25-35 reloading?

[Tony k]

My girlfriend's son inherited his great-grandfather's model 94 Winchester in 25-35wcf for his 12th birthday.

It's in serviceable condition (had it checked over by a gunsmith), and we are planning to reload for it.

Anybody have any experience reloading for this cartridge? Brass and bullets seem available enough, and based on the price of ammo, reloading seems especially worthwhile for this caliber.

What about necking down 30-30 Winchester cases? Anyone have any experience doing that?

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[stringnut]

Should not be an issue. The only thing to watch out for is the necks getting too thick. This causes the outside neck diameter to be oversized when a bullet is seated. Your not going down a huge amount and is just something to be checked. As this cartridge head spaces on the rim the first firing will blow it out to fit the chamber.

 

[salpal48]

I am Currently making 100 cases from 30/30. it is difficult . Cases are @ a premium. , If you can Fine them .or purchase them good luck
The way I do it. and the trick is to reduce the shoulder.
you need a series of dies.
start with 30/30/ , expand neck to 32 win special, expand neck to 33 win, form into 32/40 , Then I reduce neck to 6.5 then to 25. then form in to 25/35. you want to prevent wrinkles in brass.

 

[GooseGestapo]

I'm using .25/35 dies to make/load a similar cartridge, the Marlin .25/36.

First, you will need brass. I reform .30/30 brass. Yes, it can be done, but takes a little patience. If using once fired brass it helps immensely if you anneal the brass. Much has been written on this over the years, but it's much easier than you may have been lead to believe. I use a Lee case trimmer shell holder and spindle chucked in a cordless drill. I place the neck and shoulder in the flame of the burner of my gas stove while spinning the at a slow-medium speed. It takes about 7 seconds to detect the slightest change in color of the brass. At this, I dunk the case up to the shoulder in a coffee mug filled with water. The case is then dropped in a container with a towel to absorb any exterior moisture.

2. Important..... Lubricate case necks and shoulders with Imperial sizing wax.
3. Run the dies in about 1/3 of the way into the die, sizing down the neck until you begin to contact the shoulder. Remove the die and wipe any excess lube from base of neck and shoulder. Then run case 2/3 of the way into the die. Wipe again, then finish sizing to set the shoulder to where a case will just barely allow the action to close over it. I loose about 1 out oh 10 cases to folded necks or collapsed shoulders. Not too bad, really.
4. I then trim to uniform the lengths to allow case mouth crimping.

Mike Venturino recently wrote the best article on loading the .25/35 in over 40 yrs in a recent issue of "Handloader" magazine. I suggest you get a copy of it. It will help you greatly.

Lastly, perhaps your greatest challenge will be finding suitable bullets for your rifle
Jacketed bullets are " unobtanium". I have some scrounged 60gr Hornady FP's I've had for decades, intending to eventually shoot through a .257 Roberts, but never did. Likewise, I have several hundred discontinued Hornady 117gr Roundnose also intended for the Roberts and WbyMag.
For the l/a I bought a set of NEI 90gr bullet molds. I've been casting for 4 decades, so a set of molds and Lee .258" sizer die was allI needed.

Good luck on loading for your .25/35. Diligent looking will likely turn up some brass, bullets and data.
It's very rewarding to see those holes appear in the 10 ring at 50 yds when you reformed the brass, cast the bullets, and load the ammo.

 

[witchhunter]

Bullets are seasonal at best these days. I use Hornady 117 Rn and when I found some thanks to another member here, I bought 26 boxes. I love the 25/35 for deer sized game. It seems perfect.

 

[Laphroaig]

I haven't loaded for mine in quite a few years. I don't shoot it much anymore, and I was able to buy several boxes of Remington factory ammo from a gunshop going out of business awhile back.

I used to load both Hornady 117 RN's and 60 FP bullets. The POI was at least 1 foot different so it was a pain to switch between the 2. I did kill a few groundhogs with the 60's at ranges pretty far for an iron sighted rifle. It is an accurate cartridge.

I settled on IMR4064 with both bullets. I tried IMR4895 but had some pressure issues that went away with the slower burning powder.

Laphroaig

 

[Tony k]

Thanks everyone. Sounds like loading for this caliber will be my greatest reloading challenge to date. I'm looking forward to it!

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[ants]

I use an ordinary 25/35 sizing die from Lee. That's all. Go slow, no other problems.

Anneal. When cool, use Imperial Sizing Wax. There are another substitutes
but for the small price of a tin of Imperial you're set for life.

Set your sizing die to just do small increments. Relube with Imperial each iteration.

Once in a while I get impatient and crush a case, but 30/30 cases are everywhere.



If you have gun shows nearby, I find 25-35 cases and bullets about once a year.
Just a handful of once fired cases for 5 bucks or so. Worth it to be patient!
A box of bullets is spendy. Last one I bought was 30 bucks. Geez.


For practice and load development, I use 25 caliber spritzer, placed into the chamber
one at a time. Not in the tube mag.

 

[stonecoldy]

Precision Reloading has the Hornady 117 gr Round nose soft point:

https://www.precisionreloading.com/cart.php#!l=HN&i=2550

as does Graf and Sons.

I was in Fin, Fur and Feather in Ashland, Ohio recently and they had maybe 10 boxes of the Speer 75 grain flat nose.

MidwayUSA has Hornady brass, $35.99 per 50 count, new arrival. Get 'um while you can

 

[bobinoregon]

25-35 brass is out there, you just have to hunt for it as well as bullets. If you cant find any brass pm me and I may be able to help you out. Good luck