Moder 25-5 questions

[bigted]

Traded into a spiffy 25-5 45 Colt with an 8 3/8ths barrel. Have a couple questions about it.

The serial is N716xxx. A pinned barrel and Target grips. Very nice dark blue rich deep color.

First Q ... What year manufacturer is this made in?

Second Q ... Have heard of problems with accuracy caused by the throats being large. Any light on this ... Fact or Rumer?

Thanks all

Ted

[rintinglen]

Past experience has indicated that many of the 45 colt S&WS do have large (.455-.456) throats. Only you can tell if yours has that problem. I believe that gun was made in 1980, at least what the Standard Catalog says.

[shorty500]

Many throats were even largeer running .457/.458. Some guns were sent back to factory for cylinder replacement. Just one of those situations where your best bet is to measure 1st

[Sakoluvr]

As a rule of thumb, most all the 25's with pinned and recessed barrels will have throats that exceed .452. Post 1980 guns that are not P&R should be .452. The post 1980 25-5 guns with a serial number that has three letters with four numbers had correct throats.

Buy some pin gauges ( you can get individual pins on Amazon and elsewhere) ranging from .452 through .457 or .458, which should cover your needs for that gun. See if all the throats are even. If they are, use bullets .001 under throat size with a BHN around 11. No need to hotrod the Smith. Keep it under mid tier loads. For example, I would not load any hotter than 18.0 grs of 2400 or 9.5 grs of Unique as an upper limit with 260gr Keiths.

You will need an expansion plug that is suitable for bullets that fill the larger throat. The M die is not going to cut it. I think that diameter is like .449. The RCBS cowboy die expander is not actually .454, but more like .4525, which should work. You do not want to shave lead and defeat the purpose of sizing to the throat. 2400 needs a good crimp and at least .003+ neck tension. Unique should work with .002+ tension.

I like Buffalo Arms custom expanders when you finally settle on something.

[keyhole]

I bought a 6" 25-5 new back in the late 70's. It was pinned and recessed. It was only in the last few years ( and long after I sold it) that I became aware of the problem with overly large throats.
Accuracy was poor to mediocre, depending on powder, bullet, and how I was doing that day. Shooting 2 hand, offhand at 25 yards it would not stay in a 6" diameter bullseye target. My other handguns-Colt Gold Cup, S&W M 14,27,29, etc. would stay in the 10-ring if I did my part. The 25-5 never could achieve that accuracy. I tried cast and jacketed, different powders, etc. Nothing made much difference so I finally gave up and sold it. Only after selling it did I find out that large chamber throats were probably the culprit. I did not know to measure them when I owned it so cannot report what was the diameter. I have to assume they were large. I replaced it with this US Fire Arms Single Action, which shoots just fine.
196668

Keyhole

[Thumbcocker]

I had an experience similar to Keyhole's in the 1990's/ Beautifully finished 6,5" would not shoot for beans. Traded it on a 5.5" model of 1989 and experienced big bore nirvana.

[Guesser]

I came into a 25-3 recently; I was aware of the throats on S&W 45 Colts, so first bench time the gun got, work bench not shooting bench was to slug the chamber throats. I was very surprised to find that they are a uniform .4525+/- with no discernible variation. Shooting it seemed to put it right next to my Ruger BH that I reamed the chambers to .4525 shortly after I got it.

[keyhole]

Does anyone know why S&W chose to bore the throats so large on the earlier 25-5's? It would seem if someone on their staff actually shot them they would have realized they had an accuracy problem.

[lotech]

I have two with oversized throats; bought them new in about '79 and '83. They shoot fairly well with .456" or .457" bullets.

[shorty500]

Most shoot well with ACWW metal sized to be a slip fit in throats, bee aware that many also have oversize chambers so neck sizing also helps accuracy by centering eveything up better as well as extending case life

[bigted]

This should fit rite in with my 92 winchester with its huge chamber. It shoots as good as i can with the Minnie's from my 45 cal Lee mold. Huge hollow base and round 300 grns. Will try em if i run into trouble.

[Char-Gar]

Smith and Wesson finally got the cylinder throats right on the 25-7

[bigted]

Wonder if the dash 7's cylinder would fit the older dash 5's

Be too easy im bettin.

[shorty500]

Wonder if the dash 7's cylinder would fit the older dash 5's

Be too easy im bettin.
cylinders can be fitted into earlier guns only catch is that the earliest m25-5s had short cylinders and it takes machining to shorten long cylinder to fit or shortening of barrel shank, whichever you and/or your gunsmith decide

CY

CY

[USSR]

Not all the 25-5's had large throats. I've got 2 with pinned barrels; one with .4545" throats, and the other with perfect .452" throats. I size my cast bullets accordingly.

Don

[Drm50]

I've got 3 m25-5s. Two are 6" and a 83/8". One 6" and the 83/8" are tack drivers. I shoot 242gr
WCs/ Unique at 750fps. My other 6"er has chambers under .452 and doest shoot for ****. The gun
is near mint, I'm going to send it away and have cylinders reamed. As is, it's useless.

[Sakoluvr]

I would give S&W a call before I sent out the cylinder for throat work. Customer service actually answers the phone......

[bigted]

Got the revolver on mon. She is a dandy for sure. Measured the cyl throats and they are all an even .455 inch. Have not had opportunity to shoot it yet tho. If purty is an indication then this hummer should shoot with perfection. Photos to follow ... Hopefully this weekend ... Lookin dubious tho.

[Sakoluvr]

I would try 8.5 grs of Unique under a .455 Keith for starters.

[sixshot]

I've had 3-4 of them with over size throats, you can get a bigger mold & shoot them unsized or even better when I've done the last few years is just cast them & powder coat them which adds a couple thousandths to bullet diameter & they shoot just fine.

Dick

[Drm50]

The normal problem with 25s are undersized chambers. If they are smaller than the bore it has a
bad effect on accuracy. Machine tools get smaller with wear. The manufacture has to set minimum
and maximum tolerances. This also shows up in 25-2s, 45acp.

[USSR]

Drm50,

You must be talking about new Model 25's, certainly not the old 25-5's this thread is about. Never heard of undersized chambers in Model 25-5's.

Don

[Catshooter]

To cure the .457 throats of my 25 I bought a 454424 off eBay. They would drop right at .457 so I sized 'em to .456. Shot really well.


Cat

[Lloyd Smale]

yup the 25-5s were known for out of spec throats and are notoriously bad shooters. that said ive seen a couple guys get them to work fairly well with some load development.

[murf205]

yup the 25-5s were known for out of spec throats and are notoriously bad shooters. that said ive seen a couple guys get them to work fairly well with some load development.

Yep, mine was a thing of beauty, 8 3/8 nickel full target. Wouldn't hit a bull in the behind. I sold it for waaay too cheap before I knew what the problem was. Wish it was in my safe today!