.25 Stevens rimfire

[ascast]

Hope fully in correct catogry --- What to do with a 25 Stevens rimfire? I have a chance to get a shooter very cheap. I have one box of ammo, which is worth more than the rifle. Does anybody convert these to centerfire? If so, what caliber? new brass? etc etc. thanks all

ps this will be a 44 action

[LAGS]

If you don't care about that rifles collectors value , you could just have it Relined to .22 cal.
I Relined a .32 RF pistol to .22lr because the ammo was not available or I couldn't afford it.

[ascast]

the rifle has a very good bore, and I have lots of 22's

[G W Wade]

I have some 25 Stevens Long but no rifle. Have heard someone does make them every couple of years, but as you said SPENDY GW

[SSGOldfart]

yep your starting down a costly road. this comes up every few years.I also have a couple of them dust collectors, due to ammo shortage,
If it's a good deal maybe you could make a buck on it ?

[dtknowles]

I would think you could reform .22 Hornet and use .22 blanks.

Tim

[elk hunter]

Given enough time, money and/or proper equipment and skill just about anything is possible. Is it worthwhile? Only you can decide.

If I were going to do it I would buy or make a centerfire breech block. I believe I could make brass by either turning them from brass rod or by turning the head of the cartridge and then fitting the proper size brass tubing to the head using low temp silver solder. Then I would make a bullet mould and a set of simple dies to load with. Loaded with black powder as the original cartridge was or low pressure smokeless I believe it would quite safe.

This sounds like a fun challenge. I may just have to start looking for a 25 rimfire.

[elmacgyver0]

If the hammer hits hard enough, you could use nail gun blanks and 25 pellets.

[ascast]

I think those blanks would work to prime, but the smokeless loads are to much for that action, or at least I;m going to assume it is.

[Mk42gunner]

There are a few threads on making shootable brass for the .25 Stevens. I don't remember if they are in the brass conversion or rimfire area.

Robert

[ascast]

What about re - chambering in 25-20? A quick look and it seems close enough to work

[Harter66]

Or 25 ACP.

[405grain]

If it's a 44 1/2 action 25-20 is doable, but if it's just a Stevens 44 that might be too much cartridge. Besides doing a re-chamber, reline or a barrel swap, there's also the work that would need to be done on the breech block to convert from rimfire to center fire. There would be enough involved on a project like this that the owner would have to weigh cost vs reward. before going down that road it might be better to explore ways of getting or producing ammo that the rifle can use as is.

FYI: The 25 Stevens rimfire uses a .251" diameter bullet, so about the only smokeless powder alternative would be the 25 acp.

[dtknowles]

You also have to consider what is too expensive for ammo to shoot. I have hundreds of rounds of .25 stevens short rimfire that I bought recently for less than $2 dollars a shot. Yes, a lot of money compared to .22 rf but not a lot more that some ammo. If you just want a box of 50 so you can shoot 5 or ten rounds every once in a while, $100 might be fine. I understand to confusion regarding the price of a gun and the cost of ammo but most of my guns I have almost as much invested in dies, brass and such as I do in the gun. I have a few guns where the scope cost more than the gun. I can sell the gun for more than I paid but not so the scope.

I have been buying a lot of vintage rimfire ammo because it is going to only get scarcer.

If I could snag a nice .25 rf with nice wood and a good solid action cheap, I would grab it. I am sure I could make ammo and I have some ammo too. I would not be buying it to convert it to something else.
Tim

[Bent Ramrod]

A Stevens rifle in any rimfire caliber with a still shootable bore is not a routine find. Stevens barrels set many records back in the good old days. I myself would go to considerable trouble to keep it as it is and find a way to shoot it.

Check with Steve Blancard (ndnchf) on this site. He’s the guru for getting obsolete rimfire guns shooting again. He also runs a Facebook site devoted to obsolete rimfire cartridges. Another guy who hasn’t posted in a while, (ChevalierWilliam?) did a lot of work on .25 and .32 rimfire substitutions. Finding his old posts would get you a long ways. (Whatever happened to that guy, anyway? I always enjoyed his posts.)

You can get an extra CF 44 breechblock on one of the auction sites (do your research to make sure you’re getting the right one) and make shells from .22 Hornet or .25 Auto, or you can modify various shells for .22 blanks and use them for priming.

Worst case scenario, you can get a CF breechblock (or modify yours to CF) and rechamber to .25-20 SS or WCF, depending on how you luck out finding brass. I have a 44 so rechambered, from SS to WCF, and .25 Rimfire equivalent loads can be made up with the centerfire rounds. It will loosen up and need the linkage rebuilt if you try doing “Hi-Speed” loadings. Don’t ask me how I know this.

[uscra112]

Poster ndnchf and others (including me) have worked out the details for making reloadable brass from .22 Hornet. Can be either centerfire or use an "acorn blank" as primer for rimfire. Not hard, but it does require a small lathe.

Here's the best thread, on the ASSRA site. Long, long read, but everything you need to know is there.

https://forum.assra.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?num=1519327136/0

The acorn blank route does not require any mods to the rifle. I do NOT recommend using nailgun loads, mostly because punching out the spent ones is so hard on the adapter cases.

[Shanghai Jack]

Hope fully in correct catogry --- What to do with a 25 Stevens rimfire? I have a chance to get a shooter very cheap. I have one box of ammo, which is worth more than the rifle. Does anybody convert these to centerfire? If so, what caliber? new brass? etc etc. thanks all

ps this will be a 44 action

What to do with it? Send it to me. Seriously once you've modified some hornet cases, the reloading part as described by the other members here isn't hard. Just did 50 this morning.

[dtknowles]

Poster ndnchf and others (including me) have worked out the details for making reloadable brass from .22 Hornet. Can be either centerfire or use an "acorn blank" as primer for rimfire. Not hard, but it does require a small lathe.

Here's the best thread, on the ASSRA site. Long, long read, but everything you need to know is there.

https://forum.assra.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?num=1519327136/0

The acorn blank route does not require any mods to the rifle. I do NOT recommend using nailgun loads, mostly because punching out the spent ones is so hard on the adapter cases.

Thanks for the link, it openned my eyes to posibly using 5.7 brass. I got some.

Tim

[uscra112]

The rims would be a little undersized, but close enough for the centerfire version. There might not be enough left for the acorn blank version, but you won't know until you try. Keep us posted!

[ndnchf]

Poster ndnchf and others (including me) have worked out the details for making reloadable brass from .22 Hornet. Can be either centerfire or use an "acorn blank" as primer for rimfire. Not hard, but it does require a small lathe.

Here's the best thread, on the ASSRA site. Long, long read, but everything you need to know is there.

https://forum.assra.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?num=1519327136/0

The acorn blank route does not require any mods to the rifle. I do NOT recommend using nailgun loads, mostly because punching out the spent ones is so hard on the adapter cases.

That thread is indeed full of good information. I load and shoot 25 Stevens in both rimfire and centerfire for two rifles - a #4 rolling block and a #2 rolling block. It is an excellent cartridge - accurate, economical and just plain fun. I've posted several youtube videos about shooting it too. Its takes some work to make your cases and loading gear, but if you are a dedicated shooter, a little extra effort is well worth it. If the bore was shot out, then its worth relining to something easier. But since the bore is very good, its well worth the effort.

[ndnchf]

I'll add that not all rifles chambered for 25 Stevens use a .251" groove size. My understanding is that Stevens made rifles do, at least the early ones. But Remington and perhaps others used a .258" groove size (plus or minus a little). So definitely slug the bore to find out what you have. Centerfire cases are pretty easy to make from .22 Hornet brass. Converting them to reloadable rimfire takes a bit more work. I'll say up front this is not for the beginning or casual reloader. It takes special effort and care to make these. If you are seriously interested in pursuing this, PM me with your email address. I've written up detailed, step by step instructions with photos showing how I make my .25 Stevens cases. I can send a .pdf of it.
Steve

[uscra112]

I have never found a Stevens with the mythical .251 grooves. I have seven Stevens examples, starting with a sideplate Favorite and running through the years to a Savage-era 1915 Favorite. Model 44s, Model 12s, They all slug ~.257 groove diameter.

I think the idea about a .251 groove must come from the entry in Barnes. Not the only error he published with respect to Stevens cartridges.

[ndnchf]

Here is a video I made about shooting the .25 Stevens just before Thanksgiving.
https://youtu.be/N4VKrxhvD6E

[Shanghai Jack]

That thread is indeed full of good information. I load and shoot 25 Stevens in both rimfire and centerfire for two rifles - a #4 rolling block and a #2 rolling block. It is an excellent cartridge - accurate, economical and just plain fun. I've posted several youtube videos about shooting it too. Its takes some work to make your cases and loading gear, but if you are a dedicated shooter, a little extra effort is well worth it. If the bore was shot out, then its worth relining to something easier. But since the bore is very good, its well worth the effort.

Yeppers, this is the place to go for info. I was so impressed I sprung for a new lathe and mill just so I could play like ndnchf.

[ndnchf]

Yeppers, this is the place to go for info. I was so impressed I sprung for a new lathe and mill just so I could play like ndnchf.

Well done - go forth and make good things :-P

[dipstick]

308615
A good friend of mine converted a Marlin 25 Steven’s RF to a center fire and wrote the attached summary of what he did. Roy is approaching 90 years old and suffers from macular degeneration, but he still gets things done.

[uscra112]

Seems like we're just re-inventing the wheel here.

[ndnchf]

With the growing interest in the .25 Stevens, I decided to make a video showing how I convert .22 Hornet to .25 Stevens. I made a 2-part video series showing my process.

Part 1 covers reforming .22 Hornet to .25 Stevens dimensions. Part 2 cover converting the case from centerfire to reloadable rimfire.

I hope you find it interesting.
Steve

Part 1:
https://youtu.be/y_9G-FqDdKk

Part 2:
https://youtu.be/GsEV8MwXDu8