I'm feeling a strong pull for a new rifle and I want a .25 caliber. I'm a short action guy so a 25-06 is not on my radar. What does everyone think about the following:
1. 25 Souper
2. 25-284
3. 25 Pronghorn (25 WSM)

The .25 souper will stay with the others (well almost) and can be made from common brass and cheap brass....It gets my vote easily

There's almost 1,000 .308 brass for sale in the classifieds right now for .20/each or there abouts

Non of the above. roger

I would do a Roberts.
the remington short action works great.
That pronghorn is quite a round, a little hotter than the .257 weatherby.
The souper and the 25,284 are both good rounds of corse, but the roberts is easy to load for and a great cartridge.
A 22 inch .257 Roberts with a good acurate barrel , is about as good a deer rifle out to 300 yards as any. The Kimber factory rifle would be dynomite !
But if you think there is going to be a need for more range use the .284 case or the pronghorn ...tj3006

I had not given enough thought to the 257 roberts. I need to check into it a bit more.

quote:

Originally posted by bartsche:
Non of the above. roger

Which caliber would you recommend?

The 257 Roberts has a little more case capacity than the 25 souper. It is, basically, the 7x57 mauser necked down. The only problem is that when Remington made it a factory round in 1934, they made the working pressures quite low due to the custom rifles that had been made on week model 93 and 95 Mausers during the preceding 10 years or so. In a modern rifle, handloads can be juiced up to the point where the Bob can sit up and do tricks. If you PM me, I can provide some stout loads that I got from an article written by John Barsness of Handloader magazine (The article is actually from "Hunting Horizons", and was published in 1993 or 94). The "Bob" has, in recent years, been upgraded by SAAMI with a "+P" pressure level of 48,000 cup. This is certainly a leap above the original 45,000cup or so, but is still a bit less than the 30-06 (50,000cup). There are Bob loads out there that hover around 52,000cup, which is what the 25-06, 6mm rem, and all of the 308 win based cartridged work at. Loaded to this pressure, the 257 Roberts is only 150 to 200 fps slower than the 25-06, which is really quite insignificant in the field. Something else that I learned from John Barsness is that Federal 257 Roberts Brass has a little more case capacity than any other brass out there. You can gain an extra 100 fps with 117 and 120 bullets with Federal brass. Federal does not provide bulk brass in the Bob anymore, but they produce factory loads. I say to heck with those wildcats. Bobs Rule! 'Nuf said.
Matt

quote:

Originally posted by Cliff Lyle:

quote:

Originally posted by bartsche:
Non of the above. roger

Which caliber would you recommend?

The Roberts or a 250-3000, deep throated to take the longer bullets and not infringe on the POWDER ROOM. roger

While I shoot a 257 Ackley on a Sako short action, I would definately go with the .25 Souper next time. The feeding concerns and the satisfaction from a cartridge with economical brass will make it a long passion.

I would go with the 25 Souper if I was going to choose from your list.

I would give some serious thought to the Roberts also.

ddj

Short barrel, <22", I'd go Souper.

Long(er) barrel, >22", I'd go 25-284 or 25 SAUM.

There are still some Remington 7s in 7mm and 300 SAUM around for under $450, so that would be my choice of vehicle and the 25 SAUM seems to feed better in short action 700s then the WSMs.

FWIW, I'm planning to go wack a couple of deer with the 25 WSSM on 11/15/08.

Jeff

The best of the best is the 25 wssm.

"Best" is relative. My .257 Bob drives a 117gr. SGK at 2800fps with no pressure signs. It's absolutely lethal on deer-sized game out to 300-350 yards.

I'd gladly shoot whitetail, mulies, antelope and anything smaller with the Bob. Going to bigger game, while doable with the .25's, really cuts the margin for error down...and such game is better served by the 7mm and 30's.

IMO, the 25-06, 25 WSSM, etc. don't really give me anything more than what I already get from the .257 other than more noise and velocity I don't need.

YMMV.

Not to change the subject but you mentioned being a "short action guy". Why is that? I bought a Rem 700 Classic in .257 a number of years ago not knowing the difference. Since then I've been able to load any bullet my little heart desired in that rifle. Jump ahead to Sept 2008. I bought a Rem 700 CDL in 260 Rem. Now I can only load bullets 120 gr or less and the VLD's are out of the question. I'm wishing the 700CDL was a long action so I had that flexibility. I really, really like my 257 Roberts!

quote:

Originally posted by rnovi:
"Best" is relative. My .257 Bob drives a 117gr. SGK at 2800fps with no pressure signs. It's absolutely lethal on deer-sized game out to 300-350 yards.

I'd gladly shoot whitetail, mulies, antelope and anything smaller with the Bob. Going to bigger game, while doable with the .25's, really cuts the margin for error down...and such game is better served by the 7mm and 30's.

IMO, the 25-06, 25 WSSM, etc. don't really give me anything more than what I already get from the .257 other than more noise and velocity I don't need.

YMMV.

So true.....and I'm a "Bob" fan too.....and if you want you can push the 117 at 3,000 from the "bob"

I've got a "Bob" that I had built on a 3" action & got it long throated accordingly. If I was to do so again I would not bother but would stick with the standard chambering. It is well possible to get cartridges so made doing 2850-2900 fps with 117-120 gr bullets with modern powders. Norma MRP/Re22, H4831SC & others in this region can ramp the "Bob" up to this easily. Faster than that I reckon you need to go to Premium bullets anyways. That speed will get deer out to as far as I can reasonably shoot them. It also has the advantage of better chambering for 100gr bullets, mine hates them with a passion,at least the few I've bothered with it does.
Steve

Well, I made my decision while at the Tulsa Gun Show this past weekend. I ordered a .257 Roberts barrel for my encore from Match Grade Machine, out of St. George, UT.
If I like it, I'll get a bolt rifle for it. If not, I don't have too much money invested in it and it will certainly resell.
It's a new contour for them, triangular in shape. I'll post some photos when it gets in, which should be in 4-5 weeks. Thanks to everyone for the input. I can see more quarter bores in my future.

quote:

Originally posted by clawman:
Not to change the subject but you mentioned being a "short action guy". Why is that? I bought a Rem 700 Classic in .257 a number of years ago not knowing the difference. Since then I've been able to load any bullet my little heart desired in that rifle. Jump ahead to Sept 2008. I bought a Rem 700 CDL in 260 Rem. Now I can only load bullets 120 gr or less and the VLD's are out of the question. I'm wishing the 700CDL was a long action so I had that flexibility. I really, really like my 257 Roberts!

I have no good reason for my preference. I just became interested in short action calibers and have spent more time with them. I have no dislike for long actions just a slight preference for short actions.

quote:

Originally posted by Cliff Lyle:
Well, I made my decision while at the Tulsa Gun Show this past weekend. I ordered a .257 Roberts barrel for my encore from Match Grade Machine, out of St. George, UT.
If I like it, I'll get a bolt rifle for it. If not, I don't have too much money invested in it and it will certainly resell.
It's a new contour for them, triangular in shape. I'll post some photos when it gets in, which should be in 4-5 weeks. Thanks to everyone for the input. I can see more quarter bores in my future.

You may be quite surprised with the Bob. I know I sure was - very light recoil, low(er) report, superb accuracy. I have friends who insist on using a .300WMag or WSM on Whitetail who are amazed that the Bob is so increadibly effective.

It just plain works.

The Bob is simple. Pick up a M77 and stick a VX-III 2.5-8 on it for less than a Kimber alone. Load 100TSX over 46gr. H4350 (work up) with CCI200 in R-P cases, seated to 2.780, and go kill shit. Doesn't get much easier than that. Should get you around 1" or so. Might have to float the barrel or bed, but that's it. Maybe trigger work. No biggee.

I am another vote for the Roberts.

quote:

Originally posted by Cliff Lyle:
It's a new contour for them, triangular in shape. I'll post some photos when it gets in, which should be in 4-5 weeks.

This I gotta see.

All you need to do is chamfer each of the 3 corners.

quote:

Originally posted by MuskegMan:

quote:

Originally posted by Cliff Lyle:
It's a new contour for them, triangular in shape. I'll post some photos when it gets in, which should be in 4-5 weeks.

This I gotta see.

All you need to do is chamfer each of the 3 corners.

I'm sure it's something like that...

I'd choose the 25 Souper. If you had an intermediate length action, I'd choose the Roberts. But with the 2.8" action, I think the Souper is the best choice.

Aw Hell!!! Dare to be different!! Do a Souper and never look back!
Aloha, Mark

250 Savage with a quick twist and a long enough throat to accept a 120 grain NPT when desired. Seems to me a fella could rebarrel a Kimber 84M 22/250 and call it done...