I have just come into a hand-me-down .25 WSSM and am curious what you all think of them.

I am a quarterbore fan and love the .257 Roberts. I have grown to appreciate the .25-06 quite a bit, and the WSSM version seems to be pretty close to the '06 version for performance.
This one is a Win 70 Stealth II with a beavertail forearm, bull barrel, syn so it's not a light packer at all.

I have no experience whatever with any of the WSSMs but would like to hear about your trials.....tell us about the groups you are able to get and what bullets work best for you.

I have a Model 70 "Super Shadow" that I have restocked with a laminated one. That was my only real problem with the rifle.

I have never had the feeding problems that others talk about.

RL-17 and W760 are my powders of choice....if you handload.

The pencil barrel heats up fast. Two shots nearly touching and the third one 1" - 1 1/4" out.

You should not have that issue.

Faster powders than I was thinking. I got dies, brass, and some 115gr Nosler Partitions, as well as about 50 rounds of loaded ammo. Have not had a chance to shoot it yet.

Phil have you taken game with it yet?

I have several of the 25 WSSMs and love them. The Stealth is one of the most accurate rifles I own. Everyone that shoots it wants it. The only issues I have had with this cartridge is heavy bolt lift from too much bolt thrust. You need to use max loads and have a dry chamber to prevent the heavy bolt lift. This has always been a issue with the Super Short cartridges. Very thick brass that doesn't grip the chamber walls at firing so the shoulder moves forward and makes bolt tight. Be sure and put a good lube on the bolt lugs to prevent galling of them. Hope this doesn't ruin your day because the 25WSSM is a wonderful round and the Stealths shoot like a benchrest gun. I mostly use Serria 100 Match Kings and Nosler 115 Ballistic Tips in my guns. 45 grains of Varget works with both. Start a little lower as every guns is different.

Sam

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I mostly use Serria 100 Match Kings and Nosler 115 Ballistic Tips in my guns. 45 grains of Varget works with both. Start a little lower as every guns is different.

Good advice - Hodgdon lists just 41.0 grains as maximum with the 117-grain bullet, and 44.0 grains is max with the 100s. But why use such a fast powder and give up 300 fps?

117-grain, 41.0/Varget = 2838 fps
117-grain, 53.0/IMR4381 = 3137 fps

That turns the .25 WSSM into a .257 Roberts - well, maybe that's not such a bad thing.


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TX, The reason is because it shoots so well and has easy bolt lift. I will however try your 4831 load as I have never used anything slower than 4350 in my 25WSSMs. Thanks for the heads up.

Sam

I too am a big fan of the 25 wssm. 90 grain Sierra BTHP gamekings and 110 grain Accubonds have taken deer and dogs with trajectory and authority like a 25-06, but in a much handier packeage. My 25s are A-Bolts and they shoot the 3 bullets I have tried very well with little effort (100 grain TSXs also shoot well). Enjoy!

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Originally posted by BigNate:
Faster powders than I was thinking. I got dies, brass, and some 115gr Nosler Partitions, as well as about 50 rounds of loaded ammo. Have not had a chance to shoot it yet.

Phil have you taken game with it yet?

Three porcupines, 1 150lb 6pt whitetail and two or three does. I'm out for a big Adirondack buck this year.

All taken with the W760 loads and Speer 120gr Hotcors.

IMR4350 also worked well.