25-20 Win Seating Die

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musgy

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I am currently loading 25-20 for a 92 Winchester. When I am seating the bullets (Hornady 60gr Flat Point) they want to tilt as the die pushes them into the case. This causes a bulge in the case neck, & the bullet sits crooked. I am using Lee dies.

Is anyone having better luck? Perhaps I need a different seating die? I have tried tapering the inside of the case mouth to no major improvement.
 
I have been loading 86gr lead bullets so I am no expert, but a Lyman M-die might help. They are designed to help lead bullets seat straight by opening up the neck of the cartridge a bit while optionally flaring the mouth as well.

I can't say how well it works as mine is still in transit.
 
I load for the .25-20 Winchester,using the Hornady 60 grain flat nose bullet.Have had no problems.Using RCBS dies.
 
A little mouth flair and a bit of neck expansion like the M die does should help if you aren't doing something similar.

That said, I have a Lee 40-60 seating die that does that and nothing I've tried has helped much. My suspicion is that it's oversized inside and just doesn't align the bullet and case we'll enough.

If nothing works see if you can contact Lee and get some advice or a new die.
 
Looks like a call to Lee is in order. Perhaps a different brand of dies if that does not yield an answer.
I will look into it & update when I get an answer.
 
Flaring the case mouth slightly should help this cawnnundrum as mentioned above.
Ran into this loading up my old 44-40.
Don't take much of a flare to stop the ire.
 
My stuff is in storage at the moment but I recall having a similar problem with the bullet getting shaved and the case squished.

And I seem to recall purchasing an expanding die as well to resolve the issue.
 
My 25-20 M-die came in the mail today so I will try to load some rounds up tonight. I have had trouble with bullets being shaved in the past but it doesn't seem to affect accuracy too much. Take that with a grain of salt since I am shooting open sights out of a 105 year old lever rifle, I don't exactly expect pinpoint accuracy out of it.

I am using .259 diameter bullets which seems to be on the large side for 25 Caliber. I will see if the shaving persists tonight and whether it is easier to seat the bullets straight.
 
Paatz said:
My stuff is in storage at the moment but I recall having a similar problem with the bullet getting shaved and the case squished.

And I seem to recall purchasing an expanding die as well to resolve the issue.
Click to expand...

ok correcting myself, I went with a bullet resizing die, not the expander.

Lee 258-10
Lee-258-10.jpg

If you got the bullets from bullet barn as I did - I think they are too big.
 

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Lee also recommended an expanding die as a first step. I just picked one up from Rusty Wood.
I will try loading a few rounds in the next few days & report back.
 
I just got some cast bullets from bullet barn, but have been using Hornady #2510 jacked so far.
I will try a few of each to see.
The cast are indeed .259 per label, & as measured.
 
The Bullet Barn cast bullets are what I have been using. A bit on the big side, but they seem to shoot really well so far out of a Winchester 1892. I use them on top of 7gr of H110.
 
I loaded up some bullets tonight using the Lyman M-die expander and it looks like my shaving issues are over. I just expanded the neck, no flaring. Seemed to work great.

I should also mention for the original poster that I am also using Lee dies and I have no problems with the longer bullets. Hopefully Lee customer service will get you sorted.
 
musgy said:
I just got some cast bullets from bullet barn, but have been using Hornady #2510 jacked so far.
I will try a few of each to see.
The cast are indeed .259 per label, & as measured.
Click to expand...

Can you tell me where you bought your Hornady 60gr Flat Point bullets please.
Dam, still have not busted a cap yet and learning more every day.
My Model 92 is 102 years old ...wished I knew more where it came from and where it has been.
Looks like a trip to RustyWoods is in order this week.
Rob
 
I got the Horniday bullets from a gun shop a couple years ago. I took the last two boxes they had. I do not know of any current source of jacketed 25-20. Rusty does have cast in stock tho.

If only they could talk! I have a couple that must have one heluva story to tell...
 
bamboo633 said:
I loaded up some bullets tonight using the Lyman M-die expander and it looks like my shaving issues are over. I just expanded the neck, no flaring. Seemed to work great.

I should also mention for the original poster that I am also using Lee dies and I have no problems with the longer bullets. Hopefully Lee customer service will get you sorted.
Click to expand...

Would you take some advise from a couple of old dudes that have loaded many hundreds of 32-20 rounds...same dainty thin walled case, just a slightly bigger hole than your 25. I can foresee a problem using your rounds as described in a lever gun with a tube mag. If you are seating cast slugs in a case without flaring and not shaving lead ,especially with .259 dia slugs, then I believe your seating grip between slug & case mouth may be loose enough to dislodge (push them inside) the slugs just with the mag spring pressure. The fact of the mater is that for cast slugs in a lever gun you must "flare" the case mouth, seat the slugs tight & then crimp the case flare back to shape & grip the slug. If a slug does slip into the case I don't think it will be a danger with these low pressure rounds but it sure will cause jam-ups in the gun. Lever guns with tube mags have a very fine tolerance for OAL...too short and the next case will follow onto the elevator causing a lock-up that will require dismantling the tube and emptying thru the muzzle end. These dainty cases have a rep. of being easy to wrinkle and they are...no mater how careful you are you will wrinkle a few.. a fast rate of press use will wrinkle lots...slow & easy will reduce the wreckage considerably.

As for the .259 BB slugs being "on the big side" , I don't agree with that, they would be my go-to size. The deciding factor here should be if the chamber will allow a case with the .259 slug seated, your good to go.
 
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