25-20 WCF in the Win 1892

Bittermansbro

Bittermansbro

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I have had a nice old 1892 Winchester in 25WCF for almost a year and haven't shot it yet as I have been gathering the tools to get to the deed. I have some old brass, got the dies set up today and picked up the bullets, so I could get the first shots off this weekend.

The first test round I deprimed, re-sized and installed a bullet in was tested in the gun to ensure that there were no issues with loading, fit or ejection. It went in good and when I ejected it it came out with such force it caught me on my glasses and scratched the lens :sok2 On the bright side, its got a very positive ejection!

I have been searching for new 25-20 brass, but in the meantime thought I could re-size some 32-20's, but with the neck differences, doing down to the 25 from the 32 crinkled the two cases I tried. Can this be done and if so, how do you go about it?

Any other tips and pointers from those who shoot the 25WCF would likewise be greatly appreciated.
 
The Handloader's Manual of Cartridge Conversions says to just full length size .32-20 cases to form .25-20's. I've had better luck necking up .218 Bee cases. Did you anneal the case necks before you tried to neck them down?

You really shouldn't have any trouble. I've necked down .30-30's to .25-35 and .30-06's down to .25-06 with no wrinkles.

As to loads: my M92 in .25-20 liked 11.5 grs of 2400 with a Winchester 60 gr hollow point bullet.

Also 8 grs of 4227 with an 87 gr lead plain base bullet.
 
I've had good luck with the 75 grain Speer flat point in a '92 rifle and '53 rifle. 2400 has been a good powder for me. I can't give you advice on the reforming as I've always had a supply of Winchester brass.
 
Thanks guys, appreciate the load data, the only bullets I have are 85gr lead flat points plain base.

As to the brass, no I didn't anneal it. You think that will avoid the crinkle?
 
I cannot find the load now, but Kirk (Win 38-55) worked up a real good load that he had good success with for an old Winchester 25-20 he had. Maybe he will chime in, if not, give him a shout. He has a lot of experience shooting that caliber. FWIW, I had a beauty old 25-20, and I can still remember the first time I shackeled a round out of it, zing!....man it flew.

Matt
 
Matt74 said:
I can still remember the first time I shackeled a round out of it, zing!....man it flew.

Matt
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I know that all too well now LOL, my glasses will remind me every time I see the scratch. The bullet may come out the front of the thing, but that little brass follows a real close second for velocity.

I'm looking forward to taking it out next deer season.



just kidding.
 
My dad has a 25-20 '92 saddle ring carbine and it will launch the brass too, if given the chance. I believe he also uses around 11 grains of 2400 and a 60gr hornady.

His rifle eats brass, though, and I'm not sure if it's the gun or just this particular lot of old Dominion cases. We're talking split necks and even cracked shoulders. Before the survivors get reloaded again I'll have to anneal them.
 
I have some old Dominion and Peters in my batch, sounds like it will be a good idea to anneal those little guys. Don't think there is much worry about weakening the base too much on them eh?
 
Bittermansbro said:
Thanks guys, appreciate the load data, the only bullets I have are 85gr lead flat points plain base.

As to the brass, no I didn't anneal it. You think that will avoid the crinkle?
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no that will make it worse what you want to do is bring it i the die in steps dont just shove it in there it may take a few movements of the ram to get it sized down anneal it after

enjoy the gun ive been looking for one for a while now good yote gun
 
I hate losing brass.....haha. I know how it is when you've just pulled the trigger and racked the action and instead of looking to focus on your next shot, your eyes watch the brass pop out and you wonder where its going to land..

Thanks for the recommendation on Rayner Shine Dez, I think I will give him a call tomorrow, he's right next door.
 
Morning S. My 32-20 slings the brass ike a hard ball pitcher as well. 32-20 and 2520 brass is very thin compared to a lot of shells. It dents and caves in at the mouth during ejection and wrinkles when seating the bullets (the most frajile and frustrating I've ever used). It will shorten the life of your brass if allowed to eject without controling the force the brass is subjected to when it hits the inside of the action/chamber with your fingertips, the mouth/shoulder will cave in substatially...having to reform shortens brass life.

Sean, if I were trying to reform 32-20 down I would do it in stages..32 down to 308 down to 270 down to 25. Barring a set of reforming dies, the easiest and for sure the cheapest way would be to cut down a sizing die in the needed caliber (a surplus die that you don't use anymore or have a duplicate)) until the neck of the 32-20 will reach and enter the neck sizing portion of the die. A ten minute job in a lathe and I think you know a couple of guys with that capabillity. I will check when I get home, I may have a die or two that we can use.

The ejection force is very easy to remedy in a 92 if you ever have it tore down for a good cleaning, just shorten the spring that pushes against the ejector.

As Antique says "slow and easy" is your friend when loading these two thin-walled cases.
 
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antiqueguy said:
no that will make it worse what you want to do is bring it i the die in steps dont just shove it in there it may take a few movements of the ram to get it sized down anneal it after

enjoy the gun ive been looking for one for a while now good yote gun
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I hear you, I was in the same boat for years, and thankfully finally found one that was in better condition than any of my other 92's. Usually when I would find a 25WCF the bore would look like the typical sewer pipe, black powder having corroded it away over the years. And as generally a varmint caliber, even less desire back in the day it seems to keep it clean. This one didn't have any pitting, so it should be good to shoot. Now I want to try it out on Rams at 200, muahaha! I just don't think it will make a sound when it hits, hah.

fingers284 said:
Morning S. My 32-20 slings the brass ike a hard ball pitcher as well. 32-20 and 2520 brass is very thin compared to a lot of shells. It dents,caves in at the mouth and wrinkles when seating the bullets (the most frajile and fruastrating I've ever used). It will shorten the life of your brass if allowed to eject without controling the force the brass is subjected to when it hits the inside of the action/chamber with your fingertip, the mouth/shoulder will cave in substatially...haveing to reform shortens brass life.

As Antique says "slow and easy" is your friend when loading these two thin-walled cases.
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Thanks gents both, I think based on the evidence presented here today, that I will simply work harder and scour the country for good 25-20 brass. The time and investment to convert the 32 to the 25 just doesn't provide me with a good sense cost benefit as I know there are a couple boxes of 25-20 brass out there somewhere, waiting to get sold.
 
i have a few original winchester 25-20 bullets( 300 or so) and a few mixed. but looking for a bolt action 25-20 ( wanna scope it) to shoot em with. mainly gophers as i reload too. but think the 25-20 is light for deer, so i had bought a 25-35 which worked just great.
 
I hear ya Bro as to buying the brass but the offer is there if your search is unsuccessful.

My 25-20 is the same as your first two, keyholes full flat sided at 20 yds. One of Hootes "have I got a deal for you". LOL
I have a liner for it, just haven't got around to installing it.
 
Winnipeg Toymaker said:
i have a few original winchester 25-20 bullets( 300 or so) and a few mixed. but looking for a bolt action 25-20 ( wanna scope it) to shoot em with. mainly gophers as i reload too. but think the 25-20 is light for deer, so i had bought a 25-35 which worked just great.
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I was just joking about the deer, WT. Making a funny on those threads that always start with "Do you think [blank] caliber is good enough for deer?"

Fingers, get your liner in, thanks for the offer of the dies, I will see what I can find first before I look to further expand my already cramped reloading repertoire with any more work.
 
Winnipeg Toymaker said:
i have a few original winchester 25-20 bullets( 300 or so) and a few mixed. but looking for a bolt action 25-20 ( wanna scope it) to shoot em with. mainly gophers as i reload too. but think the 25-20 is light for deer, so i had bought a 25-35 which worked just great.
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have not found a bolt action .25-20 but i did find some snigle shot .32-20 bolt guns a bit back with really bad bores i should have grabed them and relined them to .25-20 dont see much point in scoping a gun thats old
 
Just from some quick googling, doesn't look like much for 25-20 bolt actions, did find lots of reference to the old Savage 23 in that caliber. Are there others?
 
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