25-45 Sharps - A "Game Changer"

Posted: November 1st, 2012

The 25-45 Sharps Cartridge is a game changing development with superior performance characteristics that outperforms all other cartridges in its category. An important ‘Game Changer’ Product.

25-45 Sharps is a fully SAAMI standardized cartridge. Virtually any firearm currently chambered in 223 Remington can be converted to 25-45 Sharps. Over 500 Million rounds of 223 Remington are estimated to be produced annually. For the sportsman 25-45 Sharps is legal for deer size and larger game animals in all states where rifle hunting is permitted, the 223 is not. The 25-45 Sharps shoots about as flat as the 223 but hits as hard as much larger cartridges like the 30/30 Winchester, 250 Savage and 257 Roberts. Simply put, there is nothing the 223 Remington can do that the 25-45 Sharps can't do better. For Military and Law Enforcement the 25-45 Sharps shoots flat like the currently 5.56mm military round, but hits as hard or harder than the Russian 7.62x39mm AK47. More information on the 25-45 Sharps is available in the current 13th edition of Cartridges of the World by Frank Barnes, edited by Richard Mann, published by Krause Publications.

Cartridge Production:
The 25-45 Sharps, developed by Sharps Rifle Company, Inc. has superior ballistic characteristics to all other competing cartridges in the marketplace for the AR 15 Platform. Over the next ninety days, Sharps expects to finalize significant industry endorsements and obtain key manufacturer [such as Savage Arms, Mossberg, and Smith and Wesson] commitments to include the 25-45 Sharps as a standard chambering into their 2013 production lines.

The Company contemplates the ramp-up of cartridge production from 8.4 Million (YR1); to 34.5 Million (YR2); to 54 Million (YR3) (exclusive of demand from the Law Enforcement Community). Industry experts have advised Sharps that the expected demand “should significantly exceed our financial plan”. Other than initial stocking, Sharps will produce within the confines of a tightly disciplined Sales and Operational Control Plan based on a three month prior sales look-back and a three month forward looking Demand Analysis Plan.

Sharps 25-45 Cartridge:
The driving concept behind the development of the Sharps 25-45 was to make a cartridge that would make the AR-15 a highly useful and effective hunting rifle, fulfilling the dream of it becoming the Modern Sporting Rifle. As most AR-15’s and their variants are based on the 5.56x45mm Nato cartridge and its virtually identical commercial variant the 223 Remington, the decision was made to start with the 45mm case as this would make sure the round worked with the heritage bolt heads and assure operation within the AR-15’s action. The next step was to assess all the possible bullet diameters. One important criteria was weight per overall length as long bullets and the tight overall length the cartridges would cause long bullets to take up too much case capacity. This approach quickly lead to the 25 caliber class of bullets as bullets wider than that were generally also manufactured in configurations that were longer taking up case capacity requiring load be reduced, which also reduced performance. Also, any smaller in diameter and we found you were leaving performance on the table compared to the 25 caliber. Further, this round gave us an overall profile that met the desire to make this round adapt to the equipment of any general AR shooter as this round doesn't even require different magazines so literally every part of the existing AR can be used in a 25-45 conversion with the only exception being a properly chambered barrel.

In the beginning we speculated with this round that we could equal the performance of the 250 Savage which was the first commercially available high velocity 25 caliber hunting round of a century before, but with this much smaller more efficient case. We were right, with the 87 grain Hot-Cor hunting bullet traveling at 2950 fps delivering energy of 1671 fpe, which translates to more power at range than the 170 grain bullet out of the legendary Winchester 30/30.

It should be noted that while the round had a specific stated purpose it was also designed to have flexibility that is seldom seen in a modern cartridge. This round also does very well in small bolt actions giving you a bolt action that is light and easy to carry like a squirrel rifle, but with the knock down power of a true deer rifle. Further, the 25 caliber is capable of shooting cast lead bullets far more efficiently than any 223 allowing for cheap plinking opportunities for the hand-loader Finally, as bullet manufacturers, the 25 caliber bullets available lack many of the different grain weights that would benefit this round giving us market opportunities for supporting this round as well as supplying other 25 caliber rounds. Beyond this we can explore the new tungsten bullet opportunities that really would enhance this around allowing a heavier bullet in a smaller space allowing us to boost performance even further. In summation, this is a great round as it is, but the ability to increase the effectiveness of this round down the road makes its future even brighter.

​The AR-15 in 25-45 Sharps…..the promise of the MSR fulfilled.
For many years the market place has been struggling with proving out the transition of the AR-15 from its image as a military look-a-like for its armed forces cousin the M4 or grandfather the M16. The Sharps AR’s which come in two versions, the M-474 which is the high end piston flagship and the Sharps-15 which is the mid length gas impingement model. The M-474 brings the maximum level of reliability and shooting luxury in a smooth piston action with custom billet trigger group, billet lower, upper and forearm. The ShARps-15 has military grade lower and upper with a custom forearm, light weight barrel for a light and nimble package coming in at slightly over 5 pounds. Both are excellent values for their class and have the Sharps patented Relia-bolt which is virtually impervious to damage. Again, add in the 25-45 round and you have a single package that can go from tactical, to plinking, to serious hunting for Deer, Antelope, Boar, Coyotes and everything smaller and a few things bigger. Whitetail deer hunters to varmint and further hunters will love this round only furthering the love for the Sharps AR rifle offerings. And just like with the cartridge, the Sharps AR Rifles are designed to add in more and more of our technology as time goes on. The Relia-bolt is just the first step of many designed to enhance the fit, function and feel of this already fine arm.