25-243 AI Powder/Bullet Recommendations

[AckleymanII]

One of my former colleagues used nothing but RL-25 in his .243AI with the 87grn V-max. With his rifle, it seemed he ran out of powder capacity before velocity really came on board. He was ~100fps faster than my factory .243 using the same bullet & RL-19.

R#25 is too slow for 87g bullets, try R#17 and 19 with a win primer

 

[Bill K]

None taken, you don't have to believe it.

That is a great FPS, when you consider the 25/284 does not reach that, around 3300 most of the time. 100 grn bullets.

 

[SWRS]

That is a great FPS, when you consider the 25/284 does not reach that, around 3300 most of the time. 100 grn bullets.

Absolutely it is! We extended the throat with a throat reamer so we could get as much powder room as we could. Plus, this barrel had a nice tight bore. I am running those same powder charges (if not a little more H4350) listed for the 25-284 and a 100gr bullet going 3300fps.

 

[KMart]

I like the idea of this cartridge.Been gathering components for another hunting XP-100,been thinking long and hard about the 25Creed,25x47,257 Bob sized cases,even thought about a 25 Dasher as the shorter cases do well in XPs too.I have lots of 6mm Rem brass and 243 brass which would reduce some of the fund expenditures and allow me to use what I already have.Been thinking the Roberts and it’s improved variants may be more than is really needed from an XP length barrel.Like the idea of a 25 caliber for hunting,plenty of good 257 hunting bullets out there and the 25s have a better expansion ratio than the 6s.Not wanting to shoot a 6.5 creed like everyone else either,sooooo.
Matt

Should you go the Dasher route, here is a target I shot in a club match at 400. Mine uses the Norma brass.
It will go over 3000fps but not by much with the 110 BIB. My barrel is a 26" 9 twist Krieger.

 

[KMart]

For your 25-243AI, I think that Reloader 16 and 17 will be your best powders across the board. I am shooting a 25x47L and I have gotten over 3200 fps with both powders with a 115 Bergers. For bullets in the 87 grain range, RE-17 should be the ticket. I shot some 88 BIB's with the old IMR 4007 and they checked out at
3394 FPS. RE-17 and 4007 are extremely close to one another in performance.
My barrel is a 27", 9 twist Krieger

 

[cinch29433]

Looking for a solid big game load for my 25-243AI. Not much information out there....

I have been using the 110gr ELDX. Muley's are dropped in their tracks. I am a little north of 46gr of H4350, 2.1 MOA puts me on at 300 yards and 8.5 MOA is 600. My wife is going to use this to fill her bighorn tag. A mountain goat hit with this drops straight down and never moves again.