25 35 Winchester

[looseprojectile]

A couple of months ago I bought an old worn 94 carbine.
Turns out to have an excellent bore.
I searched the net for loads and my shooting partner bought the RCBS 100 grain gas check boolit mould. He came up with the sizing die and nose punch too. He just bought a really nice 94 carbine also. The boolits drop from the mould at 108 grains and .259". Lubed them with my beeswax deer fat lube.

I loaded twenty with 20 grains of 4064 as that is a starting load for the 117 grain copper bullet in the Hodgdons book. Did not use any filler. Supposed to be 1,700 - 1,800 fps.
I tend to shy away from using the faster pistol powders in rifles and have had good results with SR 4759 in the BPCRs. The only load I found for 4759 is ten grains at 1,500 fps.
Does anyone have any pet loads for this cartridge? I prefer accuracy more than velocity.

I intend to run out between showers today and unload these twenty at 100 yards into a large target to see how they shoot. It's raining now, dang!

Life is good

[ipopum]

I have some older loading books here.( Ideal & Belding & MULL ) bELDING shows 23.0/4064 with a 117 jacketed at1950fps They show 4198,3031,also. My 25-35 needs a relined barrel so i have not worked up loads for it. I have a 99 Savage that down the road will also be a 25-35. It is a great cal. & a fun one to shoot both with jackets & cast.

[looseprojectile]

Evidently no one shoots the 25 35?
Thanks for the reply ipopum and welcome to Cast Boolits!

Life is good

[Bret4207]

I think you're starting a bit hot. Maybe you'll get lucky but I would have gone with a load in the 14-1500 fps range and seen where it took me.

My 25-35 is a very old and worn Sav99. Shooting a 90 gr 257420 backed by a little 2400 (10 gr IIRC) I could keep it on paper, but it was nothing to write home about.

[peerlesscowboy]

Evidently no one shoots the 25 35?...
I haven't started casting for it (yet) so I hesitated to answer. FWIW I'm loading Hornady 117gr RN jacketed bullets with 28.5 grains of AA2700 for an average velocity of 2134 fps.

John C. Saubak

[Three44s]

Is the mold your friend found a FP that's proper for a tubular magazine? In upper grain weights the only mass produced FP mold I know of is the special order from RCBS.

I have begun to load for a .25-35 (Win 94) but only J-words thus far but I am planning on rectifying that after while. My bullet and powders have only been the Speer 75 fp and the 4198's and H4895 ....... count me in the peanut gallery on this one.

Three 44s

[looseprojectile]

Brett;
I hope I get lucky [smilie=1:. You might be right. This gun has a one in eight twist and that load may be asking too much.

Peerlesscowboy;
I have some 117 grain RNs but I wanted to be able to shoot a lot cheap.

Three44s;
The boolit is a FP RCBS that my shooting partner bought from Midway last week.
Was not cheap, his money and I am taking advantage of it.
If this load doesn't work I will try ten grains of SR4759 next.
It's not raining now but I have a water pipe leaking under the house and that will probably keep me from having time to shoot today. Dang.

About fifty years ago I would pull bullets from M2 ball ammo and load the case with the military powder charge and an Ideal 31141 gas checked boolit and they shot fairly decent with no leading. As well as I can remember, I shot them in a Remington 760 30-06.
Thanks for the replies.

Life is good

[9.3X62AL]

In the Win 94 and itw 1-8" twist rate, accuracy goes south after 1600 FPS using the NEI 114 grain FNGC. In the 1500-1600 FPS envelope, the boolit shoots WONDERFULLY.

[44 flattop]

A couple of months ago I bought an old worn 94 carbine.
Turns out to have an excellent bore.
I searched the net for loads and my shooting partner bought the RCBS 100 grain gas check boolit mould. He came up with the sizing die and nose punch too. ......... Does anyone have any pet loads for this cartridge? I prefer accuracy more than velocity.

I have a FANTASTIC load for that bullet, the same one I use. From my mould with 60/40 WW/lead, sized, lubed and GC in place, weight is 109grs. I size .258.

22grs of 3031 is a wonderfully accurate load, groups usually in the 1/2" range at 50 yards, opening up to around 1 1/2" at 100 simply because my eyes are getting old. Not the load or the gun, just me. 20 years ago 1" @100 wasn't rare.

I've never chronographed this load but I'm sure its over 2000fps and does a very good job on deer. No leading, firing 300-500 rounds between cleaning doesn't affect the accuracy at all.

44

[Good Cheer]

Might try finding a 113 grain Lyman 257325 that's made for the 25-35. The gas check to crimp groove length is made to fit the case neck, keeping the grooves covered. Has a nose length to suit functioning in the '94.

[looseprojectile]

You men have given me some more to chew on. I appreciate all your help.
I will load some of the load that 44 Flattop suggested in the hope that it will do the same in my rifle. I can not justify ordering another mould for this caliber unless I don't get at least some joy out of this one.
These Specialty moulds of RCBS cost forty dollars more than their regular ones and I bet they smile all the way to the bank! Very nice mould though.
I will post my results after I shoot.


Life is good

[NHlever]

Lyman still makes the 257420 65 grain flat nose mold. I've only shot the boolits from my mold out of my .257 Roberts, but I see no reason that they wouldn't work in a 25-35......... I would sure like to find one so I could find out for myself. I had my order in for one of the new 94s's in that caliber, but Winchester shut down before I got it. For now I'm having fun with my Ruger Ultra Light .257.

[looseprojectile]

Joy and satisfaction.
Shot five of the 20 grains of 4064 loads at fifty yards and four went into three quarters of an inch. First round out of a clean barrel went high but stlll only opened the group to just an inch. I'm guessing they went 1,800 - 1,900 fps.
Good too is no leading, bore still shines after shooting.
Shooting in the rain is kind of sucky and was shooting off the hood of a really low import truck and was having trouble getting down on the gun.
Will give it a go during nicer weather from my bench.
At this point I wouldnt have to change a thing but you guys know I will have to try to improve on that load. Gonna try the 22 grains of 3031 too.
Thanks a lot for the help and ideas you have shared.

Life is good

[Bret4207]

Good for you! I guess some of us are just born lucky.


Good Cheer- the 325 mould is tough to find. The last one I bid on ended up in the $100.00 plus range.

[44 WCF]

I have a Win 25-35, recent manufacture, it's the rouind barrel economy version not the octagon. I have settle on an NEI bullet only because I came by the mold cheap. i'ts 114 gr gas check. However, the best shooter I've ever tried is from Mt Baldy Bullets in Wyoming. Using all powders from Trail Boss to H4895 this bullet clearly was the winner of all m accuracy test. It's sized to .258 has a red lube suspect is White Label, anyway, this bullet is a dream to load least for rifle. Contact Mt Baldy and tel them shooter in Price Utah suggested a try of their 25-35 bullet, don't think you will be dissapointed. My disappointment is not being able to cast equal to their in accuracy.