My father gave me an old (circa 1911)'94 Winchester 25-35 that looks like it was built in a Jr. High metalworking shop. I cleaned up the bore and fired some factory ammo and it actually grouped quite well. Winchester factory ammo clocked a dismal 1912 fps, and since i'm almost out of it, i thought I'd load some 117 gr. RN's. I know Hornady is the only producer of the bullets (unless you guys know of a stash of Remington component bullets somewhere). Do any of you have any experience with this cartridge/bullet combo? Anyone killed anything with it? I thought it'd be fun for a "nostalgic" deer hunt where the ranges wouldn't excedd 100 yds.
Thanks for the help!
35W

I believe you're correct in that Hornady is the only one making a bullet for your gun.....a 117 Grain round nose.

27 grains of IMR 4320, 2,200'/sec in a 20" barrel per Hornady's manual.....max charge listed is 28.1 grains and should get you about 2,300'/sec.

While this isn't a powerhouse I can assure you that bambi has been tipped over with a lot less.

I'd suggest good old IMR-3031 From 20.0 grains to 25.7 grains with Winchester WLR primers.

And I believe that Hornady is the only manufacturer with 117 grain .25 caliber round nose bullets.

I shoot my deer about every year with my old 25-35 M-94 rifle, I have 3 of them...cut my teeth on deer and elk with one many years ago...

IMR-3031 was always my favorite powder, but mostly I just shoot factory ammo...I have killed a number of deer in the past with the 117 gr. Hornady at about 2100 FPS and it works well...

The 25-35 requires some disapline to use...Keep shots at 150 yards or under and take only broadside shots, you have little room for error, but it kills well with a shot to the heart/lung area up to 200 yards on deer....

I would not shoot an elk at over 100 yards and prefer 50 yards, and only standing broadside, in which case it will neatly kill him...We always hunted elk with snow on the ground and that probably added to my recovery rate as a few ran 75 to a 100 yards before expiring.

It is a gun to test your skill as a hunter not a shooter. Properly applied it will do the job easily, but be prepared to pass up shots at those monster bucks that seem only to show up when you have the pop gun in your hand and they will be just out of range, don't take the shot...

I use mine all the time. In addition to the 117 gr roundnose, try the 87 gr flat nose that is designed for the 25-20. Shoots good in mine and is absolutely DEVASTATING for ol mr coyote. Fast too but I don't have a chrony and don't remember how fast. Don't oversize the cases and they last a lot longer, just like with all your brass.

No experience with a .25-35, but I do have a .25 Remington, which has virtually identical case capacity. IMR 3031 is an excellent powder in it. My rifle (Model 14 Remington) has a special magazine which offsets the nose-to-primer alignment, so I can use spitzers. My load is a 90 grain Sierra HP loaded to about 2900 fps with 3031. I'm sorry that I don't have the powder weight immediately available, but I worked up the load, so you can work up a similar load with 3031 with the 117 Hornady's. You should be able to reach about 2300 fps without worrisome pressures.