA to cover the deer and down bases.
He doesn't want to handload so is looking for the cartridge that will give him excellent factory loaded options. That rules out every wildcat.

In the .243" and .257" cartridges, he's left with:

.243 Winchester
6mm Remington
.243WSSM

.250 Savage
.257 Roberts
.25WSSM

In terms of ammunition availability, variety, and factory bullet performance, none of those other is even in the same league as the .243 Winchester.