Author Topic: 25-20 single shot? (Read 6246 times)

kevinsmith5 · « **on:** October 12, 2009, 10:59:28 AM »

Anyone know of a company making one today?

eskimo36 · « **Reply #1 on:** October 12, 2009, 11:05:33 AM »

I have a contender carbine in 25-20....custom shop barrel

Graybeard · « **Reply #2 on:** October 12, 2009, 11:30:12 AM »

Mine started life as an H&R .22 Hornet. I sent it to GBO Sponsor Wayne York and he transformed it into a 25-20 for me. I've been wanting a .25-20 since as a yound lad I found a freshly fired case in a stream. I have no way of knowing what gun that long ago case was fired in of course. I first looked around for a Winchester lever rifle in it but found none I could afford so decided to go the H&R route.

But no I'm not aware of anyone currently offering a rifle so chambered. I'd think a TC or NEF would be your best bet to have a barrel made into .25-20 if ya want one.

Dee · « **Reply #3 on:** October 12, 2009, 11:48:41 AM »

Ya know GB, about 20 years ago I rode with a friend to see a very old man who wanted to sell HIS DAD'S gun. He had a Winchester 44-40 my friend wanted.
When we got there, the old man also had a Model 92 Winchester with an octagon barrel in 25-20. The only thing wrong with the gun other than normal wear on the finish, and bluing was his Daddy had a habit of leaning them in a corner MUZZLE DOWN. The crown had worn slightly and the gun shot left because of it. No problem to fix. I have him $250.00 for that old gun, and 2 weeks later doubled my money on it. I have always regretted selling that rifle. Since I moved back to North Central Texas away from the Panhandle it would have been a perfect fit for this area.
The mistakes we sometimes make.

Graybeard · « **Reply #4 on:** October 12, 2009, 11:53:12 AM »

Yup I've let a lot of them get away from me over the years and regretted it later. A Winchester 92 (most likely what you had) would be my ideal choice for a .25-20 tho I'd take a Marlin lever as well if I found it.

It's really a near useless gun around here these days as it's not legal for small game and not much of a choice for deer and we can't use rifles on turkey. Now in TX it would be a super choice legal for turkeys and small game and ideal for both. It would be an excellent choice on javelina and small eating size pigs as well. It will do in a pinch on deer as it was what took down the famous Jordan buck that held the world record for so many years.

Dee · « **Reply #5 on:** October 12, 2009, 12:13:50 PM »

Quote from: Graybeard on October 12, 2009, 11:53:12 AM

Yup I've let a lot of them get away from me over the years and regretted it later. A Winchester 92 (most likely what you had) would be my ideal choice for a .25-20 tho I'd take a Marlin lever as well if I found it.

It's really a near useless gun around here these days as it's not legal for small game and not much of a choice for deer and we can't use rifles on turkey. Now in TX it would be a super choice legal for turkeys and small game and ideal for both. It would be an excellent choice on javelina and small eating size pigs as well. It will do in a pinch on deer as it was what took down the famous Jordan buck that held the world record for so many years.

It would have been near perfect for where I live and yes it was a Winchester 92, and an old one at that. The old man that sold it to me said his dad always took care of his guns, and he was right. About 5 or 6 years ago I ordered a Model 92 from Navy Arms with the 24" octagon barrel and walnut in 357 mag. just like the old 2520. I refinished the stocks to look like my old Winchester 94, hand rubbed the true oil in, tuned and smoothed the action, replaced the ejector and extractor, and it now looks like an original, and ain't for sale EVER. It's also a real tack driver. Well. Wrong thread for such talk. Have a gooden.

kevinsmith5 · « **Reply #6 on:** October 12, 2009, 02:18:40 PM »

My interest is mostly in the plinking category. In NC it would be legal on deer, but I can't see myself using it for that. Maybe on nutria or beavers.

ShooterToo · « **Reply #7 on:** October 14, 2009, 01:28:21 AM »

E. Arthur Brown is chambering his Model 97 for 25-20 among others. I've never seen one so can't tell you anything about them. http://www.eabco.com/bfchamb.html

I have a Uberti Baby Rolling Block that I've been wanting to rebarrel in a 25-20 for a while. I need to quit putting it off and git er done. If we could turkey hunt with them here in MS I would have done it already. It would be legal for deer but like you I don't think it would be the best candidate. If it were my only rifle, maybe. But I have too many better cartridges to choose from.

billy_56081 · « **Reply #8 on:** October 14, 2009, 01:47:43 AM »

I have always loved the 25-20 and would love an original 92 in that caliber. As for deer hunting with it, the old typical world record Jordan buck was shot with a 25-20. Jim Jordan did have to do a bit of tracking on it but he did find it.

Drilling Man · « **Reply #9 on:** October 14, 2009, 02:59:28 AM »

Not long ago i was in a gunshop and noticed they had a lever 25/20 sitting on the rack... Here's the number i have for them, 616-997-9555

Anyway, one time i took it upon myself to try and figure out what the "ultimate" small game round would be. You have to push the 22's too fast to get them to kill well at all ranges, and then they do too much damage. So i went up the scale, and came back down to 25 cal., finding the 25/20 to be just about perfect.

I soon after bought a 25/20 Remington pump, but by the time i found it, my custom S&W "K" frame 25/20 was done and i was focused on it, and sold the Rem...

I wasn't satisfied with the "shorter" 25 cal. bullets available, so i designed a 25 cal. Keith style bullet, and started swageing them.

They worked very well and cured the bullet problem.

I had bought a LH Browning T bolt some time eariler, and was lusting for a "center fire" version, so i started thinking of building one in my shop. I had a friend who liked the idea and was a better machinest than i was, so we got started building a single shot LH centerfire T bolt chambered in 25/20. I never did blue it, but here's what it looks like out of the stock...

Like a hundred other things, it's on my "to do" list...

DM

Nobade · « **Reply #10 on:** October 15, 2009, 03:40:45 AM »

I've been thinking about this very thing myself for a while. I recently rebarreled a Sako hornet rifle to 27 Hornet, just the case blown out straight like a slightly longer 270 REN. Its performance is about the same as a 25-20. But I still think a 25-20 would be cool. Uberti makes their 1885 Low Wall in 22 Hornet, so it should be pretty easy to rebore one to 25 caliber and build one on that. They're about $750 new, so not too terribly expensive. I have also wondered about converting one of the Remington 5mm rimfire rifles to centerfire, with a 25-20 barrel but I haven't compared the cartridge length to the ejection port to see if it would actually fit. I know the 580 is too short, but haven't found a magnum one to look at yet. A Ruger 77/22 Hornet would work pretty easily, but that godawful big rotary magazine kind of keeps it from having a nice trim good feeling stock, so I discounted that. Of course Cooper makes a proper action for it, the model 38, but they don't come in 25-20 and chopping up a $2K rifle kind of bothers me anyway. I wish they sold the actions by themselves!

ratherbefishin · « **Reply #11 on:** November 08, 2009, 04:04:33 PM »

I was told by an old guy the 25-20 was considered a farm gun-dispatching animals,while the 25-35 was a popular deer hunting round

ShooterToo · « **Reply #12 on:** November 21, 2009, 01:39:43 AM »

Hey Kevin,
Did you ever find a 25-20? One route might be to find a Martini Cadet and sleeve the barrel. The existing extractor can be modified to work on the 25-20 with very little effort.

kevinsmith5 · « **Reply #13 on:** November 21, 2009, 02:53:10 AM »

Then I will be hunting a cadet....

FredWT · « **Reply #14 on:** December 24, 2009, 03:25:25 PM »

Just curious kevin, did you want the .25-20 Single Shot or the .25-20 Winchester? They are different.

spooked · « **Reply #15 on:** December 29, 2009, 09:04:50 AM »

There is a .218 bee barrelled Martini for sale here locally..

Wyo. Coyote Hunter · « **Reply #16 on:** December 29, 2009, 09:19:32 AM »

Have you scouted for a used Marlin 1894, or were you only interested in single shots?

? Had a nice new Marlin 1894, and let my shooting pal talk me out of it....When I suggest buying it back he only wants to talk about how great our current president is or some other hogwash subject....That little Marlin was a great shooter..Mostly I shot ground squirrel, p. dogs, jacks, and cottotails with it...Perhaps Marlin could be talked into making a limited run for Graybeard Outdoors....I know Remington and Ruger make limited runs for various companies and ruger made a limited run .22 for a pistol group I belong too....Maybe worth a shot....I am not sure how many rifles Marlin would have to produce to make it worth their time....

rzwieg · « **Reply #17 on:** January 01, 2010, 07:13:07 PM »

A 25/20 makes sense to me. A shooter has lots of different options with that round plus it can be reloaded; rimfires can't.

My great uncle had a Marlin lever for many uses, some legal and some not. But with the different bullet weights he loaded it worked. It didn't mess up a bunny like a .22 mag and put a coon or chicken stealing dog or deer down better than a .22 lr.

sbhg · « **Reply #18 on:** January 05, 2010, 11:49:45 AM »

Quote from: kevinsmith5 on October 12, 2009, 10:59:28 AM

Anyone know of a company making one today?

Here ya go-------> http://www.singleshotrifles.com/rifles.htm
Calibers----------> http://www.singleshotrifles.com/calibers.html
Do yourself a favor and just get one of these and tell us all about it.
Just gotta love that scheutzen stock

FredWT · « **Reply #19 on:** January 06, 2010, 05:50:56 PM »

kevinsmith5, how are you doing in your quest for your .25-20. I was doing some looking and it seems that the single shots are far and few. eskim36 said he has a Contender carbine from the custom shop in .25-20. I'll bet that is real sweet. I have a Contender 24 inch custom shop barrel in .25-35 that I am very fond of. here is a pic of some repeaters that I have, all are .25-20s.

Another choice that I'll throw out is a .32-20. That single shot you can get. Here is a link for Cimarron Arms: http://www.cimarron-firearms.com. They have a replica of the Winchester 1885 Low Wall in .32-20. They just don't offer one in .25-20. I bought one in .38-40 and does it ever shoot! Here is a pic so you can see what they look like.

Keep us posted or anybody else just jump in there. I don't think Kevin will mind.

ShooterToo · « **Reply #20 on:** January 08, 2010, 12:30:46 AM »

A cheap way to go might be to reline a Handi 22 Hornet to 25-20 like GB had. That Uberti that Fred posted would be an easy reline as both calibers are based on the same parent case. Buffalo Arms has them starting at $800. I do like the 25-20 but a 32-20 is as good a round if not a little better. Keep us updated.

gcrank1 · « **Reply #21 on:** January 11, 2010, 05:45:12 AM »

In either 25-20 or 32-20 I would like to see a faster than standard twist used so you have the option of using heavier bullets. The 25-20, 1:14?, is marginal with 86 gr. cast lead bullets and it is iffy to try to overcome insufficient twist with increased velocity. The faster twist would also allow stability at subsonic loadings, very friendly stuff, that, akin to the British rook & rabbit rifles.
I dearly wish the fellow I got my relined 25-20 Win.'85 LW from had used the 25-35 liner. It would have been just as much work but Im confident it would have been a better platform. Also, it could be rechambered to 25-35 in the future.
The ballistic coefficient of longer, heavier bullets in either chambering would make them ever so much more fun to 'reach out there'.
If the .22 Hornet had faster twists to do the same you could get away from that stubby 40-45gr. bullet and really have something. The way they are, an equivelent .30cal would be about 115gr. (oh, a 32-20!) and nobody uses that for long range or competition.

trotterlg · « **Reply #22 on:** January 11, 2010, 04:16:35 PM »

I think if you do some research you will find two different 25-20 cartridges. One is the 25-20 we all seem to know, the other is a 25-20 single shot which has different dimension to the brass. This may not mean much today, but if you find an origional chambered 25-20 single shot don't expect it to shoot modern 25-20 ammo. Larry

gcrank1 · « **Reply #23 on:** January 11, 2010, 04:30:24 PM »

And dont expect to find readily available brass for the 25-20SS (Win. sgl. shot). For the last couple of years it has been 'back ordered' and when it is available it is terribly expensive (and is prone to neck splitting).
The extra case capacity was important in the black powder days but I think a 25-35 would be a better choice today.

cwlongshot · « **Reply #24 on:** January 16, 2010, 03:35:31 PM »

The two calibers really only share a name and bullet diameter/weight. There cases are different case/rim diameter and legnth.

CW

gcrank1 · « **Reply #25 on:** January 17, 2010, 04:14:42 AM »

And for someone desperate for 25-20SS brass I recently read of a chap making it from .223 brass as the rim part of the rimless case is similar, lathe turning the base to reduce dia. and running thru the proper size die. Sounded as if it would work to me, but I have not done it.

sbhg · « **Reply #26 on:** January 17, 2010, 06:33:11 AM »

Quote from: gcrank1 on January 11, 2010, 04:30:24 PM

And dont expect to find readily available brass for the 25-20SS (Win. sgl. shot). For the last couple of years it has been 'back ordered' and when it is available it is terribly expensive (and is prone to neck splitting).
The extra case capacity was important in the black powder days but I think a 25-35 would be a better choice today.

Could the neck splitting be cured w/ annealing the necks?
If you want something a lil more modern, this would be a nice fast round for varmints/small game also.
http://www.accuratepowder.com/data/PerCaliber2Guide/Rifle/Standarddata(Rifle)/257cal(6.55mm)/256%20Winchester%20Magnum%20page%20211.pdf
Brass, loaded ammo would be easier to get and, you'll gain some fps. Just a thought.

Graybeard · « **Reply #27 on:** January 17, 2010, 10:29:08 AM »

Not really. Ammo and brass both are more easily available for the .25-20 Win. than for the .256 Win. Mag. It can also be formed more easily from other available rounds which use the same case like the .218 Bee and 32-20.

While the .256 can be made from .357 mag brass it does take proper forming dies to do so with acceptable case loss.

sbhg · « **Reply #28 on:** January 17, 2010, 05:09:32 PM »

Looks like the 25-20SS ($47.99 per 20) and .256WM ($48.49 per 50) are available at Midway right now.
As far as price goes, you don't need 200 cases like w/ a .223 AR or prairie dog gun.

sbhg · « **Reply #29 on:** January 24, 2010, 12:35:14 PM »

http://huntingtons.com/cases_bertram.html
These guys also list the .25-20SS in their inventory.