Down the .25 acp rabbit hole

[Atavar]

I got bored and ordered dies and projectiles to reload .25 acp.
I realize this is a finicky and unpopular cartridge to reload, but want to try it anyway.
At the moment I am planning to load using CFE Pistol just because I have some. Is that fast enough for this diminutive cartridge? Weighing 1.3g should be fun.

 

[KansasTrapper77]

I could be entirely wrong. But I’m willing to bet CFE Pistol isn’t going to be the best powder for that application.

 

[Atavar]

I could be entirely wrong. But I’m willing to bet CFE Pistol isn’t going to be the best powder for that application.

And why do you say that?

 

[Zygodactyl]

The only bad thing about shooting 25acp is the empty brass disappears into the twilight zone. I load mine with bullseye and a cast lead bullet from a Lyman mold.

 

[CQB45ACP]

I got bored and ordered dies and projectiles to reload .25 acp.
I realize this is a finicky and unpopular cartridge to reload, but want to try it anyway.
At the moment I am planning to load using CFE Pistol just because I have some. Is that fast enough for this diminutive cartridge? Weighing 1.3g should be fun.

Well at least it’s a very small rabbit. Center fire I’ve never shot smaller than 9mm Corte (.380 ACP to you Americans). Can’t really imagine loading that even.

 

[Cliff6]

I loaded 1.2 gr W231 and it worked great. +1 on the brass getting lost. First of all, I had a difficult time even telling which direction it was going, then trying to find it amoung all the 22 rimfire cases. Plan on losing a lot of it. A "brass spotter" can help.

I actually found 25 acp fairly easy to load. Yes, I had to measure every charge. 1.2 grains is just too small to trust any powder dispenser.

FYI, I bought a RCBS die set. I found that there was no way I could seat the bullet correctly and called RCBS. They seemed to be aware that some of the die sets shipped with a wrong part. They very quickly shipped the correct part. So, if you find that you are having trouble with the die, you might just call RCBS.

I bought my die set a year ago, but they don't sell very many of them.

Cliff

 

[GooseGestapo]

Bullseye is the best, but looking at Hodgdons.com, CFE-P ought to be “ok”.

The biggest concern loading the .25 isn’t pressure, but slide velocity battering the frame.
Those who have reloaded for it generally report good results.
My “little darling” is the .32acp, which I consider to be a “reloadable.22”…
If only primers were affordable!

.32’s go into that same dark hole when fired! .380’s, too!

I’ve found that my Lee auto-disc measure using the micro discs and finer grain powders to be quite acceptable. I set up a Lee Pro 1000 and it chews through my collection of .32acp brass quickly. I did have to do a bit of dremeling of the shell plate to get it to feed cases smoothly.

 

[JERRY]

Buffalo bore now makes a .25acp round that rivals .32acp from short bbls.

 

[KansasTrapper77]

And why do you say that?

My old man and I bought a couple pounds of CFE-Pistol during the dark days of Covid primarily for 45 ACP. Neither him nor I can get a load that performs reliably in 45 acp the big brother of your 25acp. They fail to feed properly, chrono all over the place and burn filthy. Being annoyed with that I thought maybe it would like a higher pressure application, so I fed it to the .357 Mag. At max charge it is several hundred FPS slower than advertised but did chrono a bit more consistently.

In short I have my personal doubts it will perform well in the small capacity, lower (relatively) pressure 25 ACP. Hope I’m wrong though! Best of luck on loading for the plucky little cartridge!

 

[.455_Hunter]

Buffalo bore now makes a .25acp round that rivals .32acp from short bbls.

I think a .25 acp +P with a semi-pointed (not Lehigh) 40 gr solid copper projectile could be quite interesting. Oath was doing something similar, but not at a high performance level.

 

[FROGO207]

I also use HP38/W231 for my 25 ACP reloading. I find that it is frustrating for large fumble fingers and on occasion pinch my fingers LOL. I use a custom scoop made out of a partially filled casing to measure the load and it worked well. Also found if I put down an old bed sheet to catch brass I don't loose all that many. Once the thrill of reloading it was over I found using mouse fart loads in 38 SPL were much more fun at the range as well as using the ammo more slowly. I mostly loaded jacketed bullets and compared to buying 38 lead bullets it was about a wash there. Have fun.

 

[lightman]

I can't imagine loading something that tiny. Best wishes for you guys that do! I would think that Bullseye or 231 would be suitable.

 

[Shivahasagun]

I tried CFE-P in .25.

I forget the charges at the moment but I went to max.

Inconsistent and low velocities. Until you charge near max, then you get just ok velocities along with the inconsistency.

Then you can try max charge and get the same result except with a little more noise and recoil.

That's been my experience with CFEP in .25, .32 long, .32 mag, .38 special, and .357 mag.

I don't want to waste my time and effort on it anymore. It's powder in the way the Potted Meat is "food" but nothing you actually want.

You'll be happier with 1.0 to 1.1 gr of Titegroup. 700x works great, too. Fast powders.

I think we know enough about CFE-P to say, "it sucks" and is probably nobody's first, second, or third choice.

 

[Akula69]

I have found that AA#2 works well, and meters better. Still have to load them one at a time though.

 

[cfullgraf]

It has been a while since I loaded 25 ACP but as I remember, it s do able but at a slow pace.

The small size of the case and bullet make seating the bullet a bit more difficult.

I found my Redding 10-X powder measure worked well with the small powder charge for 25 ACP. But it is at the low end of the measure’s capability.

I do not load much 25 ACP ammunition but I like having the capability. I even have a mold for 25 ACP RN bullets that I’d powder coat if jacketed/plated bullets were not available.

 

[tmd16556]

Despite what others may say, if you do find the rabbit at the bottom of this hole, the 25 auto should be sufficient to handle it.

 

[hdwhit]

I have no experience with CFE Pistol. I load my 25 ACP with 700X for 35 grain or 800X for 50 grain projectiles.

 

[Atavar]

I was in my LGS yesterday and they had some W231 and4 some spp so I grabbed them. The dies should get here today.

 

[Atavar]

My bullets and dies arrived. The way the pricing was I ended up ordering 300 to get the free shipping. That is probably a lifetime supply for the little mouse gun. I don’t know why I call it a mouse gun, it is quite loud and I doubt I could hit a mouse at 5 feet.
Now all I need is a 20°+ day so it doesn’t take all day to warm the garage. Seeing those diminutive bullets first hand I should probably dig up my soft jawed hemostats too.

 

[Blue68f100]

The only way I would attempt to load a 25cal would be on a AP so I would not have to handle the small brass and bullets. But I don't know of a bullet feeder or brass feeder would handle these small items either.

Good luck.

 

[sfl_gunner]

Sounds like a fun project. Good luck.

 

[Shivahasagun]

My bullets and dies arrived. The way the pricing was I ended up ordering 300 to get the free shipping. That is probably a lifetime supply for the little mouse gun. I don’t know why I call it a mouse gun, it is quite loud and I doubt I could hit a mouse at 5 feet.
Now all I need is a 20°+ day so it doesn’t take all day to warm the garage. Seeing those diminutive bullets first hand I should probably dig up my soft jawed hemostats too.
View attachment 1140513

They are aren't really smaller than a .223 bullet and nobody complains about those.

"Lifetime"!? I've fired about 550 rds of .25 in one range visit.

But I didn't load them. They used to be $11 / 50 or so by the case.

 

[Shivahasagun]

If you can't drop the small amounts of powder make a custom dipper.

I use the "heap" method. If I heap all the powder I can possibly get in and on the cup that's my charge. I find it more repeatable. Turret press.

 

[Archie]

May I suggest a pair of industrial size tweezers to handle the bullets. I would suggest using a round file to alter the inside of the tips to a round configuration to hold the bullets. Probably more secure than fingers and greatly reduces the possibility of pinching fingers in the press.

All the manuals suggest using a very fast powder in this cartridge.

 

[GeoDudeFlorida]

They are aren't really smaller than a .223 bullet and nobody complains about those.

"Lifetime"!? I've fired about 550 rds of .25 in one range visit.

But I didn't load them. They used to be $11 / 50 or so by the case.

I sold the .221Fireball barrel for my Contender and gave away all the brass, bullets and dies because I just couldn’t deal with something that small anymore. I gave up trying to handload .32ACP long ago and never did try .25ACP. For some reason I can hold onto .380ACP but smaller confounds me anymore.
If it helps, Ramshot Competition is still available and should work well in this application. I have also seen No.2 online for not unreasonable prices.