225 Winchester
A friend of mine picked up a model 70 in this caliber over the weekend. I was unfamiliar with it, but looked it up in a book about cartridges which said it was intended to replace the 220Swift.
Anyone have any experience with it, and is there much ammo to pick from out there?
What goes up must come down---(on someones head if you're lucky)
Anyone have any experience with it, and is there much ammo to pick from out there?
What goes up must come down---(on someones head if you're lucky)
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Could any one give me any history on this round? I don't think I have ever seen a box in a store or a rifle in this caliber. I got some reloading stuff at an estate sale and there were a set of dies in it.
Thanks0 -
Winchester brought it out in the 60's. It never went anyplace, nobody wanted it, if they could get a 22-250.
Believe the ammo is still avaiable, from Winchester only. BUT it's obsolescent and chances are it's not going to be catalogued much longer.
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Re: 225 Winchester, a really good cartridge. It will do anything a 22-250 will or can do.
IMHO whatever you manage to kill with it will never know the round did not come from a 22-250.
The last one I saw for sale had a asking price of $350.00.
I do agree that ammunition sources will be a possible problem.
Sometimes wish we still had one in our gun case.
Best 11thcanopy0 -
I have had a pre '64 model 70 Winchester in .225 for many decades. The cartridge is great, finding the brass is getting tougher. I buy it when I see it, and bought out the local Sportsman's Warehouse supply of the brass recently. If you are gonna shoot it you better reload. But then you are going to have to find dies for it also. And that could be difficult also.
Flat shooting, a great varmint cartridges.
Your mileage may vary.
"Every time a system is made foolproof - a new class of fool emerges."
Prod Harris
"If you ain't got pictures, I wasn't there."0 -
Well, you found the resident 225 winchester freak here at GB Forum, and I have LOTS to say about the round! First off, Alpine, the 225 Winchester did not come out until '64, so your odds of having one made before then (factory, anyway), are zero. I have 2 with low 700,000 serial numbers that were made IN '64, so maybe thats what you meant. Any way, I'm splitting hairs on that one...did'nt mean to come off like a jerk there, so I appologize.
The 225, as mentioned, will do about anything the 22-250 will do and balistically speaking, they are very near identical. The 225 offers a few advantages to the single shot rifle builder though, in that you can headspace on the rim AND shoulder for a really nasty tight match type fit. This seems to be a popular activity for those guys out there rechambering 1885 Winchester's (sorry Bert...I can hear your heart breaking all the way over here in Illinois!)who build some HYPER accurate single shots off that platform.
As to the value of Savage and Winchester rifles factory original...check the closed auctions under that heading for the last year. They are going up at a frightening (except to those of us who already HAVE 4 or 5 of them) pace. The first nice model 70 I got last year went for $430. I just saw one last month that was identical to mine NOT SELL (meet reserve)for $1200!!!! I've seen them going in the $1000 range now for the last 4 months. Of the 2 Savage 340V's I have...paid $300 for the first about 2 years ago, and the last (basically unfired specimen)cost me nearly $500.
I wouldn't worry TOO awful much about availability of brass as the near genious J.D. Jones at SSK Industries based several of his single shot Contender numbers on this extreemly strong little case. If yopu need brass, contact WCC-1 on this website. Nice people, reasonable prices and they have a good deal of it in stock. Me...I'm sitting on 1000 unfired pieces now and have 200 in shooting circulation. Buy lots of it if you intend to keep and shoot this cartrige alot, and if it becomes that rare...you're stiing on a Goldmine!
Dare to be different (/stupid/whatever!)and give this number a try. If you can get your hands on a nice condition Model 70 for $350, I would snap that up in a heartbeat!!! If you need loadmapping or anything, just send me a message through my profile, and I'll be glad to help.
To sum up...I say go for it! Hearing "what the hell is THAT round" followed by "Wow...Cool!" is a pretty neat feeling! Not everybody has one of these little factory hotrods!
"When I cease learning...I'm dead"(Me)
"When I was 14 I used to marvel at how ignorant my old man was...by the time I was 21 I was truelly amazed at how much the old bugger had learned in the intervening 7 years!" Samuel Clemens
"History is written by winners"(Patton)
"You get a lot farther with a kind word and a gun than you do with a kind word alone!"(Al Capone)
"There is nothing lower than the human race...except the French" (Samuel Clemens)0 -
I have two of these, both model 70 Winchesters. I believe the only ammo available is Winchester 55 grain. Last week a friend of mine that owns a gun shop took one in on trade and offered it to me for $350., but I already have two, and don't need (want) a third. Some bigger distributors have brass for it and saw brass and dies advertised . 0 -
Thanks guys. As I mentioned, my friend picked this up at a gun show. He got a box of Win. ammo with it. He's a reloader, so I'll pass this on to him and I know he'll appreciate it.
What goes up must come down---(on someones head if you're lucky)0 -
As Kydster said...the .225 was introduced in the post 63...
Love them Pre-64's!!!!-Bob0 -
The last, and only Win. 70, in 225 Win., I have seen in central Indiana sold for $500 a little more than a year ago. One box of ammunition came with it. It was in really good shape. Unfortunately I did not buy it.
J. Patrick Tatum0 -
Don't you just hate it when you miss the boat like that! Happens to me all the time. I think the ONLY things I've bought in the last few years that are making me money are the 225's.
"When I cease learning...I'm dead"(Me)
"When I was 14 I used to marvel at how ignorant my old man was...by the time I was 21 I was truelly amazed at how much the old bugger had learned in the intervening 7 years!" Samuel Clemens
"History is written by winners"(Patton)
"You get a lot farther with a kind word and a gun than you do with a kind word alone!"(Al Capone)
"There is nothing lower than the human race...except the French" (Samuel Clemens)0 -
..Just restored a mid '64 issue 225 Win and topped it with a Weaver 2.5x8 from '64 and it is a tack driver. Prefer the load to the .223 it was introduced to compete with and definitely more than the 22-250. A '63 issue 220 Swift came with it and is restored too. I love that 220 Swift and those Model 70's, so the 225 Win is up for sale or trade.
Paul
Mountain Magic Gunsmithing0
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