I Wasn't around back then but I've been using Missouri Bullet Company
#1 .25-20 - Hi-Tek
.259 Diameter
85 Grain RNFP
Brinell 18
Bullet OAL .694 +/-

 

Thanks. Went thru all that. Coated..check. Dacron…check…Lead lubed…check. None of them worked well. Shelved the project. Picked up some Hornady 60gr FP on a whim. Loaded them with 1680. Magic. Getting 1” 50yd groups.
I would just like to know what bullet weight this gun was originally regulated for back in the day.

 

Picked up some Hornady 60gr FP on a whi

Stocked up on those too.
Plus a couple hundred 86 gr Remington Core Lokt cartridges.

 

According to Waters, the original loading was an 86-grain lead bullet over 17 grains of black for a MV of 1376 fps.




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Just about every time i shoot 86 gr lead in my .25-20 they keyhole. Can't remember my powder charge. Probably i need to make a adjustment there. The 60 gr hornady work fine. My 25-20 is a 1892 win.

 

Depending on your twist rate the load may be too slow, especially since the 60s shoot well. According to Ed Harris, black powder 92s had a 1:16" twist, smokeless barrels had 1:14".


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Depending on your twist rate the load may be too slow, especially since the 60s shoot well. According to Ed Harris, black powder 92s had a 1:16" twist, smokeless barrels had 1:14".


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Not sure what it's twist rate is. It was made in 1912.

 

Not sure what it's twist rate is. It was made in 1912.

That should be a smokeless barrel, so probably 1:14" if Harris is correct.

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There is a fella on gunbroker that sells a lighter bullet. He clsimes in his add that shooters will find they shoot better in the original 25-20s. If you search here on 25-20, you’ll find a thread with a link the gunbroker listing. You’ll also find an exhaustive thread on the caliber and loading for it.

 

I have a JM Ducks Unlimited 1894 in 25-20, it doesn't like the 85 grain lead but shoots the 60 grain Hornadys really well

 

My 1894CL in 25-20 shoots 86 grain Remington SP’s like a laser. I’m fortunate in that I have a couple thou of those stashed away, because it sprays lead bullets like a scattergun. Going to try something gas checked next.

 

Interesting! Hope you share when you do.

I looked for those bullets. Looks like ammunition is available but bullets for reloading not so much. Are you reloading? Can’t imagine having a couple thousand cartridges. Also, are you running them around 1500fps?

I’m watching for a mold. Not that I really want to cast more. But cast bullets are spendy. With you finding cast to scatter, I wonder if hard-cast may be better. But size (diameter) can produce that too.

I would most likely prefer gas check myself. I’ll find a mold eventually.

ot a line on a 25-36 from a friend. So be looking at that riddle too.

 

My 1894CL also likes the 86-grain RPs, but does even better on the late lamented 75-grain Speer FNs averaging 1.5 moa. I usually loaded both to around 1400-1500 fps with AA-7 or H110. IMR4227 and H4198 only did 'okay'. I still have a few hundred of the RP bullets siting around, but only one box of the Speers left. 😟



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Thank you both, Ach830 & Rolljngblock!

 

My 1894CL also likes the 86-grain RPs, but does even better on the late lamented 75-grain Speer FNs averaging 1.5 moa. I usually loaded both to around 1400-1500 fps with AA-7 or H110. IMR4227 and H4198 only did 'okay'. I still have a few hundred of the RP bullets siting around, but only one box of the Speers left. 😟



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I’ve never seen the Speer 75’s for sale. The jacketed bullet situation for the 25-20 is pretty dire to be honest.

I checked my notes and best accuracy was with N120. Best velocity was with 4227 - 1900+ with no pressure signs. I didn’t do a lot of shooting with that load, though.

Thank you both, Ach830 & Rolljngblock!

Anytime! Tons of good info, including some that may be of interest to the OP, here:

https://www.marlinowners.com/threads/25-20-reloaders.26002/page-96?post_id=8957092#post-8957092

It's a long sticky but if you start at the beginning there is a wealth of historical information and load data.

 

A guy on mewe sold me a bunch of jacketed .257 bullets like 4 years ago. It was more than I wanted, but I figured I'd get around to loading them someday.

It was more his 32cal stuff I wanted, but he didn't want to split it off. Now I'm glad, but I wish I had more 86grainer vs the 60grain slugs.

 

I’ve never seen the Speer 75’s for sale…

They were discontinued around 15-20 years ago, NOS is long gone. The 75s were a better hunting bullet than the 86s, their wide flat point slapped small game hard. They penetrated better than the 86s too.

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Appreciate the replies and insights.

As stated above, I didn’t have much luck with anything cast. I experimented using the information here on the reloading forum with the 86gr coated from Missouri Bullets. I had originally found 4 boxes of Winchester factory 86gr at a local hardware store. The price was right and I picked them up. While better than the cast, accuracy was still inconsistent with occasional wild fliers, and 4”+ 50yd groups. The 60gr Hornady’s are a whole different story. From the beginning, they printed fairly consistent. It was just a matter of finding a good powder the gun liked. 1680 turned out to be the ticket. Using the online data, I loaded the usual spread keeping clear of the upper end, since the gun is well over 100yrs old. Once I hit around 11.5gr, the groups started to tighten significantly. At 12.5, I was basically getting quarter sized groups at about 40yds. Good enough for me. The cases and primers all looked and measured fine, so thought I’d bump it up to the book max of 12.7 to see if the accuracy continued to improve. Well…it didn’t and actually opened up quite a bit. Back to 12.5 and they shrunk right back down again. .3gr makes all the difference.

I want to get out and start walking them out past 100yds and see what happens. Not much energy out there, but it would be fun to see what they can do. I need to figure out the elevator settings on the rear sight as well. Reason for the original post was that the difference in accuracy was so profound between bullet weights, I was wondering if the 60gr was what it could have been regulated for back in the day.

 

…Reason for the original post was that the difference in accuracy was so profound between bullet weights, I was wondering if the 60gr was what it could have been regulated for back in the day…

According to Waters, the factory 60-grain loading wasn’t introduced until the late 1920s, so no.



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Entropy, (Interesting Avatar name - I liked the book. Thomas Sowell had what could be considered a counterfactual to Jeremy Rifkin’s book but can’t recall his title).

I found this guy on GB a while back. He has 25-20 bullets (2) on GB.
Claims 72gr shoots best in that twist.
DW57 is his handle. You’ll have to figure out how to search on “seller”. Copied a year or so ago.

“CAST FROM LYMAN 257420 GAS CHECK MOLD FROM VIRGIN 15 BHN ALLOY AND LUBED WITH LYMAN MOLY LUBE. SIZED TO .258 DIA. APPROX 72 GRAINS GAS CHECKED AND LUBED. IF YOU ARE TIRED OF THE 85 GR PLAIN BASE CAST BULLET THAT EVERYONE OFFERS THAT SELDOM SHOOT WELL IN ANY 25-20 THEN THESE ARE FOR YOU. * I NEVER USE SCRAP LEAD OF ANY KIND. ALWAYS CAST FROM VIRGIN ALLOY WITH CERTS. THIS WAY BULLETS CAN…”

Hope that helps.

Entropy, (Interesting Avatar name - I liked the book. Thomas Sowell had what could be considered a counterfactual to Jeremy Rifkin’s book but can’t recall his title).

I found this guy on GB a while back. He has 25-20 bullets (2) on GB.
Claims 72gr shoots best in that twist.
DW57 is his handle. You’ll have to figure out how to search on “seller”. Copied a year or so ago.

“CAST FROM LYMAN 257420 GAS CHECK MOLD FROM VIRGIN 15 BHN ALLOY AND LUBED WITH LYMAN MOLY LUBE. SIZED TO .258 DIA. APPROX 72 GRAINS GAS CHECKED AND LUBED. IF YOU ARE TIRED OF THE 85 GR PLAIN BASE CAST BULLET THAT EVERYONE OFFERS THAT SELDOM SHOOT WELL IN ANY 25-20 THEN THESE ARE FOR YOU. * I NEVER USE SCRAP LEAD OF ANY KIND. ALWAYS CAST FROM VIRGIN ALLOY WITH CERTS. THIS WAY BULLETS CAN…”

Hope that helps.

 

Can’t speak to his 25 cal bullets although I’ll probably be getting some soon. But I can say that his .381 gas check bullets shoot lights out in my 336CB 38-55 with no leading and they look like they were made with care. Nice guy to deal with as well.

 

I have 3 25 20's, my 2 Marlins shoot 60 grain Hornady well and not 85 gr. Lead. My Husqvarna single shot with its corroded old bore shoots 85 gr. Lead bullets well

 

Same as mine. It shoots 60 grain Hornady well, but not 85 gr lead rounds. My .25-20 is a Winchester 1892.

 

A rifle made in 1903 has a high likelihood of having a corroded bore from mercury priming and wont shoot much better than 2” at 50. Any jacketed bullet is your best bet. The 60g Hornady is plenty good and available. My rifle likes 9.5gr of Lilgun with this bullet lit by a CCI 400 for 2120 fps. For something slower and suitable for plinking, try 3.2gr of W231 lit by a small pistol primer.

Look in the reloading section where a sticky post on 25-20 reloading contains volumes of 35 Remington’s reloading notes and experiences with everyone.