anybody ever reload for a 25-300win mag? any info would be greatly appreciated[where to get dies, best loads,etc]. would it be better to use 257 stw instead?

Browning:

Just my humble opinion, but I just think it would be a bigger barrel burner than a 257 Weatherby. Why not just do one of those, or a 25/06.

I think a 257 Wthby gets about 3500 fps out of a 100 grain bullet. I get 3350 with a 100 grain bullet in a 260 Remington with a 22 inch barrel in a standard factory Ruger,. and over 3400 in a factory Rem VLS with a 26 inch barrel. I also use a whole lot less powder than the Weatherby, 25/06 or 257 STW. Is 40 % more powder worth, 150 to 200 fps? Look at the down range trajectory charts and they don't offer you that much more at all.

Just some thoughts, but if you build one, hope you have a lot of fun with it!!

I have not used a 25/300 win mag, but have used 2 rifles in 25/06 and 25/06 Ack Imp.

I am not sure what the exact capacity of a .25/300 win mag would be, but estimate that it would be slightly larger (ie 85 -90 grains) than that of the .257 Weatherby which has a capacity of about 85 grains.

To extract the benefits of using large cases in 257 diameter (or any other caliber), requires the use of heavy bullets and slow powders. Currently in 257 diameter rifles this would mean using bullets of 115 and 120 grains, and powders such as Reloader 25, H1000, H870 etc.

In my opinion, until commercially made bullets of 130 to 140 grains become available in 25 calibre, it is not worth using cases larger than the .257 Weatherby.

The 25/06 (capacity about 67.5 grains) will achieve 3300 fps with the 100 grain bullet and 3050 fps with the 120 grain bullet.

The 25/06 (capacity about 72 grains) will achieve 3550 fps with the 100 grain bullet and 3300 fps with the 120 grain bullet.

The 257 Weatherby (capacity about 85 grains) will achieve 3650 fps with the 100 grains bullet and 3350 - 3400 fps with the 120 grain bullet.

If you want to experiment with a .25 calibre wildcat, until bullets of 120 + grains become available, I would chose either a 25/06 Ackley (which I can thoroughly recommend), a 25/7mm SAUM, or a 25/270 WSM. The latter 2 will require the use of a larger boltface, and magazine modifications.

I estimate that the capacity of a 25/7mm SAUM would be about 72- 74 grains, and a .25 WSM would be about 78 grains, so their performance potential would lie somewhere between the 25/06 Ackley and the .257 Weatherby.

I hope the above information helps, and good luck in whatever you choose. Brian.

browning,

Here are Saeeds results which as you can see are very good for both accuracy and velocity.

http://www.accuratereloading.com/25300.html

My best shooting mate had a 25/300 Win recently made. A match grade barrel, JGS reamer and RCBS dies were used.

Accuracy was not good (in terms of what he was seeking) and in fact he abandoned it after the first day at the range. My guess is that necking from 30 to 25 caused to many neck problems and the calibre probably should have been set up for neck turned brass.

As a side note my mate tried a whole lot of calibres including 257 Wby (without Wby freebore and with), 257 STW, 6.5/300 Wby, 264 Win, 7mm STW, 7mm Rem and 25/300 and 270/300.

From an overall point of view (accuracy, brass etc.) the 264 Winchester has proven to be the best and he now has three different style of rifles chambered in 264 Winchester.

Mike

[ 07-12-2003, 05:33: Message edited by: Mike375 ]

I built a 25-300 - not really sure why, but it seemed like a fun idea at the time. It's a real hoot to shoot, but the above posters are correct, it takes a lot of work to form the brass and I don't expect the barrel to shoot more than 5-600 rounds before the throat begins to significantly erode.

My dies were from Fred Zeglin at Z-Hat and I load 83g H1000 under a 95g Berger in WW brass w/ Fed GM215M primers. I'm getting ~4014 fps at the muzzle and .5-.6 MOA groups at 100 yards. I've only shot 38 rounds through the gun at this point so I really haven't given the gun enough time to really show it's true stripes.

Hope this helps...

Joe

A .257-270 WSM is a much better approach as it will duplicate the 257-300 WM velocities with only a 70 gr case capacity. Just neck 'em down and shoot 'em. Barrel life will be much longer. Needs a 28 inch bbl, but will break 3300, 3600 and 4000 fps with 120, 100 and 70 gr bullets, respectively.