Why did the 25-35 fail?

H

heronfish

CGN frequent flyer
Rating - 100%
64   0   0
This past summe I landed an old winchester 1894 src in 25-35, and while I haven't used this rifle on game larger than a gopher, it is a real pleasure to shoot.
Now to a few questions for those wiser than I.
Firstly : why was it called the 25-35 and not 25 wcf or 35 special or the like. Seems odd to me considering the 3030 was initially called a 30 wcf.
And secondly : why was this dropped never to return. It would appear to be a deer cartridge within the iron sight range, with very little recoil.
 
Last edited:
I would assume given other cartridges with double numbered designations of the time era it is from it meant a 25 cal bullet propelled by 35 grains of powder? But I could be wrong? As for why some cartridges soldier on while others fail I believe has much to do about the performance myths built around them than by actual performance, but again I am only guessing?
 
I don't judge the merit of any cartridge by it's sales success or lack thereof. I experiment and try as many as I can, and settle on those that work best for me. For example, I love the 32-20, and 44-40 cartridges, but neither are commonly used anymore.
 
Look at the 284 Winchester,,,a complete failure as far as sales go,,but affectionately known among reloaders as the "original shortmag" the 284 is an awesome round in the ballistics dept,,,I know lots of guys that shoot it today,,,:cool:
 
Possibly the 250 Savage (250/3000) with its pointy 25 cal bullets at 3000 fps might have hurt its sales a bit. People in that time believed more in big heavy bullets rather than small fast moving bullets. Just thoughts of mine.
 
I knew an old guy( long dead now) who used his 25-35 with great effectiveness on coastal blacktails,I watched him pole axe a big buck that dropped in its tracks....course,the old guy could shoot too.I think the 25-35 was in its hay day back in the 30'and 40's.
 
The 25-35 was preceded by the 25-20 which is also known as the 25 WCF, just as the 32-20 is also the 32 WCF which was followed by the 32-40 and finally the 32 Win Spl. Hence the naming of the cartridge. Although the cartridge was never a black powder cartridge it is named as though it was and as such designates basic ballistics of it.....it may have been loaded with 35 grns of smokeless powder but it also may not have been..........The 250 Savage certainly did not do the 25-35 any good as a competitor and what a lot of people forget was that it was also trying to compete in the day with Mr. Newton's cartridges and the upsurge in popularity of bolt action rifles and high velocity cartridges after WW I.............it didn't survive the competition. Round and flat nosed bullets at modest velocity were just not what the new shooters after the war wanted.........they had all become used to the Krag in 30-40 and then the 30-03/30-06 bolt guns whereas the lever boys were pretty stuck on the 30-30, 38-55 and 32-40 for deer and black bear and considered the 25-35 too small for their needs. It really was just a bad experiment that lacked sales right from the get go, because every one considered 25 cal to be a varmint caliber and with the flat nose and mediocre accuracy from the 94 it fell way short of the varmint guys wants..........Same story for the 219 Zipper....
 
I'd love a single shot custom rifle or a double rifle so chambered. Effective within its limitations and it is one of the best looking rounds ever produced in my opinion
I believe Doug is right of why it died out. Ammo is still made but I believe only one or two loads exist now
 
Coastal Blacktails are small, a good fork buck will go 120 lb.and out rainforest conditions pretty much limit ranges to well under 100 yards,50 is closer.So under those conditions carrying a the 25 -35 is not really a disadvantage-if you hold it straight...I think what happened is people thought bigger was better,but bigger comes with a price-recoil and recoil doesn't aid accuracy
 
Thanks guy.
I never thought of the 250-3000 as a competitor.
Now if I could only locate a better supply of rn bullets. . .
 
I don't think it really "failed". It was a round of average popularity from the early 1900's up until the 1940's much the same as several others;.303 Savage, .38/55,.32/40, .33 Winchester, .32 Remington, 30 Remington etc. The .25/35 was a very effective woods cartridge for deer size game for those desiring low recoil and a flatter trajectory than many traditional woods rounds. At one time it was considered a good open country gun for pronghorn antelope and such. Take it hunting, you might be surprised by it's performance, paper ballistics notwithstanding.
 
Mostly because its a tube magazine lever cartridge and most of them have been left in the dust. Now a days there's a few flat bullet hunters around but 90% of them will have a 30-30 or a 45-70. 32 special, 35 Remington 356 Winchester, 307 Winchester, 44-40 on it goes, all seldom used any more.
 
Salty said:
Mostly because its a tube magazine lever cartridge and most of them have been left in the dust. Now a days there's a few flat bullet hunters around but 90% of them will have a 30-30 or a 45-70. 32 special, 35 Remington 356 Winchester, 307 Winchester, 44-40 on it goes, all seldom used any more.
Click to expand...


those guys should just donate them all to me, so I can use them as they were designed to be used!
 
There seems to be a definate trend towards more powerful cartridges but whether there's any real advantage I don't know...chances are the average hunter would be just as well served by some of the older moderate bullet weights and velocities that take game humainly and efficiently under typical hunting conditions.

The old guy I knew wasn't the slightest bit hampered by his old Winchester 25-35, he shot a lot of deer with it.Funny,his farm was a 'shot gun with shot only' zone,but he refused to allow anybody to hunt on his property with a shotgun,he found too many unrecovered deer from people using shot.But show up with a 30/30,or other moderate caliber,only shoot forks or better, make a clean one shot kill, do a good job field dressing,stay away from his stock, shut the farm gates and you were invited in for dinner and welcome back
 
A Canadian company should start up a company to make sleek break action guns chambered in rimmed cartridges from the past. Since the hnr is gone and cva is rare I think they'd sell
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom