.25-284 vs 25-7 prc

[7mm]

I think I already know the answer but want to start a discussion.

I've become quite fond of the 25 cals, especially with the heavy for caliber bullet selection from berger and hornady and the 145gr blackhole

I have a 25 creed that I'm using for nrl hunter and general hunting. I'm very fond of the rifle but the barrel is kinda long at 23" for a supressed hunting rifle. Not that I won't use it with a supressor but I'd prefer a 25 cal with an 18" barrel and a 6 inch can.

That brings me to the title of this post...I was leaning towards the 284 until I got to thinking about things. I already have a 7 prc, prc dies, prc brass. Plus the 284 would have probably ended up being a 21 or 22 inch bbl to get speeds up to where I wanted. So maybe the better direction is a 25-7 prc.

I could probably go as short as 18" and still get 3000 fps with the heavies. And I would need anything but a bushing for my die set up. I assume its a bit more overbore than the 284 but for a pure hunting gun thats ok with me.

Ok any thoughts? Anyone been down this road?

 

[FuhQ]

Have you considered changing powders? The Winchester StaBall 6.5 powder gave my 7mm-08 hunting loads +200 FPS MV increase over the Varget load I was using. And it still shoots sub-1/2 MOA.

 

[b6graham]

is there any reason you can't do a 25 SAUM, Sherman, or 6.5PRC variant and still hit the speed you're looking for? save even more length with a short action, possibly reuse same action/stock

from quick research they all seem to be easily 3100-3200 with the mid 130 class bullets from 22-26" barrels