25-20wcf 75 grain no gas check?

[Mountain Meadow]

Hi all,

Does anyone have any experience with what can be expected from a cast 75 grain bullet without a gas check in 25-20?

I have a lead on a good mould, but it is expensive and I'm wondering if it is worth it.

Would use it for hunting squirrels, rabbits and perhaps woodchucks (may be a little light as these critters are tough!)

load recommendations and expected velocities in a 1927 win '92 with a 19 barrel?

Thanks all!

[gunther]

If the mold is iron, jump on it. The 25-20 was designed around 80 grain bullets. Either of the 25-20's were well thought of as a groundhog cartridge around 1900. The other one is the 25-20 single shot, an earlier cartridge that's a tad too long (1.62") for the '92. Winchester developed the 25-20wcf for the '92. Velocities are about the same at 1200-1300 fps. If you have 4227 and a Lyman cast bullet manual you are in good shape. If you have brass, take good care of them; they are hard to find.

[Mountain Meadow]

The mould is brass, I'm new to casting, does it being brass rather than iron hurt? It is a 6 bullet mould so I could put out a lot of cheap bullets.

I have some brass but am always looking for more, new and even once fired brass currently running about $1.50-2/round on GB. Should have bit the bullet and bought the 900 new cases that sold there a couple of months ago. At $2/case I scrounge around in the grass a lot!

[Chill Wills]

A Brass mold is fine. A six cavity may be a bit of a challenge as a newer caster.

A gas check bullet without the check can be used with fast type pistol powders. There is no shortage of data sources for this combo. Brass can be re-formed from 32-20 with only the 25-20 die set. I won't go into that here. search for threads on this sight - plenty of info on this cartridge conversion.

If you can find gas checks sometime in the future, you can load and try faster ammo, good for longer range or larger targets.

You will get a lot of help here with the 25-20 WCF.

[Kai]

I have been casting and loading for the 25-20wcf for a long time. First experience with cast bullets was with a plain base bullet such as the 70gr mold you mentioned. Accuracy was poor to say the least. I tried many different powders and charge weights but to no avail. Finally picked up a NOE 260283 (copy of the Lyman 257312) which casts an 85gr gc bullet. Accuracy with the gc bullet over 2400 is on par with the Remington 86gr jacketed bullet i.e. very good. Same was true for the 25-35wcf. The NOE mold is a single cavity aluminum mold. I recently found a Lyman 257312 double cavity mold that I look forward to casting with. When you get to shooting that 1892 Winchester carbine its easy to go through the bullets! Good luck.

[ohiochuck]

Look on the Marlin Owners forum under 25-20 reloaders -much info that will help answer your questions about using cast boolits
there are over 87 pages of good information

yes a good cast mold is worth it

[Dom]

In my Marlin 94CL 25-20. I use the Lyman 65gr GC style. When cast from my scrap WW they come out at 73gr. I drive them about 1500fps & they are deadly accurate!!!. Heavier weights like the 86gr only give me so, so accuracy. If you would like to try some I would be glad to send to you for the postage. Powder coated or traditional lube, no difference, super accurate...

[blackpowder man]

I use a plain base 86 grain bullet powder coated in a Marlin 1894 and a Savage 23 with good accuracy. I bought the mold from Arsenal molds. He has quite a few .25 options at pretty good prices. Put a “notify me” at Midway and track of the wolf for .32-20 brass and act fast when they notify you for some brass.

[RickinTN]

ETBrass.com sometimes has 25-20 brass. That is where I bought my last batch. As far as killing Groundhogs it depends on the distance. I have killed 2 this year in my back yard at about 25 yards with the CCI "Supressor" loads out of my CZ457 Luxe. It is a 45 grain hollow point bullet at 970 fps. Head shots and it shoots the wiggle out of 'em.
Good Luck to you,
Rick

[ohiochuck]

ET Brass in Ohio offers 32-20 Starline brass in stock
These can be resized to 25-20
ordering from ET is phone call only- no on line ordering

[uscra112]

A brass 6-holer will be a trial to use. Price some NOE or Accurate moulds in the 65-80 grain range first. Big problem there is that they are out of stock - no backorder.

To get you going, I strongly suggest you contact The Bullshop and buy a few hundred. His quality is excellent, he custom casts to order, so you can specify allow and size, his prices are very reasonable, and deliveries are pretty quick. I'm loading a 63 grain NOE design for which he has the mould that I can't buy. Has has the canonical 257420 mould also.

https://bullshop.weebly.com/

You can see what he's got on the website, but you have to email your order.

[YippyKiYay]

First, there is some 32-20 brass for sale in the S&S section.
Dad's dear friend was a WWI veteran and carried a 25-20 pump for decades. He killed truck loads of Texas deer, using head shots. He was a subsistence hunter, needed to keep the noise down. He never reloaded TMK. The Rifle was stolen shortly before the old warrior moved in with us.
What stories He told.