unless "smaller and possibly lighter" is amoung your criteria, i think you'd be better off with one of the centerfire action (10-series 12FV, 10FP, 12VLP etc) .223s from savage. The 10-series centerfires are better suited to target shooting, the Model 25 is meant to be a lighter, handier "walking varminter" type of gun. if you're gonna haul it around the woods, prairie, etc a 25 might be better. but for sitting down at a bench and laying it across bags to make the tiniest holes you can, it's VERY hard to beat a 10-series gun.
The Model 25 and it's .22 Hornet chamberd brother the (current generation) Model 40 are enlarged and beefed-up versions of the savage rimfire action. nothing wrong with them, I just feel that the centerfire actions are a little better and easier to fine tune.
as a point of info the REAL reason the Mod. 25 exists is that Savage originally got everyone excited by annoucing that the (current)Mod. 40 would be available in .223 and .204 Ruger, but the Model 40 wasn't up to a lifetime of .223. so they it went back to the drawing board and a year or two later the model 25 emerged.
