Casting for 25-20

[slk]

Is anyone here casting for the old 25-20. I have been and I am having some issues. I just seam to be shooting all over in a 4-5" diameter. Mostly high. If anyone here has some good load info it would be greatly appreciated. BTW I am shooting out of a winchester 1892 lever gun.

Steve

[sharpshooter3040]

Is anyone here casting for the old 25-20. I have been and I am having some issues. I just seam to be shooting all over in a 4-5" diameter. Mostly high. If anyone here has some good load info it would be greatly appreciated. BTW I am shooting out of a winchester 1892 lever gun.

Steve

If it’s a vintage gun there is a big variance in groove diameter also this old guns had a lot of corrosive ammo shot through the the the smaller the bore the worse it was. Anyway slug your barrel. You may need to bump your bullets to fit the groove. I have a 38-40 like that I had to make a gas check maker to fit over a plain base bullet and size accordingly . Just do some tinkering you’ll get there


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[Larry Gibson]

As mentioned you need to know the groove diameter of the barrel so you need to slug it.

Also unless we can figure out the "issues" you're having by knowing;
the bullet used
the alloy
GC'd or not
the sizing of the bullet
the lube
the load used

any "load" we might give probably won't help.

[FISH4BUGS]

I have a Savage Sporter in 25-20.
I haven't shot it much YET because I also got a box of Old Western Scrounger's reloads with it.
I DID buy moulds and brass and dies for it however, and it is on my list to get to cast and reload for.
What I HAVE found out, in addition to the SHARPSHOOTER3040'S INFO, is that 25-20 seems to shoot better with heavier bullets.
When you get it dialed in they shoot very accurately....or so I have been told.
Bore diameter is very important as he said.
Keep this thread alive - I will follow it also.

[Bad Ass Wallace]

I use a load of 7.5gn of Win 296 behind a 80gn plain base boolit. Very accurate and cheap to feed.

https://i.imgur.com/6AFUHJMl.jpg

[FISH4BUGS]

What mould(s) do you use for that 25-20?

[slk]

I am using a lyman 257420 GC. Sizing to .258. The barrel slugs out at .257. I have been using 4.5g of unique. I just do not seam to have any consistency. I am not interested in fast loads. Just easy accurate ones. I had heard that IMR 4227 was the choice back in the day because it was slow, but I do not see any info on that powder and the cast 257420 GC bullet.

Steve

[farmbif]

7 grains of 4227 with spp and 257420 will go about 1350fps in 22" barrel, its pretty darn good for getting rabbits out of the garden

[square butte]

I suggest you go to the Marlin Owners website and look at the 25-20 reloaders thread which is a walloping 78 pages or so - and will take you days to get through. More valuable information there on 25-20 than any other place i know. My 92 tends to like 70 to 80 grainers in cast. My suggestion is to try sizing to .259 and try other powders mentioned in above website thread. You will find more load data there than any place else

[FISH4BUGS]

I use a load of 7.5gn of Win 296 behind a 80gn plain base boolit. Very accurate and cheap to feed.

https://i.imgur.com/6AFUHJMl.jpg

And what mould(s) do you use?

[FISH4BUGS]

I suggest you go to the Marlin Owners website and look at the 25-20 reloaders thread which is a walloping 78 pages or so - and will take you days to get through. More valuable information there on 25-20 than any other place i know. My 92 tends to like 70 to 80 grainers in cast. My suggestion is to try sizing to .259 and try other powders mentioned in above website thread. You will find more load data there than any place else
What a great source of information on the 25-20.
Thanks!

[square butte]

I just wish i could find a descent way to print the whole thing off - I am just not to computer savy. It would be worth while to get it in hard copy. One of these days it's all gonna disappear.

[slk]

Ok guys I loaded up some rounds last night and tried them today. I used the IMR 4227 with 7.1 grains, and small pistol primers. What a difference it made. I was all of a sudden shooting 1/2" to 1 1/2" groups. I would have never guessed that combination would make that kind of difference. I am a happy camper now....

Steve

[Three44s]

Glad you made some progress!

I second the suggestion that one sign up for the Marlin Owners Forum if you are interested in loading, casting for the 25-20 Win. Once there, go to the reloading section and find the sticky for the cartridge. You will be very well rewarded for the time you invest there!

Three44s

[guy_with_boolits]

have you tried looking at the patents? they might have load data

[Bad Ass Wallace]

I use a load of 7.5gn of Win 296 behind a 80gn plain base boolit. Very accurate and cheap to feed.

https://i.imgur.com/6AFUHJMl.jpg
It is an 80 gn boolit from CBE

https://www.castbulletengineering.com.au/products/rifle-moulds/25-cal/product/693-257-80fnpb