My Wife and I just attended the funeral of her Great Uncle. 90y/o and they had quite the relationship. She was willed a Winchester 25-20. I have this in the BP forum as I believe it stands for 25grain bullet and 20 grains of BP[?] Any other info would be most appreciated.
Winchester 25-20 info please
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rcmodel
Member in memoriam
25-20 WCF
25 stands for the caliber, 20 stands for powder charge.
WCF stands for Winchester Center Fire.
See this about that.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/.25-20_Winchester
rc
25 stands for the caliber, 20 stands for powder charge.
WCF stands for Winchester Center Fire.
See this about that.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/.25-20_Winchester
rc
earplug
Member
Nice small game and Turkey round.
Neat little bottle neck round. Hard to find and kind of expensive when you do. One of the major manufacturers loads some rounds now and then.
Its based on the 32-20 case. Some people re-size the 32-20 to 25-20. I think Star-line has 32-20 brass.
I had a friend with a Remington M-25 rifle chambered in 25-20 and he cast 85 grain gas checked bullets and used Unique powder.
Look on the auction sites and you might find a Ideal or Winchester tong tool that works. That will keep you busy during the night.
Neat little bottle neck round. Hard to find and kind of expensive when you do. One of the major manufacturers loads some rounds now and then.
Its based on the 32-20 case. Some people re-size the 32-20 to 25-20. I think Star-line has 32-20 brass.
I had a friend with a Remington M-25 rifle chambered in 25-20 and he cast 85 grain gas checked bullets and used Unique powder.
Look on the auction sites and you might find a Ideal or Winchester tong tool that works. That will keep you busy during the night.
Tommygunn
Member
earplug said:
Yes, I ordered some .32-20 from "Old West Scrounger" and the cases they use are Starline.
I am not sure if Old West Scrounger has .25-20 or not. They might and if I had a weapon in that caliber I would check them out.
The .25-20 is, as stated, developed from the .32-20.
Do not use either round on a Grizzly Bear; if he finds out he'd been shot and you did it the Griz is gonna be really annoyed.
I dont have any imformation but it is a sweet little cartridge that i have been wanting a revolver chambered in. last time i looked cartridges and reloading gear was available through midway.
somebody gave me a few cartridges for 25-20 and i thought i have to get something to shoot these things in i thouight as a reloader and BP enthusiast
they could easily take the place of the still hard to find .22 lr
as someone else said dont try hunting bear
somebody gave me a few cartridges for 25-20 and i thought i have to get something to shoot these things in i thouight as a reloader and BP enthusiast
they could easily take the place of the still hard to find .22 lr
as someone else said dont try hunting bear
witchhunter
Member
The 25/20 is a neat little cartridge. It makes a nice low recoil round for plinking and small game. Have a good look at the bore as they tended to be shot a lot. A 60 grain flat point works good. It needs flat points since it has a tube magazine.
Don McDowell
Member
25 is the caliber, 20 may or may not stand for the powder charge. It never was a blackpowder round.
Good little round that doesn't get the credit it deserves in todays shooting world mindset. At one time it laid claim to the world record whitetail, not sure if that record still stands or not.
Patocazador
Member
Old guns with obsolete cartridges are just plain fun. If you reload, your wife, you and your kids, if any, can have a blast with it.
Jim Watson
Member
But Don, my 1901 Sears, Roebuck & Co. catalogue shows the .25-20 Winchester and Marlin (separate line items) with 17 grains of powder and an 86 grain bullet. The .32-20 is shown to have the full 20 grains.
Smokeless loads are listed separately and said to contain 7.5 grains of powder.
The 1892 is a famously strong lever action and may be shot with smokeless powder ammo.
If it is to be shot a LOT, I would limit it to lead bullets but the jacketed bullets will be ok for occasional shooting on ceremonial occasions to commemorate Grandpa.
None on hand, but here is what to use when you can find some.
http://www.midwayusa.com/find?sortby=1&itemsperpage=20&newcategorydimensionid=9851
Do be careful, a search for .25-20 Winchester will also bring up .25-20 Single Shot which is not the same thing and is NOT interchangeable in your rifle.
Smokeless loads are listed separately and said to contain 7.5 grains of powder.
The 1892 is a famously strong lever action and may be shot with smokeless powder ammo.
If it is to be shot a LOT, I would limit it to lead bullets but the jacketed bullets will be ok for occasional shooting on ceremonial occasions to commemorate Grandpa.
None on hand, but here is what to use when you can find some.
http://www.midwayusa.com/find?sortby=1&itemsperpage=20&newcategorydimensionid=9851
Do be careful, a search for .25-20 Winchester will also bring up .25-20 Single Shot which is not the same thing and is NOT interchangeable in your rifle.
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Don McDowell
Member
Well thanks for that info Jim, that's the first I've ever heard of the blackpowder loads , which does seem a bit odd as the cartridge wasn't introduced until 1893/95,and by then blackpowder was falling fast from grace.
Noz
Member
Was famous as a turkey killer.
It will be a finicy, hard to please caliber but easy and fun to shoot.
It will be a finicy, hard to please caliber but easy and fun to shoot.
Don McDowell
Member
Out in this part of the world it was pretty popular as a sheep herders rifle. Most preferred it to the 32-20 for coyotes and the like.
Thanks everyone! As with most of you, my Wife thinks I'm nuts and puts up with me and my BP pursuits. This post has well garnered her attention. We just finished reading all the responses and she now believes as I that the knowledge base and kindred spirit here are unmatched.
Beware...
As cartridges became the thing, circa 1870, Colt attempted the .44 Walker power with the .45 Long Colt round. Winchester used the same rim diameter but a narrower body, I suspect to allow for more reliable extraction with more rim. Came out with a .44/40. .44 caliber used a .428 bullet??? Later added the .38/40 using a .40 bullet??? -??-
Point: In settled areas the people wanted a smaller, lighter round/rifle. A reduced size frame was made and in .32/20, using a .310 bullet. .32? ?? Along this line the case was necked down to .25 still using 20 grains of black powder.
Beware! The original rifles were the model 1873's. Some with brass frames. These are not the strongest actions. Adequate for black powder but trouble with smokeless powder. There was a "high velocity" round in .32/20 using an 80 grain bullet and on the boxes in large type it said, "NOT for use in 1873 winchesters."
Model 1892 was designed by John Browning and came out in, surprise, 1892. Again, large frame for .44/40 and smaller frame for .32/20 and .25/20. I am guessing that this is what your wife received but if she got a brass frame 1873!!! MONEY...
Cartridge by todays standards is a "pop gun." Low performance. You do not shoot at any distance without aiming way high..., BUT as said... "fun." You do not take the beating, shoulder or ears, that comes with today's modern rounds. At the same time, the brass is made for these lower levels of performace and reloading is much more delicate... Crushing case shoulders is not that hard. Be very careful with brass just getting more expensive.
Many of the '92s in small frame were converted to .357 Magnum as a rifle for the LEO/cop packing a .357 or .38 Special handgun.
Yes, the cattlemen of the plains used them on deer and everything else. Little light but if you know what you are doing, .22 LR is enough.
I cannot recommend this as a working gun. Value is such that you could sell it for enough to buy several more modern guns. Sentimental value... ??? Cherish it. (I got mine from my grandfather...) Maintain it well and if you have to sell, very good "hard asset" investment. Luck. Happy Trails.
As cartridges became the thing, circa 1870, Colt attempted the .44 Walker power with the .45 Long Colt round. Winchester used the same rim diameter but a narrower body, I suspect to allow for more reliable extraction with more rim. Came out with a .44/40. .44 caliber used a .428 bullet??? Later added the .38/40 using a .40 bullet??? -??-
Point: In settled areas the people wanted a smaller, lighter round/rifle. A reduced size frame was made and in .32/20, using a .310 bullet. .32? ?? Along this line the case was necked down to .25 still using 20 grains of black powder.
Beware! The original rifles were the model 1873's. Some with brass frames. These are not the strongest actions. Adequate for black powder but trouble with smokeless powder. There was a "high velocity" round in .32/20 using an 80 grain bullet and on the boxes in large type it said, "NOT for use in 1873 winchesters."
Model 1892 was designed by John Browning and came out in, surprise, 1892. Again, large frame for .44/40 and smaller frame for .32/20 and .25/20. I am guessing that this is what your wife received but if she got a brass frame 1873!!! MONEY...
Cartridge by todays standards is a "pop gun." Low performance. You do not shoot at any distance without aiming way high..., BUT as said... "fun." You do not take the beating, shoulder or ears, that comes with today's modern rounds. At the same time, the brass is made for these lower levels of performace and reloading is much more delicate... Crushing case shoulders is not that hard. Be very careful with brass just getting more expensive.
Many of the '92s in small frame were converted to .357 Magnum as a rifle for the LEO/cop packing a .357 or .38 Special handgun.
Yes, the cattlemen of the plains used them on deer and everything else. Little light but if you know what you are doing, .22 LR is enough.
I cannot recommend this as a working gun. Value is such that you could sell it for enough to buy several more modern guns. Sentimental value... ??? Cherish it. (I got mine from my grandfather...) Maintain it well and if you have to sell, very good "hard asset" investment. Luck. Happy Trails.
kBob
Member
John Amber's old Cartridges of the World lists some loads using Hercules 2400 powder popular with the .357 crowd for both the 60 and 86 grain bullets. Gets the little 60 grain up to over 2100fps. Seems to put the .22magnum Rim Fire to shame!
The old 1981 NRA Handloading book published loads using Winchester 680, Dupont 4227, Hercules RL7 , Hodgdon H110, and again Hercules 2400.
The cartridge was developed specifically for use in the Winchester 1892 rifles. Don't forget to use flat nosed bullets and a crimp in tube feeders.
Yes, the data was quite near the .256 data I was looking up for my THR rifle board questions so easy for me to find.
I would look in some of the newer hand loading manuals rather than using decades old data, but this gives you something to think about.
-kBob
The old 1981 NRA Handloading book published loads using Winchester 680, Dupont 4227, Hercules RL7 , Hodgdon H110, and again Hercules 2400.
The cartridge was developed specifically for use in the Winchester 1892 rifles. Don't forget to use flat nosed bullets and a crimp in tube feeders.
Yes, the data was quite near the .256 data I was looking up for my THR rifle board questions so easy for me to find.
I would look in some of the newer hand loading manuals rather than using decades old data, but this gives you something to think about.
-kBob
Tommygunn
Member
iiranger said:
NITPICK: While there were 4 major variations of the 1873 Winchester (this is NOT including carbine, rifle, musket variations) the 1873 Winchester never featured a brass frame. The original 1860 Henery & 1866 "Improved Henry" had gunmetal receivers which do look like brass. The 1873 went to iron or steel receiver; the elevator blocks continued being made of brass and kept the heritage until Browning's redesign eliminated the Henry type cartridge elevator for the Browning version.
Nevertheless an interesting post ... and I appreciate the info.
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