Remington's R-25 in 7mm-08 Remington Part 2

Remington’s AR-25 is similar to other quality AR-10 system; 308 Winchester based cartridges, very accurate without the need to tweak or finesse, but about 1.5 lbs less than the typical example. The cartridge types available for the R-25 cover a wide range of hunting applications, each providing a different level of performance –

308 Winchester 185 Grain. A 224 yard zero, yields a 264 yard point blank range with a maximum 3″ ordinate. A heavy bullet for the 308 Winchester, but outstanding B.C. for lots of retained velocity and associated indices.  Bullet weights between 110 grains and 230 grains are commonly available.

7mm-08 Remington 140 Grain bullet. A 239 yard zero, yields a 281 yard point blank range with a maximum 3″ ordinate. Mid range bullet weight. Bullet weights between 100 grains and 180 grains are commonly available.

243 Winchester 95 Grain HSM ammunition. A 269 yard zero, yields a 316 yard point blank range with a maximum 3″ ordinate. Bullets weights between 55 grains and 115 grains are commonly available.

As a follow on to a comment I made regarding heavy trigger pull in Part 1 of this article, with a little cleaning and proper lube, trigger pull dropped to just above 4.5 lbs.

All shooting was done with a Burris XTR sighting system in place. Working from the bench, or shooting from a standing position, the rifle generate virtually no recoil with 140 grain factory ammo of various types. Muzzle blast was moderate, muzzle jump was non-existence. The R-25 is a bit muzzle heavy, but that only seems to steady the sight picture.

Not ammo fussy

Bullet weight was kept to 140 grains. Lighter and heavier weigh bullet handloads were assembled, but I was concerned that their use would introduce other factors into the evaluation. Next time. Indicated within the table below, the factory ammunitions used during live fire. All popular brands and readily available.

Published specification for factory ammunition is established under tightly controlled test conditions, with universal receivers and the use of a standardized bore/length test barrels. Subsequently, when ammunition is used in concert with a barrel not of the same length as the standard, velocity differs, sometimes to an exaggerated degree. Yes, unfortunately you sometimes do get what you pay for.

Accuracy is only part of the story….

The R-25 is a sub MOA firearm with the right ammunition. In this case, all but the Prvi Partizan that came in at… let’s call it 1.3″. The best three shot 100 yard group came from Remington AccuTip and a cool barrel, something close to 0.6″. The others came in between 0.7″ and 0.9″ as best groups from each type. All were shot from a rest. Shooting from a standing position, the best was a dessert plate size. The element that adversely influenced accuracy was identified as… me.

At 50 yards a set of quick detachable DPMS metallic sights, with the rear sight set to small aperture and shot from a rest, yielded 1.5″ – 2″ groups. At 25 yards with the FastFire III only in place on the top rail, it was possible to keep a 5″ reactive target rolling and bouncing, starting with a full magazine and one in the chamber. The Remington R-25 is a well behaved and well made AR. For more details, check out the Remington site.

Remington’s R-25 in 7mm-08 Remington Part 1
Remington’s R-25 in 7mm-08 Remington Part 11