Sweet little #4 rolling block in .25-10 RF shoot quite well

[ndnchf]

I picked up this late model .25-10RF (AKA 25 Stevens) #4 boys rifle recently. It has a perfect bore and nice case colors. I swapped in a spare centerfire breech block and made brass from .22 Hornet. It shoots amazingly well when my aging eyes can see the basic barrel sights and target. A really fun little rifle.

[Nueces]

Oh, boy, what a little beauty. Right up my alley.

More details on case forming and your load, please.

[ndnchf]

Oh, boy, what a little beauty. Right up my alley.

More details on case forming and your load, please.

Case forming is pretty straight foraward:
-Anneal
-Run in .25 acp sizer. This leaves a belt ahead of the rim that must be reduced to around .277" diameter. I use a lathe, but it could be done with a drill press and file too.
-expand the case mouth to fit bullet. Some rifles have .251" grooves, others .257". Expand accordingly.
-trim to 1.125"
-Anneal again.

This load is 7.0gr of Reloader 7, CCI SP primers and an Arsenal mold 257420 bullet that weighs 72.5gr. This was good for about 1200fps. It may be a little hot for some rifles. Factory loads were said to run 1150fps. I worked up to this load, starting with 5.5gr. It was the most accurate if everything I've tried.

[725]

Photo appears to be a take-down. Very nice!

[Jedman]

I just bought a no. 4 about 2 weeks ago in 22 RF and it is in overall good shape except for the bore. I have a Redmans liner from a earlier project that was sold so at some point I may get to relining it.
I have a long list of projects ( guns ) and that one will be way down on the list but I love the little rifle for how well it is scaled down from it bigger brothers. Mine only has a trace of case colors and the blue is quite faded but I am going to leave it natural since it’s a hundred + year old gun and don’t mind honest wear from use.
Mine is also the lever takedown model and it’s still snug so I will leave that alone but it is one point that Remington gets a lower grade for. I guess when manufacturing costs are to be kept as low as possible it was passable.

Jedman

[Shawlerbrook]

That is sweet !!!

[ndnchf]

Jedman - I agree, the early takedown lever design was not very good. About 30 years ago I soldered a #4 barrel into the receiver to cure a loose one. Its still going strong. The later #4s with the takedown screw on the left were said to be an imorovement. Mine is tight.

[Nueces]

Case forming is pretty straight foraward:
-Anneal
-Run in .25 acp sizer. This leaves a belt ahead of the rim that must be reduced to around .277" diameter. I use a lathe, but it could be done with a drill press and file too.
-expand the case mouth to fit bullet. Some rifles have .251" grooves, others .257". Expand accordingly.
-trim to 1.125"
-Anneal again.

This load is 7.0gr of Reloader 7, CCI SP primers and an Arsenal mold 257420 bullet that weighs 72.5gr. This was good for about 1200fps. It may be a little hot for some rifles. Factory loads were said to run 1150fps. I worked up to this load, starting with 5.5gr. It was the most accurate if everything I've tried.

Lovely, thank you, Sir.

[bigwagon]

That's a neat cartridge conversion. I've got a couple of Stevens rifles (a Favorite and a 44) in 25 Stevens and it would be nice to get them back in action.

[ndnchf]

I have also taken the next step, converting the hornet based case to rimfire. They use a .22 starter pistol blank as a primer. No need to convert the breech block with these :-)

[Nobade]

I have also taken the next step, converting the hornet based case to rimfire. They use a .22 starter pistol blank as a primer. No need to convert the breech block with these :-)

Now there's an idea! And safer than using nailgun blanks.

[Mk42gunner]

Nice writeup for a nice rifle and cartridge combination. I wish I'd known just how simple it is to make suitable cases twenty years ago, I've passed on a few .25 RF rifles in that time due to ammo availability.

I like the No. 2 Remington's better, but really for the .22 and .25 the No. 4 may be a better fit. I certainly wouldn't turn down a decent No. 4 just because it was a No.4.

Robert

[ndnchf]

I bought a #4 for each of my sons when they were small boys. They are now in their mid-30s and still have them. I bought this .25-10RF #4 only because it was in such nice shape and priced really well. I'm really liking it more than I expected!

I am particularly fond of #2s. I have five of them, and a sixth arriving this week. They go from .22 to .44 cal. I shoot them all. They are really the perfect size!

[uscra112]

Despite being a die-hard Stevens fan, I will freely admit that my solid-frame .32 RF #4 is a much more precisely made rifle.

[John Taylor]

I made one of my #4s into a 32 S&W short. Fun little rifle to shoot.

[ndnchf]

Resurrecting an old thread.

Its been a while since I took the old #4 rifle out. So I went to the range yesterday and made a short video about shooting the .25 Stevens centerfire. Having both a rimfire and centerfire breech block makes it very versatile!



https://youtu.be/uW-lgd040ks