.225 Winchester
If there is any cartridge the chaps at Winchester
would like to forget, it is probably the .225 Winchester. Had it's obituary
appeared in the "New Haven Gazette" back in the 1960's, it might have read
something like this: "Born in 1964 as a replacement for the
.220 Swift,
Died a victim of the
.22-250."
Cartridge historians have long assumed that the design of the .225 cartridge
was inspired by the .219 Zipper Improved. After all, the two cartridges look
quite similar and the .225 even has a hint of rim at the rear of its case.
The truth of the matter is, however, Winchester engineers had two time the
.219 Wasp was still going strong in benchrest shooting circles and the
.22-250 was
the most popular high velocity twenty-two among serious varmint shooters.
So, they designed a longer version of the Wasp, one capable of producing
.22-250
velocities. And for the production purposes, the shoulder was decreased by
about 5 degrees. The fact that the .225 ended up looking a bit like the .219
Zipper Improved was mere coincidence.
It is doubtful that Sherlock Holmes, Charlie Chan, and a pack of thoroughbred
blood hounds could detect any difference in performance between the .225
Winchester and the
.22-250, but
the much older wildcat had such a head start, its domestication by Remington
left the .225 gasping for air like a carp out of water. Still, the .225
Winchester is a great varmint cartridge and capable of incredible accuracy
in a good rifle. The Winchester .225 factory load of 1960's vintage was some
of the most accurate ammunition ever loaded, often clustering five shots
into less than a minute of angle in a heavy barrel Model 70's.
If you own a rifle in .225 Winchester, simply load it with a good 55 grain
bullet over H380,
H4895, IMR-4895,
IMR-4064, or
RL-12, head for
the varmint fields, and never look back.
Source: Hodgdon Data Manual, 26th Edition
Historical Notes:
The 225 Winchester was officially announced in June 1964. Both the standard
and the heavier varmint version of the Model 70 bolt action were offered
for this round. The 225 replaced the older
220 Swift in
the Winchester line up. It was a rimmed case with an unusually large rim
for this type of cartridge. The
220 Swift never
achieved great popularity and neither did its replacement, the 225. The last
Winchester catalog to list the cartridge as a caliber available for the Model
70 rifle was in 1972. No other manufacturer picked it up as a standard chambering
because the already popular
22-250 was
standardized by Remington less than a year later, and it was just common
sense to adopt it instead. Winchester still loads 225 ammunition but this
cartridge did not have a very long life, being obsolete in only 8 years.
General Comments:
The 225 is a fine varmint cartridge with performance similar to the
224 Weatherby
or the 22-250
Remington. But the
22-250 was
already established as a popular wildcat with an outstanding reputation,
and it was inevitable that it would dominate the field. Those who purchased
225 Winchester rifles have no need to feel bad or trade them off for anything
else because the 225 cartridge is just as accurate and will do anything that
the more popular
22-250 will
do. It simply turned out to be a design or idea whose time had not yet arrived.
As a matter of fact, it might be well to hang on to your 255 because not
a great many were sold and eventually some gun writer will rediscover it
as the greatest 22 varmint cartridge conceived by the mind of man, and at
that point all your shooting friends will wish they had one too. The 225
has an edge over the
222 and
223 Remington
for long range varmint shooting because the increased muzzle velocity. At
one time, Winchester was supposed to furnish a 50 grain loading at 3800 fps
and a 60 grain at 3500 fps, along with the standard 55 grain at 3650 fps
(now reduced to 3570 fps), but these loads never materialized. For handloaders,
this cartridge is nothing more than a slightly modified
30-30. Neck
down a 30-30
to 22 caliber, shorten the case slightly, turn the rim to '06 dimensions
and slightly improve and you have the 225 Winchester.
Source: Cartridges of the World
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