Awesome idea. I'd love to try it out in the squirrel woods. I'm not a fan of small game hunting with the .22 revolver. I'm looking into the ruger single 7 myself to hunt with the .32 long. I think the .25 could be fantastic for small game.
Awesome idea. I'd love to try it out in the squirrel woods. I'm not a fan of small game hunting with the .22 revolver. I'm looking into the ruger single 7 myself to hunt with the .32 long. I think the .25 could be fantastic for small game.
The .25 Stevens (Long) RF cartridge used A 67 grain Lead bullet over about 10 Grains of Black Powder to yield about 1100fps Muzzle Velocity (Just subsonic). Later, the Smokeless Powder Commercial cartridges were Slowed down to about 940fps.
The .25 Stevens was Considered useful for Target work out to about 150-200 Yards, even with their "Rainbow Arch Trajectory". They were also considered Better for "Pot Meat" hunting than the .22 LR, which was loaded to Supersonic Muzzle Velocities.
So, Yes the .25 has a good history of success in a Barrel Suited to it (.250" Groove diameter NOT .257" Groove Diameter).
Best Regards,
Chev. William
Just Tried out my New Lee "Universal Expander" Die with the Small Cartridge Expander stem Turned To .250" diameter. Outstanding results! The Die / Stem expands the Neck/Shoulder of 5.7x28 Cases Enough so the Swaging Process Removes the Felt evidence of The Prior Neck and Shoulder Junctions. My Prior Expander was a .2500" Drill Blank machined With a tapered end and Chucked in my Bench Drill Press for Use. It left a Slight Felt difference in diameters in the Area of the Neck and Shoulder Joints in my Swaged cases.
Very Happy with this new Modified Expander and Die!
Best Regards,
Chev. William
An Update to this thread:
1. I have received two Custom .2795" nominal Body diameter Finish chamber reamers from JGS Precision, a ".25ACP WS #1" and a ".25ALR WS #2" that I have passed to my gunsmith along with two Aftermarket 1144 Alloy Steel 8-shot ".22MAG" Cylinders for reaming and chambering to the respective Cartridges.
2. I have received 1000 each "lubed and sized" Lyman #257420 bullets that weigh about 74 grains each, about 150 percent of the Nominal 50 grain .25ACP bullets.
3. 500 of the Lyman #257420 bullets have been resized down to .250" diameter for use in my experiments.
4. On a Sadder Note: The Recent "Creek Fire" caused significant damage to the "Angeles Shooting Ranges" that I frequent for my outdoor Shooting Pleasure. due to the Damage the ranges are closed for use until they can rebuild the destroyed Buildings and Range facilities.
Best Regards,
Chev. William
This has been a truly wonderful thread...
How is the electricity system working out??
Sorry to hear about the range...
Please post pics of the new rounds and bullets when you have time...
Bob
Best Regards for this Merry Christmas and New Year Holiday Season,Quote:
Originally Posted by RJM52
Chev. William
RJM52,
Please see the thread " .25 Auto Long rifle Wildcat." post number one for a Photo of the dummy Cartridges I had Assembled then.
Chev, William
I received my new JGS Precision ".25 MACP WS#3" finish revolver chamber reamer with its straight cylindrical body of .2795" nominal diameter.
i will be having an 8-shot aftermarket 1144 alloy steel .22Mag Ruger cylinder reamed and chambered with it as soon as my gunsmith finishes up some of my other projects he has in his shop now.
Here is a photo of some of my wildcat cartridges.
http://i839.photobucket.com/albums/z...pszp8ajiqx.jpg
Left to Right: .25ACP @.905" OAL; .25ALR @1.293" OAL; .25 Magnum Auto. @.1.366" OAL; .25ALS @ 1.407" OAL. All With .250" sized Hornady #2510 60 grain Jacketed Soft Flat Point Bullet.
Note: .25ACP Case Length = .612"; .25ALR Case Length = .960"; .25 Magnum Auto. Case Length = 1.055"; .25ALS Case Length = 1.125".
chev. William
My new ".25 MACP WS#3" finish reamer is now in the hands of my gunsmith.
Chev. William
Tried An Experiment using a .277" ID Hardened Alloy Steel Drill Bushing held lightly in a Modified Sizing Die with The 'Exit' end used as the mouth for my 'sizing trial'.
i used a Formed .22Hornet Case that I had swaged down to .25 Stevens diameter. This case had a taper segment starting about .300" above the Base (at .276" diameter) increasing in diameter (to about .280"-.282" just above the extractor clearance cut).
I forced the Case all the way into the Bushing until the rim hit the Bottom mouth of the die. then extracted it via a Punch and Hammer.
The bottom of the case now measures .278" diameter below the .276" diameter Body.
A very Fine, thin, 'sheared' ring of Brass slid off by finger action.
This is Encouraging!
Chev. William
My gunsmith informed me that he has a set of Ruger .22MAG cylinders reamed out and ready for fitting to my Custom Ruger .25ACP Single Eight Revolver's frame; so in the next few days I will be taking the Revolver in for his use.
Yesterday, I also Took possession of a Ruger Standard Auto pistol MKII version that has Molded Volquartsen Target Grips installed. I will be having the sights replaced with adjustable Target Rear and a new front blade. Then I will use it to "play" with .221 Askins or .22 Ladybug-repeater CF Cartridges after getting The Bolt converted to Center Fire.
It has the shorter Tapered Barrel presently but i am thinking of possible future re-barreling it to a longer one.
Che. William
Late September Update:
My gunsmith is out of the Shop doing some movie work so no Progress on my new cylinders.
I now have two additional JGS Precision finishe chamber reamers in my series of Cylindrical, rather than Tapered, chambers for use in Revolvers or rifles.
A. ".25ALS WS#4" which is for case length of 1.125" nominal.
B. ".25ALRM WS#5" which is for case length of 1.250" Nominal.
This is my current collection of .25 Chamber reamers:
.25ACP by PT&G.
.250ALRM by PT&G.
6.35x26mm or .25Magnum by PT&G.
6.35x28.6mm or .25 Auto. Long Stevens by PT&G.
6.35x32mm or .25 Auto. Extra Long Stevens or .25 Auto. Long Rifle Magnum by PT&G.
All the above PT&G Reamers are Tapered bodies.
.25ACP WS (#1) by JGS Precision.
.25ALR WS #2 by JGS precision.
.25MACP WS #3 by JGS Precision.
.25ALS WS #4 by JGS Precision.
.25ALRM WS #5 by JGS Precision.
All the JGS precision ones are Cylindrical body without taper.
Most of these are with my gunsmith for reaming my chambers.
This is about three years of slow purchases.
Retirement is hard on 'disposable Funds'.
Chev. William
My first thought was that you had lost your mind. But it took less that 3 second to realize you had a great idea. It would be a small game handgun par excellant. I do think I would have to bob the barrel back a few inches to maybe 6.5.
How was the change from rim fire to center fire accomplished?
The Conversion of my Ruger Single Six from Rim Fire to Center Fire was done by My gunsmith by machining a custom floating firing pin with an offset tip and a bushing with an offset hole to pass the New tip.
Conversion from Six to Eight, I Think, only required trimming a new indexing hand for the required rotation.
"Teething problems" with the conversion included the First .25ACP cylinder with the Tapered chambers (suitable for Auto. Pistol use) being marginally too 'deep' as two of the eight chambers have the head space slightly on the long end and occasionally yield FTF.
This was improved some by making another firing pin bushing to move the Bushing face slightly closer to the Cylinder rear face, reducing the head space to closer to nominal, or more toward the Minimum.
Another problem with the Tapered chambers was that the fired Cases had a 'Bulged ring' just forward of the case web. It seems expanding a .278" Max. Diameter case into the larger bore of The Taper exceeded the 'Elastic Limit' of the brass, leaving it at about .280"-282" diameter just ahead of The base web.
Factory Cases of 'less that Maximum (.278") diameter' obviously are stretched more in this area.
As delivered from my gunsmith after the Custom conversions, the sights patterned about 4"-5" Left of Point of aim and about 3"-4" low. Sight adjustments fixed that.
To date, I have fired about 600 rounds through the revolver with about 100-150 being Factory PPU 50 grain FMJ ammo and the rest being various Lead 50, 63 grain and some 60 and 74 grain J-Word experiments.
Charges run from 1.1 grain of BE to 1.89 grain of BE, 1.5 grain of BE-86 to 3.1 grain of BE-86, and a few 5.0 grain to 5.3 grain Black Powder.
(took three days of Cleaning to get the Last of the BP fouling out of the revolver).
Interestingly, 3.1 grains of Be-86 behind 50 grain FMJ landed about the same POI as PPU factory 50 grain but had definitely greater muzzle rise and muzzle blast.
Estimated pressures seem to be about 25,000psi to 30,000psi Pmax MAP.
Since I don't have any way to Measure Pressures in this revolver (or any other firearm) we will have to be satisfied with these estimates. I do NOT plan going higher in pressures in this Revolver.
Estimated Cylinder Yield Limit is somewhere around 47,000psi. (they are 1144 Alloy Steel). Bulk yield strength is around 95,000 to 105,000psi for the alloy as manufactured.
My Barrel is made from a Lothar Walther ".25ACP/6,35mm Browning" barrel Blank by my gunsmith and is about 10-5/8" long from Forcing cone to muzzle. With the Cylinder length added it gives an equivalent of about 12 inches length.
Something looking like a "Buntline Special" sort of revolver.
Chev. William
As of the New Year my revolver is still with my gunsmith and he is now back in the shop so maybe some progress will occur.
I do have a new "Toy to Play with though, a Ruger Standard Auto MKII Pistol converted to Centerfire and .25ACP cartridge. It is fitted with a tapered 8-1/8" long barrel and is chambered with my custom .2795" diameter straight parallel cylinder finish Chamber reamer by JGS Precision.
Cases load and extract nicely and it feels like a .22LR still, in bolt reaction and recoil.
So far it is 'single shot operation only' as I do not have any magazines to feed it .25ACP yet.
Accuracy at 50 Yards "Standing Off Hand" is better than I am at the moment, my friend holds it more accurately than I do!
Chev. William
Friday, Feb. 1st, I picked up my Ruger "Single Eight" frame and three of The five new Cylinders from my Gunsmith's shop.
I have the .25ALRM WS #5 Cylinder, the .25ALS WS #4 Cylinder, and the .25MACP WS #3 Cylinder now.
My gunsmith is still working on remaining two new cylinders.
Saturday Dawned Dark and Dreary with Wind and Rain all day.
The blustery winds blew rain under my Patio shelter tent and dampened my reloading area well.
At least I am not worried about Flash Flooding nor Mudslides in my neighborhood.
Also I won't worry about needing to water my Trees and Shrubs according to the Weather Forecasts for the coming week.
Chev. William
[smilie=s: Hi Chev.William.Great and interesting thread.Thanks for posting.
Good luck.Have fun.Be safe.
Leo
I love to read your threads. I'm a fan of the quarter bore mouse gun caliber. I'm still gathering pieces for my single shot rifle project in 25 acp. Just curious, what mould do YOU like for the plain old 25 acp?
I have Ranch Dog's NOE made TL255-50-RF and TL255-65-RF plus Lyman 257420 for molds. the Lyman 257420 mold casts about 73 grains and after Tumble lube and sizing to .252 ends up about 74 grains.
I also have Hornady Semi-jacketed soft flat point 60 grain #2510 bullets and Hunter Supply 63 grain, .257" dia., 'Air Gun Pellets' that work well for me after sizing down to .252" dia, after tumble lube.
These Cast bullets are All commercial casting products as I do not have a Lead Casting setup and do not contemplate buying a set up at my current age of 76 years.
I start testing with 50 grain FMJ bullets to verify basic data then move to heavier bullets for load development as I want to explore the Useful range of bullets heavier than 50 grains in .25ACP and my longer 'wildcats'.
Chev. William
I had an rcbs and really didn't like it, so it's gone, and am looking for a replacement. That 255-50-rf sounds like something interesting. Thank you.