OK, someone tell me about the .425 Express that Savage makes, it should be a nice caliber on a nice FN action, but can you get factory ammo for it, brass?? and what case is it made on..What are its pros and cons...I should have read up on it, but I skipped all those good articles as I was not interrested at the time...now I am..and I have a action.

Ray,
If I remember rightly, it was put together by Col. Charles Askins and is the 300WinMag opened up to .423. I looked into it in the mid 90's as a rechambering option for my 10.75x68 but wasn't prepared to import a reamer and custom dies. Not sure why the didn't just use 338WM cases like the 416Taylor, but there was some reason for using the 300WinMag.
Cheers...
Con

It was Cameron Hopkins' baby from 1986.

A-Square standardized it for SAAMI. Maybe they still make the brass and loaded ammo.

There was a write-up of it in the March 1990 issue of _Guns_ magazine, by Cameron Hopkins himself. It was done by necking up the .300 Winchester. case length is 2.552".

See the A-Square manual, _Any Shot You Want_ for the rundown.

Neck is only 0.309" long, shoulder is 32 degrees semi-angle.

Pressures that A-Square measured were 59,500 psi with a 400 grain Dead Tough and 78 grains of RL-15 for 2437 fps from a 26" barrel of 10" twist.

Love those A-Square fast twist barrels!

BTW, A-Square claims that the .416 Taylor gives 400 grain Dead Toughs 2394 fps in a 24" barrel (10" twist) at pressure of 58,744 psi (48,800 CUP) using 75 grains of RL-15.

My 26" .416 Taylor gets over 2400 fps with 400 grainers and RL-15 75 grains. No pressure signs.

The Taylor has 0.414" of neck and a case length of 2.500", with a 25 degree shoulder.

The .416 Taylor is a better cartridge.

I never could warm up to the .425 Express.

Midway sells Qualcart brass for the .416 Taylor.

Will likes the .416 Taylor.

I want a 6.5 pound .416 Taylor with a shorter barrel than the 26 incher.

Get my drift Ray?

Using the A-Square data, the .416 Taylor is more efficient, gets about the same velocity and less pressure (correct for 2" shorter barrel in the .416 Taylor, and converting CUP to PSI) with less RL-15 by three grains.

Ray, great cartridge designed to copy the .404 in ballistics but in a standard length action. Mine's on a '98 and is a bit faster than my .404. I've got all the original info including Cameron Hopkin's (creator) drawings and follow-up stories. It'll do anything the .404 will do (sorry!) ~Arctic~

But, it still isn't a .404. You could get the same thing out of the old Fred Barnes wildcats 50 years ago, BJ version. Nothing new.

quote:

Originally posted by AfricanHunter:
But, it still isn't a .404. You could get the same thing out of the old Fred Barnes wildcats 50 years ago, BJ version. Nothing new.

True. I have a .416 Barnes Supreme that was the first .416 I ever had, built on a Mark X Whitworth Yugoslavian commercial Mauser action.

That one predated all the .416's based on the H&H case, I think. About 1949?

Well, looking at the A-Square pressure data, it would seem the .416 Remington and its cousins are capable of 2400 fps with 400 grainers at around 50Kpsi. That puts to rest any .416 Remington problems.

RIP is right, it was Cameron Hopkins and the 300 Win Mag, if memory serves me correctly he wanted to take advantage of the slightly larger capacity and the larger 423 bullets. My own opinion is there isn't enough serious difference between it and the 416 Taylor to make much difference. Good for someone that likes something a little different.

Artic,
Apparantly you have not seen me load a 404!! but lets not get'um squeeling over that!

So does anyone out there have a 10.75x68 reamer? that may be a better route..or maybe a 338 necked up to a .408 bullet would be nice in a FN action...that would better a 450-400 by a good bit...

I'm building another one, and just feeling around as to what it shall be..I sure like the 10.75 x 68 with todays good brass and bullets..

This copied and brought over from "Reloading:"

Ray,
I thought there were only two ways to make a case: Fire form a 300 Win Mag case or neck down a 458 case (makes a short necked version of the case), but my son found a third way: shoot a 375HH in it! Fortunately, no one was hurt, but it sure produces an interesting case with a "double" shoulder. At 25 yds, he even hit the target.

A Square made cases and understand they still can be obtained from them with head stamp. The 425 Express easily duplicates 404J performance albeit at higher pressures. I hold my 400 grain loads to 2300fps. Mine puts two Lion Loads within an inch of one another and within an inch of the old Barnes 400 grain solid at 100 yds. The Barnes 350gr X bullet shoots just at 3" high with the same settings.

Although not pretty in the traditional sense, my Savage Safari has turned out to be a nice rifle. It will see Tanzania in July, along with my 9.3x62 and 30-06, consecutively numbered English Mark X actions. The fourth rifle may be my 416/404 or a .375HH, or I may throw a shotgun in for the fourth firearm in our two cases.

Anybody got a starting low power load for a 200gr pistol bullet? The 425 Express is essentially the same set up as the 416 Taylor. Kudude