25 caliber molds

[Tom Myers]

An old worn out Marlin Model 94 25-20 Saddle Ring Carbine is in the process of being rebuilt into a shooter. ( New Green Mountain tapered octogon barrel, new wood, sand off rust pits and reblue).

I would like to have some loaded cast bullet cartridges to kind of customize the throat. The SAMMI 25-20 reamer has no throat, just a tapered lead right off the end of the chamber mouth.

I used to have some nice Lyman 25 caliber molds, but they seemed to have sprouted legs and walked away whilst I was pushing a tractor trailer rig up and down the highways.

The old Lyman 257312 would be a good model to base a bullet on for what I want to accomplish. This is a slightly shortened version of the mold.



Lyman doesn't have a production mold that is heavy enough and as far as I know, Dan does not do 25 caliber molds.

It seems that I remember a couple of 25 caliber group buy molds some time back, but don't know any particulars about the molds.

If someone has or knows of a mold that might work, I would be interested in borrowing, buying or trading to get some bullets that would work well in the 25-20.

Tom Myers

[moodyholler]

WHat weights? I have a PB 6 hole group buy and a Rapine 2 holer in 75 Gr. Let me know what you are lokking for. moodyholler

[AnthonyB]

Tom, I share ownership of a 257312 that I have yet to cast with. I can send some samples if you want, but it might take me a while to get a roundtoit. Tony

[old goat]

...TM,

...Check out the MidwayUSA web site for product #111702...This is the RCBS 2-cav. 25-100-FN#...25 cal. (.258 diameter) 100 grain Flat Nose Gas check.
...From the photo of the open mold blocks posted there, the cavities look to be a near copy of the bullet you posted.
...This is a Specialty Bullet Mold, so it's a bit pricey @ $102.99 + shipping. The mold is available now according to their web site.


...old goat

[sundog]

Tom, I've got a 257312, and I think I even have some boolits already casted. Shoot me a PM if I can send you a few for sampling. I will not lend this mould as it took me many years to find it and it will not leave premises, but I can gift you some boolits. If you are going to use a boolit this size then do you have the appropriate twist to handle it? Twenty five caliber can be a little persnickity, so make sure the twist and boolit at least somewhat match up when you put this thing together. sundog

[Tom Myers]

Old Goat:
The RCBS mold looks to be a little too long in the nose.
I re-scaled the bullet image in the previous post to the ideal dimensions for the Model 93 action. The in-case length is 0.365" long and the out-of-case length is 0.280" for a total length of 0.645" which brings the weight, cast in wheel weight alloy and with the gas check installed, to 82.7 grains.

Moodyholler:
I imagine that 80 grains is about an optimum weight. However the critical value is the out-of-case length which must not exceed 0.280" in order to cycle through the Marlin 94 action.
What is that Lee 6 holer that you have? I seem to remember one of the group buy molds being a Tumble Lube without a gas check, but my memory is not what it used to be.
What is the length of the nose, forward of the crimp groove on the rapine mold?

Tony:
If I come up short on a mold, I'll take you up on your offer of some samples. We can wait and see how it plays out.

Tom

[Tom Myers]

Sundog

You may be right. The new barrel is a Green Mountain tapered octogon with a 1 in 14" twist rate: I am not sure just how long a 257312 is as I have not been able to physically measure one. Scaling up from some poor images has given an estimate of around 0.72". If that is the case then the estimated minimum velocity for optimum stabilization would be right around 1900 fps.
A more realistic 1600 fps calculates out to a bullet length of 0.660" which is more in keeping with the bullet image that is posted.

I seem to remember that many years back when I was shooting the 257312 bullets (cast from the mold that walked away) they were quite accurate. But at that time, what I knew about casting and loading for cast bullets could be written on the head of a pin and I have no idea now what the load was or how fast the bullets were exiting the muzzle. Looking at some of the old brass that I still have, from the looks of the primers and the sharply defined swell at the case web, I would venture to say that the loads were dangerously close to being over maximum. But I do remember that they shot real well.

It would not hurt to try some of the 257312 bullets. It does beat buying a high priced eBay mold and then not be able to use it. I appreciate the offer of some samples and will PM you for arrangements.

Tom

[45 2.1]

As hard as this mold is to get, it might be a good candidate for a future group buy.

[Bret4207]

The guy who did the 25 mould order was Emmett Boaz AKA- Old DJ. HAven't seen him around here in a while. I named the the moulds the 25DJ PB and GC. I don't know what anyone else calls them. There may be a couple floating around but you'd have to find Emmettto see. The 25 DJ was around 75 gr, FN and casts around .259 in my alloy. I hahven't shot any yet.

[Leftoverdj]

I'm still around and still have a few of the six cavity PB moulds ($56). Have one .259 Lee pushthrough sizer($15). The GC moulds are long gone, but I'm willing to send samples for you to size and GC.

The PB bullets do very well in the .22 lr velocity range. That's what I wanted them for and I have not put any work into pushing them faster.

Anyone interested in a mould or samples should PM me.

[Bret4207]

Sorry, Leftover DJ. Thats kinda like old DJ. I was close. Sorry Emmett.

[9.3X62AL]

As someone whose success level with the 25-20 WCF and cast boolits has not been an unalloyed delight--this thread poses some interesting questions. I've done about every permutation of reloading tweak with both Lyman #257420 and #257312 at 1200-1600 FPS velocities, and the few successes have come from "312" at 1500-1600 FPS. I'm thinking I should try REALLY making those critters SCREAM, just to see what happens. The Speer 75 FN's shoot very well at 1800-1900 FPS......just when I'm about to throw in the towel and "call it", another idea gets inspired here.

[Doctor Sam]

I have been working on a load for the Meister 86g bullet from Midway using WC820 in my M92 SRC. Best groups so far have been with WW cases, WSR primers and 6.0g.
Hornady 60g RNFP seem to work well with 8.5g of WC820.
As posted, I am also having problems with the new liner in the old gun, and I'm sure my old eyes contribute.
I had at it the other day with some JB bore compound after a range session. Blue Wonder failed to remove all the jacket material.
Groups with the PB cast bullet seemed smaller.
I'm pleased with the results and this is such a fun gun to fool with I'll keep working with it. My wife shoot a converted M92 in .357M so I better not let her shoot this one or I may lose it too.