Home Forums Reloading Bullet Casting .25-20

Anybody here play with a .25-20? Looking for dies, molds and advice. Somehow this one got past me until now. Proposed usage: tin cans, bunnies, tigers, and brown bears.

85 gr of #2 alloy or softer works. GC or no is your choice. My favorite is the Ideal257283 of 30:1 alloy over something around 6 gr 2400.

I opted for the bigger brother 32-20/aka30-20. More available molds and designs. The 32-20/30-20 is my favorite go to cartridge. Not much in the way of critters around here in the last 150 years with teeth and claws, so I see no need for anything bigger.

I have played with the lil 30 since about 1985, first one in a TC platform, then a BF, then a Buckeye 32-20/32 mag. The 32-20 in a modern gun will out do the 327 by a fair bit.

In your search for 25-20 info and input I would look at the various IHMSA and cowboy action stuff.

Had a lot of fun with this one over the years.
Brass is darned near extinct but you can make it in a few steps from 32-20 Starline brass. Go over to castboolits and the case forming section for a nice discussion of this conversion.
Lots of load info in a sticky thread on Marlin owners forum\reloading section.
I've used three different molds over the last 30 years, Lyman 257260(GC 70gr) likes speed in my rifle, a group buy 6 cavity 80gr. GC round flat nose that shoots great, and my latest, a 85gr. 257283 clone from NOE molds. http://noebulletmolds.com/NV/index.php?cPath=26_171&osCsid=j48rdd49k7pnqlivelff6tvp52
I bought mine as a flat base for light practice loads. I've been using PC with 9.3gr 4198 and hardly load anything else anymore.
Great small game round

Lyman 257260(GC 70gr) that's what I learned to cast with since I couldn't afford to buy storebought bullets.

+ on the Marlin owners forum. I have played with a couple of pump guns in 25-20, a Marlin 27 that needs relining and a Remington 25 that is a recent purchase. Sr 4756 worked well but is no longer available. Been experimenting with Herco and IMR 800-X with the Lyman 257420 and a H&G # 54.

Yea I realigned a mod 92 win.. It shoots the 85 gr cast bullets pretty well....check out the Marlin owners ....they have tons of info there...

My 25-20 is a bit different. I acquired a Jeffery Rook Rifle originally chambered in 255 Jeffery but the bore was a sewer pipe nd sometime in the distant past someone had re-chambered the rifle to 25-20 WCF. I had it relined and chambered back to 25-20, 255 Jeffery was cost prohibitive. I'm shooting an 85 gr. cast, gas checked bullet from Lyman over I think 7 grs. of Re-7 to duplicate 255 Jeffery velocity.

http://www.marlinowners.com/forum/reloading/

There is a lot of info here. Helped me a bunch with my 25-20.