.25 ACP on the way....

[MI.sabot]

Ok...so I ordered the .25 ACP breechplug and some brass for my Sidekick and it should be here any day now.
The Lee Priming Tool and #15 shell holder arrived today.

Not totally sure what I need to do when it all gets here so I'm counting on someone's expertise.

Here's my take on it so far:

I need to buy some CCI 400 primers.  I'm assuming I can purchase these from most gun stores.

The priming tool came with 2 trays and 2 pins (One for large and one for small primers)
Are the CCI 400's considered small primers?

So I'm guessing the brass will slide into the shell holder and stand upright.
The primer will funnel in under the brass and and be pressed into the brass as the lever is depressed.
Is that basically all there is to it?

I also received a 22 caliber Decapper and Base.
Again I'm guessing the brass will stand upright in the grooved base and the primer will be punched out with pointed rod.
Will it need to be hammered out?

Am I on the right track so far?
Let me know if I'm missing something or if there's any tricks to help things go smoothly!

Thanks!

[Keith Lewis]

The .25ACP brass takes a small primer. Small pistol or small rifle will work. You have a selection from small regular pistol then up to magnum pistol then to small rifle and then to magnum rifle for least fire to the most. I use standard small rifle primers in mine.  When you seat the primer it is important to understand that the primer has a small anvil inside (the little three cornered piece in the hollow end of the primer) and this has to be pressed into the primer when the primer is seated. This activates the primer so that a standard hit with the firing pin will set it off. If the primer is not set with sufficient force to activate the primer anvil the first hit will seat the primer and it will take a second hit with the firing pin to set it off correctly. You should experiment with a few cases to be sure that you are seating the primer to the bottom of the primer pocket. Visually the primer should be just slightly below the back of the brass when seated. After you do a few you will get a feel for when the primer is seated. The primers are available from most gun shops. The ribbed portion of the seating tool is for getting the primers the right side up. You just load them into the tray and shake it side to side to right the primers (shake carefully so they don't fly out). Put the cover on and hold the tray away from you and set the brass in the holder and seat the primer. If held at a slight angle the next primer will fall into the loading slot as the brass is removed for the next one. You will need some way to remove the primers after firing. If you do not have reloading tools you can do it with a small punch that will fit through the primer hole in the brass and a block with a hole drilled that will allow the primer to be tapped out with a small hammer. The block can be a small piece of wood. Another option is a short piece of 1/8 pipe like a short pipe nipple from a hardware store, but you will have to figure out how to hold it to allow the brass to be set on the end and have the primer knocked into the pipe.

[Odinbreaker]

You may have to seat the 25 scp bullet in the breech the first time youput them in the ar a little long you neet to close the action sharply to seat the 25 acp brass.

[carp]

Where did you buy the breechplug?

[MI.sabot]

Carp:
You can find a lot of info on the .25 ACP conversion in the Modern Inline Muzzleloading Forum
http://www.graybeardoutdoors.com/smf/index.php/topic,44683.msg258245.html#msg258245

The breech plug is available through Precision Bullet: http://www.prbullet.com/index.htm

Here's the link to the NEF page on their website: http://www.prbullet.com/nef.htm

Keith and Odinbreaker:
Well the breech plug, priming tool and primers all arrived.
So far, so good. The only unpleasant experience has been trying to seat the brass the first time.
I lucked out on a few seating them with the first couple snaps.
The majority seemed to take anywhere from 5-10.
Think I have the hang of it now, so hopefully the next 40 won't be as bad as the first 15.

Seated the primers with no difficulty and shot a couple off just to make sure everything was good.

Winter has finally arrived here in Michigan.
Going to have to wait til it warms up a bit before testing things out at the range.

Thanks for all your help so far.  I may have more questions the further I get into this.

[ken2222]

I'm gonna watch your progress pretty close...haven't ordered mine yet as like you say...winter is here in Michigan! BTW..I see you are in SE Lower Mi....I'm in Dearborn Hghts...maybe we could get out to shoot sometime...Ken

[MI.sabot]

Ken:

I'm in Macomb Twp.  Sounds good on the shoot.

You hit the nail on the head...this kind of is a work in progress.

I've only had the Sidekick to the range once but was very impressed with how consistent it shot.
This was just at 50 yds, 2 777 pellets and open sights.
Well I headed up to our hunt camp in the Thumb the following weekend.
Wasn't in the woods 15 minutes and out pops a quality, quality buck with his nose up in a licking branch about 75 yds out.
I didn't take the shot for a few reasons: at that distance the red dot on the front ramp looked like the size of a pumpkin on the deer's body, likewise the rear ramp seemed to cover the lower half of the body and most importantly, the entire woods was covered in water anywhere from your ankles to your knees.  If he didn't drop right there chances were I wasn't going to find him and I honestly didn't have the confidence that I could drop him.

Well I wasn't going to let that happen again. So here's the plan.
I have two H&R Ultrra Slug Hunters at my disposal, a 12 ga for me and a 20 ga for my son.
Both are topped wit 2x7x33 Leupolds.
I love the 12 ga for its accuracy but in time I'm going to resent it for its recoil and weight.
The 20 has been shot very little but I would like it to be my or my son's gp-to gun for the fireams season.
The next trip to the range will be to sight in the 20 with a number of different sabots and hopefully build my confience in it as much as I'm confident of the 12.
If that happens, I already have a buyer for the 12 ga but first I will remove the scope and slap it on the muzzleloader.

There's no doubt in my mind after seeing how well it shot with pellets and open sights of how well it will do scoped, with an ACP breechplog and using loose powder. I also put a Monte carlo stock on it.

So stay tuned...but this is going to be a long project!

[crittergitter]

I noticed theres 2 different sizes of breech plugs...I think 5/8 and 7/8??? I'm assuming they are measuring the length??? I'm ordering one for my sons huntsman pretty soon and for my Pro Hunter also.

MI.sabot, Kinda nice having snow now in Southern Michigan - time to bang some coyotes   I'm up in Port Huron.

[MI.sabot]

Actually they are measured by the width of the breech plug at the threads.

My stainless sidekick was purchased in 2006 and it takes the 5/8".
(Not sure when the 7/8" were in production.)

[Odinbreaker]

ML
I have just put the breech plug on a hard surface and hit the unprimed brass witha plastic mallet to seat them a little easier than snapping the gun shut and a lot easier on your hinge pin.

[ken2222]

MI.sabot...I'm with ya on the "project". Mine will be ready by next season for sure but I want to do things progressively to see what makes 'em shoot. My gun really shot well except for going verticle. I know now what to do about that. Haven't been back to the range yet. I have a couple of friends up your way....maybe we'll run into each other one day...any 'yotes up there?  Ken

[MI.sabot]

Odinbreaker:
I wished I would have waited another day before seating the rest of them last night.
Your suggestion sounds much easier.
My thigh feels like it's probbaly black & blue after being the leverage point of a couple hundred hard snaps.
If I ever were to buy any more brass, I'd certainly try it your way!

Ken:
I'm not a YOTER, but maybe you and Crittergitter can hook up around Port Huron!

[Keith Lewis]

I have not had the problem with the brass being too long except for a few. I usually length check most of the brass and if any are way over length I trim them to length with a Lee trimming set-up. If you are really haveing that much problem maybe you should invest in the length trimmer. Since I reload and had dies for the .25ACP (yes some people actually reload .25ACP) it was not a problem for me. I try to keep the brass just long enough to seat solidly to avoid any blowby.