.25-20 Remington Model 25

I've been wanting a 25-20, I miss my 40-40 14 1/2 as well.

I have always wanted a 25-20 after I read an article about them in Petersons Hunting many years ago. I can't remember the authors name right now but he called it an "Amazing shrinking 30-30". A friend in N. Carolina has two Savage bolt actions he tells me about all the time because he knows I want one of them. I have always been partial to small caliber rifles. I have killed a lot more small animals that large and you don't need a sledge hammer for driving tacks. A small bore rifle thats easy on lead and powder has its place. Nice looking gun. Color me green.

Nice rifle. I got one of the limited Marlin 1894 Classics in 25-20. Fun gun but I probably only shot about 300 rounds through it. 25-20, 30-30 and .348 looks like the Three Bears family. Baby, Mama, and Papa.

I had one of those Remington's in 25/20, I thought it was really neat, it was nearly like new, but it just wasn't all that accurate no matter what I fed it, so I sent it down the road...

DM

A classic!

Love the 25-20. So hard to find though.

I'd like to have one for sure. While it might not be as powerful as most modern people typically take out into the woods, the largest recorded scoring typical Whitetail ever taken in the United States was killed with a .25-20: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Jordan_Buck

I knew someone would mention the Jordan buck in this thread. Surprised it took so long. Sort of a local legend around here.

Jeff olson said:

View attachment 959636 Love the 25-20. So hard to find though.

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Jealous!

I did not know they were made with octagonal barrels.

I have one in .25-20, on the prowl for it's .32-20 sister

Mine I got for a reasonable price, but I did have to weld & touch up six (yes, six) holes some doofus drilled and tapped on the receiver & barrel. At some point I'll do a full reblue on it, but it looks decent and runs smooth. And yes, I threaded it for a can. Subsonic .25-20 loads are silly quiet through a good can.

Super cool thread. There is something neat about those 19th Century small game/varmint centerfire rounds like .25-20 and .32-20. AFAIC, the .32 WCF was the original centerfire varmint round, being introduced in 1882.

IMO, the modern equivalent would be a .357 Magnum carbine. You can load it with .38s for small game or .357s for deer or defense, all the while retaining a mild report and recoil.

Found mine twenty years ago. Slickest little rifle you ever saw. Only complaint is the takedown screw will work itself loose after a few shots. This was a common problem for all of Remington's Pederson designed pump rifles and probably the reason they were not known for their accuracy. I found the three boxes of ammo at a small LGS. I got them for a very good price, especially by today's standards! Like DM has said, mine isn't terribly accurate either. It can hit an orange at 50 yards...... most of the time.

But it's just too much fun to get rid of!!!

MachIVshooter said:

Jealous!

I did not know they were made with octagonal barrels.

I have one in .25-20, on the prowl for it's .32-20 sister

Mine I got for a reasonable price, but I did have to weld & touch up six (yes, six) holes some doofus drilled and tapped on the receiver & barrel. At some point I'll do a full reblue on it, but it looks decent and runs smooth. And yes, I threaded it for a can. Subsonic .25-20 loads are silly quiet through a good can.

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I don't think they came with octagon barrels either. I think a couple model 12s slipped in there.

Jeff olson said:

I don't think they came with octagon barrels either. I think a couple model 12s slipped in there.

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You're right, I didn't pay enough attention to the knurled mag tube caps. I'm still jealous, though, never have got around to adding a model 12 to sit with my 25 and 14.

A octagon barreled 25 would be really neat. I suppose if I find a wreck of a model 25 that needs to be rebuilt, I'll do it with one of GMRB's .25 cal octagon blanks. Anyone got a model 25 beater they want to let go of?

Very nice rifle! My .25-20 is a Winchester 1892 rifle made in 1896.

Many thanks for posting this Gordon, you've showcased one of my grail guns...as a youngster in the foothills south of Buffalo, NY, I hunted woodchucks with a .22 Marlin "Levermatic". Did right well too, keeping my self in sneakers and .22's at 50 cents a chuck, from the local dairy farmers. One of my Scout buddies, had a Remington M25 in .25-20, that rightly belonged in his grandfather's closet, but which 'snuck' out with us from time to time. Trouble was, we had to filtch the ammo from the old man's dresser drawer and couldn't replace it at the exorbitant cost even then. Eventually we were found out...and his granddad just laughed and kept us in ammunition after that.

Slick, with a 'snick' when you pumped the fore end, it was not as accurate as our .22's but was a "big game" rifle 'cause it was center-fire. I've looked off and on for 60 years now and never found one in reasonable shape at a cost that was equally reasonable...you've got a treasure there...and I'd add, we don't need a tack drilling 1000 yd rifle that weighs like a ten pound dumbbell at 'carry arm's. There's a certain pleasure that's hard to beat in toting a well-balanced feather weight along the fence rows, picking off thistle tops, pine cones and the rare distracted 'chuck. It's a throw back to an easier to understand time that'd do us all good.

Best Regards, Rod

I have a M65 Winchester .25-20, and gave a M92 carbine in that interesting caliber to my #1 son years ago. We load for them both, mostly Lyman's excellent 257420 GC, cast from air cooled wheel weights with a pinch of tin for fillout. IMI 4227 at 8.5 gr's is a good load, doing close to an inch at 50 yds with a peep sight, as is Win 231 at 4.3 gr's. We've had better luck with WSP Mag primers or WSR's with both powders too. Sized 0.259" and carefully culled for defects, that bullet is all you need.

With any of the lead alloy bullets, commercial or home cast, a light coating of Lee's Liquid Alox, swirl lubed may cure any leading tendencies. It's worked for us in both pistol and rifle cast loads. Too...with our .25-20's, a light, very light, taper crimp improves accuracy dramatically. In our use, neck tension has been more than adequate to prevent bullet set back from the .25-20's light recoil while in the mag tubes. That taper crimp is little more than removing what ever belling was done to allow seating. Carefully done, a very limited roll crimp can do the same.

When Midway was reducing its inventory, some years back, I bought 1000 of the old Remington 86 gr SP, and have used them sparingly since. It's a bit on the heavy side, I've always thought for the caliber, but shoots as well as the Lyman cast 257420 GC. With 4227, 9.5 gr's gives me a chrono'd 1640 fps with excellent accuracy. Mag pistol caps or Small Rifle do better here as well.

While I've worked with Speer's FP 75 gr. and Hornady's 60 gr FP, neither was quite as accurate as the above two bullets, but just by a smidgeon. 4227 & 4759 both worked ok with these two.

Lastly, RCBS' Cowboy bullet, a plain base, flat point @ 85 grains, is another alternative. Cast 1:3, of Pb to wheel weights and sized 0.259" for our two Winchesters, it'll do sub-2" gps at 50 yds with good loads and carefully culled bullets.

HTH's, and BTW, you can reform .32-20 Starline brass to .25-20 fairly easily. My loss rate is less than 1per25.

As is always the case: these are my loads, safe in my guns. If interested, always consult a GOOD manual, & consider the pressure implications for the age and condition of your guns, before working up to them.

Rod

Rodfac said:

HTH's, and BTW, you can reform .32-20 Starline brass to .25-20 fairly easily. My loss rate is less than 1per25.

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I have similar results with Starline .32-20 brass straight into a .25-20 sizing die; properly lubed, I lose 3 or 4 per 100. Of course, even losing 50% would still be cheaper than buying properly headstamped .25-20 brass.