Down the .25 acp rabbit hole

[Carl N. Brown]

Trickling onto a balance scale 1.2 grain charges (too little), 1.6 grain (too much), 1.4 grain (O.K.) was just too tedious for me. My first 150 .25 ACP handloads will be my last. My patience wore out.

But it was a learning experience and I don't regret trying it.

 

[kopcicle]

I'll follow along at home. I'm that kind of masochist.

 

[Atavar]

Doing research suggests N310 might be the hot (npi) ticket for powder but I’ll try the W231 first.
The little pistol is a keepsake from my fathers days on the police force (off duty bug). It won’t see frequent or serious use.

 

[Cliff6]

They may be small, but they sure look nice when they are loaded. I really didn't find them difficult at all.

Cliff

 

[Shivahasagun]

Trickling onto a balance scale 1.2 grain charges (too little), 1.6 grain (too much), 1.4 grain (O.K.) was just too tedious for me. My first 150 .25 ACP handloads will be my last. My patience wore out.

But it was a learning experience and I don't regret trying it.

Dipper, man, dipper! Set up that dipper with powder you want to use and you never have weigh that charge again!

Heap it on, dump into funnel on through- powder die and it's in the case.

 

[Shivahasagun]

View attachment 1140842

They may be small, but they sure look nice when they are loaded. I really didn't find them difficult at all.

Cliff

What powder did you end up using? The CFE-P?

That's a 55 gr bullet?

 

[Cliff6]

I used 1.2 gr W231. That is a 55 grain LRN from Bear Creek. I set OAL at 0.900

 

[teerex.otw]

View attachment 1140842

They may be small, but they sure look nice when they are loaded. I really didn't find them difficult at all.

Cliff

How did you keep the cases from bulging at the base of the bullet ?
What brand dies are you using ?
I see this a lot with .38 sp. as well as .25 acp. (almost like they make the sizing dies too small).

 

[Cliff6]

How did you keep the cases from bulging at the base of the bullet ?
What brand dies are you using ?
I see this a lot with .38 sp. as well as .25 acp. (almost like they make the sizing dies too small).

Really don't know. Used new PPU brass and Bear Creek bullets. Loaded with RCBS dies. These shoot great in an ole Raven 25ACP my dad left me. Only problem is finding the used brass among all the 22 Long Rifle empties. They look so darn much alike on the ground.

Cliff

 

[Shivahasagun]

Really don't know. Used new PPU brass and Bear Creek bullets. Loaded with RCBS dies. These shoot great in an ole Raven 25ACP my dad left me. Only problem is finding the used brass among all the 22 Long Rifle empties. They look so darn much alike on the ground.

Cliff

Not too difficult to me. I just look for a shorter case with an extractor groove. When I touch it I look for a centerfire primer.

If you're shooting from one spot consider putting a sheet down.

 

[caforres]

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

Where do you find this ammo?

 

[Shivahasagun]

Where do you find this ammo?

I think you can order directly from BB. But Midway & perhaps Brownells probably have it, too.

 

[.38 Special]

I used Bullseye and AA#2, both of which worked fine. I was using a Harrell powder measure, which rarely was off by any significant amount. With the typical measure, like the Lyman I depend on these days, I'd feel the need to weigh each charge, and, well, no thanks.

I also used a single stage press, and though my fingers are neither particularly large nor clumsy, the process made me feel oversized and useless - and that was back when I could still see up close!

 

[JERRY]

Where do you find this ammo?

You can order directly from Buffalo Bore

 

[Shivahasagun]

I used Bullseye and AA#2, both of which worked fine. I was using a Harrell powder measure, which rarely was off by any significant amount. With the typical measure, like the Lyman I depend on these days, I'd feel the need to weigh each charge, and, well, no thanks.

I also used a single stage press, and though my fingers are neither particularly large nor clumsy, the process made me feel oversized and useless - and that was back when I could still see up close!

Does AA2 meter better than Titegroup with dippers?

I usually have more velocity fluctuations than I like in my .25's. 75-100 fps is common.

Or is this just normal for .25?

 

[.38 Special]

Does AA2 meter better than Titegroup with dippers?

I usually have more velocity fluctuations than I like in my .25's. 75-100 fps is common.

Or is this just normal for .25?

Honestly, I avoid dippers with smokeless, especially with tiny little charges. For the .25, with any powder, I'd use either a top end measure, or weigh each charge by hand.

 

[hdwhit]

I use 700X or Red Dot for my 25 ACP loads.

I use the 700X with 35 grain bullets and Red Dot with 50 grain bullets.

 

[Shivahasagun]

Anyone tried HP38 in .25?

I've been thinking about trying HP38 in the places I use Titegroup. (.25, .38 Colt Short, .38 spl., .45 acp)

Especially where I want to load it at max, .25 acp & .38 Spl +p.

 

[Jimfern]

I picked up brass, bullets and dies a while back, just need a pistol.

 

[Atavar]

I ended up loading with W231 and it worked well. Unfortunately the little pistol scattered the empties in the next county so I only got about half of them back.
Targets are offhand at ten yards. I am happy with them using that short barrel.

 

[Shivahasagun]

I finally got around to getting some HP38. Used it in .38 spl, now I've loaded 25 rds of .25 acp with it.

New PPU brass, CCI SP, OAL varied from .901-.9035 in. Remington FMJ bullets that are .447 in long.

I modified a Lee .17 cc dipper to hold a level 1.5 gr of HP38. I weighed about 1/3 of the charges as well. It would be nice to get 800-875 fps.

I'll let ya'll know how it goes.

Funny thing about .25 acp...finding cases on the ground among everything else isn't that hard. I bought a bunch of new cases awhile back thinking I'd have a hard time finding them on the ground to reload. Nope. Not hard at all! Is it tiny? is kinda short? Not have a prominent rim? Have a closer look. Centerfire? That's your .25!

 

[jmorris]

You can go here.

Reloading Data Center – Hodgdon Reloading Data Center

hodgdonreloading.com

and get load data from the distributor.

This is all I found for CFE pistol and 25 acp.

 

[Shivahasagun]

You can go here.

Reloading Data Center – Hodgdon Reloading Data Center

hodgdonreloading.com

and get load data from the distributor.

This is all I found for CFE pistol and 25 acp.

View attachment 1189672

Thanks.
I tried CFE-P pistol at 3 levels in .25. Was terrible. Erratic, slow, and at max it cycled the gun, but velocity was still low. It's just to slow a powder for .25 with a 50 gr bullet.

Titegroup & 700x work well. I'm sure this HP38 will, too.

 

[Shivahasagun]

HP38 for .25 acp.

New PPU brass, CCI SP, OAL varied from .901-.9035 in. Remington FMJ bullets that are .447 in long.

I modified a Lee .17 cc dipper to hold a level 1.5 gr of HP38. I weighed about 1/3 of the charges as well. It would be nice to get 800-875 fps.

I'll let ya'll know how it goes.

Funny thing about .25 acp...finding cases on the ground among everything else isn't that hard. I bought a bunch of new cases awhile back thinking I'd have a hard time finding them on the ground to reload. Nope. Not hard at all! Is it tiny? is kinda short? Not have a prominent rim? Have a closer look. Centerfire? That's your .25!

The first 7 rounds: (I had one low one at 779 fps, the next faster was 862. Could have been a bad read)

Avg. 850 fps. ES 95. SD. 30

Then I fired 8 more and they all ran faster. Weird!

Avg. 887 fps. ES. 61. SD. 20.

Accuracy was excellent. I fired 30 rds and had one stoppage toward the end. One bullet was high on the barrel. I think the previous round was too hot for proper operation.

I think my dream of loading pretty warm .25's will remain just that. I've had similar experiences with other blow-back guns. Hot .32 with a suppressor, hot .380, hot .25, hot .22 lr (40 gr 1000 fps) in the same kind of gun (Beretta 21a) and now pretty warm .25. If the slide velocity is too high, even with fresh recoil and magazine springs, it out-runs the magazine causing this type of stoppage.

I think my .25's have an 850 fps limit with a 50 gr FMJ. Factory ammo runs from 715-775 fps. Yea, right around that 750 fps most of them advertise!

I do like HP38 in .25. I think it's the best I've tried. But I'm going to "adjust" my dipper to throw .1 gr less. (Down to 1.4 gr) And load some more.

For practice ammo that's easier on the gun, I've been satisfied with 1.0 gr of 700x or 1.0 of Tightgroup.

 

[Nasty Canasta]

I’ve reloaded 25ACP for quite a while & never had any issues using CFE Pistol or Tightgroup depending on bullet weight. I should crono them next time I’m out but never worried about it as it won’t be used for anything but plinking at our range. Currently only have a Beretta 950B & a Colt vest pocket in the caliber but always on the hunt for another to add to my “small” collection.