Yet another quarterbore project on the way

[stagpanther]

Yes, I have .257 on the brain since manufacturers came out with "serious" high SD/BC bullets--it's like deja vue all over again. I was on the phone today with James Kessler at Northland Shooters Supply intending to order just a LA action when I casually asked how long it is taking Shilien to make a custom barrel these days, for example if I wanted to order a special 25 Creedmoor. Turns out James has a stash of them ready-made almost exactly the way I had in mind--and very reasonably priced and no up to a year waiting. Needless to say--the phone call ended up being more expensive than I had intended. I also have a batch of Alpha ammunition 25 creed brass in SR primer with reinforced primer cups on the way. I'm beginning to think the day is coming soon when I may never see large rifle primers again in the US in my lifetime.

 

[taylorce1]

Going with the modern .250 Savage! I have dabbled in the .250 Savage a couple of times and it has been a highly underrated deer cartridge. Your rifle should take it to the next level with the bullets nkw being offered. The guys that have been playing with the .25 Creedmoor on other forums are huge fans, using it on up to elk sized game.

 

[stagpanther]

Going with the modern .250 Savage! I have dabbled in the .250 Savage a couple of times and it has been a highly underrated deer cartridge. Your rifle should take it to the next level with the bullets nkw being offered. The guys that have been playing with the .25 Creedmoor on other forums are huge fans, using it on up to elk sized game.

I don't blame you--the 250 savage is a classic cartridge of historic significance. Are you intending to upgrade the freebore and twist for modern bullet/powders capabilities? Although you're limited by case capacity you probably could still drive some of the lighter monolithics extremely well.

 

[tangolima]

Met my buddy Elmer at the range yesterday. I call him Elmer as he resembles closely to Mr Fudd on the cartoon. His 25-06 shoots the light out. That's his favorite rifle. He hardly hunts anymore. Plans to give it to his son-in-law.

-TL

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[USAF Ret]

Dang it. Been mulling a 257 Weatherby Magnum since I figured out I can handle a little more recoil. Y'all got me mulling harder. I had one about 20 years ago and got rid of it. Now that I am reloading, it might be time to pull the trigger, pun intended.

 

[stagpanther]

I have a 257 weatherby in the works as well--but that's going to be a while. There are a lot of other good .257 choices, but after shooting the 25 PRC for a while I decided I didn't have to have a super quarter bore spitting bullets at 3,200 to 3,400 fps with the penalty of burning the barrel out well under 1K shots. The creedmoor seems to make a lot of sense to me, capacity/velocities under overbore range but still enough to get them out there fast and far--plus it's a small action cartridge and can use small rifle primers.

Met my buddy Elmer at the range yesterday. I call him Elmer as he resembles closely to Mr Fudd on the cartoon. His 25-06 shoots the light out.

I have a 25-06 and most definitely a great quarterbore cartridge choice--but it does have an overbore penalty when driven hot.

 

[jdsingleshot]

My favorite is the .25-20. I made a bolt action and a break action from scratch in that caliber. I have dies and a mold for them and lots of jacketed bullets. Also have a couple hundred cases. Bolt barrel is 1 in 14 inches, break action is 1 in 10.

Dropped a deer with one shot from the bolt gun the year I made it.

 

[ligonierbill]

Don't get me started again. I thought I had my addiction under control. You guys have left out the 257 Roberts. Lately I'm running Barnes 101 LRX. If the group holds up, I'll be leaving my 117s behind. I bought the copper wonders for my Weatherby, but Midway had 120 Partitions on sale, and I stocked up. They really shoot the lights out. Those fast-twist-required bullets are fascinating, but no, I'm not going there..Really, I'm not.

 

[Mike Irwin]

If I ever go with a quarterbore, it will be, hands down, the .250 Savage. One of the greatest cartridges of all time, in my opinion.

It asks so little, but gives so much in return.

 

[CarJunkieLS1]

StagPanther I know you have your AR addiction also. If you like quarterbores look at the 25GPC. I have an unhealthy addiction to .257 and 7mm.

 

[stagpanther]

StagPanther I know you have your AR addiction also. If you like quarterbores look at the 25GPC. I have an unhealthy addiction to .257 and 7mm.

Thanks for that--the 6.8 spc is one of the best case designs ever made for the AR15 platform IMO--but I wasn't aware of the 25 gpc. I found a picture of it on-line--it looks basically like they knocked the shoulder and case length back a bit in order to accommodate more modern 257 bullets??

I just took a look at the mad dawg site--wonder why their barrels are limited to 9 twist? That cuts the field down of the new bullets you can use quite a bit, I would use at least 7.5; that would get you in the ballpark of the new high SD 110 gr monolithics.

 

[CarJunkieLS1]

Yeah MDWS those guys are great, I was a beta tester for the 25GPC. First person ever to harvest a deer with one

I believe the reason they have the twist as it is, is because it wont fit the very long high BC bullets at mag length , even using the windowed PRI mags they are just too long. I am also very sure that you can always hit them up and they will custom make you any configuration you want.

 

[stagpanther]

I believe the reason they have the twist as it is, is because it wont fit the very long high BC bullets at mag length , even using the windowed PRI mags they are just too long. I am also very sure that you can always hit them up and they will custom make you any configuration you want.

Thanks for that--looks like a great entry into the 257 realm--already have a 25-45 sharps AR that shoots the 87 gr hunting hot cors great; this one doesn't quite bring enough "new" to the table for me.

 

[USAF Ret]

Thanks for that--looks like a great entry into the 257 realm--already have a 25-45 sharps AR that shoots the 87 gr hunting hot cors great; this one doesn't quite bring enough "new" to the table for me.

My Dad has a 25-45 Sharps and loves it. He dropped his biggest deer ever with it at the age of 85.

 

[paknheat]

Got a 25-06 & a 257 Roberts. Love shooting both of them a lot.

I have settled on the 100 gn Barnes TTSX bullet for both of them.


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[taylorce1]

I forgot to ask, which action were you asking about? I'm thinking I need to order an Origin from him. I'm pretty interested in the medium action, but I'll probably just order a short.

 

[stagpanther]

I forgot to ask, which action were you asking about? I'm thinking I need to order an Origin from him. I'm pretty interested in the medium action, but I'll probably just order a short.

Sorry Taylor--forgot to subscribe to my own thread so I missed this. Very good question cause you have to make a decision based on maximum COLs. With MDT's short action AICS magazine you can remove the front binder plate and get out to 2.960"--more than enough for my 25 creedmoor the way I figure it unless you really want your bullets in the bore; which you might if you're competition shooting. So I went ahead and ordered a savage short action. The home-builder custom action world is obviously overwhelmingly dedicated to remington 700 compatibility, one day I'll make that jump but for now familiarity with Savage has me sticking to them. I've looked at those Origins as well and they look like a great way to go. James is a great go-to guy for hooking up home builders with quality actions and barrels in one go.

 

[stagpanther]

Speaking of 25 creedmoor--I ordered a sizing die and seating die from Precision Reloading in 25 creedmoor. These Redding dies are functionally the same as Lee's pacemaker dies--nothing special, seating die has a fixed seating plug and the sizing die is nothing but a fixed full length sizing die--no bushings capability etc. The two together set me back $275--I have competition bushing dies with micrometers that I've bought for less than that.

 

[ThomasT]

If I ever go with a quarterbore, it will be, hands down, the .250 Savage. One of the greatest cartridges of all time, in my opinion.

No argument here. I wish I could find one in a nice Savage 99. A bolt action would be Okay too. Its too bad the 25 Souper isn't more popular. Most have never even heard of it. A 308 case necked down to 25 caliber.

Another forgotten 25 is the 25 Remington that came in the Remington model 30 bolt action. And maybe that old Remington pump.

Oh dear! Look what I found.

https://www.gunbroker.com/item/1045638218

https://www.gunbroker.com/item/1049487233

 

[stagpanther]

Love them Hawkeyes!

Couple of care packages came in today--Shilen rifle barrel from Northland and a couple hundred cases from Alpha munitions.

The barrel is the usual immaculate condition that I've come to routinely expect from Northland; all I need to do is maybe swab the bore with a patch or two to clear a bit of the oil (no heavy waxy gunk or residual test firing residue--that's always nice) and she's ready to fire.

Alpha munitions is new to me for brass and so far I'm very impressed--their packaging alone is "professional grade." After opening an account and making my first purchase they immediately followed up with several informative e-mails including dimensions of the case along with measurements for primer cup flash hole and neck tensions. Also a download file for labeling and book-keeping of load development. Once the actions get here I'll be able to begin the fun stuff.