.25 Stevens Rimfire

[Bent Ramrod]

You could still buy Canuck .25 Stevens Rimfire cartridges back in the Seventies, at the truly outrageous price of $4.75 for a box of 50. This was almost twice what a box of 50 .22 WRFMs cost. Gougers, exploiters, rip-off artists; hissss... How dare they!

However, rifles in the calibers were relatively cheap, at least compared to the same models in centerfire calibers. And of course Stevens Favorites were all over the place. Once in a blue moon you could find one with a decent bore in .25 Rim Fire.

So I would occasionally buy a box of Canuck rounds and bang a few up at the dump for novelty. Once in a while, a box of older stuff no longer made by American ammo companies would turn up at a Gun Show for cheap. And sometimes loose rounds could be had for very little. I remember a plink-fest out at the dump with a Baggie full of US Cartridge Company .25 Rimfire black powder rounds. I used my second best bore Stevens Favorite for this, and was impressed with the accuracy, can-busting power and reliability of the grungy old ammo. Almost all of them fired the first time, and only a couple needed three snaps to get them to go "bang." I'm still impressed.

Now, of course, I'm very stingy with the stuff. Need to go on a squirrel hunt to justify shooting some shells. In the meantime, I can look at the boxes, at least.

191211

[Chev. William]

I found a Box of Peters .25 Stevens Long RF at a gun show about 3 years ago for $40 so The Prices continue to rise.
I converted one of my 'Favorite' from RF to CF and made Cases from .22Hornet Brass by Swaging and trimming.
THEN I found out that Once Fired 5.7x28mm Brass could be Swaged down to .25 Stevens diameters and needed much less Trimming to be usable.
Yes, it is a Multiple step process but it keeps that Favorite speaking and I am thinking of converting another.

Best Regards,
Chev. William

[too many things]

if info is right they are going to start a new line for the 25 rim that mexico company is going to do a line with the 5mm

[slumlord44]

Sure wish they would make some more. I have a prety good supply that I bought back when it was going for $1 a round. Don't shoot it a lot but still do on occasion.

[Drm50]

I use to prowl the ma & pa stores and gas stations in upper Ontario & Quebec for 25rf. Did good
untill late 80s. The last 30yrs or so haven't found any, Internet reaches there too. I have 3, 25rf
guns, Stevens Favorite, Stevens offhand pistol, and Marlin 27. I recently traded of a Stevens
single shot bolt action. I've only got about 100rds in my stash.

[Bent Ramrod]

I could kind of see the rationale for the revival of the .32 Rim Fire by that Brazilian company and Navy Arms. There were a ton of bureau-drawer revolvers in the caliber that the owners were curious about, most unfired or fired very little. I doubt either the manufacturer or the importer gave much thought to the rifle market, as those with good bores or yet unconverted to other calibers were few and far between.

Eventually, the market was saturated. When I bought the last of my stash of Navy Arms Brazilian .32 Rim Fire, it was $27.00 a box, new from the importer, if I recall. A friend of mine had a Smith & Wesson pocket revolver that shot real well with the stuff, if you cleaned it every couple cylinderfulls, and a friend of his had an as-new Marlin .32 Rim-or-Center lever-action that shot as good as any Marlin 39 .22 caliber with the stuff. Naturally, they shot their guns at least fairly regularly. But most customers satisfied their curiosity with one box or so of shells and weren't going to pay the price for a steady supply, so importation stopped.

Rifles in .25 Rim Fire with decent bores are few and far between, as well, and only a few single shot pistols were so chambered. So one can see the hesitancy of a manufacturer to tool up for a revival of the cartridge. Too bad, because it's three times the cartridge the .32 Rim Fire ever was.

On the other hand, they make that .22 Winchester Automatic cartridge in special runs, and while that rifle was a good seller, it was the only one so chambered. So maybe we will see some new .25 RF around eventually. One hopes. Even regular .22 rimfire is priced so ridiculously high that people might be used to higher prices for specialty rimfire now, and be willing to keep paying for them.

[Chev. William]

JOY! I received A Package of Hornady .257' Diameter 60 Grain JFP bullets this Afternoon.
My Next "putter Job" will be Tumble lubing them prior to resizing them to .250"-.251" diameter for use in my .25 Stevens/.25ACP series of Experiments.

At 60 grains, they are slightly 'light for the .25 Stevens replacement CF use.
For .25ACP and .25 Magnum Auto though, they are of good weight to go with for my experiments.
In .25-10 Halsted, 6,35x26mmSR, 6,35x28,6mmSR, and 6,35x32mmSR they will allow better work up of Charges.

Minor Frustration is that USPS still has NOT delivered my Lee Precision. I had Rescheduled for delivery today; but no show! Again!

Best Regards,
Chev. William

[Bent Ramrod]

Hey, Chev, what is the progress on the Stevens rifles you were building in .25 Stevens centerfire calibers?

I've got two 44 actions that I'm slowly rehabbing. It does take forever; I hope you're ahead of me.

[Traffer]

If one were to acquire the brass for 25rf (new or used) it could be reloaded. Since I have made all of the dies and developed a process for 22rf it would be fairly easy for me to reload 25's or any other rim fire caliber.

[bdicki]

I have some. Not a full box
http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t182/bdicki/25%20Stevens_zpstfv3qgpf.jpg

[flint45]

I would like it if .25 stevens was popular today.Say about $5.50 a box now that would be nice.

[Chev. William]

Hey, Chev, what is the progress on the Stevens rifles you were building in .25 Stevens centerfire calibers?

I've got two 44 actions that I'm slowly rehabbing. It does take forever; I hope you're ahead of me.

The CF conversions are STILL in my Gunsmith's hands as "Low Budget Back Burner jobs" to keep my costs down. as A obvious result he works on my rifles when not being pressured by better paying Work.
My "Model 44" is waiting for him to finish fitting the CF firing pin to the Action.
My "Favorite" is still waiting for the re-bore of its Breech Block from RF to CF and fitting the new Firing pin.
The "Marlin 56" conversion (to .25ACP) is still at home in pieces waiting for my gunsmith to say when to bring it in. the BIG charge will be turning the LW .25ACP/6,35 Browning Barrel blank to fit the Marlin "Levermatic" Action. A Bolt assembly is already converted and waiting to be installed. I think I have Candidate 8 round magazines Identified but still need to get them verified with the Converted Action.
The Magazines need to be 'padded' in width to fit the Magazine well, and a retainer pad added to the Rear Face.

Currently I also have an 1890 Winchester in the Process of a "Putter Project" conversion. I have a 'bubbaed' .22WRF, barrel shortened to 20", that is lined to .25ACP sizes and has 1:14" Twist and 6 groove Rifling. I have a Type 3 Bolt assembly that is converted to CF using a 5/64" diameter Dowel Pin for the New Tip of the Firing Pin. The Tip hole in the Bolt Body is about .080" so it has about .002" total Clearance (.001" per side).
I already Checked cartridge fit and function in the Tube Magazine, a 'WRF" aftermarket Replacement set, that has the 'loading port' in the outer tube enlarged to clear the Larger rim and body diameters.
A 'Assembled from Parts' Trigger housing Assembly will include a lifter set up to adjust for Cartridge diameters (clear .306" rims) and varying lengths (range from about .820" to .910" or so).
The rest of the parts will be from Spares I bought over time for my two original 1890's; in .22WRF and .22WRF/.22WMR Conversion.

Best Regards,
Chev. William

[Chev. William]

I find .25ACP seems to be running $11.98 a box of 50 Factory 50 grain FMJ-RN at the Moment.
I was able to buy 300 pieces of Hornady 60 Grain JSFN Bullets for $90.80 last week.

Making .25 Cases from FNB once fired 5.7x28mm is still reasonable at about $80 for 1000 cases (I am working From a ~2400 case stash at the moment).
Case resizing tooling has been my Big Expense (~$60 each for four different diameter Sizing Dies to swage cases from .312-.314" down to .276" diameter).
.25ACP reloading die sets run from $28 to $50 so far. I definitely Prefer "Carbide Ring, or Button", resizing dies!

Propellant goes Far at 1.0 to 3.0 grain Smokeless Charge per Cartridge (.25ACP) ranging up from there for the Longer cases. BP charges start at ~5 grains of FFFG in the .25ACP case.

Best Regards,
Chev. Willaim

[fatelk]

if info is right they are going to start a new line for the 25 rim that mexico company is going to do a line with the 5mm

That would be cool. We have an old Favorite that's been in the family for a century or so, in .25 Long. The bore is pretty bad and I've thought many times about lining it to .22lr but never have.

[Chev. William]

John Taylor, as "Taylor Machine" does Excellent Relining on old Stevens Barrels and can refurbish an old Stevens action also.
He does Post on this general forum web site so is searchable on here.

Best Regards,
Chev. william