I finally got around to trying my 6 - gang 25 caliber lee mold, it is the easiest to use mold i have ever tried. I lubed the sprue plate up and smoked the mold and the very first bullets out of it were fine. quite different from some iron molds i have used in the past. they weigh right at 80 gr, cast from wheel weight and a bit of 50/50 solder. i loaded some up as cast on top of 6.5 gr of imr 4227, a accurate charge in the past for cast bullets, they seem to shoot really well, though it was a bit cold for any real scientific testing. will try for a bunny tomorrow and will try some different loads as time and weather allow. has anybody else been shooting these bullets in a 25-20?

Hi Jerry-

I picked one of the PB version up and have run my first set of bullets - looked OK. A bit more variation between cavities than I had hoped for (diameter wise) but should be OK. Have given them a dose of Johnson's Paste wax as a TL and will head to the range next time out to see what I can do load wise. I purchased this mould specifically for feeding a Marlin 1894CL in .25-20. The other bullets I shoot in the gun are 75gr. and 85gr. GC designs that do quite well accuracy wise with their preferred load. Be interesting to see how this PB bullet will shoot by comparison.

Best regards-

Sky C.

Sky C
i got the plain base mold myself, have had good luck with meisters plain base bullets in the 25-20, loaded some to 1800 fps with good accuracy and minimal leading. probally wont try to hot rod the lee bullet, cases dont last long with the hotter loads. I also shoot a marlin classic, probally my favorite rifle, definitely the one i carry the most. lots of rabbits have fallen to that little rifle. have you ever tried the 60gr jacketed bullet? i use the 75gr speer flatnose with 12gr 4198 if i load any jacketed bullets. one nice thing about the marlin is that it shoots almost every load to the same point of aim.

Gents,
I too finally got 'rountuit'. I got the GC version. Drops from my alloy with lube and check at 82 grains. First trip to the range with my old Marlin '94, 24" oct barrel, and a handfull of rounds, 10gr of the new Alliant 410 over WSR's and W.W cases. The size-check die is spot on at .259, with my water dropped boolits coming out very hard, and a COAL of 1.595.
First figures from the chrony were surprising, hitting an average of 2090fps, decidedly hot, and it took a while for the clean barrel to settle in. That and sight adjustment, a cheapie BSA red dot (5MOA), had me fiddling for a while before I started to nail the stick-on dot on the paper plate at 50yds. Last 3 rounds were an honest 1/2", and then the rear part of my firing pin decided to break, .
The barrel is responding to more cleaning and polishing, and is starting to shine. I'll get the firing pin sorted and back off the load a tad, but the boolit seems to be just the ticket!
I was hoping to be able to seat to the second TL groove, but the throat is better and shorter than I thought. I was able to load the Rem 86gr JSP to 1.650.
Better optics are in order as well, the dot's too big for precision work, a 4x with some fine crosshairs would be ideal and I'm sure it'll stretch out to 100yds with good accuracy.
I for one am VERY happy with the group effort and design. Thank You ALL!
Cheers,
R*2

Gents,
Made a one piece fireing pin for my Marlin "94 this am, and got out to the range with the old girl and the TL-C'ed design.
A bit of judicious filing on a 336 firing pin to accomadate the retaining pins, and success!
Alliant 410 in this and the 44Mag is shaping up to be an excellent powder.
Cheers all,
R*2

I got in some shooting before the weather closed in on me. The GCed version was a pleasure to work with, no trouble at all getting sub inch 50 yard groups with 5744, 4198, and WC 820.

The plain base version is more finicky, but I got it shooting well with WC 820(f) between 1000 and 1100 fps. I can live with that if I have to, but I'll be working in the 1300-1400 fps range when the weather breaks.

When I first got my '94 Marlin the only mold I could find was the Lyman 257420. It goes about 72 gr. with gc and lube with my alloy. Works well in the old gun, but I've always wondered if a heavier bullet would work better. The barrel was real bad from the od corrosive priming when I got it, so I had it sleeved. Problem is the guy used his 9.5" twist button to build the sleeve. Thinking a longer bullet may like the quick twist better. Any of you guys got any idea of which mold to try?

Ole, the RCBS 100 grainer would probably shoot well in your barrel as it has done in long string of 1-10" .25 barrels for me, but I suspect it has too much nose on it to work through the action.

The bullet we are discussing was designed to be about as long as it could be to work through lever actions and still keep the base within the neck of a .25-20.

There are a few left. IM or PM me for details if you are interested.