single shot 25 acp rifle?

[psweigle]

has anyone made one and if so,what platform was used?

[DeanWinchester]

Slightly less accurate but easier to reload for and pretty much the same ballistics.

[texaswoodworker]

My question is why? It seems like its an odd choice for a rifle. .22 mag can shoot the same weight bullet about 1000 FPS faster.

You may be able to convert certain .22 LR rifles to .25 ACP if they are able to withstand the pressure. (.22 LR is 24,000 PSI. 25 ACP is 25,000 PSI.) You'd have to have the barrel rebored though. It may also be possible to convert some old .25 Stevens Rimfires to .25 ACP.

[Garyshome]

Why Bother?

[bruce drake]

Reloadable cases and enough pop to drop a squirrel or rabbit. Same function that a 22LR is used for. There were 25 caliber Rimfires made in the past before the 22LR overtook the market. Considering the number of pot-metal alloy 25ACP and 32ACP pistols that have been built, would see a quality made steel frame rifle could be a great light rifle.

I personally would think that a rifle chambered for 22 Hornet could be easily rebarreled for a 32ACP cartridge as the rim diameters for the two cartridges have only .008" difference between the two.

Me, I just choose to download one of my 223Rem rifles to 22LR velocities to allow me to shoot vermin without dealing with trying to find quality 22LR cartridges.

[1911cherry]

Cause we are all a little different,or we would be shooting jacketed bullets, from our modular rifles, in an orderly fashion.
I kinda like the idea of very small reloadable pistol case in a rifle.

[Bullshop]

I too like the idea of small reloadable cartridges for small game but using the 25 acp case greatly limit the usable boolit weight and design. Going to a very slightly larger case such as the 32 S&W long case necked to 25 would yield a far more flexible cartridge.
The 22 hornet case at 25 cal has also been with use for quite some time and is also a very much more flexible cartridge for rifle use than would be the 25 acp case.
If however you are determined and can be satisfied with perhaps a single boolit for your rifle then by all means pursue your desire.

[Blanco]

Kinda like a carbine in 9mm Luger.
Not really good for much, but a lot of fun to shoot

[bgmkithaca]

Waste of time and money , get a .22 or .22 mag .

[psweigle]

I have around 1000 cases that are VERY cheap and easy to load. the primer is the most expencive part. And I believe it to be a very fun and useful rifle round. I am planning to use the same cast boolits as I do in my pocket guns. thanks for all of the comments and please keep them coming.

[DeanWinchester]

I wonder if you're going to be able to get enough powder in there to deal with a 16" barrel??
Will the length of the barrel actually cause you to lose velocity? I don't know, I'm just thinking out loud here.
Someone out there knows how to calculate the optimum barrel length for the amount of powder you're going to be dealing with.

It it may be that you need a shorter than 16" barrel to get the greatest efficiency. Which is easy enough, you can either pin on a permanent extension or counter bore the barrel.

One thing about it, it oughta be a very quiet little booger!

[psweigle]

DeanWinchester, I REALLY hope it has enough snot to come out of the barrel! ballistics by the inch says it should.And yes, it should be very quiet.

[JeffinNZ]

I'm with Bruce. The idea of .25ACP is grand but more practical to load .32ACP/SW etc. Or .25 Hornet loaded light.

[Artful]

Why not a 25 ACP as a rook rifle, after all you can just use buckshot for the boolit.

Issue #189/Oct 1997 has an article by Richard Conrad in it. He used 50 gr Cast/FMJ boolits under 1.6 grs of Unique for a MV of 800-850 fps from Baby Browning/Beretta 950 pistols. This comes out to 4375 reloads from a pound of powder.

For the plinker load using buckshot...

Resize a case and ensure it does not exceed the maximum length of .610 inch. If it does, carefully use a very fine file to reduce its length. Few case trimmers can accommodate the tiny .25 ACP. Though Lee makes .25 ACP reloading dies, it does not make a case trimmer pilot for this Lilliputian case.

Bell the .25 ACP case mouth to avoid shaving the lead ball when it's seated. If your dies do not bell, insert a .223 case into the .25 ACP case mouth and tap the .223 case lightly with a hammer a few times. The shoulder of the .223 case will easily bell the mouth of the .25 ACP case.

Prime a resized case with a standard small pistol primer. There is no need to use a magnum primer .

Charge with powder, for the powder charge, start with 1.0 (one) grain of Bullseye and increase the charge 0.1 (one-tenth of a grain).
Stop when reliable functioning is attained. Most guns will operate well with 1.3 grains of Bullseye.
Be very careful when charging the .25 Auto with powder, as only small powder charges are used and a double-charge can be easily overlooked.
Look down into each charged case with a good light to check for any double charges.
A double charge of Bullseye would likely damage the pistol, and may injure the shooter.

Seat a #3 Buckshot lead ball up to its midpoint into the case.
The typical No. 3 buckshot ball weighs about 23 grains and is .250 to .251 inch in diameter.
This is a good fit in the .25 Auto bore, which is nominally .251 inch.

Firmly crimp the case around the seated ball.

Turn the loaded cartridge over and dip the ball, up to the case mouth, in Lee Liquid Alox.
If the lubricant is too stiff, add a drop or two of Mineral Spirits and mix well with a toothpick to thin it.

The seated lead ball now lubricated, stand the cartridge on its base in the open air and allow the lubricant to dry overnight.

This load is mild, functions most pistols, shoots to about the same point of aim as the 50-grain factory load and is accurate.
Not much power to it, but it’s no toy. It will penetrate both sides of a can at 20 feet.

This was a surprisingly accurate load.

This No. 3 buckshot load is fun. It is strictly for plinking and practice and should never be carried for self defense.

There are about 300 #3 buckshot lead balls to a pound. Buckshot is usually sold in 5-pound containers.

This was concocted for my friend Steve's PP pistol, it was accurate at close range, but a real pain to handle with my big fingers.
I wound up using some wooden tweezer's to handle stuff - now a days I'd use medical clamp/hemostat.

And in the back of my head I remember someone had made a miniature Thompson Sub-machine gun in 25 ACP (including the drum!)
that was a blast according to the magazine article.

[Artful]

http://www.waynedriskillminiatures.com/id15.html

This is a 1/2 scale M-1 Thompson by the legendary Edmund de la Garrigue. 16" long overall with a 5 1/4" rifled barrel of .25 caliber. Parkerized finished steel except for the magazine and some small parts which are high polished blue. Oiled finished walnut stocks. This is a non-firing model. Some of these were registered class III fully automatic firing weapons. There is a firing pin bump on the bolt face, but there is no chamber cut, no extractor, and no ejector. The magazine is a solid block of steel with a more correct thin profile, and the magazine release spring is there, which is unusual as it is nearly always missing on these. The sides of the receiver properly and deeply roll stamped. Marked on the left bottom of the trigger guard "EDMUND H. de la GARRIGUE" in two lines. The left side of the receiver marked with the serial number 9222. Excellent near mint condition showing only very minor handling wear and a few small freckles to the finish. The front sight turning a gray/brown patina. There is a small hairline crack in the buttstock where it meets with the receiver at the right rear top. There are a lot of stories about Mr. de la Garrigue, but he is most famously known as the inventor of the Grizzly single action army revolver. There is an out of print book about Mr. de la Garrigue called "Artistry in Single Action" by Halton Henderson. Only 450 copies were printed, so they are very rare, expensive, and difficult to find. The book documents these miniature Thompsons as well as several other miniatures made by Mr. de la Garrigue. This example is complete with the original walnut de la Garrigue display stand. The magazine is screwed to the stand by a threaded hole in it's bottom, then the miniature fitted to the magazine. The front of the stand with a black over white laminated plaque reading "THOMPSON SMG, MODEL M1A1 CAL 45, OCT. 27, 1942" in three lines.

I think one of these was converted to live fire if I'm remembering correctly.

[Artful]

Kinda like a carbine in 9mm Luger.
Not really good for much, but a lot of fun to shoot

Hmm, lots of 9mm SMG & Carbine's made - for real world defensive shooting....

[slughammer]

Over in wheel guns, pistols and hand cannons is this thread about just such a project.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...le-what-powder

[Chev. William]

DeanWinchester, I REALLY hope it has enough snot to come out of the barrel! ballistics by the inch says it should.And yes, it should be very quiet.

'Psweigle',
Yes, the .25ACP DOES have enough "Snot" to come out of a Rifle Barrel, typically at around 1000fps to 1100fps with Factory Loads (50 grain FMJ bullet).

The "Stevens 1915 Favorite" Action with a Stevens ".25 Stevens" chambered barrel WILL take the Cartridge but you will need to convert the Breech block from Rim Fire to Center Fire to actually fire the round, which is similar in length and slightly more powerful than the .25 Stevens Short RF cartridges.

There are 50 grain nominal weight Cast Lead Alloy bullets, designed to shoot accurately from modern Taurus pistols but can be sized to .253" for the Stevens. (Carolina Cast Bullets list it as the Ranch Dog .25ACP bullet.)
NOTE: there are two 'threads' on "Cast Boolits" Shooting Forums that talk about the.25ACP and one has drawings of the "Ranch Dog" bullet designs.
Also the thread ".25 ACP rifle, what powder?" on this Forum site also talks about it.

Yes, the .25ACP has a suitable Rim , at .302" nominal diameter, that will work in the Stevens Chamber, which is set for a nominal .333" diameter RF rim. Chamber diameters at the rim end are about the same for both cartridges, AND the .25ACP is specified by SAMMI as head spacing from the RIM. CIP lists the .25ACP at a pressure of 17,400psi (Piezio.), I think the other poster was quoting the old CUP Pressure rating.

Nominal Rim Thicknesses are the same, but if you use the 100 year old Stevens chamber as is the .25ACP round will sit a few thousandths forward of the Breech Face due to wear in the Chamber to Rim Rebate junction.

Having the Rebate remachined and the head space adjusted should be a simple task for a gunsmith and would make the chamber better fit original Stevens rounds also.

Go for the Project! You will gather a crowd at he range when they see you firing it.

Best Regards,
Chev. William

[psweigle]

Chev. William,
That is what I'm looking for. I was kinda hoping someone may be in here that has done this. Or maybe a Rebarrel on an H&R or NEF single shot. I was hoping to hear how their project went. I thank you kindly for all of your input .
psweigl

[Outpost75]

The .32 ACP or .32 S&W Long are viable options. I've had light, single-shot rifles in the 4.5 pound range done in both. The S&W Long was done using a normal .30 Cal. rifle barrel and with 10" twist can handle bullets up to 150 grains with the lightest charge which will exit the barrel, about 1 grain of Bullsye or TitleGroup. Little louder than an air rifle in a 26" barrel.