I was looking at a pretty little Stevens Favourite in .25 rf at my local firearms purveyor, and I was wondering about the feasibility of converting it to 25/20? I looked up the dimensions of both cartridges in cartridges of the world and it looks like the bore dimension would work. Making the extractor work would be the most troublesome part. Your thoughts please?
Convert Stevens 25 rf to 25/20?
- Thread starter kferguson
- Start date
Willy Tincup
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- Owen Sound
That action is not strong enough for the 25-20. Best to reline the barrel to .17 and make up a 17HMR.
vagrantviking
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- High River, Alberta
Bore dimensions for 25rf would be .251" whereas the 25-20 is .257".
Conversation to 17 as above or 22 might not even require changing the firing pin strike if you are lucky.
Conversation to 17 as above or 22 might not even require changing the firing pin strike if you are lucky.
All the pressure on these is carried by the iron pivot pin, I see 22 mag, but even that is not recommended. 25/20 will not work, don't do it.
get a 44 action if you want center fire, 44 1/2 is better , almost impossible to find. ( think Hi Wall).
get a 44 action if you want center fire, 44 1/2 is better , almost impossible to find. ( think Hi Wall).
I would not recommend it due to pressure.
what center fire case is the case as 25 rimfire.
I have a 32 rimfire changed to 32 long colt.
Changing to center fire is easy. But you need to find a modern case that fits the original chamber and works at the same pressure.
A rimmed case that fits I can’t think of one. Bullet moulds can be made to proper diameter. The 32RF would be a better choice. Available cases,special order mould but it is doable.
what center fire case is the case as 25 rimfire.
I have a 32 rimfire changed to 32 long colt.
Changing to center fire is easy. But you need to find a modern case that fits the original chamber and works at the same pressure.
A rimmed case that fits I can’t think of one. Bullet moulds can be made to proper diameter. The 32RF would be a better choice. Available cases,special order mould but it is doable.
vagrantviking
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- High River, Alberta
The 25acp is semi-rimmed. I've heard of people making that work in a 25rf conversion. It's also got the .251" diameter bullets.
Someone here once posted about it and about making 25rf ammo from the 17 magnum rimfire cases. I forgot what they are called.
User name might have been Fox.
https://www.canadiangunnutz.com/for...evens-Loading-Using-17-WSM-as-the-parent-case
Someone here once posted about it and about making 25rf ammo from the 17 magnum rimfire cases. I forgot what they are called.
User name might have been Fox.
https://www.canadiangunnutz.com/for...evens-Loading-Using-17-WSM-as-the-parent-case
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- Location
- Okanagan Valley B.C.
This fellow knows Stevens ...
That'll teach me to think out loud here :}
Great information folks! I have seen the .32 rf here on CGN, but, similarly, i would have been thinking 32/20 !! Now I know that is a no - no. Thanks! I hate to see such a nice little rifle sidelined by a lack of ammo. I am surprised to find out that these actions are not very strong. So who does barrel relining in Canada?
Great information folks! I have seen the .32 rf here on CGN, but, similarly, i would have been thinking 32/20 !! Now I know that is a no - no. Thanks! I hate to see such a nice little rifle sidelined by a lack of ammo. I am surprised to find out that these actions are not very strong. So who does barrel relining in Canada?
I like the idea of a shortened and reloaded .17 HMR.
But then I was looking at my cartridge collection and I started wondering about a wildcat made from a shortened .22 Hornet. This would require rechambering and changing the firing pin location but at least the cases would be reloadable. Name that cartridge !! .25 Murder Hornet ?!? ('cuz it'd be murder on your wallet and spare time)
But then I was looking at my cartridge collection and I started wondering about a wildcat made from a shortened .22 Hornet. This would require rechambering and changing the firing pin location but at least the cases would be reloadable. Name that cartridge !! .25 Murder Hornet ?!? ('cuz it'd be murder on your wallet and spare time)
.25-10 Halsted AKA .25 Stevens centerfire
cases are formed from 22 hornet to fit the existing chamber and CH carries /makes dies .You just have to convert the block to CF
I have a 1885 winchester I have done this to and works great for what it is .My block has the existing rf hole still in place with the cf hole .My rf pin I store in a hole under the butt plate
cases are formed from 22 hornet to fit the existing chamber and CH carries /makes dies .You just have to convert the block to CF
I have a 1885 winchester I have done this to and works great for what it is .My block has the existing rf hole still in place with the cf hole .My rf pin I store in a hole under the butt plate
NorthCoastBigBore
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- Northwest BC (Rural) 103-I-##
Coincidentally I just finished doing the CF conversion (definitely NOT 25-20!!) to a 1915 .25 RF Favorite; got my cases sort of perfected this evening in fact. VERY easy I did modify a shell holder to keep the shell from popping out after I turned the rims down (the Hornet brass are just a shade [~0.020") too large for my chamber. .25 ACP reloading dies work fine, they even FL size for the .25 Long. One pass to expand with an expander plug; one pass with the expander removed on the Hornet brass with the .25 ACP sizer; mandrel in the case and turn off the resulting "belt"; cut to length, trim and done. Quick.
Works GREAT with just SP primers and .25 cal air gun pellets - but I do have a full selection of Bullet Barn .25 ACP bullets as well as a mold. I'll give it a workout this weekend.
The .25 ACP cases do work, they even extract - but the rims being thinner they don't always set off on the first strike. The Hornet brass works A+
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I wondered about this too. They make a moon clip for other calibers, so why not? I just ordered a barrel sleeve for my Marksman 12 but I might try to do the old Model 16 Crackshot instead. The Model 16 is a 32 RF the model 12 is 25 RF.
NorthCoastBigBore
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- Northwest BC (Rural) 103-I-##
^^pmatuk, those look great (you always do great work); I'll get some photos up as well, although I was going to start a new thread in the Blackpowder forum this weekend after knocking down some steel.
On my Favorite, I didn't have to thin my rims, although I did have to turn them down just a hair (0.020"). Are you running the stock rim diameter?
Good idea - I was wondering about washers over the shells but that's a bit trickier because there is a deep extractor cutout on the .25 ACP. But a ring in the recess could be a good solution.
On my Favorite, I didn't have to thin my rims, although I did have to turn them down just a hair (0.020"). Are you running the stock rim diameter?
Good idea - I was wondering about washers over the shells but that's a bit trickier because there is a deep extractor cutout on the .25 ACP. But a ring in the recess could be a good solution.
If you rechambered a Favorite into any cartridge that ran higher than BP rimfire ammo pressures, do your family a favor, and get some good pictures taken of your face, to help the reconstruction!
It's a neat little gun, but definitely a product of a different era. The two cross screws at the lever and breech block pivots, are unsupported between the action sides and the relative parts, allowing far to easy springing of the joints.
I like(d) them a lot, but the more I learned about them, the less they looked like a decent prospect for conversion to anything more lively than standard velocity 22 ammo. 1100-ish fps range.
It's a neat little gun, but definitely a product of a different era. The two cross screws at the lever and breech block pivots, are unsupported between the action sides and the relative parts, allowing far to easy springing of the joints.
I like(d) them a lot, but the more I learned about them, the less they looked like a decent prospect for conversion to anything more lively than standard velocity 22 ammo. 1100-ish fps range.
NorthCoastBigBore
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- Northwest BC (Rural) 103-I-##
Yes and yes; a good reminder. These are not falling blocks, they are swinging blocks and it's that breech thrust that matters. As you say, most of the force is being applied to a small pin. Frankly I only use .22 subsonics in any of my .22 Stevens. The 25-10 is the CF equivalent of the .25 Long RF - and has less breech thrust than a SV .22, provided you load it to the intended pressures.
I should have qualified my .25 ACP statement above as I'm only using the cases and downloading them substantially (to the equivalent of the .25 Short RF). Factory .25 ACP would exceed the acceptable breech thrust of these. For that reason it's probably a good thing that the .25 ACP won't fire reliably; that said those rounds are not exactly lying around on the shelves up here so it's a handload only proposition anyway; at least it would force someone in the future to stop and research it a bit.
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The few of the Stevens Favorites that have survived the years without becoming worn to near deaths door, are reasonably able to be used with standard velocity or lower, ammo. The worn ones are a hazard to the eyes with just about anything you can load.
The Stevens Model 44, is built to the same pattern, but is slightly larger in scale, and is said to make a quite acceptable .22 for modern ammo if in great shape. Stevens even (very briefly, it was a piss-poor idea) made the Model 44 in 32-40 caliber. They shot themselves loose in very short order.
In a perfect world, we would all have Model 44 1/2's, a true falling block gun, comparable in strength to the Winchester Low Wall 1885.
In a perfect world....
Kind of a shame that the more modern iterations of the Stevens Favorite were built so damn ugly. The design is fairly elegant, and it would have taken only a few minor internal changes to beef it up and have the pivot pins supported right up to their related parts, thus putting the pins in shear instead of having them able to flex.
The Stevens Model 44, is built to the same pattern, but is slightly larger in scale, and is said to make a quite acceptable .22 for modern ammo if in great shape. Stevens even (very briefly, it was a piss-poor idea) made the Model 44 in 32-40 caliber. They shot themselves loose in very short order.
In a perfect world, we would all have Model 44 1/2's, a true falling block gun, comparable in strength to the Winchester Low Wall 1885.
In a perfect world....
Kind of a shame that the more modern iterations of the Stevens Favorite were built so damn ugly. The design is fairly elegant, and it would have taken only a few minor internal changes to beef it up and have the pivot pins supported right up to their related parts, thus putting the pins in shear instead of having them able to flex.
