Fyi - 25-223

[tammons]

FYI,

Been playing around with this round in an AR15 with a 20" bbl.

This version of the 25-223 case is 1.7 and the shoulder is in the same place so its just a resize and trim.

Loaded long at 2.38 in a milled out magazine, I am getting around 2500 with a HBN coated 115 gr berger hunting bullet over a stout load of H335.
Loaded long 3000 fps should be doable with a 80 gr TTSX.

There is a guy over at Arfcom with a 24" barreled Savage in this caliber who has been shooting out to 700+ yards with around 95-100gr bullets.

[darkker]

You had me @ 25-Cal

[M.O.A.]

thats funny i was board today sizeing some 6.5CM cases and just happend to see a 223 case that was laying around out of place of course so i said what the heck lubed the heck out of the neck and shoved it in the 6.5 die and stuck a 140 berger 6.5 in it and its kinda of a bad looking little guy.



here is a pic of it next to a 6.5 creedmoor what do you think of this maybe with a 95 or 100gn not the 140 though

[tammons]

Looks good to me. People over at Arfcom are also working on a 6.5 PCC. Not sure where the shoulder is though.
You might want to look into that if interested.
I think PCC stands for patriot combat cartridge or something like that.

I set up the 25-223 mostly because I have 3k in 223 LC brass and I wanted a harder hitting round than 223.

A few hogs have been taken with the 80 gr TTSX.

[M.O.A.]

yah i just found out its already been done as the 6.5 tcu so has your 25-223 its the 25 tcu

[M.O.A.]

and to think i though i had made somethink new ;-{

[tammons]

Different cartridge AFAIK.
I am pretty sure all the TCU cartridges have to be fire formed.
There is also a 7mm TCU but I dont think it uses 223 brass.

This version of the 25-223 was set up as a short neck to run longer ogive bullets, keep the shoulder in the same place, no fire forming, and
the neck area big enough that you dont have to neck turn.
Recently, like last year Sharps also came out with their version of the 25-223, but its full length so limits some bullets loading at AR mag length.
Sharps was going to legitimize it, but it never happened. At least not yet.
The short neck version is more versitile.

If interested go to Arfcom...
http://www.ar15.com/forums/f_3/121_.html
There is a 54 page thread on the 25-223
There is also a 17 page thread on the 6.5 PCC.

http://www.ar15.com/forums/t_3_121/5...ded_on_13.html

There are also other 6.5-223 variants, 6.5 MPC ??? Dont know much about them. I did look at all of these when shopping, but ended up with the 25-223 short neck. Brent had a 20" bbl in stock. Dies are tricky, but they found a work around so you can use off the shelf components.

I did not cook up this 25-223. Was done by the guys over at Arfcom.
They did all the ground work. Luckily I came in late just after they got a die solution figured out.

[Douglasskid]

I shoot a 25 x 222 mag with a radius shoulder in a Winchester model 54, converted to left hand. Work on rifle was done over 50 years ago. People have been playing for a long time!

[tammons]

Its a good round

[M.O.A.]

man this little big rounds sure are neat looking

[tammons]

My last test load/chrono round was HBN coated 115 gr bergers.
Got about 2500 out of them over H335, 20" bbl,

which is supersonic out to 950 yards at sealevel - LOL.
That also works out to 850 +- FPE out to 400 yards.

Mighty mouse.

If you run a 24" bbl and load it long in a bolt action you could get more out of it.

[M.O.A.]

if i did one it would be in a 28" encore prohunter

[yorketransport]

It's a neat round. But like you discovered, it's very similar to the TCU rounds. I've played with the 6, 6.5, and 7mm TCU in 10" Contenders. I still have the 7 TCU and it's always fun to shoot. But you do need to fireform them, which is an extra hassle.


This is a 223, next to a 7mm/223, and finally a fireformed 7mm TCU.

Andrew

[tammons]

Thought I read somewhere that the 7mm TCU was not 223 based.
Maybe that was something different.

In a bolt action that would be nice, but hunting with an AR15, I lose a lot of brass.
Bugs me to lose brass even with the little amount of prep I do with the 25-223.

[Monkeymaster]

Neat and interesting round. However,
why not just chamber ar's in 250 savage !
Then the military would have a much more versital rifle.
my opinion.
Still use your cold weather gear, one of the best deals I ever made.
Thanks again

[stomp442]

Always said the same thing about the .250 Savage. That cartridge would work so well out of an AR platform. Talk about the ultimate coyote / deer whacker right there not to mention the military getting everything they are looking for as well.

[tammons]

Dont think a normal AR15 could handle 250 savage bolt thrust.
At 2.5 COL too long. If you could get it to work One built on an Oly upper would handle the pressure.
Probably about $1000+ to have Dtech build an Oly upper and a 4-5 month wait.

For the military less rounds per mag and more weight per round.
All arguing points I read about all the time, but does not interest me at all.

I read that Oly was was working on a 22-250 AR.

A guy over at Arfcom is selling 25-223 AR stainless barrels and he had one in stock so I snagged it.
Uses the same 5.56 bolt and same 5.56/223 magazines.

Also I have 3000 rounds of LC 223 brass.
Actually we are getting close to 250 savage numbers.

[yorketransport]

Thought I read somewhere that the 7mm TCU was not 223 based.
Maybe that was something different.

In a bolt action that would be nice, but hunting with an AR15, I lose a lot of brass.
Bugs me to lose brass even with the little amount of prep I do with the 25-223.

This is the reason I don't still have any of my ARs. I hate chasing my brass all over just to lose 20%. I'd go crazy if I had a 6.5 Grendel or any of the other more expensive rounds.

[tammons]

I hear ya on that one.
We still have a 6.8 but I dont shoot it that much.

[yorketransport]

That's the one caliber that keeps tempting me to buy another AR. The 6.8 isn't much out of a bolt gun, but it does make sense in an AR.

[M.O.A.]

i have a 6.8 in an encore prohunter 28" and its a shooter. it really amazed me

[tammons]

115 - Bergers - 20" bbl - Got up to 2580 Tuesday with light swipes, no case head expansion, semi flat primers, at 2.375 COL.
The load just under that was at 2560 and probably the one I will hunt with.

750 FPE at 500 yards.

At 500' ASL that is supersonic out to 1000 yards.

[5spd]

FYI,
There is a guy over at Arfcom with a 24" barreled Savage in this caliber who has been shooting out to 700+ yards with around 95-100gr bullets.

I use the 95g nosler hunting BT in a 6x45, 24" bbl. Savage I built and its the cats meow for 700 yards, that said the 25-223 would be just as good IMO.
I almost built a 25/223, but I have many thousands of 6mm bullets, thus my 6x45.

[The Old Coach]

My beef on it would only be finding light-skinned bullets suitable for varmints. I gave up on a sweet .25-20 single-shot for chucks for that reason. You need case capacity about that of .250-3000 or better before you can get sufficient velocity to make store-boughten bullets expand. If you're only killing paper targets, go for it! I still shoot my .25-20 at paper.

[375Win]

I shoot a 25-204 and run Nosler 100gr Partitions at 2850 out of a 22" barrel, they expand just fine, you could do nearly as well with a 25-223 Improved.

This is the first deer killer with a 25-204, huge WI whitetail. One shot heart/lungat 80 yrds looked like someone threw buckets of blood out for forty yards, one very dead deer.