25-20 Mold Advice Needed

[slk]

Ok guys I finally was able to find a Winchester 1892 in 25-20 that I like a lot. Now I have been pondering just what mold I need to cast boolits. One thing I have noticed is that gas checks have risen in price. I have always used Lyman molds, but the only one Lyman has for the 25-20 uses gas checks. Unless you actually do not have to put them on if you wish not to. I am not new to casting but I am new to casting for 25-20. What molds are recommended for this caliber???

Thanks
Steve

[35remington]

Peruse NOE and their offerings. In bigger name brands there is the RCBS PB 85 Cowboy and the Lyman 25 gachecked. Somewhere there is something that will suit you. The NOE 89 FN was intended as an improvement on the RCBS bullet but I do not know if there are any left.

25-20 works well with plainbase as long as you do not ask for too much speed.

[Harter66]

I've just aquired a 257312 which by all accounts is the bee's knees for the 25-20 and 25-35 . It is unfortunately out of production .
K Wilfong has an Ideal mould in swapping and selling that appears to be a very similar mould to the 257312 .

[slk]

Lyman is a 65 gr boolit so they say. Does the 25-20 shoot better with a lighter or heavier boolit. I assume when you add the gas check for the lyman it will add some weight but not much..

Steve

[earlmck]

I shot the Lyman 257312 for many years in my 25/20's. Fair accuracy. But the single-cavity mold has become a real drag for a fellow whose back starts hurting after about an hour at the melting pot. NOE didn't have their 5-cavity listed as "in stock" and Arsenal did, so I ordered the Arsenal 5-cavity gas-check bullet, the 70 grainer. I'm loving it! Turns out great gobs of bullets with little effort, no drama. With gas check I have shot accurately to 2400 fps from a 25/222mag 12" twist baby, and my 25/20's like it w/o gas check at around 1600 fps using 7 grains Lil' Gun (you could get there with any of your favorite powders, of course). I did best with the gas check bullet using White label 2700 lube, and the plain base was best with Harbor Freight Red PC. But everything seemed to work, including tumble-lube on the w/o gas check at lower velocity. I'm sure you are noticing that my PC coverage was real splotchy, but it seems to work anyway.192737 192738 192739

[runfiverun]

they do better around 60grs then they do at 85grs.
I have a 72gr Rapine mold that is plain base.
I went to accurate 2230 as my powder choice, they work well together.

[ole_270]

My M94 Marlin was relined about 25 years ago. The guy who did the work turned down a 25-06 barrel to make the liner, so it's about a 1-10 or faster twist. Over the years I've used three molds with very good accuracy.
For the first several years it was the Lyman 257420gc mold. I shot a lot of those over 13 gr 4198 for just over 2000fps, but they were a little too destructive on small game. Maybe the fast twist would of been part of the problem, but a body shot on a squirrel would tear it in two.
Several years ago I bought a group buy Lee 80 gr. RF gas check mold. That one is the most accurate of the bunch, especially at high speed with 12 gr 4198. Looks a lot like the current NOE 260-80-RF and may be the same mold.
About 2 or 3 years ago I bought the NOE 260-85-FN, a 260283 remake, in a plain base mold. This one has become my goto bullet. Powder coated and loaded with 9 gr 4198 I get a terrific practice and small game load at somewhere around 1400 fps. I need to chronograph it to be sure of the speed.
Any of these molds would be great in my rifle, but the 260283 just suits me more with it's slower speed use. Your mileage might vary with the more normal slow twist.

[tward]

I've had good luck in my 256 Winchester with the NOE 80 grain Ranch Dog with regular lube groves. Al has them in gr or pb or molds with both, at the low velocity that I run the pb's run fine.i also have a Lyman 257463 which is a Lovern design and very accurate. If you pay postage I'll be glad to send you samples of both. Just PM me. I also have a Modern Bond 60 gr mold that I'm working up. Tim :bigsmyl2::bigsmyl2:

[Larry Gibson]

The real deal.....made for your rifle......picked it up to try in my Savage M23 but never have gotten around to it......:(

Larry Gibson

192822192823

[slk]

The real deal.....made for your rifle......picked it up to try in my Savage M23 but never have gotten around to it......:(

Larry Gibson

192822192823

So what do those go for when you see them? I wonder how hot the handles get. Looks really cool though. If I could fine one I would try it also. I saw one on ebay but it was not complete.

Steve

[Harter66]

Here's a link to a 257418 for sale . I think if I take it correctly that the 418 is a RN 312. It's a single .
Kwilfong is a great guy to do business with .

http://gunslingersgulch.com/index.php?topic=11587.msg135572#msg135572

He's on here also .

[slk]

Here's a link to a 257418 for sale . I think if I take it correctly that the 418 is a RN 312. It's a single .
Kwilfong is a great guy to do business with .

http://gunslingersgulch.com/index.php?topic=11587.msg135572#msg135572

He's on here also .

That link just brings me to a page with two pistols and you can't go anywhere else

[Harter66]

http://gunslingersgulch.com/index.php?topic=11587.msg135572#msg135572

Maybe I didn't get it all copied .

[Harter66]

That seems to work better now.

[Dale53]

I did a lot of work with my Marlin 94CL lever action 25/20. I used Lyman's 258420 gas check mould. I developed three loads. My squirrel load was 4.0 grs. of Unique. Absolutely the BEST squirrel rifle combination, EVER! One shot in the head or body and out of the tree they came DRN.

My "medium" load was 11.0 grs. of RL-7.

My "heavy" load was 14.0 grs. of RL-7. This is a compressed load and only for modern strong rifles. It is similar to the factory high speed load and chronographed in my rifle at just under 2200 fps. I loaded five cases with this load TWENTY times and never lost a case. In fact, I was still using those cases years later.

As far as I am concerned, this is THE small game rifle. Using my squirrel load for edible small game, I took rabbits and squirrel without issue over a period of years.

Accuracy with all three loads were ten ring groups on the NRA Fifty Yard small bore target at fifty yards. That ten ring is .87". I didn't have a high "X" count but all tens off the bench. I considered that excellent performance for a game rifle with a low powered scope.

FWIW
Dale53