Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Long Range Hunting 25/06AI or 25WSM or plane jane 25/06 which one?

Have two different actions on short one long and one barrel and can't decide which to use. Is there much (any) difference between the AI and WSM?

Uses and ranges please..

Dober

What bolt faces?

Tejano,

Wait a few weeks and you can use my .257SLR reamer. It is based on necking the .270 Win to .257 for 2/10" and blowing the 40degre shoulder out .010" more than the A.I. I am expecting .257 Weatherby velocities from this chamber. This case will hold slightly more than a .25 Gibbs.

25/06 is the max I think I'd use in 25 caliber..

and I'd pick the 250 Savage, 257 Roberts ( or the AI versions) over the 25/06...for the same reason P.O. Ackley liked, efficiency..

even tho you hear a lot against it as duplicating the two rounds mentioned above.. the 25/08 makes a lot of sense.. just like the 270/08 does to me....

If I needed something of that sort for long range, I'd move up to 6.5 bore... or the old 270...

i agree 25-06 is all ready over bore

the 25wsm will give about the same as a 257 wby. i am currently having pacnor run a barrel in this with my reamer for a 25/270wsm montana. once done i'll let you know (on another note since we are talking overbore they are also running a 6mm/270wsm barrel for me...i'll get back to you on that one also)

Have a short magnum action and another 30-06 length and bolt face. Deliberating because this will be the last semi custom for awhile.

Leaning towards the 25-06 as the other doner is a 270WSM and I have lots of components for it.

RSJ sounds interesting and I considered getting my 280AI reamer ground to 25-06AI or 25/280AI but wasn't sure if it could still shoot factory loads, I don't think it could safely.

In this day and age with the powders we now have this statement is over-used.

And untrue.

It would even be hard to argue that the .257 Weatherby is "overbore" with modern powders.

I agree.

so is my 264 not over bore any more i was worried about throat eroision that would erode accuracy

Seems like we need a new terminology for efficiency. I would call the 25 STW overbore but not the Weatherby. The 25/06 is not as efficient as the 257 Roberts but you still get significant gains in velocity.

+1 and I believe what Mule Deer said was totaly true too!

The 25 wsm is very interesting to me. All the research I've done says it will be close to a roy but in a short action. I don't think it would be much worse than a weatherby on a barrel. I havn't taken the plunge yet so I can't say for sure, but that would be my only concern

I remember one of the gun writers who did a 25SAUM. It seemed like a fun cartridge. No reason the 25WSM would be any different. That would be my choices if you had the time, WSM action and $.

RH

For those interested, the term "over-bore" was invented by P.O. Ackley, the noted gunsmith and writer in the 1960's.

His definition basically was that with any caliber (such as .25) eventually case size reached a point where virtually no more velocity was reached, despite the extra powder room, due to pressure increases WITH POWDERS THEN AVAILABLE.

Since then many more powders have been developed, allowing safe increases in velocity with larger cases in any caliber.

While Ackley did suggest that over-bore cartridges did erode barrels quicker, erosion is not limited to larger cartridges in any caliber. So it's not part of his definition.

Of course, a bunch of people have used the term over-bore since the 1960's, without a clue of how Ackley definied the term, or why the limits in any caliber might have changed.

My vote is a 257 Weatherby. No forming cases just a flat shooting, long range weapon.

I made a 25 wsm when the 270 wsm 1st came out, great velocities, great accuracy, a little bit finicky with pressures, loads that were fine one outing would show pressure signs the next, ended up running mid range loads in it to "fix" that problem,.

I shot 100 gr bullets at 3600 and 115's at 3250. Shot my best bull with that rifle and a 115 partition.

Downfall of the caliber is short barrel life, at 1200 rds the throat was getting pretty rough.

If I was to do it again I would go with the 257 AI. Much better barrel life and it really doesn't give up that much velocity.

bluedot:

Can't argue with experience and results like yours. Heck of a Bull in your avatar, if that is not the big one I'd sure like to see that one.
Same thoughts on throttling back the 25wsm then it becomes a 25/06 probably all of them don't need to be to avoid pressure excursions or spikes but even a sample of one is too many. Same Same with the 270WSM but less radical.

257AI has withstood the test of time and even if the practical overbore volume has increased on the other hand what was efficient in PO Ackley's time is still efficient now. Leaning towards 257AI in a short 700 or a 25/06 in the Md70 for now.