New Bullberry 25-45 barrel set up

This one will eventually be set up with an SSK-50 Lynx but since I don't know if it'll be weeks or months until my turn comes, I've set it up on one of my TC frames. It's cut to 16.5" so I can use it as a carbine. I was tempted to go to a carbine set up right away and I have a nice linear compensator for use in that mode, but I've got better scopes for pistol configuration so here we go. :)

Troy had built a 25-45 Sharps barrel for me using a SAAMI spec reamer but it was a little loose in the chamber dimensions. He ended up having the reamer re-cut to a tighter spec and shorter throat and calling it 24-45 Bullberry, even though the 25-45 Sharps factory ammo still chambers and should shoot fine in the Contender.

Grips and forend are a set that Georgia Jim roughed out for me and I finished out.

Beautiful. Can't wait to see range report

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Originally Posted by tred1956

Beautiful. Can't wait to see range report

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My local indoor range (5 minutes from my house) closed down so range reports will have to wait until there's only 2 digits in the daytime temperature reading. :o

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Originally Posted by J A XSP

My local indoor range (5 minutes from my house) closed down so range reports will have to wait until there's only 2 digits in the daytime temperature reading. :o

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Understand that LOL

Sharp setup!

Great looking pistol and nice work on the wood. I really like GA Jim's furniture but his grips tend to be just a little bit small for my paws.

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Originally Posted by BobT

Great looking pistol and nice work on the wood. I really like GA Jim's furniture but his grips tend to be just a little bit small for my paws.

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Some years ago I sent him a few blanks from a pretty nice walnut billet I had and had him do the inletting. This particular grip I had him rough out so I could finish the carving. I was able to fit it to my hand pretty nicely, though it's not much different from a laminate grip of his that I've had for a long time. I think the target forend was just a big square blank but he might have roughed out the cove radius on top and the flats at the frame. I did final shaping on it. That set has been sitting around for quite some time and I finally got around to doing the work on it very recently.
I finished it out with Varathane spray urethane. That stuff is really easy to use - 4 coats in one day and a quick sanding with super fine grit and a final coat. I'm used to doing finish work but I think anyone could easily get great results with it.

Nice!

Sharp looking rig.
I like quarter inch in a Contender and shoot ,257 TCU a.k.a. .25 Ugalde in mine. Originally used 25/45 Sharps dies for forming while my .257 die set was being made. I suspect you'll love it.
Stay safe and good shooting when it cools down.

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Originally Posted by 61Knuckle

Sharp looking rig.
I like quarter inch in a Contender and shoot ,257 TCU a.k.a. .25 Ugalde in mine. Originally used 25/45 Sharps dies for forming while my .257 die set was being made. I suspect you'll love it.
Stay safe and good shooting when it cools down.

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My original 25-45 Sharps barrel from Bullberry Legacy shot pretty well but the brass was a little bulgy. Knowing that the loads for this round tend to push the pressure limits, I knew the brass wouldn't last many loadings. Now that it's got a chamber more in line with Bullberry specs, I expect there'll be even better accuracy and brass life shouldn't be a problem. One of the biggest reasons I went with the 25-45 was reasonably priced dies and availability (for now, at least) of factory ammo. :)

i've long had a fetish for various .25's, and a couple years ago had MGM build a 22" tapered carbine in 25-45sharps...so far, seems to be a pretty agreeable cartridge to work with.

Look forward to seeing some reports, that one sure makes a good looking pistol.

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Originally Posted by FyrepowrX

i've long had a fetish for various .25's, and a couple years ago had MGM build a 22" tapered carbine in 25-45sharps...so far, seems to be a pretty agreeable cartridge to work with.

Look forward to seeing some reports, that one sure makes a good looking pistol.

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Hey Gerald! I still have the load data that you sent me when I was first getting into the 25-45. I have a feeling that this will make a pretty nice little carbine, as well. I'll shoot it like this for now since I had the grips and scope ready to roll but I have a 3" linear compensator to throw on it when I get the urge to try it out with a butt stock. :)

Great looking setup!

I spent some time out at my son's place yesterday and we set up to do some shooting and chrony work. First order of business was to get the 25-45 shook out. After a few break-in/sight-in shots, I shot a few groups at 50 yards just to see what it might do. I did 5 rounds with a quick cleaning in between and then ran a patch and a fouling round between groups. These are some loads that I had worked up with my original barrel and a few factory rounds. I didn't keep track or measure - I'll get to that with the 100 yard testing. Chrony readings put the 87 grain Hot -Cor bullets in the 2600+ fps range with hand loads and closer to 2700 with factory loads (they run hot). Some loads with 100 Speer HP bullets show around 2400 and I think there's plenty of room for more velocity there. Target below is 3 groups with fouling shots in between. The fouling shots are easy to pick out because they're not in with a cloverleaf. :)
All groups look to be around 1/2 MOA , though one appears to be maybe a little closer to 1 MOA . Not bad for less than 20 round down the tube. The new Bullberry barrels that I've had in the past seem to settle in and tighten up after a couple of sessions like this and a couple of good cleaning sessions. By the time I get to 40 or 50 rounds, I expect to see groups that look like this on the 100 yard targets. :)

Attachment 9948

I was concerned that I'd have trouble with recoil using this barrel in a handgun setup. My hands have given me trouble and heavy recoil just isn't possible for me anymore. Since it's long enough to use as a carbine, that's definitely a cool option but I've hoped that recoil is mild enough to be able to keep it set up like this.

The good news is that the range session shooting a fair number of rounds through this as well as my 223 Contender didn't seem to have much effect on my right hand at all. Recoil with this round is more noticeable than the 223 but not by a lot. The factory rounds are snappy and I'm sure if I get 100 grain bullets up to maximum velocity they'll make themselves felt but all in all it's pretty pleasant.

I followed up on measuring those groups ( was able to pull up the photo in actual size) and the smallest looks like just over .200 and the largest seems to be right at .325. Even at 50 yards, that's pretty satisfying. We'll see if that holds up at 100 yards but it's easy to see that this is going to quite a shooter. :)

Great now I will be thinking of calling bullberry all day to get a tight chamber barrel..... I think we need to start a TC addict retirement home with a private TC only range can not be a resident unless you have at least 20 barrels and are willing to let others try them... Can you imagine the BS stories

My neck is giving me fits I have had to stop shooting my big boomers with standard loads thankfully reducing is easy enough, dont think I want to know what next year will bring, something else will start hurting I am sure