Can't find 25-20 brass or lead bullets.

Dark Alley Dan

Dark Alley Dan

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I've had a sweet little Martini rechambered from 25 Stevens Rimfire to 25-20. "Clever fellow", thinks I. "Now you'll be able to find bullets and cases and load them light and shoot gophers and such and much will be your rejoicing."

Not so fast, you silly optimist.

The .25 Stevens shot a bullet around 67 grains. Many 25-20 bullets are heavier than that. I worry about stability with heavier bullets and rifling pitched for lighter pills.

And where the hell is the brass? I get that it's a bit niche these days, but honestly - 25-20 shouldn't be THAT hard to find, no?

Anyone know of a source for brass and lighter - c. 60 grain - cast bullets?
 
Can't find 25 20 brass or lead bullets.

I've had a sweet little Martini rechambered from 25 Stevens Rimfire to 25-20. "Clever fellow", thinks I. "Now you'll be able to find bullets and cases and load them light and shoot gophers and such and much will be your rejoicing."

Not so fast, you silly optimist.

The .25 Stevens shot a bullet around 67 grains. Many 25-20 bullets are heavier than that. I worry about stability with heavier bullets and rifling pitched for lighter pills.

And where the hell is the brass? I get that it's a bit niche these days, but honestly - 25-20 shouldn't be THAT hard to find, no?

Anyone know of a source for brass and lighter - c. 60 grain - cast bullets?
 
Dark Alley Dan said:
Can't find 25 20 brass or lead bullets.
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In bound pm....
Bullet Barn when the shop was in BC had a large selection of cast and brass.
Health reasons forced the selling of the business to some guys in Alberta, but they have gone dark of late (same name) not sure when or if they are going to return to the trade.
Tight Groups,
Rob


Is this the 25-20 Stevens chambering or 25-20 wcf ??
If the latter my comments re not relevant to the Stevens chambering.
Rob
 
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The higher velocity should stabilize bullets that are a bit longer than what the original cartridge could do. Maybe check your rate of twist and check some stability calculators.

32-20 cases aren't terribly plentiful but more so than 25-20 so maybe those can be found and necked down.
 
Should work with a heavier bullet. Accurate Moulds is also an option if you want a lighter bullet. He will make what you want. Also has many designs to choose from. About $200 with shipping from the US.
I spent a few hours on the internet looking for 44-40 brass recently so know what your going through. 32-20 is an easy reform so that is an option. Put an ad up on the EE. A couple people helped me out with 44-40 brass. I wanted a 44-40 so bought it and found no new brass, no ammunition available. Die set was easy as in stock at Higginsons.
 
You're right? 25 Stevens is .251. 25-20 is .257. Not using any bullets yet, but I'm hoping to shoot lead exclusively.

My 'smith tells me that lead bullets should squeeze through just fine. I'm mildly sceptical, but the man's shot more lead bullets than I've ever seen.
 
Prairie Projectiles lists a 50gr .252" RN and an 85gr .259" FN. The price list is a bit unclear, but it seems like the .252" 50gr could be sized as large as .256" and the 85gr as large as .266".


Mark
 
So they do! Thanks for the lead. They list those 50gr. numbers as being for 25 ACP, but the bullets won't much know the difference. Tricky thing will be finding data for a bullet that light.

I know nothing about sizing bullets, but the videos I've seen make it look pretty simple. Sizing .257 or .259 bullets down to .251 looks doable. Is this something I need to worry about?
 
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Dark Alley Dan said:
So they do! Thanks for the lead. They list those 50gr. numbers as being for 25 ACP, but the bullets won't much know the difference. Tricky thing will be finding data for a bullet that light.

I know nothing about sizing bullets, but the videos I've seen make it look pretty simple. Sizing .257 or .259 bullets down to .251 looks doable. is this something I need to worry about?
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Sizing down more than 3-4 thousandths can work, but not with all bullets. Depends on the alloy and maybe the bullet profile.

Sizing down 7 thousandths might work in one go, or you might need to do it in a couple steps.

I sized .460 as-cast bullets down to .451 in 3 steps- .458, .454, .451.
 
jethunter said:
Sizing down more than 3-4 thousandths can work, but not with all bullets. Depends on the alloy and maybe the bullet profile.

Sizing down 7 thousandths might work in one go, or you might need to do it in a couple steps.

I sized .460 as-cast bullets down to .451 in 3 steps- .458, .454, .451.
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I sized Campro 147grs .356 bullets down to .323 in two steps only, works surprisingly well.
 
Down sizing can be done. I wanted to try a heavier bullet in my 43 Mauser so decided to try 500 gr 0.459 and down sized it in one pass to 0.446. I was getting some distortion of the bands so tried 0.452 first and then 0.446 which fixed the bands being uneven. They shoot rather well 3 shots at 75 m into an inch.
 
Welcome to the 'brass desert.' Almost like we have a war in Europe suckling up all resources or something...
I'd be happy to find some 45-70 brass. Finally broke down and bought 100 loaded rounds to get some brass.
Seen bits and drab since on the EE here since, but no new factory brass at all this year.
 
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