Home Forums Lever Action Central Lever Actions - General Your thoughts on the 25-35

I've been wanting one of these for quite sometime. Anybody hear shooting one? What do you think of the cartridge? Thinking it would make a great deer, antelope gun.

I love the .25-35. My great grand dad, grand dad, dad and uncle shot truck loads of deer, elk and other critters with these rifles in Idaho. My great grand dad purchased the lower rifle in 1903 in Cottonwood ID. My hope is that my boys shoot a deer or 2 with these rifles to keep the tradition going 5 generations.

I wish Marlin could be talked into making a run of 336 in them!
GreggH

I shot only one antelope with mine. I used the wrong bullet and it took 2 shots to take it down. No fault of the cartridge but of the operator.

Another great old round that is not appreciated. It is a very good Whitetail round.

From turkeys to deer and antelope, the 25-35 is a killer with 117 grain round nose bullets...

i had the ballistic equivalent in the 25 rem but rimless instead of rimmed like the 25-35. nice caliber. very light recoil. the 117 RN pushed out of an old pump gun was quite accurate. i never used it for anything other than paper and water jugs though. might be ok for whitetail if you hit them in the boiler room.

It will also kill 7 foot Griz...

What kind of range do you guys feel comfortable shooting out to?

150 yards and how well you can see your sights...

One last question, do you typically crimp this case when hand loading?

If you are using it in a tube magazine, you want a good crimp in the cannulure groove of the bullet...

I have a rebarreled Marlin.. It is a fun gun.. P. dogs, gophers, deer, antelope, and coyotes.. No grizzlies for me..
My rifle is scoped some of the time.. Very accurate little round..

I have a Winchester 94AE Trails End and a Contender Carbine in .25-35. Have only killed one doe with the T/C and the Winchester is still a virgin.

The 117 grain round nose bullets are pretty good. I wish there were more bullets available though for varmints. I have some 86 grain and some 60 grain flat nose bullets. The 60's open up fast. I also cast bullets but my mold is a little too lite.

Sort of like you, I'd like to own a pre-64 94 or better yet a 64. But I'm having a bit of time buying and building up other rifles right now. So many rifles and so little time.

William Iorg is a whiz on the 25-35, he may weigh in. He does an awful lot of shooting and experimenting with cool rifles and cartridges.

Sycamore