Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting the .25-20

I've seen a few people post that they've used it on deer; I'm thinking of taking my Marlin 1894CL, and I'm curious about loads and bullets. Jacketed bullets are hard to come by, but I've accumulated a few of the Speer 75gr flat points. Ranges will be relatively short, and the deer relatively small.

I've shot a bunch of whitetails with .22 Magnums, so a 25-20 should work fine if the ranges are short and you can pick/place your shots.

Here's a fella talking about using it on deer. I've gathered everything I need and am starting to build some now.
https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/10098946/Re:_Ruger_M_77/357_rebarrel_to#Post10098946

Based on what I've seen them do on smaller stuff, I'd take the factory 86 gr. SP over the Speer 75 gr. FP. However, it should work fine on any sort of neck or lung shot. E

I haven't, yet, had a proper "volunteer" in front of my .25-20. Perhaps this year.

It likes the 86 grain FN loads just fine, and that'll be what gets used.

I tried the Marlin with 75gr Hornady V-max, single loaded. It wanted absolutely nothing to do with them. But it seems to do well with 86gr factory loads.

There's a long thread here with a lot of load suggestions:

http://www.marlinowners.com/forum/reloading/26002-25-20-reloaders.html

I have a fair amount of Lil'Gun, and will give it a try. Probably load a little warmer than factory. I also have an original Stevens 44, but will probably confine it to milder cast bullet loads.

And if you load the round too long, and stick it in the magazine, you will get an education on how to disassemble the action to get it out

Tex I think you'll find that the 86gr bullet w/12-13gr of 4198 will give you in the neighborhood of 2000fps and is deadly on deer out to 75yds with a lung shot in the short ribs. My son killed his first deer with a 24in Savage 219 using that very load. A large doe at around 60yds. The 4198 and the 86gr gave the best velocity/accuracy over all the others I tried. powdr

Haven't used that bullet on deer. Did get a javelina with it, out of a 7.5" bbl revolver, .256 Winchester magnum. Shots were right behind the leg in the boiler room, no lungs or liver left, relatively small exit wound for the damage done. Would imagine your velocity for a 25-20 rifle length bbl will be similar and a good shot on a whitetail would probably have similar results? Maybe? I think I'd be hedging my bets and goin with the 86 gr one myself for deer though.

Good luck,
Geno

This should keep you busy for a while:

http://www.marlinowners.com/forum/reloading/26002-25-20-reloaders.html

Great info, I mainly use LilGun with the Ranch Dog 85gr cast bullet:

http://www.carolinacastbullets.com/Ranch_Dog_Outdoors.html

I cast mine from wheel weights and water drop. 1750 fps for my accuracy and hunting load. I consider it a coyote gun as I have other choices for deer.

jim

I got a broadside exit on a smallish deer using the Sierra 70 grn Blitzkings with the tips filed off. This bullet expands very easily but stayed together and exited.

In testing expansion, I couldn't get the 75 grn Speer or the 86 grn Remington to expand at all. Part of that was the best accuracy in my Rem m25 was on the lower end of the loading spectrum, so I just opted for the softest bullet that I could make operational. At around 11.8-12 grn of 4891 I guessed I was getting 1750-1800 fps.

That load doesn't blow rabbits to bits either.

My best accuracy with the 75 grn Speer was 10.8 grn of 4891.

What are your thoughts on filing the tips of verses pulling them? You were right about them being a pain in the butt to pull them. I filed some off that broke when trying to pull them. They shot good, but I wander how it would effect expansion.

My family used it a lot. My father still uses it some ... both deer and black bear. The preferred load was a factory high velocity 60 grain HP load.

When those went out of production, I picked up some Hornady 60 grain flat points. At that time they didn't have a cannelure on that bullet so I also got a canneluring tool from Corbin. I also got a couple pounds of Win 680. Dad is still shooting that combination along with the 75 grain Speer flat point.

Rifle is an old Winchester 92. Rumor is the action went through a fire. It was rebarreled by some home gunsmith with a pipe wrench ... I'm serious, it's got pipe wrench tracks around the barrel ahead of the chamber. The front sight wasn't tall enough when dad decided to add a receiver sight so we ground and filed one out of a penny. It's got a horrendous headspace problem but it hasn't blown any cases .. yet.

He manages to kill a buck with it every few years. They used to use it when grandpa and dad were bounty hunting for black bear (so, maybe early 40s?) and I've killed a couple black bears with it as well as a couple with grandpa's savage bolt action.

(I should add, I guess, that the bears I shot were already in a leg hold trap, I was just ... executing ... not hunting. Dad and grandpa, on the other hand, were hunting, but from a boat. Times change.)

Since 680 isn't available, I'd probably use AA 1680, 2400, or IMR 4227 now. I've got a bit of new WW brass and a couple boxes of bullets set aside in hopes I can "liberate" the Savage bolt action from my cousin who inherited it.

Tom

Wasn't it a 25-20 that took the Jordan buck, which was for a long time the #1 typical Whitetail in the Boone and Crocket record book?

Yes the Jordan buck killed, poorly, with a 25-20.

I have decided that cutting tips of Blitzkings and filing them even with the jacket is about the simplest way to go about it. I've tried heating and pulling the tips out, but they deform, vapor lock, and then are still a bitch. I was only successful on about 20-25% with trying to pull tips.

With the blitskings being a lot of effort to prepare in bulk, I shoot the 75 grn Speer's for practice, plinking, and small game, and then use the blitzkings for big game only.

Good luck and keep us posted on your results.

In a modern Marlin, it should be possible to push the 75's to 2000-2100 fps, according to what others have published, with either Lil'Gun or 4198. I expect they will expand at that point. I'll probably set up some kind of expansion box and give them a try to see how they do.

I pulled 100 the other day. Probably broke about 15 tips out of the 100. What kinda worked for be was a complicated process involving wire strippers, channellocks and some taped up crimpers to hold the bullets with. The whole time I was thinking about just turning a belt sander upside down and just sanding them flush. I think I will try that next time.

In Shots at Whitetails, Larry Koller tells how, as a boy, he killed his first buck with a .25/20 single-shot rifle. Not sure which .25/20 it was, WCF or SS, but it was an 86gr bullet.

To me the 86gr is the way to go. It has enough weight to penetrate to and thru the lungs. With 4198 you can get close to 2000fps and penetration and killing ability is good. powdr

Shot my last white tail with a Marlin 1894CL 25-20 neck shot,
standing still, dropped him no problem.

New York typical record 1939 shot with a 25-20 [img:center][/img]