Finally got around to shooting a new to me .25 WSSM in a Win 70 Stealth II today. Was using ammo I did not load, consisting of Speer 120's and IMR4350. The trigger is terrible but it was fun to shoot.
To me it felt somewhere between my .25-06 with 120's and hot .257 Roberts loads, but it's such a heavy platform it may be decieving. It was a gift, pretty cool at that, but I don't know what I'll do with it. Use it while sitting in a ground blind maybe?
Anyone else try one? What do you think of it? Any first hand, on game experience?

I bought a coyote lite in 25 wssm on a fluke, love it on SW GA whitetails, I was used to the 308 and 30-06 bang - flop,DRT... with the 25 and 110 gr accubonds, 120 gr PEP factory ammo the whitetails do a little dance then go down ! Trigger is easy to adjust. Factory ammo was getting a little hard to find so I put in a 10 year supply.. Probably the best of the wssms .Factory loads are hot to match the 25-06.I would hate to tote the Stealth all day... very best

It'll do anything your 25/06 or 257AI will do. Which is to say, it's a great deer cartridge!

I have found several powders in that burn rate range that work well in the 25 WSSM. RL-17 and W760 work well for me also.

I've found the 100 grain MKs and 115 grain Nosler BTs shoot the best in my 25 WSSMs. I have a Steath that will shoot better than most high dollar match guns. Eggs at 500 yards not a problem. RL-19 seems to work the best of pwoders I've tried.

Thanks for the info guys. Have any of you tried Superformance?

Powders seem hard to get right now. I don't have RL-19 or W760 on hand. Bummer. IMR4350 is about as close to ideal I think I have.

Mine liked IMR4350 and Berger 115g VLD's .04 off the lands.....

Cheers,

Dan

WOW!! Am I ever glad that I bought my M70 FWT .25WSSM back in the day when nobody wanted them. This SWEET little rifle is now my pride and joy. But, Oh man was she hard to tame (bedding and trigger job). NOW, she is the Princess of my hunts. Accurate, light,short and sweet. The load this little sweetheart LOVES, is 80 gr. Barnes TTSX, CCI BR2, 43.0gr. H4895. 3504 fps,13 fps E.S. Accuracy never over .85" with this load. average is probably .75". Of course, most of you have found the brass to be REALLY, WELL, not even up to Winchesters poorest standards. Anyway, this "shitty" brass can be "corrected" after one shot with an inside ream (.257") prior to sizeing. The brass is VERY thick and a little ring will form at the junction of the neck and shoulder. Once you have reamed,accuracy will improve MUCH and the brass will not split. I like to anneal after the second shot. This little cartridge is really a joy, once you figure it out. This sweet little cartridge and the short action rifles that go with them are REALLY a hunters dream come true.

quote:

Originally posted by BigNate:
Thanks for the info guys. Have any of you tried Superformance?

Powders seem hard to get right now. I don't have RL-19 or W760 on hand. Bummer. IMR4350 is about as close to ideal I think I have.

I tried the Superformance and was disappointed with the results. It was very dirty....left a lot of residue in the bore and smokes necks even at max load.

MY opinion? The pressure was too low to make the thick WSSM neck seal against the chamber.

Other powders in the IMR 4350 burn range gave better performance.

The 25 super short has been super deadly on deer with 90 grain Sierra GameKings and H414 and 110 grain Accubonds and IMR 4350. Mine are all Brownings, 2 FLDs with 22" tubes and a Varmint with the 24. My nephew shot MN and SD bucks last year with the 110 accubond and got great wound channels with one Bang flop and a 30 yard run. Shots were under 200 yards. My boys have shot lotsa MN adult deer from 40 to 280 yards with the 90 grain Sierra and the longest run has been about 60 yards. We have recovered a couple of the Sierras on off-side hides and they are pictures of perfect mushrooms. The little sporters are fun to carry and very nifty to handle. The varmint is a little out of balance, but still reasonably comfortable and great off a bi-pod. The triggers were all aweful, but that's an easy fix. All three shoot MOA and a little better which for guns that Gander Mountain sold new at a loss ($399.00, $399.00, and $450.00) that's pretty amazing. Now Bell and Carlson are making a medalist for the Browning super short action. I am just trying to decide on a color.

I have a couple .257 cal rifles and have not tried the Sierra 90 at all. At this point I've stockpiled enough I may not have an excuse to. But...

I've been using a lot of Nosler bullets, and have found a real surprise with the Hornady 120gr HP.

Nate: what's the surprise with the 120 Hornady? I've used that bullet quite a bit. Mostly in a 257AI. I've found it quite accurate. And it's terminal performance has been impressive.

Do you guys perhaps know the twist rate on your rifles? I shoot a 257 AI that doesn't do so well with 120 gr bullets, I think due to the 10" twist.

The 25 WSSM sounds like a great caliber. Too bad I can't justify another 25.

Brice: don't think twist is your problem. I have several 25cal rifles, 25/06, 257AI and regualrs Bob's. All have 10" twists and all handle 120's well.

You may be right olarmy, or mostly so. It has more trouble with the 120TSX's, which are very long. Or it could just be the rifle's personality. Each has one.

The heaviest mono that I have tried is the 80TTSX in a standard Roberts at 3400fps. Drops 'em pretty quick.

Do they make a 120gr? Heaviest I see on the website is 115?

I grew up reading lots of articles about guns, bullets, & ballistics. So I had read plenty and as time wore on the "Premium Bullet" mantra was becomeing so common you'd have believed that the CorLok and Hornady Interloc wouldn't work worth a crap.

So as I aged, shot, tested, and learned I discovered the 120gr Hornady HP actually works very well, stays together well, and costs half as much. If you can find them, they seem to sell out pretty quick. I have no problem recommending them right along with partitions.

In mono's I've used some 115gr XLC flat bases out of the .25-06 and they shoot well, the only other I tried was 100gr X & TSX in the Roberts, and .25-06 and they worked well though I've only used them on deer. Have never recovered a single one from a deer. The 120gr mono's are very long for caliber, and would be better with a 1:9 or even 1:8.5 twist I think.

If your gun won't shoot 120gr try shooting a shorter bullet not lighter. Flat based bullets can be quite impessive for accuracy at short ranges. The high BC isn't of much value at hunting distances for most folks.