Howcome .25 left out? ( The 25/308 or 25 Souper )

[K9 Handler]

I have a 25 WSSM Browning. Nice round, but kind of overkill in my NE hardwoods where ranges are short. Too much power (if there is such a thing!)

I'm a long-time .308 shooter (one of Uncle Sam's boys) and I've recently started shooting a 7mm-08, but that begs the question: How come a .25 caliber bullet in a .308 case never took off commercially?

I mean, you have a 7mm and a .243 in the .308 case, and of course the 25 in the 30-06 case, by why not ever the .25 in the short-action brass?

Any guesses out there?

[Quarterbore]

I have looked at the 257 Souper (I think that is the correct spelling?) quite a bit and my personal oppinion is that because the 257/308 would all right between the 250 Savage and teh 257 Roberts in performance there just was never a big marketing reason to do it.

I like the wildcat as like you said it is a true short action cartridge and with the heavier brass 308 casings we could load to a little more pressure then what the 300 Savage or 7x57 Mauser cases can handle so a hot loaded 257/308 might be pretty darned close to 257 Roberts perfomance even comparing to the 257 Roberts +p loads!

Where I would love to see this cartridge would be in a rifle like the Remington Model 7 youth gun. A 257/308 in that small rifle would be great for smaller hunters and with the 257 bullets it would make a great varmint/deer rifle so that a smaller hunter could get out and do some varmint hunting in the summer with the same rifle they would use in the fall.

My oldest is 8 now and she can hunt in four more years. I have been using a 243 for deer myself the past few years but I am also a pretty decent shot. I need to get out and do more varmint hunting the next couple summers shooting my little 55-gr Nosler BTs and shoot out the barrel... this way I can rebarel in 257/308 and set it up for my daughter when she is old enough to hunt with me!

[Greywuuf]

I nearly Begged people for info on the 25 souper, as I wanted to put that barrel on my FAL. I never got a single response. it's like no one has ever shot one. I ended up putting a 358 win barrel on the FAL, but I have enough of them around I might still try the 25 some time soon. I shoot a 257 mag in a contender and make a few swaged bullets in .257, so I figure I should have one in a rifle as well.

[Carpe Diem]

The .250 AI is a ballistic twin to the .25 Souper, for all practical purposes at least. While it is a fine cartridge, it didn't set the world on fire as a wildcat like the .243-08 did. The factories look at shooting trends and will adopt popular wildcats (.22-250, .225, .243, .244, .25-06, .260, 7-08, .338-06....). If the .25 WSSM is too much cartridge, why not load it down?

I assume that Greywuuf shoots a .256 Magnum in his Contender, rather than a .257 Weatherby.....

[Quarterbore]

Well, I have a 243 that I am using for deer and varmints... not that I get to shoot as many chucks in the summer anymore... but when I burn out that barrel shooting my little 55-gr Nosler BTs at 4000-fps I may well do a 257/308 wildcat next. Hell, I might just do real wild and do a 257 Souper improved :D

Problem is my little 243 still shoots great and with three small kids and a busy work life it may take me years to burn out that barrel that everybody told me I would fry shooting these little atom bombs out of my 243!

[Carpe Diem]

My M77VT in .243 likes the little 55 BTips too, the best of any bullet I've tried - a very picky rifle. 4050 fps is not max but is highly accurate and shoots flatter than any .224-caliber varmint hunting load. My throat is showing signs of wear but the rifle still shoots well. I'll probably sell the rifle before I get around to re-barreling it. The stock is the best thing about this rifle IMO - my M700s are less finicky.

Let's see:
2 ea - .25-20 BN
1 ea - .25-35
1 ea - .25 Bullberry
1 ea - .250/3000
1 ea - .25-06
2 ea - .257 Weatherby

Yep, that's a good start on quarterbore cartridges.

[Quarterbore]

Yea, back in the old days I used to laugh at the varmint shooters with their 22/250 or even 243 as I was shooting the 25-06 but when Nosler came out with that little 55-gr bullet for the 243 it make the 243 into the ultimate long range varming round....

I am using a Rem 700 VLS that I converted to a PSS DM clone through the addition of a H-S Precision DM PSS stock and floor plate assembly. I did just a little fitting to the BDL feed lips for the DM mags but I believe my loads were giving me about 4100 FPS out of the 26-inch barrel with a group that is about 0.75 inches at 100-yards. It makes my "little" 243 combined with the insane 8-40x56 scope a quite capable 500-yard varmint rifle.

Hell, it was after I bough this rifle that I finally decided to sell my 25-06 but frankly selling the 25-06 was a huge mistake and one of very few guns I have sold over the years that I regret every time I think about it.

[DuaneinND]

If you go to my web page and look at the data for the 257DGR, you will find that a 308 based 25 is really closer to a 257AI, but is an honest short action cartridge.

www.duansguns.com

[Alan in GA]

.
another way to look at it: what with all the .308 case cartridges being SO SUCCESSFUL,,another in .25 WOULD have been a good idea! I've long given up on finding one of the 'big' companys offering a .25-08. The biggest reason for this great round is,,the GREAT case. .308 cases are SO COMMON, and any of us 25 caliber riflemen KNOW it's better than the Winchester brass being often available in .250 Savage. The Winchester brass is UNDERSIZE, and I have not taken the time to see if the web/sidewall area is thinner or not[?].
So just build your own and don't wait for a factory round.
By the way,,,when one wheel manufacturer made a mag wheel that SOLD LIKE HOTCAKES,,,they made more similar,,and OTHER manufacturers COPIED the first wheel as close as possible for there own [hopefully]hot selling mag wheel design. Sooooo, when the .243, .260, 7-08, .308, 338 Federal, .358 [ok, a GREAT round,,but hardly succesful!], are all selling like WOWSERS,,wouldn't some manufacturer think the .25 on a .308 case MIGHT SELL on the coattails of these other great rounds?? Come up with whatever attention catching name they want,,just make a 25 bore on the Excellent .308 case!
The 25 Whizbang,,the .257 Rem/Win, The .258 Rem/Win, the .25-08, the,,,WHATEVER. The .25 ain't dead,,and the 25 WSSM has it's own problems [throat errosion, case neck thickness allowing blowby to body area, etc].
ok,,the caffiene is waining down,,,I'll be ok.
First post here on 'QuarterBore'.
Didn't know you guys were here.
Alan in GA.
.
.
making do with:
Ruger 77 Mark II in .250 Ackley Improved
Ruger 77R in .250 Savage [factory]
Ruger 77R in .250 Savage [had to have another when it showed up-actually the two 77Rs are my sons,,,,but I get to keep them in MY safe!]
Ruger 77UL in .250 AI [sold it,shouldn't have!,,,arrrg!]

[Greywuuf]

Alan, you sound very familiar. Have I had conversations with you over on varminthunters ?. PS have you ever actually run a 25-308 ? what kind of performance would you expect ? Not sure what action to put this on. I seem to be short on 700 short actions, and I dont think my FAL would do a varmint round justice accuracy wise. maybe I will get around to doing a switch barrel 700 one of these days.

Dan