25 hornet or 25 copperhead or ????

[eskimo36]

I bought an unchambered 25 cal contender 24" barrel with a a blank extractor at a good price...  What direction should I go where i won't spend all my money on dies?   I don't want to spend more than a hundred on dies and a hundred to get it chambered.....  25 fireball, 256 mag, 256 max, 25 hornet, 257 tcu, 257 kimber, 25x222 mag, 25-20, 25-35, 25-35 IMP, 250-3000 .....  I will be harder to convince on the chamberings available through ed's or the custom shop.     Other than that I am pretty open. As soon as I get it in my hands and check the twist, I may decide on a heavy bullet long throated 25-20 or 25 fireball to fling 117 gr at about a thousand fps for paper, squirrels and gophers.  The other end of the spectrum is 250 savage which I have had in an ssk contender barrel and shoot everything with it.  I look forward to your input guys.   If I could just find a source for unchambered Handi barrrels....

[Blackhawk44]

.257 TCU.  Available brass.  Easy forming.  Plenty of flexibility.  Good case life.  Admission-I dearly love the .25-20 barrel I got from Ed's some years ago.  Super accurate.  Easy on the ears.  Best with open sights.  He** on jackrabbits. 

[torpedoman]

you can rent chamber reamers and do it yourself for way under the hundred dollar mark. It is not rocket science or very difficult .

[AWS]

25 TCU and 257 Kimber require fire forming waste of bullets and powder.  25-222, 25-223, and 25-204(257 kimber near clone) all just run into the sizing die and load.  Dies are easy also use Redding FL Bushing die with appropriate bushing(you might have to open the neck openning of the die a little.  All three have a great selection of brass.  All  three will equal or better the 25-35 with less powder.  The 250-3000 if you throw big game into the picture all the .378 casehead cartridge will work on deer also.

AWS

[Catfish]

I don`t know how far your wanting to shoot, but with the round you named I`m sure your not looking for a 1,000 yrd. gun. A rough rule of thumb is that you get and increase in velocity equal to 1/2 the percent increase in case volume. Since it`s going on a contender I would recomand the .256 win. mag. Only because it is a rimmed case and I prefer rimmed cases in break guns.

[7-30 Waters]

Another cartridge you may want to consider is the 25 Bullberry or 25 Bullberry improved.  Data for the cartridge can be found at www.bullberry.com.  Case is formed from 30-30 Winchester and is an excellent all around cartridge.

[jeepmann1948]

250 savage= cheap dies & great accuracy should be a great all around

[jon f]

Go for a 25/35, shoots the 117gn projectile, can load it down for 1000fps and you don't have to form cases.Just buy new ones.
 I have a 92 winchester in 25/20. I would'nt waste a good barrel on making a single shot in this caliber.
                        Just my 2 cents worth. Jon f

[Graybeard]

There is no better or faster than the .257 JDJ. Assuming the barrel is of a quality that SSK will chamber it for you and that strictly depends on who made it then you should be able to get the chamber and dies for around the price you mention.

[vmthtr in green bay]

My vote is the 257 JDJ.  Greatest deer cartridge for the T/C you can get.

Mike

[Bitterroot Bob]

Howdy,
Is there such a thing as a rimless .25 Herret? I'm thinking that the 6.8SPC could easily be necked down to work.

Bitterroot

[watkibe]

Wow, I was just thinking along these lines, and I think you are the guys to ask about this:
I suppose like most firearms hobbyists I spend a lot of time thinking about cartridges and the possible wildcats. Since I am neither a machinist nor rich I haven't made any of them. The farthest I have gone is trying to look them up and see if they are original ideas. Usually they are not.

Here are 4 I thought up that I can't find references to. Anybody heard of these:

1.) 256 Maximum - like the 256 win mag but on the 357 Maximum case instead
2.) 251 Fireball - 221 Fireball necked up to 25
3.) 25-327 - 327 fed mag necked up to 25
4.) 201 Fireball - 221 Fireball necked down to 20
 
If you have heard of them, who are the "real" creators ?

[fyrepowrx]

i have a .25 fetish & shoot quite a few of them, 8 in contenders & 6 others in long guns. has turned out to be an expensive addiction.

if you are paper punching mostly at moderate ranges, i'd stick with a medium cased .25, less powder consumed, less blast & recoil.

i have 25/20's in an SSK carbine & an MGM pistol tube, and with heavies i think the trajectory of the round will be somewhat limiting on your ground squirrel shooting. if you misjudge distance by much, those 117/120's will drop below the target, and ground squirrels arent a very big target. i'd have to call it a hundred yard gun or so. Both mine are 1-10 twist.

my last .256win mag was a quicktwist by MGM to do exactly what you mentioned, heavies at moderate speeds. was a fun plinker, but the .256 has always been a bit quirky in the few barrels i've tried it in. (4 if i remmeber right). capable of good accuracy, but not always as agreeable, required a good amount of loade development. and i hate annealing brass, and .357's tend to split if not annealed in forming. You can however replace the extractor on your .256winmag & use a 223 extractor, & then make some nice strong cases using reformed 221fireball brass, but that taked the "cheap" factor out of it.

My favorite would be the .25TCU...a very agreeable round, 223 brass is easy to find & fairly cheap, and like the other TCU's it is an inherently accurate round.

Another option is the .25Classic (30 herrett necked to .25). MGM chambers it, i shoot it in a 15" pistol and a 22" carbine, and adds about 150fps over the .25TCU.

Gary Reeder chambers the .257 Raptor, a 204ruger improved & necked to .25... havent tried that one yet, should give a wee bit over the .25TCU, but the extra 75-100fps probably wouldnt make much difference unless you just want something different.

in between the .25TCU & the Raptor, the 6.35x47 (222rem mag necked up) and if you want to go smaller, .25copperhead (.25x222).

the small one is a tad slower than the TCU, the 6.35x47 a tad faster, but as mentioned earlier, you'd kind of just have to want one to justify it.

as for dies, CH4d sells quite a few oddballs at about $70. my .25Classic dies are Redding, call Todd Kindler at the Woodchuck Den if you are leaning towards it.

as for bigger .25's, the 25/35 offers no ballistic advantage over the .25classic, but dies are cheap & no case forming. Mine is a 24" TC custom shop, but with a long throat it doesnt care for light bullets.

in contenders i also shoot the 25bullberry, .257JDj, 250 savage, and .25x30/30AI (my favorite big cased 25 in the 'tender) but unless you plan on doing some long range stuff i'd stick with the smaller ones, they will keep you happy out to 250 or so, and i cant hit a groundsquirrel any father than that anyway.

be happy to send you loading data for the .25TCU is intersted. The big bookd "Wildcat Cartridges" also has a fair amount of info on the 6.35x47 & the .25copperhead.

Regards;

Gerald
 

[fyrepowrx]

Here are 4 I thought up that I can't find references to. Anybody heard of these:

1.) 256 Maximum - like the 256 win mag but on the 357 Maximum case instead
2.) 251 Fireball - 221 Fireball necked up to 25
3.) 25-327 - 327 fed mag necked up to 25
4.) 201 Fireball - 221 Fireball necked down to 20
 
If you have heard of them, who are the "real" creators ?

almost forgot...

1) Chambered by Gary Reeder custom guns, duplicates .25x222. Fred at Bullberry used to chamber that one i think.
2) dont think anyone chambers that one, but they should.
3) probably wouldnt offer much advantage over 25/20 stout loads.
4) Called the .20VarTarg, chambered for TC Barrels by MGM & OTT, and rifles available by Cooper Arms.

Gerald