Casting for the 25 - Anybody?

[303Guy]

Anyone casting for the 25? Mine is a 303-25 on a Lithgow action. It has a 1 in 10 twist. I am thinking heavy for caliber - I need a boolit long enough to actually handle (and to paper patch). I was thinking 130gr.

[docone31]

Pdawg has patched that one for years.
You are right, heavier is better.
Size the prime, wrap, and size the patched casting.
You might have to go with a Lyman mold for that one. Lee does not make a .25.

[303Guy]

You might have to go with a Lyman mold for that one.Thanks.
Do Lyman make Louverin? Or should I stay with bore-riders?

[bruce drake]

I cast a 100gr Spitzer from Herters for my 257 Roberts. Yes, heavier is better for the 1-10 twist on my Mauser rifle. I prefer 117gr for jacketed bullets but the 100 is a good compromise (and it took me 6 months of looking on EvilBay before I got a decent 25 cal mold.

Bruce

[dk17hmr]

I cast for the 25 ACP.
I am going to paper patch this bullet one of these days and shoot it in the 25-20 and 25-06.

[358wcf]

I recently picked up a single cav Ideal 257325 roundnose 113 gr for use in my 250 Savage Rem 700- haven't used it yet, as it took me 5 months of searching to find an original top-punch-
Now I find several members of this organization that make custom punches!!
What a great group of guys--

Considering we are limited in velocity by our alloy, I feel strongly that we need as much boolit weight as possible for hunting.

358wcf

[wildwilly]

I shoot a Lyman bullet (257464), a Loverin design. In my Savage 99, 250 (1-14), I use straight wheelweight, 88 gr. w/gc, air cooled, sized .258, propelled with 16.0 gr. H4198, Rem 9 1/2M primer. Shoots very clean through my rifle.

[Bret4207]

Where are you going to find a 130 gr boolit mould? Gonna make another one of your torpedoes? The heaviest 25 mould I've seen is the 257325 at 115 gr +/-. I have a Cramer 100 gr that shoots great in my 250 Savage Ruger.

[beagle]

I'm shooting a 25-120-SP RCBS in my Robers and it shoots them well. You might look at that one. The nice thing about that 1-10 twist is that it will shoot the 90 grainers like the 257312 with just a little bit of powder./beagle

[Leftoverdj]

RCBS makes a 120 grain. I've never seen a heavier .25 cal mould. As we found out with the 6.5 170 grain OldFeller, extremely long for caliber bullets can get snakey at more than moderate velocities.

My turn-to .25 cal mold is an RCBS 100 grain. It's given me decent results in everything from a .25-35 Improved to a series of .25-06s. It's no longer a production item, but may be available special order.

[Bret4207]

Whoops, forgot all about that RCBS 120 job! My bad.

[sav300]

303 guy, hi I have a lyman 257418 98gc mould that I bought to use in a savage 250-3000. The twist is too slow for the bullet weight.(1 in 14)If you are interested we maybe able to come to some sort of deal.
Lionel

[NHlever]

My most recent casting for a .25 was for a .257 Roberts with a 1"-10" twist. I tried both the Lyman 257420, and 257312, and had reasonable results with both. I had other issues with that gun, and no longer have it, but I wouldn't count those lighter boolits out for sure. I got some 1" 1 1/2" groups at 50 yards with them. I'm kind of looking for another .25 now.......... got all those boolits cast you know. ;-) :Fire:

[pdawg_shooter]

Thanks.
Do Lyman make Louverin? Or should I stay with bore-riders?

IMHE, a Louvern design is way easier to get to shoot than ANY other design. It is about perfect for patching. I dont patch for the 25 any more, too hard on these old hands, but when I did I would size to .251 and patch with 16# paper. work great.

[curator]

I also use the RCBS 120 grain boolit in my 257 Roberts with 1 in 10" twist. It is very accurate at velocities around 1800 fps and out to 300 yards. I tried Lyman 140 grain Loverin designed .264, sized down in a special order .259 lee push through sizer and they shot Ok out to about 100 yards but seemed to lose stability past there. I think the 1 in 10 twist can't handle anything longer than the RCBS 120 at cast boolit velocities

[303Guy]

Thanks for all the replies, folks.:drinks:

So it seems the 1 in 10 twist will handle anything from 90 to 120 gr well. Louverin sounds like the best for paper patching and it might be possible to go as heavy as 140gr! Wow! That would have to be a bore rider or it won't fit my rifle's throat, I'm sure.

If I shoot straight cast, I will be limited to around 1800fps, maybe higher. If I patch I could be looking at 2400fps with air cooled WW and maybe 2900fps with hard alloy or heat treated. Mmmm.... My next step should be to determine the throat dimentions, I think.

I think I'll ask the paper patch folks about higher velocity paper patched loads.

[docone31]

Patch em, and crank em!
I think, with smokeless loads, the exploding bullet is a result of passing through the rifleing, then exiting the bore. Paper acts as a buffer so the frictional, and compressional factors work differently.
You should be able to get full tilt loads regardless of alloy.

[NoDakJak]

I have barely started testing my 25-303 at this time. It is on a #4 Mk 1 action. Barrel maker is unknown. 257312 cast of acww and sized .258 with 50/50 seems to shoot fairly well.
I have been using 250 Savage data as starting loads. There is lots of testing ahead with this rifle. Neil

[docone31]

I have heard the 25-303 is a smart cartridge! It performs well.
The 25-303 EPPS is also good to go.
Better case life.

[Leftoverdj]

If I shoot straight cast, I will be limited to around 1800fps, maybe higher. If I patch I could be looking at 2400fps with air cooled WW and maybe 2900fps with hard alloy or heat treated. Mmmm.... My next step should be to determine the throat dimentions, I think.

I think I'll ask the paper patch folks about higher velocity paper patched loads.

Higher. I'm getting inch 50 yard groups from a .25-06 with nekkid water quenched WW at 2400 fps. Mould is a 79 grain RF TL GC from a group buy. Looks a lot like a Louverin with those itty bitty grooves.

[303Guy]

The 303-25 is a neat cartridge! It actually looks better than the 303 Brit. It's about midway between the 250 and the 257. On a No4 it would be a bit closer to the 257. I'm not sure why an Epps would give better case life. My Lee Enfields don't have an issue with case life but then I only ever neck size. Of course, failing to anneal will result in split necks. I have never needed to 'bump' the shoulders back.

I am guessing that the 303-25 will be quite good for PP being a medium pressure and medium velocity cartridge (with heavier boolits, which I think is needed to make up for the softness of the cast boolit - no doubt I'll get corrected!)[smilie=1:

http://i388.photobucket.com/albums/oo327/303Guy/MVC-058F.jpg
http://i388.photobucket.com/albums/oo327/303Guy/MVC-601F.jpg

There are several variations of the cartridge - there's the 25/303, 25-303, 257/303, 303-25 and so on. Differences in case length, shoulder angle, body length and who knows what else. It seems the commercial cartridge would fit all if not most variations. Mine is a straight necked down 303 Brit with the shoulder beginning a bit further back to keep the neck/shoulder junction in the same place and the same shoulder angle as the Brit.

PS - That case was cleaned specially for the pic. Normally I don't.

[303Guy]

I cast for the 25 ACP.
I am going to paper patch this bullet one of these days and shoot it in the 25-20 and 25-06.dk, might I ask what boolit weight you're casting? 25 ACP boolit in 25-20 sounds great but in a 25-06? What twist does your 25-06 have? That one could be a candidate for paper cup seating - that is, seating a plain cast or paper patched boolit in a paper cup. The method works for j-word but I have not tried it on the range with PC or PP. The idea is simply to hold the bullet/boolit in the case mouth when the case mouth is too large to hold the bullet/boolit properly.

Let us know how how it works out!:drinks:

[Bret4207]

Thanks for all the replies, folks.:drinks:

So it seems the 1 in 10 twist will handle anything from 90 to 120 gr well. Louverin sounds like the best for paper patching and it might be possible to go as heavy as 140gr! Wow! That would have to be a bore rider or it won't fit my rifle's throat, I'm sure.

If I shoot straight cast, I will be limited to around 1800fps, maybe higher. If I patch I could be looking at 2400fps with air cooled WW and maybe 2900fps with hard alloy or heat treated. Mmmm.... My next step should be to determine the throat dimentions, I think.

I think I'll ask the paper patch folks about higher velocity paper patched loads.

If you can find or make a 140 gr 25 cal Loverin you'd either cut it or size it so the front bands fit the throat and rear filled the grooves. Ol' Guy Loverin knew what he was doing when he designed that series.

[303Guy]

... size it so the front bands fit the throat and rear filled the grooves ...Exactly what I was thinking! Trouble is, I've never made a split mold before.
... find or make a 140 gr 25 cal Loverin ...Would a 1 in 10 twist stabilize such a beast? Mmmm..... one way of finding out! If I keep the grooves very shallow and the nose quite round, that would keep the length to a minimum.

[Suo Gan]

FYI, Ideal 25716 and 25719 casts a 141 gr and 129 gr boolit from #2.

[PAT303]

My 25/303 is on an M17 action and it is good at everything.CBE make a loverin style 100grn and a bore riding 120.I'm getting a 120 for Xmas. Pat

[303Guy]

FYI, Ideal 25716 and 25719 casts a 141 gr and 129 gr boolit from #2. Holy cow! I wonder what it takes to stabilize the 141gr? Thanks for that, Bret4207.

I thought I was pushing it a bit with a 123.5gr PP boolit at 1 inch long. Paper patched boolits are a bit skinnier but don't have lube grooves. And if i make that a hollow point it would be even lighter.