Anybody have any experience with a 25 Souper ?

[RBHarter]

I've piddled around with lots of cartridges .
The 6mm just leaves me cold , I've warmed to the 27 cal and the world wouldn't be right without 7mm or the American 30s .
The 25-06' just seems like too much of a good thing while Roberts was just about right .

As things seem to happen for me I've tripped over a set of form/trim dies and loading dies for 25 Souper AKA 25-308 .
It doesn't have that glorious long neck but I'm just using it as a short action not Savage not 06' so it's kind of perfect to feed Dad's need for a hot rod quarter bore .......who knows it might even grow on me .

I have Waters Pet loads , I admit it's still shrink wrapped , and Ackley's book has data I have seen . The old stand bys for unavailable bullets are listed .
Any fresh data ?
Maybe a spare 250 Savage barrel that once lived on a a 95 , 98 or 700 ?

 

[KHornet]

Don't know why, but for some reason, I have always shyed away from
any of the 25's. Always wanted a 25-20, as I shot a few chucks with one
as a kid, and have shot a 257's that were the cats posterior. As to the
wildcat 25's, guess they never had any appeal.

Paul

 

[Bret4207]

Did you check Wolfes "Wildcat Cartridges and Loads"? I can't get to my copy right now but it may have data.

The 25's have a lot going for them, but they kind of faded when the 6's hit the market, just as the 270's faded when the hot 7's came along. Truthfully, they all do about the same thing in the right hands. But, there are darn few 6mm, 270 or 7mm cartridges that are in the 25-20 class!

 

[fiver]

the 250 souper will be the 257 Roberts in the short action just like the 7-08 is the 7x57.
and the 6,5 is the 260, and the 6mm is the 243, and.
your just trading 2-3 grains of case capacity for pressure.

now as to the 25-06 versus the 30-06.
the main difference I see between the 2 is the 25 has a little larger entrance wound, but it kills the deer faster.
after using both of them and switching back and forth a few times I can almost bring myself to using a 270.
more than likely I will just sight the 25-06 in for the 100gr loads this fall, instead of grabbing the 30-06.

 

[RBHarter]

I have a barrel in all the stuff for my Savage 110LH 65' vintage for a 280 Rem/7mm Express . I like the 7mm , I don't know why but I do . My Dad is the 25 guy . Actually the longer I go along the more I favor fat and slow . I have things like 30-30 , 358 Win and 45-70 to go with 06', 264 WM , 257 Roberts and 223 .
A nice well rounded case .

 

[fiver]

I'm a fan of the 7mm's too but stay down in the x57 case size.
52-55grs of powder behind a 140 is 52-55grs of powder behind a 140.
having the 25-06's allows me to keep the 257's as 257's and the 250 as a 250 [okay I ackleyed it too and one of the 257's and one of the 7x57s]

 

[John]

One of the things Ken Waters wrote of with the 280 is the tendency of 175 gr bullets to group with in 140 gr @ 200 yards or less. I have found this true @ 100 yards. I like the cartridge though mine is an old Santa Barbara? 98 Mauser action rebarreled and sporterized in the 60's. The throat can't be reached by 175 gr and it is wearing. I bought it used at a great price and would do something different were it not so accurate as it is. 1"-1.5" groups are the rule no matter what I try to experiment with. It just kills Elk and Deer.

 

[RBHarter]

Ms's Aunt made me a deal on most of 3 rifles .......I hope that translates ....
The gem/diamond is a 1916 DWM action that had a wildcat that was .08 short rim to shoulder/neck of the 280 AI .
The throat was worn a little . Like a .301 would slip in the fired neck . 2" forward a neck dia would clean up the wear back to a .227x284 . I have a pair of barrels waiting for me to make up my mind .

 

[fiver]

they are pretty easy to pull the barrel on, cut everything square then re-chamber.
you lose a little barrel length but gain a ton of throat, and it's a lot cheaper than a new rifle.

 

[Bret4207]

I have an Arisaka in 6.5x257. Lovely little walking rifle, ugly as sin. I really have to wring that out with 140's. Also have an ugly as sin '95 Mauser 7x57. That rifle seems to have a knack for lumping anything it gets fed in nice small groups. Sadly, my eyes are the limiting factor these days. Point is, I agree you can't go wrong with the x57 cases.

 

[RBHarter]

Fiver
I did all the math and the 1916 could have had the threads cut off and would have cleaned up with the 280 Rem reamer I bought a few yr ago . I also picked up a 7x57 and 257 barrels at the time specifically for it . I was the idea in mind that I would leave the 257 as is and open the 7x57 up to 280 .

Im thinking about sending the Ackleyish barrel off for a rebore and rechamber . I was infatuated with 338s for a while . At this point maybe an 06' AI or 300 Gibbs .

At the risk of a rerailment .......
Would bi be on track starting with a max load for the 250 Savage as a start load and the 243 max as a maximum guideline ? There's always the old scoop er' full of 4831 shake it out of the neck and go . 4350 is probably pretty safe this way too .

 

[RBHarter]

The dies were in the mailbox today so what's a guy to do .

The formed Souper with a Herters 25-80 next to 257 with a 100 gr Game King seated for the long throated 95' 257 Roberts A&B barrel .

Al the extra form line are a reflection of this LC 308 having been necked up to 35 Win then back to 308 and down to 25 . The Herters chromed die will actually do that in one shot .......

Some how in the last 8 days a pair of form trim dies wandered off .........

 

[fiver]

you could use 250 savage data to work from.
and 243 data would be good also with a bullet weight the same.
the 25 has more bore volume than the 243 so pressures will be lower but you'd probably be limited to 100-105gr data.

 

[RBHarter]

I wasn't thinking I bet I could split between 243 and 260 Rem also only needing up to 120s