.25-45 Sharps AR-15 Part 3: First Loads

After months of planning, getting my rifles, and setting them up- it’s finally time to start loading .25-45 Sharps! I’m not sure exactly why, but every time I start to load for a new cartridge, I get a feeling of anticipation and excitement. It’s one of the great things about ammunition reloading as a hobby- there’s always something new to try. I also like the fact that loading 25-45 Sharps is *essentially* loading .223/5.56 but with different dies. You can re-use your existing press setup (primer feed, shellplate/shellholder, toolheads, etc) and just swap in a set of .25-45 Sharps dies. For those of you with “dedicated” .223 reloading setups that’s great news if you want to venture into .25-45 Sharps territory.

Setting Up for First Loads

Let’s talk plan of attack! I’m getting ready for deer hunting, and therefore want to focus on loading a cartridge that will be optimal for that application. I chose the Speer 87 grain Hot-Cor load as the starting point for this deer hunting adventure. I’m starting here with 100 pieces of factory 25-45 Sharps brass, a couple boxes of factory 87 grain Hot-Cor .25-45 Sharps ammunition that I want to duplicate, and a bunch of reloading components. Let me walk you through the inventory here!

25-45-sharps-factory-loads-components-2000

Here’s the full load data for the ammunition I’ll start loading (factory style with virgin brass):

This data was taken directly from the Sharps Rifle Company 25-45 Sharps Load Data Sheet (PDF).

Use load data at your own risk. Ultimate Reloader is not responsible for errors in load data on this website. Always cross-reference load data with manufacturer’s published data.

And here’s the high-level overview of the equipment and supplies I used to load this ammunition:

…and here’s an overview of the press setup:

25-45-sharps-1st-loads-stations

Yes, the Pro-Chucker 7 is “overkill” here from a die station stand-point, but I’d rather have too many stations than too few! Here’s the specifics for die station utilization:

  • Station 1: Redding Sizing Die (backed off, expander ball only)
  • Station 2: Empty (die), priming (bottom of stroke)
  • Station 3: Charging
  • Station 4:Empty (powder visual check at top)
  • Station 5: Redding bullet seating die
  • Station 6: Empty
  • Station 7: Empty

Loading .25-45 Sharps Factory-Style Loads

Results

gavin-shooting-chrono-field-master

I’m really glad I have my MagnetoSpeed V3 chronograph, it’s been put to use frequently, and has been an invaluable tool for load development and evaluation!

 

field-master-chrono-87-grain-2000

I’m really happy with the Standard Deviation of 10.5 fps for 5 shots here- for a gas gun that’s very good! With the 20″ barrel used to test my loads, the energy was as follows:

87 grain bullet X 2839 fps AVG = 1557 ft-lb

Compared with the Sharps load data which used a 24″ test barrel:

87 grain bullet X 2900 fps = 1625 fl-lb

So by shortening the barrel 4″, we lose 68 fps *assuming* the load data is the same. As a follow-up, I’ll chronograph the factory ammunition I have to see how it compares with the 20″ field master rifle I have. Additionally, I’ll compare the 20″ Field Master with the 16″ Range Master to see what an additional 4″ barrel length reduction will do to velocities. This is all so much fun I can’t wait to get the chronograph out again!

You’re going to want stay tuned, lots more .25-45 Sharps stories coming including forming .25-45 Sharps brass from .223/5.56 brass- spoiler alert: it’s fast and cost-effective.

I’m off to go chronograph more loads!
-Gavin

8 thoughts on “.25-45 Sharps AR-15 Part 3: First Loads”

  1. Thanks for doing this series on the .25-45. I bought mine in November 2014 and have been very pleased with it. I’m hoping it gets more popular and bullet companies start designing bullets for it. My dream is a Hornady InterLock at about 95 grains.

    1. Hornady makes a 100 gr Interlock I believe. I have 1000 of something that Hornady says is a great deer bullet. 90 or 95 would leave a little more powder room, on the other hand.

      I have my 25/45 shooting. Just have to get rid of couple feet of snow to do some good shooting.

  2. Thank you, I have a 16″ barrel in 25×45 sharps can you post data between 16′ and 20″ barrel.Looking forward to hearing from you.
    Larry

  3. Has anyone used the speer 100 gr bullet in their 25-45 load. If so how did it work and what powder and charge ?

  4. I use the Speer 100 gr bullet in my 25-45 with a 20″ barrel. With a barrel twist rate of 1:10, 24.5 grs of Benchmark produces velocity in the 2575 range. 24.0 grains gets me 2500 fps. I am very pleased with this caliber. I load my own so don’t have to concern myself with the high cost of factory ammo. I took my first deer with it in 2017, but it was a head shot, so not much to say about the bullet performance. Dead is dead, and if they go down immediately, all the better.

  5. Need some load data for powders other than AA..
    Alliant would be great… They dont do em till they are SAAMI.

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