.25 Gibbs

[eastside boy]

Just wondering if anyone has had any experience in shooting the ol wild cat round of the .25 Gibbs?  From what I have read, it is a blown out 280, 270 or 30-06 brass necked down.  I have heard it has great accuracy with a 35 deg shoulder and is on parr with the 257 Wby as far as velocity.  There is actually brass made by one company so there would be no need to fire form and RCBS makes reloading dies.  I have an old model 70 action I would like to have rebarrelled into something in 25 cal.  Any input...for or against this round would be much appreciated.

[bugs n bones]

I think you would be better off with the 25wssm

[Huntbear]

25 Super??  .308 case necked down... 

[thinkingman]

25-06 is a quarter bore 30-06.

[Heredoggydoggy]

If your Model 70 is a long-action, you can do anything you want.  I had a 25-06 years ago, and liked it.  Have you looked into a 25-06 Ackley Improved?  (I'm biased--I'm shooting a wildcat .20, and waiting for a 6mmX6.8SPC barrel.) 

[sled]

  My neighborhoods has a 240 Gibbs.  I know he doesn't have any ammo for it

[Heredoggydoggy]

  My neighborhoods has a 240 Gibbs.  I know he doesn't have any ammo for it

That's what's nice about reloading.  You can make just about anything.  And RCBS, Redding, and probably others make or will make a set of dies for old or custom calibers if you need them.

[eastside boy]

If your Model 70 is a long-action, you can do anything you want.  I had a 25-06 years ago, and liked it.  Have you looked into a 25-06 Ackley Improved?  (I'm biased--I'm shooting a wildcat .20, and waiting for a 6mmX6.8SPC barrel.) 

HereDoggy...it is a long action and I do want to take advantage of that.  I did think about the 25-06 AI but was having a hard time finding anyone who carried that specific brass....I am trying to avoid the whole fire forming process if at all possible.  I think the Gibbs and the AI must be pretty close in many ways....from what I can recall reading the Gibbs might outperform it...but probably not enough to be note worthy, kind of like comparing a 220 swift to a 22-250.

[high country]

Not a thing wrong with the classic 25-06. If you want it to rip,  go 257 Roy. The money you spend on the bolt is par with gibbs dies.

[RadSav]

Why are you against fire forming your brass?  With the 25-06 brass so readily available and fire forming so dang easy to do the 25-06 AI would seem like a no brainer if for some reason you do not like the Roy.  If you just want something different well that's another story.  In that case based upon your thoughts shared I might look at the .25-284.  Though you won't reach Roy velocities you can get loaded ammo and brass for that quite easily. 

Sorry I can not give you any words of wisdom on the Gibbs.  Never have held one in my hands.

[AWS]

To save you some money on your project.

C&H dies for the 25 Gibbs are only $83. compared to RCBS at $140+.
http://www.ch4d.com/

Pac-Nor has a 25 Gibbs reamer, their barrels are very nice and they do installation quite reasonably.  I suggest a 3 groove in a 25 cal.  They built my 25-204 for me, great people to work with.

Curious as to who is selling preformed brass for the 25 Gibbs and what the cost is?

If you decide to go with the Gibbs I would order your brass and dies first so you can send a couple of dummy rounds loaded with the longest bullet you plan on using that fits the mag so they can throat the barrel correctly and set the headspace for your brass (the are no set specs for the gibbs line)

TIP.  Hornady seaters are pretty much universal and the sliding sleave makes for great bullet alignment, you could use a 25-06 Hornady seater load your dummies and first rounds then send off  a couple of fired cases and have a custom die made.

[Heredoggydoggy]

[quote author=AWS link=topic=114055.msg1497088#msg1497088

TIP.  Hornady seaters are pretty much universal and the sliding sleave makes for great bullet alignment, you could use a 25-06 Hornady seater load your dummies and first rounds then send off  a couple of fired cases and have a custom die made.
[/quote]

   X2 on the Hornady seater.  I use one to load my 20 LBC rounds, and that sleeve makes lining up those tiny .20 cal. pills a snap!

[Biggerhammer]

When I wanted a fast quarter bore, I decided on a .257 Arnold magnum(7mm Magnum necked down)Krieger barrel 10 twist. First mule deer I shot with it was with a 100gr Nosler ballistic Tip, just short of 300 yards. I shot that Mulie right where the head met the neck, side on shot. I recovered a BUNCH of small pieces, along with part of the blue polymer tip. None of the bullet exited, it went off like dynamite due to the velocity. The sound of the hit on that quiet calm morning was spectacular. When I hiked out after the shot, I had two O'l boys on a ridge above me that watched the deer's demise, ask me "What the Hell did you shoot that deer with?". They said the hit was super loud from where they were at.

I've also shot the .25 Souper(.308 Win necked down) and the .257 DGR(.260 Rem necked down with the shoulder pushed back) both were close to 25-06 velocity but the .257 Arnold smoked them in the speed game. With the right bullet, speed and a 25 cal bullet are a wicked combo.

[high country]

I have smoked elk at a measured 375yds and passed through both shoulders with the 100 TSX from a Roy. A 100gr pill at 3600 or more is one of the most under rated killers ever to be seen......but it's not so nice to surrounding tissue.