Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game 25-35

Anybody have experience with this cartridge?

I started hunting with a Win. model 94 in 25-35. Good in the brush along the drainage ways in eastern MT but poor for the long distance shots you will need it for.

I've got two, a Contender Carbine and a 94 AE. Fun little cartridge. Have only used the T/C on one deer and one coyote.

I bought a 1899 in 25-35 last Sunday at a gun show. Shot it today, 25yrds I had a 3 shot group all touching. Go to the savage page.

shot a doe with a 94 carbine about 3 or 4 years ago with winchester 117 soft points. Killed her. Nothing spectacular just killed her

Would a .25-35 be roughly equal to a .250-3000 Savage??

Thanks.

L.W.

No. The savage is a much higher velocity cartridge, although it's known primarily for shooting an 87 grain bullet at 2800ish.

I have a 1902 vintage Winchester Model 1894 with 26” octagon barrel that I inherited some years back. It is a pleasure to shoot although so far the only things I have shot with it are rock chucks, stray cats, small varmints and one coyote.

I use the Hornady 117 grain Roundnose on top of Varget. Shoots good enough.

I was wishing Marlin made a 336 chambered for this round. It would be a dandy coyote/deer rifle combo especially with a scope on top.

The first rifle I hunted deer with was a .25-35 1894 Winchester with a 24 in octagon barrel-no luck,

Dad bought me a 99R .300 Savage with a tang peep next. Great gun and cartridge but heavy for a 12 year old to drag around.

My favorite aunt took pity on me and let me use her .25-35 SRC with tang peep from time to time. I shot 5 deer with it over a couple of years. It didn't kill like a .300 Savage but out to 150 yds or so it worked OK.

Both .25-35's were quite accurate compared to a couple of .30-30's and a Krag carbine I shot a bit. They didn't match my .300 or dads .308 though.They had very little recoil compared to my .300 Savage or dads .308 Win Model 88.

Shrap killed a grizz with one, but I don’t think he was actually hunting them, more likely the reverse…..

I think one would be great for futzing around, woods walking, predators, and casual deer hunting, but options are scarce. Besides, a Grendel, .223, and some others are also good for that, if lacking the panache.

I've only shot a couple at them at paper... almost no recoil out of a 94 carbine.

When I was a kid, the old timer who lived back across the road from us used one for deer and black bear, but that area was all thick, swampy ground where shots were very short. My Dad loaded him a box of ammo for it once in a while in exchange for him sharpening our ice spoons.

If I recall correctly, the little 25-35 may be illegal to use for big game in some states due to insufficient energy levels of the bullets. Might be worth checking out- or not?

The 25-35 has +/- 37 grains of case capacity, while the 250-3000 has +/- 46 grains of case capacity, a difference of 9 grains.

I have 16 rifles chambered in 25-35, 12x Savage 1899, 3x Winchester 64, and 1x Winchester 94. I've been shooting and loading for the 25-35 for over 50 years and like every other cartridge, it will kill when a properly constructed bullet is shot into an animal's vital organs or CNS. I have shot whitetails and 'chucks with the 25-35, but think that there are better options if they are available to the hunter. I got hooking on the cool factor of the 25-35 when I read Olive Fredrickson's book, Silence Of The North, but cool isn't always practical.

I have a somewhat newer version of the .25-35, a .25 Bullberry in a T/C Contender...very pleasant round to shoot, even out of a 14-15" Contender pistol.

My hunting pard inherited his grandfathers 1925 built 94 carbine in 25-35
2 years ago loaded some 117 Hornady RN over IMR3031. (forget the charge weight but it was close to max)
That fall he took a high shoulder shot on a 9 point that was broadside to him at about 75 yards in some heavy timber w lots of low growing brush.
Bullet broke the onside shoulder the spine and exited the center of the offside shoulder blade.
Deer dropped in it's tracks.

I .25-35'd this buck a couple years ago. High shoulder drt. I used S&B 6.5x52R ammo before I was able to come up with the correct stuff.

Francis Sell long held my attention among other writers. His use of the .25-35 finally got me to rebarrel a Marlin for the cartridge. It has a 24" barrel and a half magazine. After I got it I shot a lot of different loads in it. Some spitzers loaded one in the barrel and one in the magazine. Finally, I settled on 117 gr. Horn. rn. I have shot prairie dogs, gophers, jacks, one coyote and I suppose a dozen or so deer and antelope. It is a fun little round, but I haven't used it in a number of years. But it's still fun to have.

Always wanted one but never had one

A Marlin 336 in 25-35 would be awesome

A Marlin 336 just like yours is on my custom wish list.

I have a 1902 vintage Winchester 1894 thusly chambered, which I love. I always thought a Marlin 336 with a scope of some order would really be fun!

Only one I have is a Savage lever action. Played with it a little bit but didn't fall in love, at least not yet.

What the heck...? In Forum Context of "General Big Game", in respect of the 25-35 Winchester round, the precept of "Corporal Punishment!" In warding off all such "Wild Hares" postulating"
Just my take
Best!!
John

My Uncle Harold and Aunt Lillian were long time residents of Mifflin County, Pennsylvania. They hunted deer together every year and occasionally for bear as well. Aunt Lillian's rifle was a cut down Remington model 14 chambered for the obsolete 25 Remington. This cartridge is a dead ringer for the 25-35 except that it has no rim at the base of the case. She slew stacks of deer from about 1920 to 1973. Even a few bears were felled at the bark of her 25. Shot placement is the key to downing animals quickly. - Sherwood

My friend in high school shot his deer with a model 94 every year.

The grand old man who taught me to hunt when I was just a teenager started out with a Winchester lever action in 25-35. He grew up on a farm and only ate what they could grow and what he could shoot.

He kept that rifle for a long time, even after he took a good job and could afford something different. He told me the guys in deer camp made fun of him for bringing that "little" 25-35, but he was the one who always got his deer.

Even so, he eventually moved on to the .270 Win. in the form of a Winchester Model 70 that he used for many many years.

The Hornady FTX loads are reportedly breathing a bit of fire into the old round. Brian Pearce killed a pronghorn with that load a couple of years ago and IIRC it was a pretty long poke.

Yeah pappy but didn't he have to do a finisher on it ?mb

I'm hoping to take a doe with my 99 in 25-35 this season! Our Opener is one week from today!

Don’t recall. Anyway, that happens.

FB,

Have several .25-35s along with a few .25-35 improved versions (including Francis Sell’s “perfect” woods deer cartridge the .25-35 Tomcat in a Savage 99 - a beautiful little custom rifle that’d be right up your alley😁 - although Sell made his in a 336 Marlin). Have been using them the last few years while deer hunting but haven’t had a deer cooperate yet (i.e. get close enough - using 75 yards as a self-imposed maximum for a shot). I’m just a .25 caliber freak and enjoy the cartridge likely very underwhelming when used on big game but “if the bullet is place right” then will kill just like any other round. Have used the Hornady FTX round and it has proven quite accurate.

Penndog