Author Topic: Need to trim .25 ACP-Help  (Read 548 times)

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Offline smoky

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Need to trim .25 ACP-Help
« on: August 31, 2004, 06:55:26 PM »
I have come across the need to trim some .25 ACP cases that I am using as the ignition source in my Encore muzzle loader.  My RCBS case trimmer has a 25 caliber collet, but it doesn't appear that they make a shell plate for that trimmer that will hold the .25 ACP.

Can anyone tell me if there is an easy (and hopefully inexpensive) way to trim these cases.

Thanks,

Smoky
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Offline Reed1911

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Need to trim .25 ACP-Help
« Reply #1 on: September 01, 2004, 01:52:08 AM »
Lee makes a case trimmer for most pistol calibers that is pretty inexpensive and easy to use, provided you are not looking at doing hundreds of cases. I'm pretty sure they make one for the .25ACP. If needed I have 100 cases on hand new, primed, of no use to us any longer, cost would be 9.75 +3.85 S/H.
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Offline Gatofeo

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Need to trim .25 ACP-Help
« Reply #2 on: September 02, 2004, 10:26:01 AM »
Lee does not make a case trimmer for the .25 Auto. I know, I've searched their catalog, gun store shelves and website.
I know of no one who does.
However, when I've had to reload for my .25 Auto, I just use a small, fine-toothed file and lightly pass it over the case mouths. I set my micrometer to .610 inch and check it with that.
Since the .25 ACP is actually a semi-rimless round, and does not headspace on the case mouth, case length isn't as critical as with rounds that do. This is not to say you can be freewheeling about trimming .25 cases, but if you go one or two light strokes of the file too far, it won't hurt anything.
In my experience, the .25 Auto hardly stretches over multiple firings. Usually, it takes just one pass to true up those that stretch. Oddly enough, the cases in my .25 tend to have mouths that are slightly unevenly stretched.
That is to say, one side may be .610 inch and the opposite side .615 inch.
Passing a file is tedious, to be sure, but I haven't found any other way to do it.
Just remember to check case length AFTER sizing. Checking case length, and trimming to proper length, can be easily done in front the TV.
Sit on the couch, have your untrimmed cases on the left and a container for trimmed cases on the right. Then just work left to right. This will keep them sufficiently separated.
Reloading the .25 Auto is working at the subatomic level, it sometimes seems, but it's justified by the expense of ammunition. Also, some .25 Autos can be amazingly accurate out to 10 yards or so.
I used to carry mine while deer and elk hunting in Idaho, loaded with a single ball of No. 3 buckshot in each case. Bullseye or Unique in very small amounts work well. I figured I could knock off a grouse or rabbit at close range with the little pistol, without spooking game. Alas, I never got the opportunity.
"A hit with a .22 is better than a miss with a .44."

Offline New Hampshire

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Need to trim .25 ACP-Help
« Reply #3 on: September 02, 2004, 12:03:42 PM »
smoky, just curious.  Where did you get the breech plug for your Encore?  Is it something you milled yourself, or is it actually available over the counter as a product somewheres?  I ask because I will someday get myself a 209x50 Mag bbl for my Encore, and after reading about this type of ignition system in the American Gunsmith magazine I decided THATS what I want to do.  The only difference between yours and the AGs is the guy in the Magazine was using cut down .22 Hornet brass.
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Offline smoky

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Need to trim .25 ACP-Help
« Reply #4 on: September 03, 2004, 03:49:16 AM »
New Hampshire,

A company out of Canada, Precision Rifle, makes them.  They have a great website, www.prbullet.com ,and the conversion has been extensively discussed over on Graybeard's Modern Muzzle Loader board.  That company orginally made the 22 hornet conversion but has since replaced it with the .25 in order to eliminate so much case prep work.  I am liking mine so far, except that the longer cases require a firm snap of the action to ensure lock up and then sometimes the hammer won't cock.  Trimming the cases down to about .607 fixes that minor problem all together.  

Smoky
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Offline smoky

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Need to trim .25 ACP-Help
« Reply #5 on: September 03, 2004, 04:46:40 AM »
New Hampshire,

A company out of Canada, Precision Rifle, makes them.  They have a great website, www.prbullet.com ,and the conversion has been extensively discussed over on Graybeard's Modern Muzzle Loader board.  That company orginally made the 22 hornet conversion but has since replaced it with the .25 in order to eliminate so much case prep work.  I am liking mine so far, except that the longer cases require a firm snap of the action to ensure lock up and then sometimes the hammer won't cock.  Trimming the cases down to about .607 fixes that minor problem all together.  

Smoky
Free men do not ask permission to bear arms.

Offline Robert357

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I've trimmed 32 ACP, but not 25 ACP
« Reply #6 on: September 03, 2004, 07:29:39 AM »
I will share a little experience I got along the way.  I reload 32 ACP, not because I have to, but because I want to.

When I first started to reload the 32 ACP or 32 Auto, I contacted Lee about getting a case trimming device for the 32 ACP, as I had one of their trimmers for 30-06, 30-30, 357 Mag, 38 special, 9mm, but couldn't find one for 32 Auto.

They sent me back an email basically saying that I would wear out the brass before it was ever needed to be trimmed.  They did say they would custom make one for me if I insisted.

Well, I had a mixed bunch of 32 ACP brass, and I wanted it all the same length.  I then took out my caliper and a put a flat metal file into the jaws of my vice to hold it nice and horizontal and flat.  I then grabbed a spent case and slowly worked it back and forth over the file and periodically measured the case size with my caliber.  It really wasn't too bad.

Lee Precision was right in the the cases once sized have never stretched and never needed to be re-trimmed.  I tend to loose more brass at the range and from crushing in my press than I expect I will ever "wear out from stretching."

I suspect that the 25 ACP is about the same.   I realize that you have a case trimmer you would like to use and that you are using the 25 ACP for an igniter, but still, I find it hard to believe that the cases would be stretching much after being fired.  Is that what is happening?  Or do you just have a small batch that you want to all get to one size that best fits your muzzel loading Encore.

Good luck

Offline smoky

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Need to trim .25 ACP-Help
« Reply #7 on: September 03, 2004, 09:02:26 AM »
Robert357,

Most of the brand new brass I have is .610 to .615.  I don't think it stretches at all for the purpose that I am using it for.  I just want my lock up to be consistant from one to the next.

Smoky
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Offline New Hampshire

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Need to trim .25 ACP-Help
« Reply #8 on: September 03, 2004, 12:27:47 PM »
Thank you very much for the link smoky.  I might just have to order me one (even before I have the bbl!)  Ya never know when Ill stumble upon a deal for the 209x50 mag bbl  :grin: .
Brian M.
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Member North American Fishing Club
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Member New Hampshire Historical Society
Member International Blackpowder Hunting Association