Boolits for 25-20 WCF

[Les Staley]

Lucked on to a 1909 Winchester 1892 with a new bore liner over the weekend. Dies are bid on(ebay). Found a couple boxes of loaded Winchester ammo..one box of 86 gr. J-word soft points, and a box of factory loaded lead boolits. Recommendations on molds or where to purchase some boolits would be appreciated. I've been loading for a Browning 53 in 32-20 and the ground squirrels just hate it..Trailboss seems to be the juice of choice. Thanks in advance for your suggestions..Les

[tward]

Les, sounds like a great find! I shoot a contender in 256 Winchester but it uses similar size Boolits/bullets. I cast Lyman 257463 about 75 gr, Lyman 257312 about 88 gr and a NOE 260-80 RF Boolit. I'd be glad to send you 20 or so of each so you can see how they shoot in your rifle. Drop me a PM if you're interested and I'll send them along, I know it was hard to find good Boolits when I started with the 256 and I got a lot of help here and want to return the favor. Good luck and good shooting, Tim

[Nueces]

Missouri Bullet Co, http://missouribullet.com , has 25-20 slugs and can supply them Hi-Tek coated, too.

[35remington]

Look at NOE's site for some good 25 designs. More mainstream is the RCBS 85 FN and the Lyman 257420, the first a plainbase and the second a lightweight gascheck.

[atr]

check the rate of twist in you barrel
my 1:16 would not stabilize the RCBS 85 FN
got much better results with the 65 gr.

[Digital Dan]

If one happens to run across an Ideal 257283 mould you could do worse. Plain base works up to about as hard as one wants to push the powder load, somewhere between 9 and 11 BHN having been flawless for the most part. The target below was shot at 50 yards with an ancient Marlin 94 using a good substitute, the Lyman 257312 which is essentially a gas checked version of the same bullet.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v298/muddler/Guns/17f07848-f427-4fdd-ba1a-8d705824c926_zps8c020791.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/muddler/media/Guns/17f07848-f427-4fdd-ba1a-8d705824c926_zps8c020791.jpg.html)

[Les Staley]

Thanks for the replys. Just ordered 500 85 gr booklets from Badman bullets. Cheaper than Midway USA and more reasonable on shipping, too. Will measure the twist this evening. New liner, could be anything.. Tim, will take you up on your offer if it don't shoot these 85s, and thank you. Will keep you posted and will post a few pictures of this "new to me" old 1892.

[Les Staley]

Checked twist on the lined barrel last night.. Got something between 12 and 13 inch for a full turn of a tight patch. Been reading on MO sight, 117 pages of good stuff.

[w30wcf]

Dan,
Nice group! The bullet holes do show signs of scuffing however, which indicate that the bullet is not completely stable at the velocity generated by 6/2400.

w30wcf

[Les Staley]

Here's my 25-20http://i1215.photobucket.com/albums/cc519/LesStaley/image.jpg1_17.jpg[/URL]. 1909 vintage. She survived 106 years to tease me . Has a relined barrel. Shot yesterday some 85 gr j-word bullets, shoots better than I can see the open sights.

[enfield]

I like the 260 80gr NOE in my 92 with a rough and worn bore.

[UBER7MM]

check the rate of twist in you barrel
my 1:16 would not stabilize the RCBS 85 FN
got much better results with the 65 gr.

I agree with ATR. Do some research and determine the rate of twist on your rifle. The Lyman 257420 at 65 grains might be the boolit if you have a for twist.

Enjoy your new gun!

[Digital Dan]

Dan,
Nice group! The bullet holes do show signs of scuffing however, which indicate that the bullet is not completely stable at the velocity generated by 6/2400.

w30wcf

Absolutely correct. The 257312 is slightly longer than the 257283, which is probably why my rifle shoots the latter much better. Your twist may vary. Kinda odd those wobbly things clumpin' up together like that, hey?

[LongRangeAir]

I'm using the Lyman 257420, NOE RD 80 gr. NOE, 100 fp, milled mold down to throw at 81 gr, and a custom mold that throws at 60 gr.

Had the 80 gr. NOE hp'd by Eric. Both it, the 257420 and the milled 100 fp will shoot well under 1moa at 100 yds from my custom .257 ag. using a 3700 psi. air fill in a carbon fiber bottle. She has a 27 5/8" barrel, toped with a nice 4x14 Zeiss 50 mm Scope. I have her tuned to shoot just under super-sonic with a very well made hush-hush.

I can shoot her in the yard, (Live way out in the sticks of Central Texas,) and not disturb the fox's here in the yard.

Knife

http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r294/mlovett_photo/11-DSC01911_zps91bdad33.jpg

http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r294/mlovett_photo/07-DSC01864.jpg

http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r294/mlovett_photo/07-DSC01864.jpg

http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r294/mlovett_photo/DSC01724.jpg

[Freischütz]

I heartily recommend NOE 260-80GC. In my Marlin M1894 it continually produces 1.5” groups with iron sights at 50 yds.

[Les Staley]

Neck sizer and bullets came in today. Loaded 10 rounds 85 gr Badman bullets over 3.4 gr. Trailboss. Shot all 10 at 50 yds. Had two unexplainable fliers, but otherwise a good group

[bbqncigars]

My 'Sweetie' (1894 Marlin) is very partial to the .258 85gr RCBS flat point over 5.5gr of 2400.