25-45 Sharps?

P

pyscodog

Active member
Just watched a video and they were using it in an AR shooting hogs. You don't hear much about it. Any reasons why? I know very little to nothing about the 25-45. What are your thoughts and opinions?
 
Ok here goes. There 25-45 is at the bottom of the pile when talking .25 cal cartridges, not much more than a 25-35 Win. When coupled with the limitations of the AR-15 magazine you have to seat the heavier bullets quite deep eating even more of the space for powder. I shoot a 25-204, in a boltaction and can load long 100gr bullets to 2.41 and could go longer if I pull the mag block. The AR mag is limited to 2.26. I can reach 2850 fps with 100gr bullets in a 21" barrel which matches the original loadings of the 250 Savage and 257 Roberts. The 25-45 will run a couple hundred fps behind that. If someone wants to shoot a 1/4 bore in an AR a 25 WSSM makes a lot more sense, and if your going to build a BA then a 250 Savage or 257 Rob. is a better idea.

A better version of the 25-45 has been around since the mid 1980's in the form of the 25 Ugalde/25 TCU.
 
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Some time ago I remember it being mention on here but seems like it sorta died off. I guess there are some folks that might use it but I agree with you, sounds like there are better options. I will say with the 100 grain bullet he was shooting, it dropped that hog like it was hit with a bus.
 
I'll pull some data on mine but I cheat. I won't shoot ANY 223 based cartridge out of a 2.260 mag. Mine are all 2.314 nominal.

IIRC I shot some 117's for a guy in England as a favor. I'll dig those up tomorrow.

Greg
 
I've had a .25x45 for a while, and bought it knowing it wasn't going to be a commercial success. I wanted something to shoot components I already had around, in this case .223 brass and .257" bullets. There are better wildcats with the .257", as mentioned, but this was simple. I put together a 20" AR, bought some of their factory ammo to adjust my gas block to before reloading to match. I chronographed it with factory 87gr. Hot-Cor bullets that averaged 2977fps, though the high and low were 2932-3014fps. It's not a screamer, but that's right into .250 Savage performance out of a factory load with a 20" barrel, which isn't too shabby. It's not a bad cartridge within its design.
 
Sounds like you can get decent velocities from the cartridge with a decent length barrel. I'm sure recoil would be minimal as well. While owning one doesn't interest me much it is interesting learning about it as I know very little to nothing about it other than what I have recently read.
 
I have had one since they came out, I have loaded 100 gr through 75 grain. 90 gr. Sierra's are my favorite right at 2900 fps. Have used it on whitetails and hogs DRT. Mild recoil and accurate.
Just my 2 cents.

Regards
 
I finally had time, thanks to not babysitting lol, and found my 87/90's running right on 2900 with some room left as pressures were not anything to indicate getting close to hot I would guess tops on those in the 3000-3050 area out of my 18" tube. Hornady data is with a 24" and I'm easily in the ball park on the 250-3000 area.

The 117's weren't even challenged and on the quick run on them I had them going 2400 with at least another 250 left on the table. I will have to revisit them as everything I see in my notes implies they were way down at starting levels with RL7 and AA 2200. I shot them for a guy in England that want some safe starting loads for his custom bolt gun across the pond.

Personally I feel it is neat little round but I also feel the 6X45 is much more flexible overall. I'm not selling mine any time soon as I like niche rounds as much as the next guy.

Greg
 
I looked into the 24-45, as well. I ended up building a 6mmx45 instead, because I have a bunch of 6mm projectiles laying around to work with. I haven't had a chance to shoot anything with it, besides paper, but its definitely been a great shooter and a fun project. I hope I get to spend some time on the range with it this summer, so I can see what it can really do in terms of velocity.
 


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