25 ACP reloading blues

[rintinglen]

It has been over 40 years since I last loaded any 25 ACP. I am rediscovering why. Those dinky cases are a major pain to handle, all slick and shiny from the brass cleaner. Can you bend and scrabble after the ones you drop? Oh joy! 70 year old back Yikes ,and weighing each charge, 1.3 grains of WW231, at a time? That's the key to rapid loading. I got 60 rounds done in only 2 hours Thursday.

[challenger_i]

Light charges are ALWAYS fun! After fiddling with several methods, I finally returned to the trick I learned from my Dad of using a bowl of powder, a baby spoon and a scale. I am really proud they developed the digital scale, as this really does speed up the process!

[Chill Wills]

I have a Colt 25 ACP. I have dies and a mold. 15 or 20 years, I have not even started to reload the empties.
Feel free to pass along any tips to load the littlest semi-auto.

[jdfoxinc]

Get a reacher to pick up dropped brass and boolets. Saves my 69 yr old back.

[Bigslug]

You know. . .they make mouse traps for mice. We don't have to shoot them anymore.

I've gone through similar thoughts with a .22 K-Hornet. Definitely an educational project, but it left me considering the following thought from Philosopher George Santayana:

"Fanaticism consists of redoubling your effort when you have forgotten your aim."

This stuff is supposed to be fun, after all. In a number of ways, the dinky rounds aren't.

[Markopolo]

25 acp is the only cal I have actually given up on in my decades of reloading and casting. Small, tedious, and even more challenging then casting for the 223. I sold my dies, the gun, and the mold.

Just not worth the trouble for me… I would wish you luck in your journey.

[Shawlerbrook]

380acp only a little better. Thinking about jumping in as it’s the only one I shoot that I currently don’t reload.

[Bigslug]

380acp only a little better. Thinking about jumping in as it’s the only one I shoot that I currently don’t reload.

With the world shifting to 9mm as "The Standard", production numbers of everything else seem to be decreasing, which is only going to drive the per-round cost up. Given that the .32 and .380 still have a place by being chambered in small guns that don't beat you up, I don't think they're THAT much harder to generate ammo for - at least on a progressive press. Single stage? Mmmmmaybe not.

[SOFMatchstaff]

I have loaded the 25acp on the Dillon 450 using a Lyman 55 measure with no issues. The 55 is the only measure that I can get a consistent 1 to 2 gr drop from. The shell plate is of my own manuf. and was made for the 5.7 originally. I dont load a lot of them(25s) but I know I can when I have to.....

[Wayne Smith]

I have a Pacific Pistol Powder measure - and uses 1/2" brass pieces 1/2" long. I drill a through hole for whatever load I need. To add just a touch add a chamfer to the hole. I have one for 1gr BE and one for 1.2gr BE. I use these for these for the 32 S&W.

[shooting on a shoestring]

I’ll admit to owning two 25 acp pistols.

I’ve considered setting up to cast and load for them, but decided to draw the line at 32 acp. So I bought a couple of boxes of factory 25 acp, fired the guns a wee bit and called it good.

I’ll be content to be an owner and not a shooter of 25 acp’s. If I need to do a “little” shooting, I’ll use a 32 acp or 32 SWL and live happily ever after.

Good luck to you.

[georgerkahn]

It has been over 40 years since I last loaded any 25 ACP. I am rediscovering why. Those dinky cases are a major pain to handle, all slick and shiny from the brass cleaner. Can you bend and scrabble after the ones you drop? Oh joy! 70 year old back Yikes ,and weighing each charge, 1.3 grains of WW231, at a time? That's the key to rapid loading. I got 60 rounds done in only 2 hours Thursday.

30 rounds per hour is not too bad... might be quicker than it takes me! A couple of years ago I took 1/8"or so -- doesn't sound like much but I still have the scar! -- from the side of my index finger and then decided there has to be a better way! From a mail-order outfit called Micro-Mark I ordered and received a true God-send for .25acp and .380acp loading -- a set of round-holding tweezers. Actually, there's four sizes in the set one gets if they purchase it. While these have not made loading these teeny calibres a joy -- they sure are, imho, worth more than every penny spent to attenuate dropping the cases as well as pinching or cutting the fingers!
geo

[GhostHawk]

I have yet to get into the .25acp, but the .32sw long is not much bigger.

If I am loading 100 rounds I do use my powder measure set to 2 grains of Red Dot for charging. But dropping cases is to be avoided at all costs.

[P Flados]

I like the idea of loading small stuff.

I tried 32 S&W (a.k.a. short) and found them just "too small" for running through a single stage style press.

I moved up to 32 ACP size and found it was ok.

I do not have a 25 ACP. I am not sure if it would be ok based on length or not.

My RCBS uniflow is ok at 1.5 gr or so of ball powder. I am sure the % variance is on the high side but the loaded ammo does not seem to have issues with vertical spread so I am happy.

[Texas by God]

The smallest I’ve loaded for is .32 automatic.
I like shooting .25 autos but I don’t have one yet. I’m holding out for a Beretta at a bargain price
I think that a Lee Loader would work well-but I doubt that they are offered in .25 acp.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[challenger_i]

I have wanted to try that for years. You have inspired me to hunt up some bronze round stock and get to making chips!
Question, Wayne: what are your thoughts on using a taper reamer to bore the hole for regulating the charge volume?

I have a Pacific Pistol Powder measure - and uses 1/2" brass pieces 1/2" long. I drill a through hole for whatever load I need. To add just a touch add a chamfer to the hole. I have one for 1gr BE and one for 1.2gr BE. I use these for these for the 32 S&W.

[Kestrel4k]

Posting just to make note of round-holding tweezers; I did not know of these, and when I am back on my main computer, I will shop for them. Thank you,

[Rapidrob]

I reload the .25 ACP cartridge a lot. I use a Dillon 450 progressive press and a RCBS Little Dandy rotor powder measure with proper rotor for the light loads of Bullseye, Unique or 231. I use a Lyman case mouth belling die to aid in seating / aligning the 50 grain bullets. The Dillon press is manual for indexing, priming and powder drop so you have complete control of each stroke of the handle. Once the press is set up and the primer tube is filled, 200-250 rounds an hour can be done depending if the bullets are loose in a lid to a coffee can or laying out on a ribbed rubber mat for easy pick up.
Empty cases on the right, bullets on the left of the press.
I've found this press is perfect for the smaller calibers such as the .25ACP, .32 ACP, .32 S&W, .32NAA that my wife and I shoot.
I find the hardest thing about the .25 ACP is trying to find the fired empty cases in a range floor filled with .22LR fired cases!
I really got to make a brass catcher that works well.

[challenger_i]

When I started shooting 9x20BL, I took to laying out a tarp to my right to help catch the brass. Worked very well.

[Thin Man]

Several years ago a friend (?) gifted me with a new set of .25 ACP RCBS dies and shell holder. Some friend! This got me started looking to find a mold and wound up using an Ideal Perfection mold set to cast 50 grain boolits. Needed a sizer/lube die, opened up a .243 sizer to .251", works nicely to reduce .257" boolits to .251" boolits.. Cast and sized about 200 boolits, loaded some and saved some. Loading the cases is tricky but can be managed with patience. Why all this you ask? Just because I wanted to prove to myself I could do it. Perhaps I need to quit taking on these challenges to my usual boredom.