Home Forums Lever Action Central Lever Actions - General 100 Gr. Spire Point in .25-35?

Has anyone out there tried a 100 Gr. spire point in their .25-35?
It looks like the Hornady's could be crimped in the cannelure
and still be short enough to work thru the action. This could
make the rifle a "2-shot". The terminal energy in the Hornady
manual favors the 100 gr. over the 117 gr. Altho, the 117 is
more the classic. Thoughts?

I have shot several hundred 100-grain Hornady Spire Points in my .25-35�s. The bullet I have is #2540 and it is about .380� from the base to the middle of the cannelure and is about .985� oal. This length would give you a COAL of 2.648� which will not feed through my Winchester Model 94AE.
I regularly shoot the Speer 100-grain JHP bullet No. 1407 in the .25-35 Cartridge at a COAL of 2.550�. I consider this the best �deer� bullet currently available for the .25-35 lever action rifles. This bullet has given me quicker kills on meat deer (approximately 100-pounds on the hoof) than the heavier 117-grain Hornady round nose bullet.

I had a 24� contender barrel in .25-35 but the taper of the cartridge defeated the Contender extractor on any load of higher pressure than current reloading data. I reamed this barrel to .25-35AI and now it is a favorite.

I wrote to Speer asking them to consider a 100-grain flat nose bullet for the .25-35 when Winchester began chambering the Angle Eject rifles for .25-35. Speer wrote back and said there simply would not be enough demand to warrant the bullet. Shortly after receiving the reply from Speer the news of Winchesters closing came along�

The Speer hollow point bullet functions well in my Winchester and I have cycled many through the magazine without a problem. I believe the 100-grain bullet is the way to go for our lighter West Texas deer but I am a voice of one.

William: Thanks for the info; my Hornady manual is very old and the 100 gr. bullet shown has a SEATING DEPTH of .401, which when seated looks like the OAL would not be any longer than the 117 gr. RN. They must have streamlined the 100 gr. since my manual was printed making it longer. I'll be trying your Speer 100 gr.
suggestion in the near future. Always have thought of getting a
.25-35 barrel for one of my Contender frames. (I guess my plates
to full at present, to many loaded up cartridges, and not enough
time to shoot/hunt with them.)

What is the bullet number listed by Hornady in your manual?
What .25-35 do you have?
The Speer hollow point works very well in our .25-35, .25-35AI and the .250 Savage rifles.
If you decide to try a contender barrel consider the .25 Bellum, .25-35 Tomcat or the .25-35AI. The straighter case shape overcomes the limitation of the Contenders extractor. I don�t remember the details of the .25 Bellum but the .25-35 Tomcat was designed to be formed from .30-30 cases without inside neck reaming. When making .25-35 or .25-35AI cases from .30-30 or .375 Winchester cases it is necassry to inside ream the cases � not a big deal but an extra step.
The Secant ogive on the Hornady bullets and most other jacketed spitzers begins to taper quickly ahead to intended seating point (whether or not it has a cannelure). Even using 100% load density still give you a problem when trying to apply a crimp.
The .25-35 is just too much fun for words. A great plinker, fine small game rifle and adequate for deer.
Here is a link to a reloading thread started by Dr. A. When you start shooting again jump right in.

http://shootersforum.com/showthread.htm?t=20108&highlight=.25-35ai

I have shot them in my gun, and killed a few called in coyotes with the 100 gr. Hornadys, but for deer I will stay with the old 117 gr. Hornady until someone comes out with a 100 or 87 gr. flat nose.

I see that Rem. has a 86 gr. flat nose bullet for the 25-20 and that could/might work real well, then again it may be too soft.