.25 ACP squirrel rifle

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bernie

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I posted an earlier thread asking about the .22 hornet as a squirrel rifle. I really tend to agree that this is a little bit too much for a squirrel gun. But I really want a squirrel gun that I can handload for. The .25 ACP would fill this bill but I do not even know if it has ever been made in a rifle. Does anybody know of a .25 ACP rifle? Also, has anyone ever loaded .25 ACP ammo and what kind of accuracy is possible. Thanks.
 
Get a hornet and down load it!

Art Eatman shoots em with down loaded 30 06 rounds!

I would look at a .223 myself just because when you get tired of squirrels you can reach out a bit with it and take bigger varmints. But you can definitely put hornet 35 grain bullets in a .223! Hell a .22 is up to a 40 grain bullet.
 
I doubt very much whether the powder capacity of the .25 ACP is sufficient to let it take advantage of a longer barrel. Given that the usual barrel length for these guns is less than 3", and the minimum legal barrel on a rifle is 16", I suspect you would actually get a lower muzzle velocity out of a rifle than you would out of a pistol!

I think that downloading a larger round is the way to go, or alternatively go to something like the .17 HMR or the .17 Mach II. (Yes, I know you can't reload for the .17 caliber, but if you don't want to download, I think this will be at least a manageable solution.)
 
In theory a .25 acp rifle can be made up.
In reality it wouldn't be worth the effort and expense.
If you really want to build a rifle in .25 acp I would suggest one of the Navy Arms baby rolling blocks in .357 magnum or .22 hornet as the base platform using a Shilen or Douglas .25 1 in 9 or 1 in 10 barrel blank.
 
I was going to say, Preacherman, from what I've heard of the .25ACP, I wasn't even sure you could use it in a rifle.
 
.32 rim and centerfire were mighty good small game cartridges. Wouldn't be too hard to have a .32 S&W long rifle made up. Custom barrel on a Contender Carbine would do it.
 
Well I have a Stevens Favorite in .32 S&W long. I have a couple .25 Stevens rimfire single shots stashed (ammo long gone ) with converting them to .25ACP in mind! Would take a reamer in .25acp and a modifaction of breechblock fireing pin to centerterfire like my Stevens has.You CAN pick up .25 Stevens guns MUCH cheaper than .22lr because of ammo problem. I think a 60 grain lead flat point at just sub sonic velocity would be neat. Oh there's always reduced loads in a .25-20 huh? :rolleyes:
 
Speaking of Stevens .25 rimfires, I have relined a couple of these to .22 long rifle and got them back to shooting.
You might be able to alter the breechblock to centerfire but I doubt the work would last very long, those blocks and frames are awful soft, malleable iron.
Rebarrelling one of the Varner reproductions would be an option but again the cost would outweigh the justification of the project.
Those Navy Arms rolling blocks can be found for $300.00 or less if one looks hard enough.
 
A 50gr fmj at 800fps sounds like they would be a pretty good squirrel load and wouldn't ruin any meat. This data with the Hornady 35gr XTP bullet looks like a real squirrel getter.
http://www.speer-bullets.com/pdf/ReloadingSupplementalDATA/25_auto.pdf
A 25acp fired out of a 16" barrel should be pretty quiet.
The only rub I see is where to get a barrel for the 25acp as it uses .251" bullets and all the 25 caliber rifles use .257" bullets.
 
You could get a 25 ACP barrel for a Contender if you can live with a single shot. I like the idea myself, but could not use it in my county because of game laws. You could also use cast bullets so that would be about as cheap as you could possibly reload a cartridge since the 25 only uses about a grain or two of powder.

A writer I haven't heard much from lately, John Wotters, made up a 25 cal wildcat on a 222 case a while back. He wanted something around 25-20 ballistics from a rimless case to use in a bolt action. His goal was a cartridge that would handle cast bullets for small game like you have in mind, all the way up to a coyote gun. He was pleased with it. Just something to think about.

Please let us know if you try it.
 
I have been telling my friends for years that if I ever hit the lottery, I am going to pay someone to make me a full size, fully functional Thompson SMG chambered for the .25 ACP cartridge.
The main reason is that it is a senseless waste of money.
 
Funny thing... my Grandpa Collin's "squirrel rifle" is an aprox .25 cal Kentucky long rifle... each ball only weighs 40 grains or so.... no idea what the original powder charge was, but the darn thing weighs a ton and is 4 feet long.
 
Sounds like a sure-fire recipe to plug up a rifle barrel.

A .25 ACP has what, all of 10 grains case capacity? Assuming the bullet didn't stick in the rifle's bore somewhere between the chamber and muzzle, the squirrel had better be near the muzzle before the bullet just plain drops vertically to the ground. ;)
 
.25 ACP ?!? A reloaders dream cartridge! You should be able to wring all kinds of extra accuracy out of that. The range of approprate powders! And the selection of bullets!

I like the idea of the .25 cal muzzleloader. Then you can still "handload" it.

P.S.-.22 long rifle, .22lr, .22lr, .22lr, .22lr, .22lr......
 
I am not /even/ gonna look up the comparitive ballistics. I am sure a .22 LR can do the trick.

Partly this is because many/most .22 LR guns can also shoot Longs, Shorts, CBs and probably something else I have not heard of.

If CB is too much gun for it, a gun is too much for it.

Speaking of which, I have been shot (E.R., etc.) by a BB gun that was WAY more powerful than a .22 CB. You could also get a decent pellet gun instead.
 
Long time coming but Marlin finally got around to making a .32 magnum rifle.
Too bad it has a heavy octagon barrel and a full magazine.
I always thought they should have made the 1894CL in .32 magnum.
22" tapered round barrel and a half magazine in a very versatile caliber, hmmmm.
 
This was played with on the specialty pistol board not too long back. Seemed some people thought a 10 inch 25acp Contender barrel would be fun to play with. Problem is, no one we could find makes a barrel with a .251 bore. Still kinda a neat idea.
 
Quote:
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If you really want to build a rifle in .25 acp I would suggest one of the Navy Arms baby rolling blocks in .357 magnum or .22 hornet as the base platform
------------------------------

Leave it in .357 Magnum, and load .38 Special wadcutters -- a 148 grain wadcutter loaded over 2.7 grains of Bullseye is my favorite load in my Colt M357. From a 6" barrel, it kills squirrels with authority.
 
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