.25 Caliber Rifle Cartridges and the Future of Them

[BeeMaa]

I always thought the 257 Roberts was a great round, but bought a 270 Win instead since I was living in grizzly country.

Not trying to run this thread into a dumpster fire of game vs caliber, but are you saying that a 270WIN is what you consider adequate (or at least the minimum) for brown bear?

 

[TMac]

Article written years ago in TTHA…..was a study done on calibers/kills. From .223-300mag+

The .25 cartridge had the closest point of impact to recovery than any other caliber.

It was interesting & somewhat surprising.

I recall that or a very similar article. Seems it was whitetails in TX? Memories fade, but the 25-06 performed the best. Actually matches my results with game up to the size of Mule Deer. 117 gr. Hornady InterLock performed very well for me. But any 115-120 gr. bullet I used worked well.

Would love to see that article/study again.

 

[colorado]

Not trying to run this thread into a dumpster fire of game vs caliber, but are you saying that a 270WIN is what you consider adequate (or at least the minimum) for brown bear?

I wouldn't hunt grizzlies with a 270 but if I found one sitting on my elk carcass and it charged me, I'd feel comfortable putting it down with my 270.

 

[TMac]

Not trying to run this thread into a dumpster fire of game vs caliber, but are you saying that a 270WIN is what you consider adequate (or at least the minimum) for brown bear?

Phil Shoemaker allowed the 270 as a min for Brownies. He said anything smaller was a stunt. That would be with him as a guide backing things up. Suspect he preferred a little more bullet weight, but he was OK with it. As I recall, neither bullet weight or bullet type were specified.

Grizz are generally smaller and I know of a number of Alaskans that have taken them very successfully with 270/280‘s. A couple were with the 270 and 150gr Fusions, they said that combo worked very well.

 

[colorado]

I've killed 9 bears with my 270. We would get problem bear tags on the ranch I worked on that bordered Yellowstone park. Two were finishing shots on grizzlies along with the guide (he wouldn't let clients follow up wounded bears) when I was an assistant guide in 1971 1972 in Montana (when it was still legal to hunt them 25 licenses a year were given out). Don't get me wrong I'd rather have my 500 Jeffery, but then I was 20 and immortal and I thought the 270 was a cannon. I also put 1000 rounds a year through that rifle, targets, crows, prairied dogs as well as elk, deer and bear. Then I had to get a real job when I hit 30. It's on it's 3rd barrel, a Hart, and my son is the proud owner of it now.

 

[biggergun]

I have shot a 257 DGR for 23yrs with. A 100gr barnes, 22in barrel, 260rem case ran thru a form die. And ready to shoot. No Fire form 30deg shoulder. 3350fps very little recoil and noise.i have shot 5elk, and 250plus deer and antelope, I have recovered 3ea total bullets from animals shot. Awesome performance 25..dgr guns has online load data from fargo nd..I just got done putting one together for my son for Xmas last year..

 

[wildwilderness]

I've been looking at a fast .25 caliber cartridge for a while now. The front runner for me has always been the 257WBY because it's wicked fast, deadly, low recoil and most importantly it fits nicely into the MA bolt head I already have for my Blaser R8. Here is a list of the most often used SAAMI approved .25's in no real order other than that's how I view the popularity of them.

25-06
257WBY
257RBTS
250-3000SAV
25WSSM
25-20WIN
25-35WIN
256WM

Recently I watched a YT video stating that there is possible expansion in the .25 caliber offerings in the coming year. They include a 25CM and 25PRC, neither of which I know anything about. Not to mention our own @Bob Nelson 35Whelen who has been making a wildcat rimmed 25 based on the 303BRIT cartridge. I believe the 25CM and 25PRC will be (or have been) submitted to SAAMI for certification.

I've been know to say on occasion "What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again, there is nothing new under the sun" taken from the Book of Ecclesiastes. In my hunting years I've seen more than a few cartridges wither and nearly die, just like the 25WSSM. Outside of the competition world, do these new cartridges offer anything better when it comes to shooting game animals (less than 150#) at normal hunting distances of less than 500 yards? Better barrel life? Shoot higher BC bullets? Kill game more dead than any of the others? Don't even get me started on ammo availability.

Or is it all just marketing hype for a money grab? Because that's about where I'm landing on this. Feel free to chime and let me know how you feel about the current 25 caliber offerings and what you see for the future.

As already mentioned it’s all about the
twist rate.
The new SAAMI spec 25 cal cartridges will have the requirement for probably a 1:7.5 twist barrel as opposed to the older calibers with something around 1:10. Then factory ammo can be loaded for the newer high BC 25 cal bullets