Why it matters: Hornady markets the 25 Creedmoor as the first 25-caliber cartridge built around modern low-drag bullets, and this episode documents one finished rifle that has already been used in NRL Hunter competition and is headed to a deer hunt, with a complete parts list and first results from factory hunting ammunition.
Episode 260 of The Hornady Podcast, posted October 29, has host Seth Swerczek interviewing Matt Ritchie about a bolt-action rifle in 25 Creedmoor that Ritchie built to serve as both a competition rifle and a hunting rifle. Ritchie says he has shot NRL Hunter matches with it and that it is now set up for deer and coyotes. Coyote hunting, he says, is his main passion. With its scope and bipod attached, he puts the rifle just inside NRL Hunter's Open Heavy weight class.
Kelbly's Atlas Tactical action and Proof Research carbon barrel
The action is a Kelbly's Atlas Tactical. Ritchie says he bought it with a certificate he won at a one-day precision rifle match, and that it has served him for a little over six years and through tens of thousands of rounds in several chamberings. Over that time, he says, he has replaced wear parts such as the extractor and bolt-face components. He notes that Kelbly's is better known for benchrest and F-Class actions, and he describes the Atlas Tactical as having guaranteed headspace, which allows pre-fit barrels, a trigger hanger, and a pinned recoil lug and Picatinny rail. Swerczek calls its pinned rail and lug an advantage over designs that rely on screws alone. Ritchie says the rail on this rifle is Kelbly's own 20 MOA base. He also owns a second Atlas-line action, a Prometheus with a PPC bolt face that he uses for the ARC family of cartridges.
The barrel is a 22-inch Proof Research carbon-fiber barrel with PXT rifling and a 1:7.5 twist. It is not a pre-fit. Ritchie chose carbon fiber, he says, to keep a heavier contour without the weight of steel, since the scope and bipod already add a lot. He went shorter than the usual 24 inches because he expects to run the rifle suppressed for nearly everything.
The suppressor is a KGM R65K, which Ritchie describes as short but large in diameter, with ports at the end to direct gas outward. He says he picked a short can to keep the rifle maneuverable in NRL Hunter positions on rocks and trees. It mounts through Area 419's muzzle adapter system, which he says lets him swap the suppressor for a brake in about 20 seconds. He says he has seen little point-of-impact shift when removing and reinstalling it, perhaps a couple of tenths on this carbon barrel.
Manners folding stock, TriggerTech trigger and Vortex Razor scope
The stock is Manners' new folding design, with an adjustable cheek piece, a molded-in ARCA rail, Picatinny rail and flush cups. Ritchie says he had avoided folders because many are clunky, and that this one's low-profile hinge and rare-earth magnet, which holds the stock closed when folded, changed his mind. His goal was a rifle he could fold into a pack. Swerczek says the stock is built so that it would break before the hinge does, and argues that the shorter folded length is useful getting in and out of trucks and side-by-sides as well as on backcountry hunts.
The trigger is a TriggerTech Special, which Ritchie says he runs close to its lowest setting, a habit from precision rifle competition. The bottom metal has its magazine release built into the trigger guard, which both men say is hard to trip by accident. Ritchie runs 10-round AICS-pattern metal magazines from MDT, noting that Nebraska law does not cap magazine capacity for a bolt-action rifle. Swerczek suggests shorter flush-fit magazines for hunting.
“Before that morning's session, the rifle had fired only the load Ritchie used at an NRL Hunter match.”
J.D. Whitfield, The ReticleThe scope is a Vortex Razor HD Gen III 4-24 with mil turrets and the EBR-7 reticle, in Area 419 rings with locating pins. Ritchie says the scope moves among his rifles and has been on three of them in about two months. Both men cite the capped windage turret, zero stop, throw lever and flip caps, and say it is much lighter than the larger 6-36 Razor. Swerczek uses the rings to make a point he says the show has made before: buying quality rings at the outset avoids failures at the worst possible time. Up front is a Ckye-Pod bipod with triple-pull legs, which Ritchie estimates at about 3 pounds and says he prefers on uneven slopes while coyote hunting.
Factory 128 gr ELD-X results and 95 gr ELD-VT coyote plans
Ritchie says that on the morning of the recording, with factory 128-grain ELD-X Precision Hunter ammunition, the rifle shot 10-shot groups under an inch at 100 yards. He says he then set up a profile in Hornady's 4DOF ballistic calculator and walked the rifle out to 800 yards, with elevation landing on target at each distance, leaving only the wind call to him. Before that session, he says, the rifle had fired only the load he used at an NRL Hunter match.
Ritchie says he plans to take the rifle on a deer hunt in Nebraska's Sandhills during the state's November rifle season. He says he weighed taking a 7mm instead, and chose the 25 for its lighter recoil and the folding stock. For coyotes, he says he will start with factory 95-grain ELD-VT V-Match ammunition and does not expect to need handloads. Swerczek says handloads with that bullet can reach about 3,400 feet per second from a 24-inch barrel within SAAMI pressure limits.
The episode includes ad reads for Hornady's 25 Creedmoor ammunition, a palm-vein biometric handgun safe from Hornady Security, and Handgun Hunter ammunition. It closes with talk of upland bird season, including a youth mentor hunt where Ritchie handled the dogs.
For context
- Hornady's 25 Creedmoor is a .257-caliber cartridge in the Creedmoor family; its initial factory loads include a 134-grain ELD Match and a 128-grain ELD-X Precision Hunter, listed at 2,850 feet per second.
- Hornady's 95-grain ELD-VT V-Match load in 25 Creedmoor is listed by retailers at 3,250 feet per second.
- NRL Hunter is a field-style precision rifle series in which competitors carry their gear and rifles are grouped into divisions by weight.
- The Hornady Podcast is produced by Hornady, which makes the 25 Creedmoor cartridge and all of the factory ammunition discussed in the episode.
