25-284???

AROKHUNTER

New member
I have another thread going asking about what would be the best caliber to build off a short action and the 25-284 has come to my attention. I would really like to know all of the necessities and bare minimums needed to make this caliber work with a short action. From my recent ressearch on the web, the 25-284 seems to be a short action 25-06.

I would like to know if a 22" barrel will work with the 25-284? How do you form the brass? Where do you get reloading dies? Which powders are best for the 25-284? Any feeding problems? Anything you can think of, throw it at me.
 
If you wanted a 25-284 I would build it on a long action to allow for seating the bullet out further. On a 700 the 284 takes upr the "WHOLE" action

jeff
 
After hunting with a friend with a 6/284, I built one on a Rem 700 SHORT action in 1992, and it was the worst mistake I have ever made in building a custom rifles. The 284 case is so long that the bullet has to be stuffed way down in the case in order to fit in the short action magazine.

As the leade grows, you have to keep seating the bullet out further and further, chasing the lands. When the gun is brand new, you may not be able to touch the rifling and still use the magaine box.

After about 500 rounds in my rifle, I was having to remove the bolt to extract a loaded round when I seated the bullet to touch the lands. My rifle had a Hart barrel on it with a minimum SAAMI spec match chamber with a short leade set up for 85g Bullets.

Unless you are a deer hunter that only shoots 20 rounds a year where there is practically no leade growth, I would advise all shooter to use a long action for any wild cat built on a 284 case unless they are willing to settle on a single shot. I just sold my rifle to a guy that shot rock chucks, so a single shot was no issue for him.
 
I have a 25-284 and love it. Mine is built on a short action by Christensen Arms. I make brass by simply necking down 284 Win brass. No muss no fuss,one pass through the die and its done. Since the 6.5-284 there is some great brass out there. You don't loose enogh case capacity to make any differance with a short action. In fact you can use 25-06 data to load it. I am shooting 100 gr. Sierra's and 115 Bergers. Using H4831sc and the results are impressive.

I have had NO problems with feeding from a short action. My rifle started as a 243 Win. The one change you will notice is, magazine capacity. Because of the diameter of the case you will only be able to load 3 rounds in the magazine.

Running a short barrel is going to cut down on velocity. How much you would loose or gain will depend on barrel length. Mine has a 25" barrel. If you are after a compact short rifle , check out what a 25-06 will do from a 22" barrel, Savage makes it/
 
So this is where the confusion is at about what little I have found regarding the 25-284. Can the 25-284 perform flawlessly on a short action? The action I will be using will be a Savage Varmint short action centerfeed. I am not interested in making it a single shot and it will be a repeater.
 
The biggest difference you'll find in these opinions will be bullet weights. Whether it's a .284 or a 6-284 or a 25-284, if you're chasing ballistics, you'll want a long action. If you're happy with sacrificing velocity and bullet weight, hurting your ballistics on both counts, then a short action is fine.

Really just depends what you want out of the rifle. In a lightweight mid-length hunting rifle, you probably won't mind the losses at all and barrel life will be decent in terms of years. If you're wanting something to play at 600-1000, then you wouldn't be talking about a 20-22" barrel anyway.
 
I am wanting to shoot 100grn-115grn bullets and I was thinking of using a 20"-22" barrel, probably a 22". I was wanting this to basically be a short action 25-06. So when you say sacrifice velocity and bullet weight, how bad is the sacrifice gonna be?
 
Looks like a 22" barrel would be alright with me. The savage mag box is 3.00", so I think that might be enough room? I gotta be able to shoot 100 grain or larger bullets.
 
If you have not already purchased the action. Have you considered a 25 WSSM? I think you can achieve what you are looking for in ballistics. Because of the short fat case of the WSSM you can get away with a shorter barrel with less impact on velocity. I have a Winchester 243 WSSM and have been very impressed with the performance and the performance gains over the straight 243 using the same bullets and powder. This caliber would fit in any short action with a mag bolt face. As far as being a repeater, I have no problem feeding the 243 wssm, but I did have to learn how it liked to feed.
 
Action will be here tomorrow, so a short action small shank will have to be what I use. The 25 WSSM has interested me, along with some others. May have to come up with a large shank action for a magnum after this build? Always fun trying to find that PERFECT caliber.
 
Originally Posted By: OK243If you have not already purchased the action. Have you considered a 25 WSSM? I think you can achieve what you are looking for in ballistics. Because of the short fat case of the WSSM you can get away with a shorter barrel with less impact on velocity. I have a Winchester 243 WSSM and have been very impressed with the performance and the performance gains over the straight 243 using the same bullets and powder. This caliber would fit in any short action with a mag bolt face. As far as being a repeater, I have no problem feeding the 243 wssm, but I did have to learn how it liked to feed.

I've got a .243 WSSM as well. I used a .243 for long range ground squirrels (out to around 500), and the extra bit of oomph of the magnum definitely flattens out what a straight .243 does.

I see a lot of guys saying that the little bit of extra speed isn't worth it, but I can sure notice a difference. I've only had it since February or so, the longest coyotes shot so far were at about 350 and 400 as the second one was running straight away. The time to hit speed is the fastest of anything I've shot for hunting. The 55's cook.
 
Originally Posted By: ackleymanAfter hunting with a friend with a 6/284, I built one on a Rem 700 SHORT action in 1992, and it was the worst mistake I have ever made in building a custom rifles. The 284 case is so long that the bullet has to be stuffed way down in the case in order to fit in the short action magazine.

As the leade grows, you have to keep seating the bullet out further and further, chasing the lands. When the gun is brand new, you may not be able to touch the rifling and still use the magaine box.

After about 500 rounds in my rifle, I was having to remove the bolt to extract a loaded round when I seated the bullet to touch the lands. My rifle had a Hart barrel on it with a minimum SAAMI spec match chamber with a short leade set up for 85g Bullets.

Unless you are a deer hunter that only shoots 20 rounds a year where there is practically no leade growth, I would advise all shooter to use a long action for any wild cat built on a 284 case unless they are willing to settle on a single shot. I just sold my rifle to a guy that shot rock chucks, so a single shot was no issue for him.

That sounds like about as good a feedback on that idea as could be had.
 
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