S&W 25-5 followed me home

[shell70634]

I picked up a 25-5 45 Colt today. What size should the cylinder holes be? I don't have an inside mike, so I used good quality calipers to check diameters. Four holes are .456 and two are .458 as best I can determine. The numbers may be a little off but the difference isn't. A .454 sized boolit drops thru all of them.
It's in need of a good scrubbing. Would a sonic cleaner have any detrimental affect on nickel? I've only used the sonic cleaner a couple times and wasn't impressed with it anyway.

Shelly

[shell70634]

I firgot, without pictures it never happened.
The other is a 27-2, 8 3/8 barrel. I didn't have one so she followed too.
247587

[Wheelguns 1961]

The best way to measure the throats are with pin gauges. I would just try to give a good cleaning with your preferred solvent. If it were me, I would load up some .454’s and try them out. If the accuracy is not acceptable, there are hollow base molds available that can improve your accuracy. I am sure some of the old pros on here can give you much better suggestions than me. Congratulations on a great gun, and good luck with it.
Edit; I was typing when you were posting your pictures. So you brought home 2 N frames on the same day, now I’m jealous.

[oldhenry]

I envy you. The 25-5 is my favorite. In the 80's I had a 8 3/8", 6 1/2" & a 4". I gave the 8 3/8" to our oldest son, sold the 6 1/2" (bad mistake) & the 4" was stolen by a burglar. The 4" was my favorite: I shot IPSC with it just for fun (the pepper poppers went down immediately). The 8 3/8 was a bowling pin killer.

I never measured the throats of either one (I just shot them).

Henry

[DougGuy]

You do want all the throats to be consistent since tighter ones raise pressure which changes POI. You can always size to fit the throats. The Uberti in my avatar pic has .4565" throats, .451" barrel, I shoot 454190 sized .456" and it is very accurate and no leading.

[DHDeal]

I'd not put it in an ultra sonic cleaner with anything stronger than water and dawn. I cannot say definitively that one of the gun cleaning solutions would be harmful to nickel, but I wouldn't chance it myself.

[StrawHat]

If you have some slightly oversize soft lead bullets you can shove them through the chambers and measure them. I would number the chambers so you can record the information. With calipers, it is easier to measure a round object than a hole.

Now, having said that, have you fired it yet? Don’t make this too complicated. Size the boolits as large as you can and try them. I have a 25-5 and was warned “...they ALL have grossly oversized throats...”. Maybe they do but firing .455s I have been able to take several Ohio white tails.

I have other revolvers I would use for competition.

Kevin

[6bg6ga]

I had one that followed me home a few years back and I make sure the door is locked so it can't get out. Awesome gun.

[onelight]

What I hear is , cleaning solution with ammonia is bad on nickel .

[Guesser]

My 25-3 in 45 Colt measures a more or less uniform .453 as done with soft slugs and a micrometer. I size to .452 and it shoots better than I can, definitely shoots better than my Ruger NMBH that has had all chambers uniformly done to .4525.

[30calflash]

Your 25-5 is an older model with the pinned barrel. The sizes you stated are about par for the early ones.

My pinned 6" has .456+ throats and a Lyman 454424 cast at that size, so it works well. A later unpinned -5 has smaller throats, I've not measured them but it shoots .452 swaged bullets pretty well.

Be careful with Hoppes#9, it eats nickle plating if soaked in it. Make sure you wipe all the #9 off before putting it in a pistol rug, Trace amounts of #9 will soak into the cloth and if your nickled piece resides there for a time it will get a mottled finish from the imbedded solvent.

[gwpercle]

I hate when they follow me home . The wife doesn't mind the revolvers so much ...it's the stray kittens that get me in the "doghouse" !

Sweet looking 25-5
Gary

[DiverJay]

I've always held a reverence for wheel guns. Simple and reliable. Just the way God made them.

[Dan Cash]

Regarding solvents on a nickel gun: Any solvent that will loosen or remove copper or other metal fouling will ruin your nickel finish.

[Drm50]

I've got three 25-5s, 83/8" & two 6.5". One 6.5" is pinned and front blade is pinned, it has Patridge blade and is my favorite. I have it and 83/8" sighted for 242gr WCs that I shoot as cast, pan lubed. I have never checked the chamber diameters because both shoot well. The other 6.5" is tuned for 250gr RNFP cast, sized .454 running 850fps. WCs running 750fps. My 455 Colt NS is a 45/70 bullet modified to 272gr and sized .457 and run at 600fps. Boolits cast soft with extra shot of tin.

[StrawHat]

...for 242gr WCs that I shoot as cast, pan lubed...

Is that the SAECO 453?

Kevin

[one-eyed fat man]

I have an absolutely beautiful 6-1/2 inch 25-2 that, despite proclaiming itself "Model 1955 Target" has a tough time keeping 6 rounds of the most lovingly crafted match ammunition on a number 3 wash tub at 25 yards. Another member here has an S&W Brazilian navy contract Model 1937 that looks like it spent its career in the bilge of a submarine. To my dismay, and his wife''s displeasure, I can hit mailbox at 75 meters with his revolver and GI hardball with monotonous regularity.

In ungentlemanly fashion, he has exhibited excessive paroxysms of mirth over this situation.