nice, very very nice, you sir are a lucky man.

 

Welcome aboard Gary.

Not sure if 25-20M is the exact same round as 25-20WCF although I do recall reading something about the subject. There are blokes here who know this stuff and they will be able to advise you.

Cheers,
Mark.

 

welcome. nice looking 94

 

Another sight option for the 1894CL would be a receiver sight by Lyman or Williams. It should be already D & T for those.

The 25-20M is the same as the 25-20 WCF.

 

May I suggest you shoot silhouette with the 32-20.

You'll have much more luck finding brass and bullets than you will looking for 25-20. I have a 25-20 that I shot in the nationals last year - first time I ever placed "in the money". However Remington has announced they will no longer make .25-20 brass and Speer seems to have stopped making the 75gr FN Jacketed bullet. If you want to shoot the .25-20 you'll have to buy 32-20 brass and go through the forming process (expect to lose about 1 in 10 of the brass you try to form).

The newer .32-20 should be drilled and tapped for a Williams receiver sight and it is easy to change the front sight to a Lyman hooded sight.

Save the .25-20 for your experimental rifle - you'll be experimenting with cast bullets, various powders and the (expensive) process of forming brass from .32-20s. But, you'll be winning matches with the .32-20 while you experiment with the smaller rifle.

Get the FPTK Williams read sight and the 17A (medium height) Lyman front sight. Hornady XTPs work well in the .32-20 and there are many choices of both jacketed and cast bullets for that cal. Check out the reloading stickies on these cartridges in this forum.

Michael

 

According to Cartridges of the World the 25-20 Marlin is the same case as the 25-20 WW. Marlin had a few designations for the same caliber as Winchester as in the 32-20 also. There was a claim to different bullet configurations that facilitated possible feeding for the 94 Marlin. As previously mentioned the 25-20 is a necked down 32-20 such that brass is still available for reloading and the 1-10 loss is not one I would argue with. Once formed it is there.
As I do not load my 32-20 hot the brass is pretty durable. These are fun cartridges and I enjoy my 32-20. Biggest difference between the 32-20 and 25-20 for me is that I was able to use a Lee mold for my 32-20 which I had when I bought it. 32 Pistol bullets are also readily available which work. As mentioned the molds for the 25-20 are spendy and jacketed bullets are limited. Both are of limited utility in the field but are fun to shoot.
DEP

 

Thanks for the good info. Internet information boils down to wisdom from those that have "done" and those that have "read about". Really nice to get the former type dope rather than the "a guy said on XXX website" gossip.

I have shot .32-20 before in a T/C Contender and it did quite well. I moved away from it when the .22 Hornet came on the scene. Even though the round at 850fps had a trajectory like a howitzer, it always hit in the same place round after round. The .32-20 just required too much sight correction between the chickens ands rams. For the Hornet it has come down to filling the case to the top, putting in a 45gr Remington bullet and no sight correction.

I have experience with necking down the cases and using cast bullets so the .25-20 isn't a problem. I like the Meister 85gr boolits (https://www.midwayusa.com/product/6...ter-hard-cast-bullets-25-20-wcf-258-diameter-85-grain-lead-flat-nose-box-of-500) and the cost isn't bad. For the .32-20 I cast my own gas check boolits but have just not been as successful with the .25 cal.

So I already have die sets for both calibers and form/trim dies for the .25-20. It is just down to seeing which one "fits" best.

The more I play with the little .25-20, the more I like it. Seems like someone has played with the trigger and while the pull is good, the hammer cam on the bolt seems to hit the hammer early and rides it down by about .100" to .125" adding a little resistance to the lever stroke. It may at some point need a hammer and trigger/sear. Still the gun was $650 leaving room to do a little bit of work on it.

gary

 

Nice enjoy your shooting time. Thanks for pics. :congrats: Cheers :tee:

 

I love my 25-20. You have to watch for components like a hawk, they do pop up now and then. Slide on down to the reloading forum and check out the 25-20 sticky.
On my rifle the rifling was OK but the throat was a mess. A reline fixed that problem. Do a chamber cast to see what you have.

Oh welcome to Marlin owners from NE Indiana.

 

Looks like you are moving in the right direction!

I did a lot of load testing and settled on 4198 with the Speer 75r jacketed bullet...but Speer seems to have stopped making/shipping them.

Currently I'm testing the Missouri cast-coated bullet and Lil Gun powder. Until I find the right combination of powder and bullet I'll be using my .357 rifle in silhouette matches. Maybe Speer will make some 75s again!!!

Michael

 

That's great!
Congratulations!!

 

Seems that I read an article on the 25-20M, that said the earliest versions of this cartridge had a different shoulder angle/taper than the winchester but on later versions Marlin adopted the winchester shoulder angle/taper. Marlin soon dropped the 25-20M and chambered future guns in the winchester 25-20. You would have to verify this info cuz I just read it somewhere.