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Thread: .25acp/auto moulds?

  1. #21
    Boolit Grand Master JIMinPHX's Avatar
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    A lot of guys turn their nose up at loading for the .25, either because it is so hard to handle those tiny little boolits, or because they find out that the terminal ballistics of a hot .22LR are better. But if you want to load that caliber, then go for it. Every gun has it's place in this world somewhere. Weight your powder charges carefully. Those things can be FUSSY about what they eat.
    “an armed society is a polite society.”
    Robert A. Heinlein

    "Idque apud imperitos humanitas vocabatur, cum pars servitutis esset."
    Publius Tacitus

  2. #22
    Boolit Master


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    I had 8 Lyman molds set up for a Magma auto casting machine. I modified a set of RCBS handles to allow using one of the molds to hand cast and had to use pure linotype to get complete base fill out.
    I had a feed tube and still have the bushing for the feed bar on the Magma lubesizer. I still have the Star sizing die. The commercial loader I got the molds from was reloading the 25ACP on a Dillon 1000 for commercial sales!
    I have a few bullets left and plan to use the dimensions to make a cherry and cut a mold one day maybe 2 and sell one!
    Last edited by deltaenterprizes; 02-10-2010 at 04:15 PM.

  3. #23
    Boolit Mold
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    Quote Originally Posted by lwknight View Post
    Primers alone cost as much as 22LR ammo. What can a 25acp do that a 22LR can't?
    not jam. every 22 auto i have ever seen has had ammo related jamming problems. i have never had a malfunction from either of my .25's with any ammo.

  4. #24
    Boolit Mold SARGENT ROCK's Avatar
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    Exclamation But then reality set in.

    It s A rimmed fire round. In the late seventies a friend cleared jam his sterling slide slip pinched round went off last time I checked HE S up to 36 percent use of this hand/wrist. The Ruger is big, safe and spits 22 rims out all day. But you put that same round in the vest pocket pistol. trouble with a capital T. Cannot reload. No full metal jacket rounds that I know of. And no exotic metal and lead cast bullets. do you know they have 25 ACP armor piercing rounds. And don't ask. That's all I will say! About those. And in Los Angeles California long time ago a bar fight ended up in an alley a shooting occurred 22 caliber semiautomatic vest pocket pistol point blank range not one round penetrated the victims head. But when your life is on the line and you have a 25 ACP it will defend your life. I guarantee it! With full metal jacket rounds. Mine spits out 10 rounds so fast you would swear it was an automatic weapon. And it never Jams-EVER!!!!!!!!!! And with the popup barrel it's very safe. It is a shame it is not as popular as it should be. But nowadays everybody is magnum crazy. And because 25 ACP are so expensive that does make the 22 rim fire more attractive. If you want an inexpensive very small plinker 22. If you want the smallest self defense firearm 25 ACP is your best choice. That's my opinion.

  5. #25
    Boolit Grand Master
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    In any cost accounting of reloading, all costs must be considered. Not just the ones that are more obvious.

    This would include:

    The cost of the propane or electricity to cast the bullets and the burner you're smelting it on.
    Gas to obtain the "free" lead from wherever it came from.
    The amortized costs of the presses, scales, lead melting pots, shellholders, powder measures, dies, moulds, and other equipment used to make the handloads. This is never "zero" and has a per round cost that is dependent upon the costs of these items divided by the number of rounds loaded over their lifespan.
    The brass case with a per unit cost divided by the number of reloadings before the case is lost or it fails.
    Lubricant used, and if homemade, the electricity or resources used to obtain it.

    And probably several other things I'm forgetting.

    Equipment is never "paid for".....it's just less in per round costs the more rounds you load. The costs are still there.

    It's rather unrealistic to think, given all these actual costs that must be considered yet are often overlooked, that handloaded rounds closely approach the .22 long rifle ammo in cost when it's the budget plinker stuff.

    If Bob's Closeout Primers gave you 1000 primers for a mere one cent apiece but you can't find anything remotely approaching that cost today (and you can't) their value is not one cent, but rather their current replacement cost. I haven't seen where this is much lower than two cents per primer recently, and closer to three cents each is more like it.

    25 ACP reloaded cheaper than 22 long rifle plinkers? Not too likely unless you got everything for nearly free.

    And, of course, if you're figuring your time is worth absolutely nothing, which most guys figure as a matter of course, and which is also not correct. Time is money.

  6. #26
    Boolit Master
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    H & G used to make a mould for the 25 acp and I would think that Ballisti-cast still does. I had a 10 cavity mould from H & G. It would cast a lot of the little pills quckly but they were hell to handle for sizing and lubing. My first wife could do this chore pretty well with her smaller fingers for me it was just a pita.....
    The problem in America today is, there are to many fools making to many rules that don't apply to themselves. Now just wait until the new pres. takes office and see what happens!!!!!

  7. #27
    Boolit Master


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    Quote Originally Posted by 35remington View Post
    In any cost accounting of reloading, all costs must be considered. Not just the ones that are more obvious.

    This would include:

    The cost of the propane...

    Time is money.
    Please stop posting stuff like this. My wife thinks I'm saving money and I am having fun.

    Not that I cast for 25ACP...

    -HF

  8. #28
    Boolit Master Clark's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by lwknight View Post
    Primers alone cost as much as 22LR ammo. What can a 25acp do that a 22LR can't?
    The 22 rimfire is hard to hot rod handload.

    A common published 25acp load is 1.8 gr Bullseye 50 gr bullet.
    When I work this up to 3.2 gr Bullseye, it is still wimpy, and the
    case is full.

    Switching to Power Pistol, 6.0 gr kick so hard the recoil really hurts.
    Even 4.0 Power Pistol, the recoil hurts.

  9. #29
    Boolit Grand Master
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    I suspect Clark is troll. Ing.

  10. #30
    Boolit Master turbo1889's Avatar
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    I do cast and reload for the 25-ACP. My mold is home-made and was done with three different sizes of drill bits with the largest one being a 1/4" drill bit. The smallest one was an 1/8" drill bit I think, and there was one in the middle that was the next size under a 1/4" I think a 1/64" or a 1/32" less that I took a grinder to in order to reshape the tip to a TC shape.

    Took a pair of cheap set of line-mans' pliers (made for guys that work on electric lines so the jaws are a leaded steel alloy) and clamped them closed and then clamped them down to my drill press table. Drilling right on the separation line, small bit first for a pilot hole to depth, then the middle bit to make the nose shape, and then the big bit to make the body band. No lube groove just tumble lube the little ********. No sprue plate, I just pore them and slice the base flat while the lead is still only semi-solid with a carpenters razor knife tool.

    I only do about a hundred or so at a time and load them accordingly. I'm not shooting them in a semi-auto pistol, for that I just buy factory rounds. I do have a little two shot over/under derringer style pistol chambered for the little cartridge. I got a red-dot scope mounted on top and I load them so that they are very quiet and use them to dispose of four legged trouble that people let run loose.

    Wouldn't mind having a better mold to cast with in quantity and then I'd cast and handload them for the auto pistols as well. But I would want a TC shaped boolit with a flat tip. Without at least some flat on the tip that little cartridge doesn't do very well at taking care of business even with the most well placed shot. Which is why I started casting for it in the first place since I couldn't find any factory ammo that was a solid monolithic boolit with a flat tip, it was all HP and RN boolits for factory stuff which is not what you want when you’re dealing with a limited powder cartridge.

    As far as .22-lr vs. 25-ACP goes, the 25-ACP does have a reliable feeding advantage in the little itty, bitty auto-loaders and I pretty much will reload anything that is reloadable even if I could just go get a .22-lr instead and be better off for final price per round. Plus with handloading you can tailor a load to exactly what you want it to do like those loads I worked up for my 8" barrel that are almost silent but still put the little pills out of the end of the barrel at just under the speed of sound with nail driving accuracy at pest disposal distances. Took a while to figure out exactly which powder and how much would do that but I figured it out. No guarantee I could find a factory made .22-lr round that would do the same if I did and then they decided to discontinue its production I would be SOL with handloading I’ve at least got a fighting chance of finding a similar load that does the same if they discontinue one of my components.

  11. #31
    Boolit Master


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    Quote Originally Posted by 35remington View Post
    I suspect Clark is troll. Ing.
    Clark is what he is, an unapologetic overloader and experimenter in a sea of careful loadbook followers.

    He has overloaded every major handgun design and knows their every limitation, as well as the primer, cartridge brass and the shooter as well.

    You may think he's nuts, and maybe he is, but if I ever think "I wonder if I could go a little bit further with this load", he's the first one I consult.

    -HF

  12. #32
    Boolit Buddy
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    whitetail load for .25 ACP

    I have a Bernardelli Baby made in 1947. Sometimes, it will shoot 50 rounds straight before something breaks. Still, I love the little rascal. In Arkansas a handgun needs a 4" barrel (no rimfire) to be legal for deer. NO KIDDING, with a 4" bbl. the Bernardelli would be legal in most sections of AR as long as I don't use FMJ. Weird laws for Coyote hunting also. No caliber larger than .30. OK, so my neighbor can use his .300 Weatherby, but I can't use my sweet 'ol 1982 Win. in .32-20!!!! We actually pay these people to make these regulations. SO, give me a good Whitetail load for a .25 auto, cheap source of a 4"bbl., and I promise to make a brain shot @100 yds.

  13. #33
    Boolit Grand Master
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    The way 'ol Clark presents his info is designed to draw comment.....and he does troll.

    Not the practice of a guy who is truly above reproach in his actions. Some of his comments that you think learned are designed to bait and draw a reaction.

    He could do a much more responsible way of presenting his information.

    This isn't to his credit.

  14. #34
    Boolit Master
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    I think that reloading is always a good idea, except for this idea.
    1) is there a gun chambered in .25ACP worth reloading for?
    2) do you really enjoy shooting it more than a nice .22LR?
    3) Your lead supply will last a LONG time
    4) don't weigh the powder, just insert a stick of IMR 4895 (sort of like the Brits used to).
    5) Try to work up to a power factor of 35

  15. #35
    Boolit Master Clark's Avatar
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    ~ 30 posts ago I was being encouraged to post with my style of engineering, not consumerism.

    Now I am being pushed out of here

    http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...714&page=3&#58

  16. #36
    Boolit Master


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    Clark,

    You should know by now to just ignore that type of post.

    I've followed your posts all the back from the High Road and there's always someone who just can't stand the thought of loading out side of the box, you know that.

    What matters here is management. If the site owners don't want you to post, they'll tell you I'm sure.

    If one can read your posts for what they really are, i.e. a presentation of information, results & conclusions then one can learn alot from them. I (and I know lots of others) have.

    Besides, don't the rules of life state that there always has to be someone that says it can't/shouldn't be done?


    Cat
    Cogito, ergo armatum sum.

    (I think, therefore I'm armed.)

  17. #37
    Boolit Master Clark's Avatar
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    Thank's Cat, I slipped off my adult role and needed help.
    I'm ok now.

    This is a stressful time to empty freezers and get ready to fill them.
    The range is crowded.

  18. #38
    Boolit Master
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    I'm going to try out that 6 grains of power pistol in my 25 acp.
    Right after I modify my nail gun to inject it and stuff the bullet before it gets back out.
    Sent from my PC with a keyboard and camera on it with internet too.
    Melting Stuff is FUN!
    Shooting stuff is even funner

    L W Knight

  19. #39
    Boolit Master


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    Quote Originally Posted by Clark View Post
    This is a stressful time to empty freezers and get ready to fill them.
    The range is crowded.
    You aren't kidding! I stopped by today to test some 45 cast loads, and my usual 2-300% brass recovery rate was more like 1000%!

    -HF

  20. #40
    Boolit Master

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    Bump to bring a great thread back. And yes, I reload for 3 diff. .25 acp pocket pistols, even bought a RD Lee mould!
    More "This is what happened when I,,,,," and less "What would happen if I,,,,"

    Last of the original Group Buy Honcho's.

    "Dueling should have never been made illegal in this country. It settled lots of issues between folks."- Char-Gar

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Abbreviations used in Reloading

BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
C Compressed Charge PR Primer SPCL Soft Point "Core-Lokt"
HP Hollow Point PSPCL Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" C.O.L. Cartridge Overall Length
PSP Pointed Soft Point Spz Spitzer Point SBT Spitzer Boat Tail
LRN Lead Round Nose LWC Lead Wad Cutter LSWC Lead Semi Wad Cutter
GC Gas Check