Little 25’s (not 25 ACP’s)

R

Roamin_Wade

Moderator
I collect bullets as some of you may already know, and I’ve got a question about 2 different rounds that are close in size and shape. One is an older Winchester round and the other is newer, I think. The first is the really neat 256 Win Mag and the other is the must-be-comparable-round-because-of-almost-same-size 25-20 Win round. The first round is interesting because its parent case is the 357 Mag but the 25-20 Win probably has many older guns on the market ready to buy and shoot. Any input or experience with either round? I seem to remember reading a story about a guy who killed his first deer with a Winchester rifle in 32-20, iron sighted, at about 70 yards.
 
Roger that Dufus. I knew I had read about that round killing a big deer. I’m betting the 256 Win Mag is a bit sportier. Just on cartridge capacity, it should be a hotter round.
 
256 Win Mag and 25-20 are worlds apart as far as performance. 256 Win Mag will launch a 60 gr bullet at 2,700 fps, a 25-20 will launch the same bullet at a milder 2,000 fps. Trajectory for the 256 is flatter, good out to 200 yds, the 25-20 out to about 100 yds before drop makes it hard to put to use. Neither is much good for anything bigger than coyotes, although I do know people who have killed deer with a 25-20 (close range). About 30 years ago, a friend of mine used to shoot his Marlin 61 LeverMatic at jackrabbits with good effect.
 
Thanks for sharing that, Scorch. I thought the 256 Win Mag was a newer round but it came out in 1960! It’s already had its day and is now obsolete. I’d like to have one in a Remington Model 600 or maybe in an over and under 256 Win Mag/ 20 Gauge single shot like a Savage Model 24 with peek-through rings and maybe a 4 x 32 scope.
 
the .25-20 was developed from the .32-20 and introduced in either 1893 or 1895 (sources vary).

The .256 Winchester magnum was based on the .357 Magnum case, and introduced about 1962. The Marlin Levermatic, the Ruger Hawkeye, and the T/C Contender are the only guns I know of that chambered it, but there may be others.

The Remington 600 action is unsuited to the .256 Win. It is over long for the round, and was not set up for feeding rimmed rounds (though this can be overcome with good machine work.)

bolt face alteration would also be needed, as the 600 series came in .222, .308, and .350 Mag head sizes. Making a 600 single shot would be easier than getting it to work as a repeater, but getting a Contender single shot would be easier still.
 
44 Amp, I was just imagining the size and function of the 600 as being what I'd prefer it be in. I am going to check out that Levermatic. Thanks for your input.
 
Aside from a TC Contender good luck finding a 256 Win revolver.
Click to expand...

Sharply bottlenecked cartridges historically don't do well in revolvers. The most famous failure in that regard is probably the .22 Rem Jet, and the S&W (I'd have to look up the model, 53?? maybe?).

Very SLIGHTLY bottlenecked rounds do ok, the .32-20, .38-40 and .44-40 come to mind, but they are all black powder pressure rounds as well.

The Ruger Hawkeye was a unique one. Basically it was their SA revolver, but didn't have a cylinder. It was a single shot, and used a "rotating breech block" instead of a cylinder.
 
Making a sharp bottleneck cartridge work in a revolver can be done, but you have to do it the right way. Look up the 44/357 Bains-Davis. It is a 44 Magnum cartridge necked to 357. It will give rifle velocities out of a revolver BUT you have to use a little collar that goes around the neck area and seals the chamber, allowing the case to move in the cylinder after firing. Just chambering a revolver cylinder for a bottlenecked cartridge puts a solid surface in front of the shoulder, and when the cartridge is fired the pressure will push the shoulder forward and the head backwards so tightly that the cylinder cannot turn. So, could you chamber a revolver for 256 Winchester? Sure. Is it worth the trouble? I don't know, it sounds like a fun jackrabbit gun!
 
I don't have much experience with the .256, but I do have some with the .25-20 in a Savage Model 23B.

Nice, polite round. It would be a good choice for a quiet round for pest control in a more populated area.
 
I have a sweet little Remington pump gun Model 25 in 25-20. Neat little rifle a lot like my Winchester Model 62 Pump,22.

Its fairly accurate, fun to play with and good for small game, though not sure I'd take it deer hunting.
 
I've been trying to find one of the Remington Model 25s in .32-20 (that I can afford) for a couple of years. I want to pair it with my two .32-20 revolvers.

But, all I can find that are halfway affordable are the .25-20s.
 
What would be fun is an M92 in .256!
Come to think of it, I have one.
Ok,ok, I took a Rossi clone, cut the stock to a shotgun-style butt, and installed a thin recoil pad.(so it won't skitter out across the floor when I lean it behind the kitchen door)
I also cut the magazine at the end of the stock so it holds 4 rounds, and installed a 22" 10"-twist barrel.
It has a tang peep sight.
It'll shoot 2" groups all day long at 50 yards, which I think is pretty good for peep sights and 70yo eyes.It is a little sweetheart, and shoots 60gr Hornadys, 69gr cast gas-checks, 75gr Speer, and 86gr Remington soft-points, when I can find them, to the same place at 50 yards.
Have fun,
Gene
 
I have shot 1 deer with a Winchester 53 in 25/20. I have shot at least one deer
with all my keeper CF rifles. I head shot it at about 40yds with Win factory Lubaloy cartridge. I've shot several with 32/20s, none more than 50yds. I wouldn't shoot at a running deer with 25/20 or 32/20. It's not any great feat
that I couldn't do with a 22.
 
256 win

I used a Marlin Levermatic as a trapline rifle.

Never was impressed with the factory
60gr "open point expanding" loads.

My 60gr gas checked slugs, however,
accounted for everything from marten & fisher,
thru beaver, to the coupe de grace for
caught timber wolves.

For big game (yes, it was used for game)
87gr jacketed seemed the best.

The Levermatic was nowhere near the quality
one grew to expect from other Marlin levers.

I can expand on that but enough for this post.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top