Every year, hundreds of thousands of AR-15s are sold in the US and are fast becoming the most popular general rifle, of which a majority of households has at least one. In Texas, where the wild pig population numbers over 2 million, they are considered pests, with open season year-round; so many shooters use their .223/5.56 ARs for feral hog hunting. Considered a pest where they exist, no states regulate minimum caliber size for hunting them since they aren’t classified as a big game animal. However, the most popular big game animal, the deer, requires a minimum of .243 caliber for legally taking them. The popular .300 AAC Blackout, while meeting caliber size requirements, is really designed to fire heavy for caliber bullets at subsonic speeds- not really practical for hunting out to 200 or 300 yards.
In Glenrock, Wyoming, a mecca for many smaller gun companies and home to top gunsmiths, the Sharps Rifle Company (SRC), decided to create a better hunting round for the AR platform. By simply opening the .223 case up to .257, they realized an appreciable gain in usable projectile weight, and making it 100% legal for big game in virtually all states. Developed as the maximum practical medium-range hunting caliber, based on the 5.56 case opened up to .257 caliber. Shooters who want to hunt with their favorite ARs can now, with the change of a barrel or complete upper, be legal to hunt more than pests.
Chapter 1: Cartridge and Test Rifle
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The new cartridge is a combination of the old and the new. Called the .25-45 Sharps, the “.25” comes from the .257 bullet caliber, and the “45” is from the parent case length of the 5.56x45mm cartridge. A bonus is that it uses the existing 5.56 bolt and carrier, as well as standard AR-15 magazines for the parent cartridge. With no need to use specialty magazines, and not having to change the bolt face for a larger cartridge, becoming legal for hunting is about as easy as it can be for the regular guy wanting more from his favorite AR.
Barrels only, with a 1-10” twist rate and polygonal rifling, cost around $200, and completeuppers go for about $700. Both Redding and RCBS make dies for the cartridge. And while factory brass is...
available, it can very easily be made using the FL sizer die to open the neck up from .223 to .257. Either once-fired military brass can be used, or commercial .223 cases.
Currently, factory ammo features an 87 grain Speer HotCore spitzer loaded by Federal to a claimed 3,000 fps in a 24” barrel. If zeroed at 200 yards, it will be just over an inch high at 100, and only around 7 inches low at 300 yards. Its price is quite reasonable for hunting ammunition, at $25.45 for a box of 20 rounds. Note that the price matches the caliber designation- pretty clever! Down the road, lower cost, 87 grain FMJ for training and practice will be available, as well as a varmint/pest round featuring a 65 grain hollow point bullet, at a higher speed.
The test rifle provided was based on a Black Forge lower, having the .25-45 Sharps designation on the right side of the magazine portal. The upper is made by Sharps Rifle Company featuring a medium-heavy 16.5” stainless black oxided barrel of Sharps’ manufacture with polygonal rifling having a 1-10” twist rate. The 0.700” diameter muzzle is threaded to accept a silencer or muzzle brake, and also comes with a thread protector. At one time during the testing, over 50 rounds were fired without cleaning. Copper fouling at the muzzle was very minimal.
The rifle featured a good-looking 11.6” long aluminum Diamondhead brand ventilated forend, giving the rifle a serious look. The M-4 type buttstock, by Rogers Super Stock, allowed the length of pull to be adjusted between 11 ~ 14.2”, resulting in a possible overall length of 31.9 ~ 35”. The carbine with an empty Mag Pull 10-round magazine weighed 6.9 lbs., while a Leupold MK AR 3-9x40 scope and AR mount added 1.2 lbs. for a combined weight of 8.1 lbs. The trigger broke at around 5 lbs. with little creep or over travel.
The bolt carrier comes with SRC’s very own Relia-Bolt and has some unique features. It is machined from S7 tool steel and tempered with their proprietary heat-treating process, significantly increasing strength when compared to mil spec Carpenter 158. S7 provides a 75% increase in tensile strength and nearly a 60% improvement in yield...
strength. With an NP3/NP3 PLUS electroless nickel-based finish, the process co-deposits sub-micron particles of PTFE (polytetrafluoroethylene) commonly known as Teflon™, for self-lubricating and corrosion resistance. The Relia-Bolt uniquely features tapered bolt lugs which increase reliability by making the bolt easier to feed into the lug recesses while also helping to clean out the buildup of powder fouling residue from the gas tube, which is common with all ARs.
Chapter 2: Factory and Hand Loads
Having the same case capacity as the 5.56, but of a larger bore diameter, powders useful in the .25-45 Sharps are slightly faster burning than those used in the parent cartridge. For my testing, I used the following powders based on the projected best combinations from the QuickLOAD program. From Hodgdon, I used H4198, H335, and H322; Alliant RL-7 was tried, as well as Ramshot X-Terminator, IMR 4198, Accurate 2460 and 2230, and finally, Winchester 748. Bullets loaded included the 75 grain Sierra HP Varminter, Barnes 80 grain TTSX, Nosler 85 grain Ballistic Tip Varmint, the factory loaded 87 grain Speer HotCor spitzer, Barnes 100 grain TSX, and finally, the 100 grain Nosler Ballistic Tip Hunting bullet. All loads featured Winchester small rifle primers.
Factory ammo is loaded to 2.230”; all handloads measured 2.250”, while the Sierra hollow point was only 2.195” due to the absence of a lead tip at the end of the nose. Note that all rounds tested fed and ejected cleanly from the rifle with fired cases landing within a yard or so of the gun either slightly ahead or to the side, depending on the load. Importantly for the reloader, this made them easy to recover, AND they were not at all beat up or damaged during the firing process. A quick tumble in media, and they were ready to reload.
The claimed velocity of the 87 grain factory round in the short 16.5” barrel is 2,780 fps. I saw only 2,673, but it was just above freezing during my testing. This shot into 1.24” averages for 5-shot groups at 100 yards. The round contained 27.9 grains of a spherical powder, as loaded by Federal.
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Chapter 3: Reloading Results
SRC recommended two loads for me to test using the same Speer 87 grain bullet. Ramshot X-Terminator produced 2,602 fps, and 1.33” groups, but I can’t quote the charge, as by my standard practice with QuickLOAD, it exceeded the program’s recommendation. While it did not seem excessive, I never report loads above maximums calculated by QuickLOAD. Also tried was 26.0 grains of H322, which actually slightly exceeded factory speeds, delivering almost 2,700 fps from the short barrel with noticeably better accuracy- repeatedly giving me 0.77”, 5-shot averages.
Note that this charge came to half-way up the case neck, resulting in some compression; but the bullets always stayed put to where they were seated. So considering the great accuracy and increased speed, from my testing, Hodgdon’s H322 would be the go-to powder for the 87 grain Speer hunting bullet.
For the light-weight bullet load, I tried the Sierra 75 grain Varminter. Again, a factory recommended charge of X-Terminator exceeded the QuickLOAD calculated charge, so I can only state that it delivered 2,789 fps, and 1.26”, 5-shot groups. This is not that much faster than the heavier 87 grain hunting bullet, so the future release of a 65 grain by SRC will be welcome to pick up more speed. No manufacturer currently makes a .257 bullet that light, so it’s hoped that Sharps will also offer the new lightweight slug for sale to reloaders. A lighter, faster fragmenting varmint bullet would greatly extend the round’s versatility.
Barnes 80 grain Tipped Triple Shock X-Bullet (TTSX) shot into 0.84 ~ 0.94” with the three tested loads producing 2,365 ~ 2,505 fps. This bullet has a length of 1.011”. Note that the traditional lead-cored 87 grain Speer is only 0.836” long and protrudes far less into the case. The best overall load used IMR 4198 for the best groups and highest speeds- 0.84” and 2,505 fps.
The 85 grain Nosler...
Ballistic Tip, for some reason produce slower speeds than the heavier 87 grain bullet, in part because of its greater length 1.007”, vs. the shorter Speer at only 0.840”. With such a relatively small case capacity, the increased intrusion into the case of the Barnes or Nosler bullets do indeed eat up valuable powder space. With the Nosler, speeds ran from only 2,267 fps with RL-7, to 2,468 with H335. Four powders shot very well though, delivering 0.86 ~ 0.98”, 5-shot groups.
Realizing that with limited case capacity, even heavier and longer 100 grain bullets may reach a point of diminishing returns, I still had to see how they would perform in the .25-45. The other big questions were- would they function in the semi-auto… and would they stabilize at the lower speeds and still be accurate?
The 100 gain Barnes TSX is a whopping 1.114” long, cutting even more into the room for powder in the small case. Amazingly, they proved to be very accurate, and cycled the rifle perfectly. Two loads tied for best accuracy, so far. Producing only 0.69”, 5-shot groups, speeds were down to only 2,075 and 2,108 fps respectively, using Winchester 748 and X-Terminator powders. The other four loads still shot into 0.82 ~ 0.94”, at speeds from 2,233 ~ 2,257 fps. At those velocities, the Barnes will still expand, out to perhaps 200 yards.
Nosler’s 100 grain Ballistic Tip shot the best of any bullet, giving me 0.53” groups, using Hodgdon’s H335, but only at 2,230 fps. The next most accurate load with this bullet used Accurate 2230, for 0.71” groups, at 2,214 fps. This bullet is only just slightly shorter than the above Barnes, at 1.102” in length.
Chapter 4: Summary
Relatively speaking, the smaller capacity of the parent 5.56 case seems to dictate the use of traditional cup and core bullets due to their shorter length allowing the loading of higher powder charges into the case. Regardless of the slower speeds the two long heavyweights produced, they were surely the most accurate, at least during these limited tests. At a speed of around 2,700 fps from the short 16.5” barrel, a premium...
bullet is not really required anyway. Further testing with conventional bullets would most certainly result in similar to even higher speeds. Then again, Sharps may have just picked the very best hunting bullet for their cartridge right from the start.
Just as everyone does not drive the same model of car, there is no need to only shoot the 5.56 cartridge in your semi-auto black rifle. A simple barrel swap is all it requires to shoot this new round in your AR. The need to have a more authoritative, legal hunting round in the US, for one of the most popular sporting rifles, alone is a great reason for the new .25-45 Sharps.