25 ACP rifle/carbine

[smkummer]

Sorry to maybe get off topic but it appears that the 25 stevens rimfire uses the same bore dia. (.251) as the 25 auto. Anyone ever convert a old stevens to 25 acp? Its possible that the semi-rim of the 25 auto might just be enough to headspace. So that altering the firing pin may be all thats required. According to COTW, Rem. and Win. also chambered guns for the 25 stevens.

[drinks]

I am locating a .50-70 barrel on a shotgun action by cutting a "O" ring groove near the muzzle to center the insert and locating the insert by drilling and tapping the underside of the shotgun chamber for a socket head set screw., insert can be removed in 30 seconds and is very solidly and accurately located in the shotgun
A co. in Anchorage makes a large number of inserts for shotguns and rifles.
MCA Sports, they have a web site, but no email address everything is by phone or mail.

[dk17hmr]

I am locating a .50-70 barrel on a shotgun action by cutting a "O" ring groove near the muzzle to center the insert and locating the insert by drilling and tapping the underside of the shotgun chamber for a socket head set screw., insert can be removed in 30 seconds and is very solidly and accurately located in the shotgun
A co. in Anchorage makes a large number of inserts for shotguns and rifles.
MCA Sports, they have a web site, but no email address everything is by phone or mail.

Yea I had one in 22 hornet for a 28 gauge I had...... wasn't worth my time because I had a rifle already chambered for it...... neat idea though.... needed an extractor to be useful though

[M-Tecs]

Rifle barrels have to be 16 inches and shotgun have to be 18 inches or licensed as a short barrel weapon. If you cut a shotgun barrel off I would not go less than 18 inches. The liner can be shorter. If you want a 10” liner go for it.

It sounds like a fun project except for reloading. I loaded 200 25 acp’s for a friend. Never again. I find anything smaller than 380’s a pain to load, but 2XX gloves are tight on my hands.

[0verkill]

Did this ever get anywhere?

[dk17hmr]

I dropped the carbine idea and went with a 10" contender barrel. It is at one of our members gun shop right now being built. I had a 22lr with a screwed up chamber that shot really well but wouldnt let go of the fired cases. So it became the donor for the 25 acp. I ordered a liner from Track of the Wolf, which slugs very close to the same for the lenght with in .0005 from one end to the other so I should be good for cast when the barrel gets done.

After the holidays I will see where the project stands.

I need to order a Ranch Dog mold and get some cast so I have a hunting boolit.

[Reg]

I think the project would be fun. The "why not" part of this game is the best part .
I made up a Stevens Favorite a few years back in .32 S&W short. Numrich had a few of the Marlin barrels they used for their 30 Carbine and the twist was about right. Had to do a bit to the action, new, hard pins, etc, but made into a fun and not too shabby shooting plinking rifle.
Have to stay with very light loads to keep the pressure down and stayed with a 18 inch barrel to keep the whole balance of the rifle in line. A lot of work but very worth while in the end.
I would consider appearance and balance more important than short barrel length. Likewise myself, I would try to find another Favorite action. The single shot shotgun action you speak of will make into a very heavy, clunky,rifle. Because of the limits of the Favorite action, however, it would not be smart to go out to the .25 Hornet. I don't think it would handle it. You will have to headspace off the end of the shell casing like setting up for .45 ACP. No problem to modify the extractor but it might have to be some kind of spring loaded rebounding extractor ( see Mr. Single Shots Gunsmithing Idea Book, by deHaas, page 13, fig.1-15). Using one of the Remington bolt action rifles, mentioned, would make into a nice looking, easy to set up rifle but there again, doubtful about going out to the .25 Hornet. A Martini Cadet or Rook action might be a better way to go if this is what you had in mind.
Go for it and post pictures.

[W.R.Buchanan]

I got here a little late but I was going to suggest getting your barrel sleeve and putting circular spacers on it and a chamber end that duplicates the shot gun chamber.

This is the way Briley makes shotgun liners for Skeet guns. There are tubes that just slide into the guns barrel for each gauge.

I saw a Kreighoff Skeet gun recently that had one set of 12 ga barrels, and then another set of barrels that was for the 3 sets of sub ga tubes. The idea was that the sub ga barrel set balanced exactly like the 12 ga barrel set so you were essentially shooting the same weight gun with the same balance for all the gauges. Nice gun and a hell of a buy at $12K! It came in it's own case complete with the 3 sets of Briley tubes.

In fact Briley or one of the other tube makers might even make what you want for a reasonable price. Then you could just slide the thing in an out and never alter the shotgun.

Just a thought, but if you are doing it on a TC Encore action then that would be a good way too, and the gun will be alot better looking than converting a single barrel shotgun.

Randy

[Crooked Creek]

What ever happened to the Contender barrel project (or any other one)....did it happen or not ?
I've seen a 15" Contender barrel in 25 ACP for sale that I am considering, but I'm running up against brick walls trying to find anything that has actually been done with the 25 ACP in longer barrels and heavier actions. Anyone have any experience? It seems this thread just died at the end of 2011 !

[dk17hmr]

Im having a 10" barrel lined, its actually at the smiths right now and I probably should call him up.

So I dont have any experience yet.....where did you find a 15"?

[Crooked Creek]

dk17hmr,
Ed's Contenders. I just ordered it for $265 plus $14 priority mail, shipping today. 15" bull barrel standard finish and Ed did not think it had sights. He said he may have a second barrel but wasn't sure, said he would have to check.
Don't know what bullets you plan to shoot (boolits or jacketed), but I'll pass along a super deal I also just found. Lee Precision is closing out a six cavity mold for the 25 ACP for $26 (without handles). That's half the normal price, plus they are available immediately. After my order this morning for one, they have 17 molds left as of 11:00 CST. The SKU is 99555and mold number is TL257-50-RF. While I was talking to Lee, I also ordered a custom push through bullet sizer die kit in .252" diameter. I'm thinking the push through sizer will be easier to cope with than using my Lyman 45 or 450 or RCBS sizer/lubricators. I have .257" sizer dies for those, but 'me thinks' that's a tad large for the ACP .251" bore. Plus the price for the Lee sizer kit in custom diameter is $32 with about a three week turn around....so she said, we'll see! Now, I just have to order a Lee carbide die set for about $30 and some cases and will be ready to go !
The Contender will obviously handle much higher pressures (2 times, at least ?) than what the typical 25 ACP pistol is rated for. I'll just have to sneak up slowly watching the cases and primer pockets. It should be an interesting experiment to see what I can get out of it (speed and accuracy) playing around with some different powders. I'm thinking it should easily get 1200-1400 fps.
Good luck with your project.

[Dark Helmet]

I have one of the Lee molds mentioned above, casts about .259x.260

[Crooked Creek]

Dark,
I hate to hear that ! Have you had any problems sizing down to 25 ACP diameters ? Do you use push through or conventional sizing ?

[Dark Helmet]

Sorry, I'm gonna use them in a 257 Roberts as a plinker, unless my cousin decides to shoot his 25 acp. Gonna try some as cast first.

[Chev. William]

How is your .25ACP Rifle project doing?
I am new to this Forum and Thread but I am interested in the Rifle use of .25ACP and it's longer, older, brother, the .25 Stevens.
Yes to if the .25ACP would fit in a .25 Stevens chamber. The .25ACP, or 6.35x16mmSR Browning, is a Semi-Rimmed design and head spaces on the rim, not the mouth of the cartridge. Both are straight walled and of the same diameter body. Also the .25 Stevens short is about the same size as the .25ACP.
I am in the process of converting two 1894 Stevens Favorite actions to handle CF and have a design for a CF .25 Stevens Cartridge already prototyped and waiting for the actions to be refurbished and all pins and screws replaced with modern heat treated alloy steel ones to give some added margin and to prevent early wear, which the original soft pins and screws were prone to.
Best Regards,
Chev. William

[revolvergeek]

Doug,

As far as I know Ranch Dog never did come up with a .25 acp mould.


Cat

He did. I have one. Never cast with it though. I picked it up on clearance because I keep thinking that I want Bowen to make me a .25 Flea Single Six one day. One of the guys that I work with has been using it to load for a couple .25 acp autos.

[Chev. William]

Ranch Dog also has a 'TL255- . . .. " design that is in the mold manufacture chain last time I heard.
The new TL255 has a .001" smaller diameter and a longer nose countour to better clear the seating dies. I learned of it too late to get in on the 'Group Mold Buy", Oh Well.
The TL256 design is commercially cast by "Carolina Cast Bullets" if any one would like to get some to experiment with.
Best Regards,
Chev. William

[Chev. William]

On a whim, I checked the case capacity of some Magtech primed cases with fffg GOEX Black Powder (BP), it turns out the case would hold about 5.0 grains level filled loose to the Rim and about 4.0 grains with enough space to seat a bullet.

Then I tried loading a case with 4.0 grains of BP and seating a 'TL256--' Ranch dog bullet, I received from "Caroling Cast Bullets", to a case overall length of .840".
Problem: The case stuck in the Shell Holder.
I finally got the loaded round out of the shell holder and found that it had deformed to imprint the bottom contour of the shell holder in the Case Base, leaving a "U" shaped area round the primer and extending to the rim "proud' of the rest of the base. The bullet nose was slightly bulged and heavily imprinted with the outline of the seating punch.
After pulling the bullet I found the powder charge compressed into one solid mass that tightly adhered to the case interior.
I 'dug' the charge out with a narrow tool, it took about 10 minutes of 'chipping' to get the last bit of the BP charge out.

Lesson Learned: Do not try to compress a 4.0 grain Charge of this BP in a Magtech case with a Ranch Dog Tl256 design bullet to an overall length of .840".

I have some I loaded with the same components to an overall cartridge length of .850" that easily came out of the press and only show a slight marking of the seating punch as a visible ring mark on the nose. The Added .010" in length for this set of components seems to still give some compression of the BP charge without distorting the finished round.

They will be set aside to await the return of my Stevens Favorite Rifles from my Gunsmith.

Best Regards,
Chev. William

[dangerranger]

My grandfathers squirrel gun was a Remington Rolling block that had been rechambered from 25 rimfire to 25acp. He did it to take advantage of the better bullets. In his day 22 mag was not very accurate and only came with a lead bullet. He hunted with jacketed hollow points. Im thinking he made this gun up sometime after WWII. He passed in 1967, I shot it with him sometime before that. I rember it being more potent than my 22LR guns by quite a bit. Knowing him he wouldnt have kept it if it was not accurate! DR

[Chev. William]

Thank you for sharing your memory of your Grandfather's Remington in .25ACP.
It makes me hope that I will get my Stevens Favorite 1894 Series Action back as a shooter from my Gunsmith sooner rather than later. It is now put off until probably December due to his Movie work in the interim.
Best Regards,
Chev. William