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I saw a post by wildman about this caliber and I would like to correct a few things I saw in the video.
This wildcat has been around for decades under 257-223 25-223, 25x45, etc...
It is only now that it is being commericalized as a sharps company product and a great and simple improvement to the AR15.
Folks would consider this caliber due to the simplicity, cost effectiveness and the performance gain for hunting and also this makes
this round easy to shoot and reload. The ballistics are impressive when you look at the speeds and energy at the muzzle.
Now here are my comments and considerations of the above review:
- When he compares the energy he is wrong for both rounds. If one is going to compare rounds one needs to be very specific
about the rifle, barrel and bullet / cartrige.
- The sharps publishes the 87gr spreads from a 20" barrel that is a pretty good speed of 3000fps. and the muzzle energy
for that round is 1,739 ft-lb and not 1,384 ft-lb like they mention in the video... http://srcarms.com/wordpress/25-45-sharps/ammunition/
- The above speeds are achieved at 5.56 / nato type pressures that is fine both for the modern brass and rifles but when comparing
to a .223 one should use the same type of criteria. He doesn't mention what round he is comparing to but it seems he is comparing
the sharps speeds from a 20" barrel with a rather anemic .223 from a 16" barrel. If one chooses to use high performance round
at nato pressures also tested from a 20" barrel the numbers of the 223/5.56 round drastically increase. I am not sure why people
who are supposed to be professional do this. They need to be a bit more scientific and objective on their analysis.
For exampel the 5.56 75gr hornady superformance achieves 2,910fps from a 20" barrel with an energy of 1,410ft-lb.
http://www.hornady.com/store/5.56-NA...ormance-Match/
But this is something a lot of people miss that is very important. At 300 yards the 75gr hornady bullet is doing 2,240fps with 836 ft-lb while
the 25x45 is doing 2112fps with 862 ft-lb of energy. So the sharps is a bit slower than the hornday with a bit more energy but at 400
yards that continues to change and the 5.56 is faster and has more energy due to the superior in flight ballistics. See below.
Hornady 5.56 75gr hpbt Superformance.
25x45 SHARPS
- All is needed for the 5.56 is nothing, just a 5.56 ammo that is cheaper than the sharps.
I think where the sharps is great is in those areas where the 5.56 is not legal to hunt and in any case the 87gr
is a more appropriate bullet for white tail almost replicating the ballistics of the 25 savage.
Now, here is something else for consideration.
There is another popular wildcat that is the 6x45 that in my opinion is a lot more verstile than the 25x45 and this is why.
- The 6x45 also only requires a simple barrel change and in terms of magazines it works better than the sharps
in any sort of magazine.
- The 6mm department has a far superior bullet assortment from varmint bullets in 55gr all the way to 80-100gr bullets
for hunting.
- A 85gr bullet cannot achieve the speeds of the 87gr bullet from the .25 sharps but not too far behind but
the thing is the 85gr bullet is a lot more efficient in the air and with more sectional density so they hit very
hard. Lets take an example, the nice 6mm 85gr Speer SPBT that is also a great value vs the .25 cal. 87gr speer.
.243cal/6mm SPBT 85gr ballistic coefficient G1=.4 SD 2.06
http://www.speer-bullets.com/ballist...ail.aspx?id=18
.25cal Hot-Cor 87gr ballistic coefficient G1=.3 while SD is .188
http://www.speer-bullets.com/ballist...ail.aspx?id=24
We know a 6x45 round loaded at nato pressures just like the above can be launched form a 20" LH barrel
at 2,865fps and take full advantage of any magazine in double stack including ASC and pmags at 2.3COAL
max.
Ballistics Results - 6x45 85gr hpbt 20"-nato pressures 10mph full value wind.
So at the muzzle shows less speed and energy but at 100 yards is almost identical and at 200 yards
is already ahead of the .25 caliber.
So you see for short distances the .25 caliber might have the edge and it defenetly has more energy
at the muzzle but this is really meaningless because if one gets a nice quality 20" barrel the
6x45 gives more with less and with a lot more options in terms of varmint, target and hunting
bullets.
The .25 caliber has a limited assortmet and some of the nicer hunting bullets are too long for the
wildcat to fit and stack correctly defeating their original purpose.
But in any case any of the two will give an aternative for hunters with a lot more accuracy, speed
and energy than the heavy for caliber 300 whisper/blackout and 7.62x39 that suffer from
very poor ballistics.
This wildcat has been around for decades under 257-223 25-223, 25x45, etc...
It is only now that it is being commericalized as a sharps company product and a great and simple improvement to the AR15.
Folks would consider this caliber due to the simplicity, cost effectiveness and the performance gain for hunting and also this makes
this round easy to shoot and reload. The ballistics are impressive when you look at the speeds and energy at the muzzle.
Now here are my comments and considerations of the above review:
- When he compares the energy he is wrong for both rounds. If one is going to compare rounds one needs to be very specific
about the rifle, barrel and bullet / cartrige.
- The sharps publishes the 87gr spreads from a 20" barrel that is a pretty good speed of 3000fps. and the muzzle energy
for that round is 1,739 ft-lb and not 1,384 ft-lb like they mention in the video... http://srcarms.com/wordpress/25-45-sharps/ammunition/
- The above speeds are achieved at 5.56 / nato type pressures that is fine both for the modern brass and rifles but when comparing
to a .223 one should use the same type of criteria. He doesn't mention what round he is comparing to but it seems he is comparing
the sharps speeds from a 20" barrel with a rather anemic .223 from a 16" barrel. If one chooses to use high performance round
at nato pressures also tested from a 20" barrel the numbers of the 223/5.56 round drastically increase. I am not sure why people
who are supposed to be professional do this. They need to be a bit more scientific and objective on their analysis.
For exampel the 5.56 75gr hornady superformance achieves 2,910fps from a 20" barrel with an energy of 1,410ft-lb.
http://www.hornady.com/store/5.56-NA...ormance-Match/
But this is something a lot of people miss that is very important. At 300 yards the 75gr hornady bullet is doing 2,240fps with 836 ft-lb while
the 25x45 is doing 2112fps with 862 ft-lb of energy. So the sharps is a bit slower than the hornday with a bit more energy but at 400
yards that continues to change and the 5.56 is faster and has more energy due to the superior in flight ballistics. See below.
Hornady 5.56 75gr hpbt Superformance.
| Test Barrel (20") Velocity (fps) / Energy (ft-lbs) | |||||
| MUZZLE | 100 | 200 | 300 | 400 | 500 |
| 2910/1410 | 2675/1192 | 2452/1001 | 2240/836 | 2039/692 | 1848/569 |
| Trajectory (inches) | |||||
| MUZZLE | 100 | 200 | 300 | 400 | 500 |
| -2.40 | 1.20 | 0.00 | -7.00 | -21.00 | -43.40 |
| Details | |
| Item Number | 81264 |
| H.I.T.S. # (100 Yard Value) | 429 |
| Ballistic Coefficient (G1) | .395 |
| Sectional Density | .214 |
25x45 SHARPS
- All is needed for the 5.56 is nothing, just a 5.56 ammo that is cheaper than the sharps.
I think where the sharps is great is in those areas where the 5.56 is not legal to hunt and in any case the 87gr
is a more appropriate bullet for white tail almost replicating the ballistics of the 25 savage.
Now, here is something else for consideration.
There is another popular wildcat that is the 6x45 that in my opinion is a lot more verstile than the 25x45 and this is why.
- The 6x45 also only requires a simple barrel change and in terms of magazines it works better than the sharps
in any sort of magazine.
- The 6mm department has a far superior bullet assortment from varmint bullets in 55gr all the way to 80-100gr bullets
for hunting.
- A 85gr bullet cannot achieve the speeds of the 87gr bullet from the .25 sharps but not too far behind but
the thing is the 85gr bullet is a lot more efficient in the air and with more sectional density so they hit very
hard. Lets take an example, the nice 6mm 85gr Speer SPBT that is also a great value vs the .25 cal. 87gr speer.
.243cal/6mm SPBT 85gr ballistic coefficient G1=.4 SD 2.06
http://www.speer-bullets.com/ballist...ail.aspx?id=18
.25cal Hot-Cor 87gr ballistic coefficient G1=.3 while SD is .188
http://www.speer-bullets.com/ballist...ail.aspx?id=24
We know a 6x45 round loaded at nato pressures just like the above can be launched form a 20" LH barrel
at 2,865fps and take full advantage of any magazine in double stack including ASC and pmags at 2.3COAL
max.
Ballistics Results - 6x45 85gr hpbt 20"-nato pressures 10mph full value wind.
| RANGE(YARDS) | VELOCITY(FPS) | ENERGY(FT.-LB.) | TRAJECTORY(IN) | COME UP IN MOA | COME UP IN MILS | WIND DRIFT(IN) | WIND DRIFT IN MOA | WIND DRIFT IN MILS |
| Muzzle | 2865 | 1549 | -1.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 100 | 2636 | 1311 | 1.8 | -1.7 | -0.5 | 0.8 | 0.8 | 0.2 |
| 200 | 2418 | 1104 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.3 | 1.6 | 0.5 |
| 300 | 2211 | 922 | -7.7 | 2.5 | 0.7 | 7.7 | 2.5 | 0.7 |
| 400 | 2014 | 765 | -22.6 | 5.4 | 1.6 | 14.3 | 3.4 | 1 |
| 500 | 1828 | 630 | -46 | 8.8 | 2.6 | 23.4 | 4.5 | 1.3 |
is already ahead of the .25 caliber.
So you see for short distances the .25 caliber might have the edge and it defenetly has more energy
at the muzzle but this is really meaningless because if one gets a nice quality 20" barrel the
6x45 gives more with less and with a lot more options in terms of varmint, target and hunting
bullets.
The .25 caliber has a limited assortmet and some of the nicer hunting bullets are too long for the
wildcat to fit and stack correctly defeating their original purpose.
But in any case any of the two will give an aternative for hunters with a lot more accuracy, speed
and energy than the heavy for caliber 300 whisper/blackout and 7.62x39 that suffer from
very poor ballistics.
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