March 27, 2022Sunday gunday: 25 BR Peppermint — Tweener Caliber WorksThey say a man cannot have too much money or too little time. Darrell Jones said that a man cannot have too many BR-based rifles. Darrell owned a number of BRs in various sizes, including 22BR, 6mm BR and 6.5 BR as well as 7 BR and 7 BR. He was fascinated by the possibilities of a rifle with the.257 caliber. It could shoot as well as a 6mm BR. It could challenge the more popular calibers in a highly competitive 600-yard benchrest match. After careful research and component selection, Darrell built a 25 BR rifle which proves the viability for competition rounds. Darrell’s 25 BR “Peppermint”, which was powered by 115gr high-BC Berger rounds at 2837 fps won first place in its first match.
After several weeks of deliberation, I decided to build a 25 BR. Part of my dilemma was that F-Class competition was at 600 yards and I was unsure of the accuracy potential of the 25 BR. I have a number of BRs, including 22 BR (6BR), 6.5 BR (7 BR), 7 BR (7 BR) and 30 BR. They all shoot extremely well at 600 yards. I believe a 25 BR should be accurate, just like its BR siblings. A 25 BR would shoot accurately if it was built with the right components. The feasibility story began. I began looking diligently for custom 25 caliber bullets. Unfortunately, there aren’t many custom bullet makers who can make 25-caliber bullets. Only two custom bulletsmiths were able to produce the 25s, according to my research. I did look at Fowlers, then I looked at Bergers. When I was looking, Jeff Fowler as well as Berger made 110-grain flat base bullets. Berger has removed the 110gr bullet from their catalog. The Berger 110gr FB bullets with a.414 ballistic coefficient shot well out of my 12-twist 25-04 Ackley. I wanted to shoot a heavier bullet, if possible. Berger makes a 25 caliber 115gr VLD bow-tail with a high-ballistic coefficient. This requires a 10-twist barrel.
As you can see, I chose a Panda polished action and a McMillan weighted BR stock in metallic silver with red candycane stripes. This gun can be used as a 25 BR or 6 PPC switch barrel. To use the gun as a 6-PPC at short range, I simply attach the PPC barrel to the gun, then I swap in a bolt from another Panda action. This is one of the many benefits to custom Kelbly actions. Do not even think about exchanging bolts with factory guns. A Kelbly ring and a Weaver T-36 fixed-power scope do the optical duties, while a Jewell trigger set to one ounce handles the firing mechanism. I wanted a chamber that could shoot both the 110s as well as the 115s. I spent some time searching the internet for rental reamers with suitable throat dimensions. Elk Ridge Reamer Rentals had a 25 BR pilot reamer. Elk Ridge sent me a diagram of the reamer and it was tight to SAMMI specifications. I asked how often the reamer was used, and was told “not very frequently”. However, I wanted a neck that was minimally no-turn for Lapua brass. Drawing indicated that the reamer would be able to cut a.281? neck and a throat measuring 1.0315?. Although this was very close to the ideal, I had to remove two thousandths from the necks of Lapua brass 6BR brass after I necked them up. I resized the brass using a.277? Bushing, and the loaded rounds came out at.279?. Realizing this was within the acceptable range, I decided to use the Elk Ridge Reamer to build a 25 BR capable of shooting 110gr and 115gr bullets. The next question was where to find a match-grade 25 caliber barrel. I called several custom barrel-makers, including BlackStar Barrels Texas (no longer operational). I have had great success with the BlackStar barrel for my 6BR “Chantilly”, it was very accurate and produced impressive velocities. I chose another BlackStar because the 25 BR was very similar. After chambering, the barrel was 1.245? diameter and 27.5? An 11? crown. I had my throat extended to accept both Berger 110gr or 115gr bullets. When the FB 110-grainers are seated, the bases of the FB 110 grinders are flush with the neck-shoulder junction. In the lands. The longer 115gr VLDs make the bearing surface (i.e. Accurate Load Development
The barrel was easy to break in with only 10 shots using a “shoot 1 and clean” process. The load I started with consisted of 31.5 grains Varget with CCI450 primers. At 100 yards, the Point of Impact (POI), for both the Berger 110s & Berger 115s was identical. The 115s hit at 600 yards two inches more with the same load, but the 110s did not. This shows the benefits of a higher BC. The 115-grainers ran at 2837 FPS after being pushed by the CCI450s and 31.5 Varget grains. I increased the load to 32.0 grains, but I noticed primer cracking, so I backed down and settled on 31.5 grains for 115gr Berger VLD. Peppermint Wins at 600 yards. This was Peppermint’s first competition. She shot the Berger 115s with 31.5 grain Varget and won with a perfect score 200 with 14 Xs. My club uses a SR3 target. The X-Ring measures 3. The X-Ring measures 3? in diameter, while the 10-Ring measures 7?. There were many excellent shooters at the match with top-flight custom rifles shooting accurate calibers like 6.5-284 or 22 Dasher. I was very fortunate to be the winner, but I have to give credit to Peppermint for her excellent bench manners and exceptional accuracy. To finish “on top” in her first match, it takes a great gun. I am very happy with the project so far and extremely satisfied with the accuracy of the 25 BR. This cartridge is a worthy one for Egg Shoots, 500m varmint matches and the 600-yard F Class game. 27? 27.5? 27.5? 28? 24? Velocity 3100 fps 2800 fps 2837 fps 2851 fps 2851 fps 2750 fps 2999 fps 2970 fps Comparison of the BR-Based Variants. I have many calibers in my BR cartridge family (22 BR and 6mm BR), 7 BR and a 30 BR), but each one has its place. The 22 BR is a varmint hunter’s dream. It can push a bullet more accurately and faster than the 22-252. The 22 BR’s 8-Twist barrel can send an 80gr SMK up to 600 yards with extreme accuracy. The 6 BR can do all of it. The 6mm caliber has a wide range of bullets that are suitable for all shooting situations. The 6mm barrels are made by all the major custom barrel manufacturers in a variety of twists. The 6 BR cartridge is very popular so there is a lot of information available about reloading the 6 BR. It is easy to find a load which shoots well in any bullet weight. The 25 BR has proven to be very versatile, efficient, and not fickle. Load development doesn’t require much effort. You can achieve extreme accuracy. The 115gr Berger is a suitable projectile for this caliber. It also offers a high-BC projectile, making it an alternative to the 6 BR. It is comparable to a 6 BR in head-to-head competition, as I have shown. However, the 6.5 BR has a slight edge in ballistics compared to the 25 BR. There aren’t many options for light bullets, especially from custom manufacturers. The 123gr Lapua Scenar bullet is a great bullet with a.547 BC. However, it may be a little heavy for the case capacity. The 7 BR was made for silhouette shooting and excels at that task. The 7 BR can propel a 130 grain bullet at 500m with great consistency. The 30 BR is no less than exceptional. The 30 BR is the most popular cartridge on the benchrest Score-shooting circuit. It is extremely accurate for group shooting at 200 yard and can win a 600-yard F Class match. I find barrel life of more than 6,000 rounds to be realistic. I also like the different flavors of BR derived by the 6mm BR Norma box. If I had to choose one BR, I would take my 8-Twist, 6 BR “Chantilly” and be happy. Last, if a cartridge has BR stamped on it, it will shoot very accurately if you can.
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