I have been thinking about my next varmint rifle.Is there a 25 cal based on the 223 case? Most of my shots are 150 yards or less and my 25-06 is way too much for this populated area.
To date I have not been interested in wildcats but am unfamiliar with anything like I have just described

Do not know if my 25-223 has any other name than that. It is a basic wildcat, not an improved version, and is very capable with the 75-85gr bullets. Using RL12, it will hit 3000fps with a 75gr pill, and I have also used Bergers excellent 72gr. The rifle is a rebarreled Rem 700.
I will have to check my notes for other data, as I have not reloaded for it recently.
Very efficient cartridge.

25 TCU can be nice ( with shoreter throat ) because TCU is design for single shot action as T/C

good shooting

DAN TEC

Although I have thought about that as a cartridge for short range deer hunting for kids,

I think a 6mm version would give you a lot more flexibility as far as bullet selection, IMHO.

Good luck with it. Wildcats on 223 cases are fun, and at times I think are all of us really need for most deer hunting, except where they get to be over 150 pounds or so.

John Wooters, necked up 222 Remington brass to 25 cal. back in the 70"s. It was called the 25 Copperhead. He talked about it in his book but did not list any load data. A search may reviel something. Good luck.

Hairtrigger,
Dan tec is right--the 25-223 Improved is AKA as the 257 TCU. Not sure if reloading dies are readily available. The 257 TCU is not nearly as popular as the 6 TCU. There's also the 257 Kimber, based on an improved 222 Rem Mag case. The Hodgdon Data Manual #26 has reloading data for this one. From a 22" barrel, it shows the followin max velocities: 75 gr/3200 fps; 87 gr/3050 fps; 100 gr/2760 fps; 117 gr/2220 fps. Don't know about dies, though. Also, the European 5.6X50 Mag (Rimmed or non-rimmed) can be necked up and improved, yielding good performance. I have a 6X50R 14" Contender barrel done by Virgin Valley and Mike Bellm; it pushes 70 gr bullets at 2900 fps and 80 gr bullets at 2750 fps and is VERY accurate. The problem here is the lack of high quality/readily available brass and dies---you'd have to use 257 TCU or 257 Kimber dies. There's also the 25 Whisper, one of JD Jones' creations. It uses the 221 Fireball as it's parent case. Dies could be obtained from JD Jones. Last, there's the 256 Win Mag, using 357 Mag brass necked down to 25 cal. The same Hodgdon data shows max velocities for it w/ 24" barrel as follows: 60 gr/2800 fps; 75 gr/2400 fps; 87 gr/2200 fps. Gary T.

[ 09-28-2003, 09:12: Message edited by: Gary T ]

I saw one that Henry Cheatham built just before his death and It was a lovely little rifle. Shortened Mauser action wiht a double set trigger and beautiful wood. The targets he showed me wee impressive and he was very high on it as an all purpose rife for the Southeast.

John Wooters did neck the .222 up to .25. But I thought he called it the Wooter's Tooter.
Sam Fadala necked the .222 up to 6mm and wrote about it in the Handloader's Digest 10th Edition. He got 2900 fps. plus/minus with 85-90 gr. bullets. Worked well for deer and Pronghorn to at least 200 yds.