25 acp?? (Yeah, I know...)

[Vettepilot]

Ok, so I was pissed at not being able to find any bullets in stock to reload 25 acp, and further pissed at the price of them if they would have been in stock! It's already questionable to bother loading the little critter, but I had wanted to just for fun, and because 25 acp ammo is ridiculous in price, even if you could ever find it. But I'm not particularly excited about the idea of gearing up to cast for it too!!

So.... I stumbled across some air gun pellets, and with not much to lose, I bought them. They look really nice! They're swaged, 55 grain, hollow point. The only problem: they're very soft at BHN 6.

:~(

So, the big question. You guys think there's a snowball's chance I can use them successfully if I powder coat them?? Any suggestions?

Please don't berate me for loading 25 acp, it's a personal choice...

Thanks!
Vettepilot

[pworley1]

There is nothing wrong with the 25 acp. If those don't work for you try to get the lyman 252435 mold. There are usually used ones available.

[Shanghai Jack]

How about #3 buckshot for a bullet?

[Hanzy4200]

Nothing wrong with loading .25 brother. I would hunt a mold. I can't remember offhand what I have, I think it's a 50'ish gr. RCBS. They are a pain to find, look on Ebay. None of the main line makers still produce them. I'm going to say the hollow base nature of pellets are not going to be conducive. Are you sure they are 55 gr? That is a MASSIVE airgun pellet. I shoot Diablo Super Jumbo's and they are 18 gr.

[WRideout]

Hi, my name is Wayne and I load 25 auto. The preferred load for my Armi Galesi is the Lyman 252435 as cast, Ben's Liquid Lube, over 1.4 gr Unique. The boolit has a nominal book weight of 51 gr.

If the air gun pellets have a skirt, that might be a problem. If plain-based, you could probably PC and shoot, as you said. 55 gr or more might be a bit heavy for the 25 auto, so I would start LOW. You might not need to do anything more that tumble lube since velocity is not that great.

Wayne

PS: If you wanted to try some of my boolits, I would be happy to send some. Just PM me with your particulars.

[Poygan]

I have loaded the 25acp in the past. I used the RCBS 50 grain mold and jacketed 50 grain boolits. Both worked well in a Beretta 950 but I could not get an appreciable accuracy from the 35 grains boolits.

[mdi]

Got a pic of the pellets? I certainly would try if I already had some. PCing permits too soft bullets to be used OK with no leading...

[Hanzy4200]

Hi, my name is Wayne and I load 25 auto. The preferred load for my Armi Galesi is the Lyman 252435 as cast, Ben's Liquid Lube, over 1.4 gr Unique. The boolit has a nominal book weight of 51 gr.

If the air gun pellets have a skirt, that might be a problem. If plain-based, you could probably PC and shoot, as you said. 55 gr or more might be a bit heavy for the 25 auto, so I would start LOW. You might not need to do anything more that tumble lube since velocity is not that great.

Wayne

PS: If you wanted to try some of my boolits, I would be happy to send some. Just PM me with your particulars.

That's funny Wayne. A Armi Galesi is what started me casting .25 also. Picked it up at a Gander Mt. for $69 sold as "Parts only". Shoots great. Now I have 5-6 little 25's.

[Stopsign32v]

There is nothing wrong with the 25 acp. If those don't work for you try to get the lyman 252435 mold. There are usually used ones available.

When the puddle on top of the sprue plate weighs more than your boolits. :lol:

[Mk42gunner]

BHN of 6 is pretty close to pure lead in hardness. Out of a handgun, with its resulting low velocities you may be able to get away with one of the tumble type lubes instead of powder coating.

I don't see anything wrong with loading the little critter, except for possible finger pinching. A set of forceps may be in your future.

Not knowing the diameter of your pellets, you may have to run them trough a sizing die.

I have everything needed for loading the .25 ACP, except a mold. I do have about a quart of 50 gr FMJ on hand though, somewhat north of 2,000 of the dinky projectiles.

I have a .25 ACP rifle project in the works; most of the needed parts are here, just waiting the time to install a liner and put everything together.

Robert

[Super Sneaky Steve]

I shoot super soft boolits all the time. PC hollow points in all my handguns. No problem at all and no leading.

[Vettepilot]

Well, this is sounding promising. Glad I wrote in.

Some of you misunderstand though, and are thinking of the common, classic cheaper air rifle little skirted pellets. That's not what these are. These are proper little flat based, hollow point bullets weighing 55 grains and intended to be shot out of high end air guns at 1000 fps more or less for hunting. They're really very cool and I like them.

See pic.

Oh, and they are exactly .250". Powder coating them might be the best, both for size, and because of how soft they are??

Vettepilot

[Texas by God]

I STILL want an old Beretta Jetfire? model 950 .25 acp pistol. John Browning's littlest cartridge is fun. I had a Galesi that was accurate and fun until the striker tunnel split out the bottom from fatigue. I will definitely reload for it if one comes my way.

Sent from my SM-A716U using Tapatalk

[Jeffrey]

Check NOE. I have and like several of his moulds, have no financial interest in his company. https://noebulletmolds.com/site/product-category/251/

[mdi]

Those "slugs" are more like a NLG bullet than a pellet (wasp waist, skirted, hollow base). I definately would try PCing some. BTW a .25 caliber air rifle would very possibly produce higher velocity than a 25 Auto load in a mini-gun...

[Vettepilot]

Oh yes! The high end air guns routinely shoot these over 1000 fps. A 25 acp won't reach that velocity.

I wrote the company asking about loading these in smokers, but they said they had no experience and couldn't comment.

BTW, they have these in several weights, from 33 gr. in small graduations up higher than 55 I believe.

Vettepilot

[Vettepilot]

So what's the consensus here? Lube them with Alox and try them, or just "bite the bullet" (:???:) and go ahead and powder coat them?

Does anyone here know how deeply you can safely seat the projectile in 25 acp?? With only .2 gr spread between start and max charges, I'd say there's not much room for mistakes nor experimentation!

Thanks!
Vettepilot

[georgerkahn]

I have both a Beretta 950BS and a Beretta 418 (from 1939) in .25acp, and to my way of thinking I'd save factory for "carry", while using my 252435 castings for fun/practice. I do not believe you'll have any problem at all using those 55 gn airgun slugs! Bion, I have a couple of airguns (albeit in .22) which shoot at significantly higher velocity than powder-fired .25's!
I should think that any lub might work -- I'd try whichever is more convenient/at hand -- and if it works -- e.g., 100% function and no lead -- simply stick with it. With the mouse-length Beretta barrels I've not had any leading issues.
My only issue was in the actual loading, as I started using a huge pair of tweezers I bent a "zero" shape into, as to start the bullet in my press actually became painful after even a handful or two of cases. I took the "expensive way" out ;) and -- while I was kind of looking for a press to minimize run-out in another calibre (.221 Rem Fireball) -- I elected to purchase a Mayville Engineering press. (Best thing I've done in a lonnng time!) By happerstance, there is soooo much finger room my loading .25acp (and, also .380) is now a pleasure! An added 'bonus' is it has a free-floating shell holder, and has drastically reduced any runout in all cartridges I use this press to load.290071
Back to your pellet query -- I doubt if you'll have problems with either lub. I keep my loaded cases at 0.900" OAL; I lub my cast bullets in a Lyman 450; and, I use H&I .251" sizing die.
Good luck!
geo

[Mk42gunner]

I'll measure the length of a few of the 50 gr FMJ I have. Simple subtraction from OAL and case length should give the seating depth. I'll report back tomorrow.

I've never powder coated anything, but I have to think that tumble lubing is simpler, at least til you find out if the bullets work in your gun.

Robert

[jim147]

They are soft enough i would lube one and push it down the barrel to see if it will engage the rifling at current size.

[deltaenterprizes]

Well, this is sounding promising. Glad I wrote in.

Some of you misunderstand though, and are thinking of the common, classic cheaper air rifle little skirted pellets. That's not what these are. These are proper little flat based, hollow point bullets weighing 55 grains and intended to be shot out of high end air guns at 1000 fps more or less for hunting. They're really very cool and I like them.

See pic.

Oh, and they are exactly .250". Powder coating them might be the best, both for size, and because of how soft they are??

Vettepilot
Those are really nice! 25ACP Bullets are shorter, beware of the bullet taking up case capacity and raising pressures!

[deltaenterprizes]

Oh yes! The high end air guns routinely shoot these over 1000 fps. A 25 acp won't reach that velocity.

I wrote the company asking about loading these in smokers, but they said they had no experience and couldn't comment.

BTW, they have these in several weights, from 33 gr. in small graduations up higher than 55 I believe.

Vettepilot
I would try the 33gr version!

[Vettepilot]

Thanks a bunch for the responses guys!! You're great! ;~)

The reason I ask about the seating depth possibilities, is that my last fear is that these bullets, with their deep hollow point, might be too long for 25 acp. I might have to order one of their shorter, lighter bullets. (They've got several like this, in various weights.)

Vettepilot

[jim147]

A 55 grain fmj is .460 long. So,I think those might be too long to feed but give one a try.

[rintinglen]

(209)-874-4322,
Bear Creek Supply.
They have a cast bullet suitable for the 25 ACP listed. They are phone or mail orders only right now, due to problems with their website, but a phone call will let you talk to them. They are a small outfit that caters to the fanciers of the old and odd.

[Mk42gunner]

I measured both the 50 grain FMJ and the 35 grain JHP that I have. No idea what brand they were, they came in a couple of tobacco tins. The 50's averaged .444" in length, the 35's were .330 average. Neither were very consistent, they varied from the average +/- 0.002-3".

Given a max OAL of 0.910" and a case length of .615", the 50's have a seating depth of 0.139". The 35's in Hornady's and Lyman's have a OAL of .870" giving them a seating depth of 0.075".

Hope this helps,

Robert

[Vettepilot]

Thanks a bunch. I'll have a look today and see if I think they'll load. I was thinking I'd need to make a shell for testing max length to the lands, but it looks like mag length is the limiting factor in this case, as my factory bullets are right at mag length I see.

It'll be close... I was hoping factory rounds might have been seated one caliber deep, but your numbers say no. We'll see. Worse case being I'll need to order some of their lighter bullets. The 33 grain might be interesting to try anyway!

Thanks again!
Vettepilot

[Vettepilot]

Ok. These bullets are .484". To get a COAL of .910" would require them to be seated .184". That's .043" deeper than your number. That's a lot, and I was afraid of this. I don't know how much of a factor it might actually be because we don't know if your .139" is a hard number. Other conventional bullets might be seated deeper.

Well, now to see if the .910" is a hard number as regards chamber/throat/lead/rifling, or the magazine. I'm thinking I'm going to find myself making a jig to whack these guys a little shorter with my baby chop saw...

:~(

Edit: Yeah, not good. I could go maybe .010" longer in the magazine. Since that won't get me where I need to be; there's no use bothering to check CBTO to the rifling. So I'll need to cut .040" off the nose of these to use them.

They have an identical bullet except that it's 43.5 grains and .400" length. That'll work! I just ordered a box. 19 bucks for 225 bullets=8.5 cents each.

Vettepilot

[jim147]

Good luck with the shorter bullets. Stay safe.

[mdi]

Ae you going to tumble lube or PC, depends. Your OP stated PCing, and since that's what's on your mind, PC!

[Mk42gunner]

Yeah, the .25 has a very small combustion chamber. I would not want to arbitrarily shorten it by .043" and not expect bad things to happen, especially since most .25 ACP pistols are not the strongest guns around.

My little rifle project is intended to be a replacement for a .22 rifle as a small game getter, and maybe for a bit larger critters.

Robert

[Vettepilot]

Yeah, the .25 has a very small combustion chamber. I would not want to arbitrarily shorten it by .043" and not expect bad things to happen, especially since most .25 ACP pistols are not the strongest guns around.

My little rifle project is intended to be a replacement for a .22 rifle as a small game getter, and maybe for a bit larger critters.

Robert

Yeah, my thoughts exactly. I think I can come up with a quicky little jig to whack .040" off the nose of these using my mini chop saw. That's probably right at the kerf of the saw blade; not much to trim off, and being a hollow point, it should go quite easy. That will allow me to use up this box, then I've got slightly shorter, 43.5 grain versions on the way.

Your rifle project is quite interesting, and sounds like something I would do. Keep me posted on progress??

Where did you source a barrel?

Thanks,
Vettepilot

[Vettepilot]

A while back, I began an adventure to make a little pistol for back yard plinking. The idea was to use 22 cal air gun pellets, launched with a magnum shotgun primer. Just short range; like camp or back yard plinking at cans.

The 22 cal for air guns is a different size than 22lr, but I sourced a suitable, rifled barrel. However, I've got WAY TOO MANY projects going, and before I got any farther with it, this dam reloading component shortage hit. My LGS has not received a single primer shipment in over a year!!

Then, at 10 cents a primer, the luster of the project rather faded. It's on the back shelf now...

:~(

Vettepilot

[Mk42gunner]

I've got a Stevens Model 101, a .44XL shot gun that really isn't too impressive as a shotgun (even though my Great Grandma is supposed to have killed a goose with hers, Dad said it only took four shots). I bought this one with the express purpose of putting a .32 S&W Long barrel on it. Tried the .44 shot cartridge, decided to go ahead with making it a rifle.

Fell into half a .30 cal ammo can of .25 ACP brass, and it kind of snowballed. Got interested in the .22 Ladybug, couldn't find a cheap .22 barrel. Another member had a rifle length (~26") .251" barrel liner from TJ's.

My main hold up is making a piloted 7/16 drill to install the liner, that and getting the time to do it. I will rent a chamber reamer when I finally put the parts together.

I would like to see small pistol primers readily available on the shelf before I go much farther, seems like everything I want to shoot these days uses the spp.

Robert