25 STEVENS RF "MEDUIM" a viable alternative for the 25 rf
I started this venture expecting to use 22 hornet cases and or 5.7x28 fn cases and have about 30 22 hornet cases formed so far but have not modified a block to centerfire yet so started experimenting with the 17wsm as a parent case .While the 25 Stevens "MEDIUM" Rimfire made from a reduced length 17 wsm case is not ideal as Chev Williams pointed out because the 25rf does not use a healed bullet, their for the bullet has to travel a bit in the chamber loosely, surrounded by gasses before encountering the rifled bore. the stevens short had a .599 case length and the long a 1.125 case length and .251 65 grain bullets. early barrels were .251 diameter and at some point appears went to .255 barrels so slug your barrels
Let me state that I am new to reloading and this is my first venture. My venture into the 25 rimfire begins with a stevens 44 that slugs at .255 with a worn bore, not great but not bad. To date I have loaded 10 rounds with two different case lengths from the parent 17 wsm case, they are 7 .970-.980 cases cut at the bottom of the of the shoulder and 3 1.080-1.070 cases cut at the top of the shoulder. I am using .25 caliber (.257) hollow point cast lead bullets 55 gr and sized and lubed to .258. I am using a gift of some Trail Boss as my powder. unless somebody knows what powder Winchester uses in their 17 wsm's as I have a small supply after pulling bullets for my cases
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I have shot 10 rounds out the side door of my garage at a large tree I hung my target on, distance of 25 feet, with me using the side of the door frame to steady my rifle and open sights through trifocal lens glasses. The sight picture I get is always fuzzy at some part of my alignment picture, sucks getting old lol. of the 10 rounds 7 are touching .080 wide by .060 tall. group with three fliers. The first flier was a .970 case .17cc/.8gr of powder and was left of group 1 inch sounded like a bb gun. the next 6 shots were all .970 cases with .3cc/2.3gr of powder with one flyer left of group 3/4 inch, these were subsonic. The last three were 1.075 case lengths with .5cc/2.3gr of powder these 3 all cracked out the barrel so went above subsonic with 1 flier 1 inch above the group. All cases seamed to expand to chamber diameter and seal the gases with the .3 cc loads about 1/3 way from top of the case and the hotter .5 cc loads 1/2 to 3/4 from top of case
AS Chev Willams pointed out this not an ideal solution because the bullet does not fit tight in the chamber, but one that I for one am finding viable at this point with minimal amount of case prep just having to pull cut and trim to length then expand the case neck to .257 ideally for the bullets I am using. at this point my methods are crude and unrefined as I am learning the whole loading process and attribute the last two fliers more to my case prep and bullet seating . all my expander tools so far have been home made and am using a 25 acp die set to load with.. I found the longer case length harder to form concentrically. maybe going to a 2 or three step sizing process with a 22 hornet fl die to open first to .22 then a .257 Roberts neck sizing ball/rod for final
For now I have 25 cases of 17wsm at .1000 case length cut just above the shoulder and formed out to .257 neck diameter ready for more tests, these are more consistently trimed and sized than my learning curve first 10 attempts. At a point in the futre I plan on repriming the once shot rf cases. Four solution mixes can be had for $20 PrimeAll I believe is the source.
a hearty thanks goes out to Chev Williams for allowing us to follow his 25 cal adventures on this forum
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