Was at my local gunshop last evening and saw an odd caliber that I just had to have. I am a bit funny that way, liking at least a few odd ones. It was a Savage 340 chambered in 225 Winchester. I do reload, and the gun came with a RCBS die set, a full box of winchester 55 grain factory ammo, about 30 reloads (with the load data included) plus 20 other pcs of brass. I am looking forward to shooting this gun! I did hear some people felt that the 225 winchester was at the upper edge of pressure for this gun (single locking lug) but have never heard of on failing. I assumed if I play it safe and not try to make it into a 22-250 I should be safe.

.225 Win. Neat caliber, works well, killed by factories needing to create new "improved" cartridges. yeah, sure....

the 225 was the new improved cartridge.
it just fell on deaf ears and died off.

I have an older mod 70 Winchester heavy barrel, 225 win . in a Fajun stock . It has accounted for several deer , coyotes , and woodchucks in my back yard ... very accurate and plenty fast enough ...

The .225 is essentially the old .219 Improved Zipper with the rim reduced to .30-'06 diameter to allow it to function in an unaltered Model 70. It was wildcatted a bit (I had a Winchester High Wall in 6mm-.225.), but never caught on like the Remington .22-.250, also a tamed wildcat.

quote:

Originally posted by xausa:
The .225 is essentially the old .219 Improved Zipper with the rim reduced to .30-'06 diameter to allow it to function in an unaltered Model 70. It was wildcatted a bit (I had a Winchester High Wall in 6mm-.225.), but never caught on like the Remington .22-.250, also a tamed wildcat.

According to Jim Carmichel, it was brought out to replace the .220 Swift due to barrel life concerns. Funny, IMO the Swift is still great but the .225 Win is hardly seen.

quote:

Originally posted by AnotherAZWriter:
According to Jim Carmichel, it was brought out to replace the .220 Swift due to barrel life concerns. Funny, IMO the Swift is still great but the .225 Win is hardly seen.

I think the Swift's bad reputation came from using loads with light bullets in an effort to break the 4000 fps barrier. Once it was realized how senseless that is, loaders turned to heavier bullets and less erosive loads, and chamber throats started lasting longer.

I have a Hart barreled pre-64 Model 70 .220 Swift, which was christened "Old Thor" by its original owner. When he passed it on to me, I had the barrel, which was full heavy weight, turned down to a more manageable profile and rechristened it "Young Thor". There is no way of knowing how many bullets have passed down that barrel, but it still delivers respectable accuracy.

You've got a scarce rifle there. The Savage 340 was only chambered in .225 for a very short time and I'm sure that very few of them sold.

I wanted a .225 M340, but they were too new, at the time, so I bought a .222 Remington, and carried it for about 10 years. Great li'l gun with a 3-9 variable. I used it on Richarson's squirrel, coyotes, and crow/raven.
Then I bumped into a Winchester M1885 .219 Zipper Improved, and installed a Redfield M3200 20x on it, so I could sell the M340.
That's been about 30 years, and the guy I sold it to still shoots it. I still have the Winchester.
Have fun,
Gene

I have a post-64 mod 70 in .225. I thought it was a 1:12, but it turned out to be a 1:14. It is an absolute tack-driver with the lighter (< 55 grain) bullets. In fact, even though the barrel's surface has a rust spot or two on it, the recoil pad (?) isn't anywhere near a proper fit for the stock and the stock is epoxied to the barreled action, I still put a Nightforce NXS on it.

My rifle isn't even close to being as exotic as yours, but what a wonderful caliber. I hope you enjoy yours as much as I do my own.

some years back I was having a Highwall rebarrelled to a 22 centerfire. the choice was either the 225 or wildcat 22/30-30. at the time (1980s) brass for 225 was virtually impossible to get, so I opted for the 22/30-30 since I could form it from readily available 30-30 brass. 225 brass could be formed for 30-30 brass but it involved a lathe to turn down the rime of each case, so represented a lot more work. Now with components available mail order with the Internet, the 225 would be an easy choice. Have fun with it, it's a great cartridge.

It spawned some JD Jones wildcats.

I should have mentioned that I've found it hard to come by .225 brass. Scarcer than hen's teeth IMO. So treat your brass with TLC. I've gotten 7 - 8 firings out of some of mine.

Yes I have noticed the scarcity of brass and plan on taking care of the 70 pieces I have. Just annealed the brass last eve so hopefully it will help!

I haven't FL sized any of my brass yet. I stay 1 gr below the published max loads and neck size only. And I restrict my sizing to about ½ the neck length. Less is more.

My preference for longterm wear for brass is to use an outside bushing (LE Wilson type) to size the neck rather than the inside button. that way the neck gets set back just enough to fit the bullet rather than a die that sizes it past what is needed then the inside button pushing it back to the correct size. the result is much less working of the brass.

quote:

Originally posted by Ray B:
My preference for longterm wear for brass is to use an outside bushing (LE Wilson type) to size the neck rather than the inside button. that way the neck gets set back just enough to fit the bullet rather than a die that sizes it past what is needed then the inside button pushing it back to the correct size. the result is much less working of the brass.

Agree. Thanks.