25-35

[thpre64]

I picked up a old model 94 chambered 25-35 it’s from 1925 so I’m wanting to use cast
Anyone have any ideas or a place to start? It’s hard to find anything on this old round

[three50seven]

Before the stupidity started, Hornady was making 25-35 as part of their Leverevolution line, so modern ammo and brass does exist. Posting a WTB ad in the classifieds here would probably be another good starting place.

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[cwtebay]

What are your mould options?
And what sort of powders do you have on hand? Are you planning on hunting or plinking? I have a large amount of load data for a variety of bullets for the 25-35 and would be happy to share them!

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[DAVIDMAGNUM]

If you have any, cases can be formed from 30-30 (30WCF) brass. A case forming die is expensive, but if you have access to a lot of 30-30 brass it is an option. 25-35 brass could probably be formed from 38-55 brass. The 38-55 is the parent case to :32-40, 32 Winchester Special, 30-30 and 25-35 . Besides being heresy to reform 38-55 brass it would most likely take multiple steps. Something like 38-55 to 30-30 to 25-35....but this is a slightly educated guess.

[georgerkahn]

I picked up a old model 94 chambered 25-35 it’s from 1925 so I’m wanting to use cast
Anyone have any ideas or a place to start? It’s hard to find anything on this old round

I have a couple of dedicated .25-35 moulds, but both took toooo long to acquire, it would almost be cruel of me to direct you in this direction . Instead, as I did while waiting -- perhaps you might seek out a .25-35 RELOADING TOOL! I have two of these which have a mould at front end, complementing the pliers-type unit. Fairly inexpensive -- if I recall both were in the $100.00 each range -- and, bion, the cast bullets work! I used but one to load -- a lot of effort, imho, but this worked, too. (I could almost close my eyes and envision being a cowboy in the late 1800's eating beans (as in Blazing Saddles) while casting a few bullets with reclaimed lead...)
I attached a photo of one similar (this is a .25-20R) for your seeing that which I'm referring to... Good luck!
geo

[Outpost75]

The data sheet which comes with the Lee die set is helpful. I use 20 grs. of 4198 with the 117-grain Hornady for 2100 fps. A bit slower than factory, but the deer can't tell the difference. For small game loads RCBS 25-087CB with 9 grains of #2400 or 12 grains of 4227 approximate .25-20 ballistics with the 87-grain Remington jacketed softpoint bullet. With plainbased cast you might need to drop those charges a bit, depending upon bore condition, if your rifle is prone to leading.

The .25-35 is the most accurate chambering in the Winchester 94 because its small bore makes for a heavier, more rigid barrel. Its 8-inch twist handles quiet, subsonic cast bullet loads very accurately, while getting great penetration because they auger on through, if not driven so fast that they blow up.

You can load as little as 4 grains of fast burning pistol or shotgun powder with 85-87-gr. lead plain-based bullets. The 85-87 grain Meister or RCBS cowboy slugs drive inch and half groups at 50 yards with iron sights and make little more noise than a .22 LR, but are far more effective. I’m don’t know whether the factories ever loaded small game rounds for the .25-35 like they did for the .30-30. But when hand-loaded with either jacketed or cast lead bullets designed for the .25-20. the .25-35 WCF makes a fine small game cartridge.

When an Ideal tang sight is zeroed for factory 117-gr. loads at 200 yards, small game loads shot to the sights at 50 yards and gave inch and half groups. RCBS bullets were cast of wheel weights and shot un-sized in reworked .30-30 brass. . Using 4 grains of Bullseye gave 1120 f.p.s. and 5 grains of Bullseye gave 1200 f.p.s. The fastest plain-based cast bullet load which shot acceptably was 7 grs. of #2400 for 1420 f.p.s. For most rifles you can load bullets as-cast and unsized at .259-.260" lubed with 45-45-10 or Lee Liquid Alox.

Some years ago I got a quantity of Remington 85-gr. JSP .25-20 bullets. Firing expansion tests in water jugs confirmed my memories of factory .25-20 loads. At 1250 f.p.s. using 8 grs. of PB the soft points perforate without expansion and penetrate deeply. Bumping the velocity to 1330 f.p.s. using 9 grains of #2400 expanded them 0.30 caliber, with no appreciable weight loss.

I had the best luck forming cases from Winchester .30-30 brass. I used Imperial Sizing Die Wax and the die spacer which comes with RCBS .38/.357 dies to back off the FL sizer for the first pass. This decaps and partially forms the neck and shoulder, without finishing the case taper..

After pre-forming, case necks are gas annealed. Then you can full-length resize in a second die pass without buckling the shoulder. Cases then must be trimmed to length. Lee can provide a custom case length trim gage to use with their .30-30 cutter and lock stud. You won't need to ream case neck. As long as brass is formed in two stages with an inter-draw anneal between you don't lose any. If you try this with Remington or Federal brass you will wrinkle shoulders on half of the cases. Wrinkled shoulders will work once for hunting loads which you “Pop and Toss,” but will develop pin holes if you reload them repeatedly.

[woody1]

If you can access Castpics, there are some older Lyman Load books on there that have 25/35 data cast and jacketed.

[Bad Ass Wallace]

My 25/35 is built on a Martini Cadet frame with a 1:10 twist. Very accurate with powder coated 100gn RCBS cast boolit. It came with 200 Winchester cases and Hornady loading dies. A wonderful cartridge and well worth finding all the components to make it roar!

[Hickok]

Mike Venturino did an article about the Winchester model 94 in 25/35. The cast boolit he used was a RCBS 100 gr flat nose. The only way he could get it to cycle in the 1894 was to seat and crimp the boolit in the first LUBE groove. This made it the proper overall length for the rifle.

It he seated the RCBS boolit to the CRIMP groove, the loaded round was too short for the rifle.

This RCBS mold seems to be discontinued.

I would contact Tom at Accurate Molds and see if they can make a good mold for the 25/35. His molds are about the same price as Lyman and RCBS.

[dverna]

BAW,
That is a very nice gun you have there!!!

[square butte]

I don't think Tom at Accurate does .25 cal.- I wish he would go smaller than .28 cal.

[Hickok]

I don't think Tom at Accurate does .25 cal.- I wish he would go smaller than .28 cal.

That's a bummer, as he makes good molds. There just aren't too many good molds for the 25/35 to choose from nowadays.

[gc45]

I would think cast bullets are availible stiil from bullets makers. I bought 1000 75gr bullets some years ago as I didn't want to mess with making small bullets; these boughten bullets are hard cast but shoot very well in my antique 25-35 Win at about 1800 fps and without very much leading plus easy to clean. Would like to get into coating my own bullets doing some of these little guys, maybe can raise the velo a little that way.

[semtav]

What are your mould options?
And what sort of powders do you have on hand? Are you planning on hunting or plinking? I have a large amount of load data for a variety of bullets for the 25-35 and would be happy to share them!

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I'd be interested in some of them. I have 2 94s. Have a couple loads but went to look online for more and there wasn't much out there.

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[Duckiller]

What length barrel do you have? I am acquireing a 1899 Model 94 rifle with a 25" barrel. A heavy gun. Pick it up right after the first of the year when State Police say a 79 year old shooter can have a 122 year old gun that I am going to have all sorts of problems getting ammo. I believe I had two uncles that shot this caliber when they went hunting in the UP of Michigan a long time ago.

[beagle]

I made one on a Marlin 336 with a 1-10 twist Douglas barrel. Best moulds were the RCBS 25-100-FN and the Lyman 257312 worked well too. I sized at .259. You can make .25-35 cases from .25-35 FL dies if you're careful and form in several passes. Otherwise you get wrinkles which don't affect the shooting but look bad. Got a bunch of starting loads if you'll PM me your e-mail address I'll send a Excel spreadsheet as an attachment. Pleasand shooting little round for cast./beagle

[semtav]

Been over 10 years since I've played with them, but 3031 was my go to powder on the 30-30 style cases with cast bullets. ( 30-30, 25-35, and 219 zipper)

And 4198 was the go to powder with the 218 Bee and 25 -20.

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[OverMax]

I have a 25-35 (Lb) rifle from 1905. At a time in history when all brass was available I purchased a couple bags of Winchester brand. Never used that brass to date although I've shot the 1894 rifle at a outdoor range for accuracy than took it afield a couple times. 30wcf swagged to 25-35 >excellent results. First annealed than resized and trimmed to the 25 length. 30wcf brass seems to work well for such swagging purposes. Sometimes I even use my 25-35 brass to create 22 H.P. Savage brass. Its amusing how 30-30 brass is the parent to so many other cartridges. Some fellows think the 30wcf is on the cusp of being antiquated/ obsolete. Personally " I don't think so."

[DDriller]

https://www.wholesalehunter.com/Search/217 has brass available

[Wilderness]

If you have any, cases can be formed from 30-30 (30WCF) brass. A case forming die is expensive, but if you have access to a lot of 30-30 brass it is an option. 25-35 brass could probably be formed from 38-55 brass. The 38-55 is the parent case to :32-40, 32 Winchester Special, 30-30 and 25-35 . Besides being heresy to reform 38-55 brass it would most likely take multiple steps. Something like 38-55 to 30-30 to 25-35....but this is a slightly educated guess.

You may find that you can get by without the case forming die, just use the .25-35 FLS die, and certainly no harm in trying. I can tell you from experience that .38-55 form down to .30-30 in one (careful) pass, .30-30 converts to .32-40 likewise, and even .32-20 to .218 Bee. IMPORTANT - lube is anhydrous lanolin. An extra intermediate die always helps, e.g. run the .30-30s through a .32-40 die (without decap and expand stem) if you have one, to do the body taper before the necking operation. Run the case in a little way, pull it out and look at it, check the lube, repeat.

Expect to pick up .025" to .050" extra case length from the squeeze down.