Why don't they listen?

[.22-5-40]

Hello, everyone..I'v got to vent on this one...I have slowly been accumulating the tools needed to get an original Ballard target rifle in .25-25 Stevens shooting.  I have quite a few original Ideal moulds, and have cast up samples from 77gr. to 100gr. (twist is 1-12").  Cases are on order from Rocky Mountain Cartridge.  Due to the rifles age & since it's a Ballard, I have decided to play it safe and use black..at most duplex if I want cleaner burn..have purchased Swiss FFFG.  I made up 36" 1/4"dia. brass drop tube for charging.  I have original Ideal #3 nickled tong tool, but thought something more modern would be in line, so special ordered from Huntington's an RCBS three piece die set in .25-25 Stevens.  When I spoke with the salesman on the phone, I asked twice if these were set up for cast-bullet use?  He assured me they were, with everything dimensioned correctly..I have had trouble in the past with RCBS & Redding concerning these dimensions.
   Well, the dies arrived & first thing I did was to mike the expander...I should have known, .253"dia....Groove dia. is .257, and I had planned on using .258" dia. bullet!  For soft cast, I like expander to be at or at most .001 under bullet dia.  Case springback takes care of rest, without damage to bullet base edge.  That .253 dia. would be a tight squeeze with jacketed.
I will give RCBS a call Monday to see if they have custom sizes available.  I checked with Lyman..their .25 "M" die measures .255" dia.  better, but still a bit small for soft plain base.  Are we cast bullet shooters the red headed step children of the shooting world?  I realize it is all supply and demand..but hey, these were "custom" dies..at the very least, they could have gotten closer on the expander size.  Thanks guy's.

[lee1954]

I agree ---  I see  -- on E-bay   ---"bullet mold"     and a picture of the mold  -- closed  and a 12 inch ruler below with the words 9 inch handels..  No numbers !!!  ---------  thats my rant ------

I'm a 25 cal fan..  And that vintage rifle is something I'd like to hear more about   -- please keep us posted.


I have a  Lyman   257 -128   about 80 Gr and pointy. If you want to trade  some cast bullets.
                                                                          Dan

[nicholst55]

CH-4D will make any size expander you want for a Lyman 'M' die, so money is the only object there.  I share your frustration, though, trying to load cast bullet ammo with dies dimensioned for jacketed bullets.

[Nobade]

This is why, with so many of my odd and unusual guns (and many not so odd) I make my own reloading tools. You simply can't buy what you need, especially for us cast bullet and paper patch folks. BTW, why buy dies for that 25-25? I'd think reloading it by hand without resizing anything would give you the best accuracy. Maybe a little case mouth resizing at the most, possibly with a 25-20 die or a custom one to give you just what you need?

[mdi]

I was reading earlier today about 25-20 cartridges. Original 25-20 Single shot was a longer version, Winchester made 25-20 WCF for use in their lever action rifles, and there was the 25-20 Stevens. Could the RCBS have used other than 25-20 Stevens specs.?