I just got a new (to me, it's a 1920's vintage)25-20 Win '92 and am wondering what I can expect from it?

It shoots factory 86 grain Remington perfectly without any pressure signs and I purchased and used a no-go gauge to be sure its safe.

What can I expect velocity wise from handloading 86 and 75 grain jacket bullets?

How about gas check 75's?

Any one familiar with this caliber, please chime in.

P.s., it has 3 extra tapped holes on each side of the receiver in a triangle pattern, they are not symmetrical side to side. A sight mount or gallery gun?

Thanks for any help/info!

75 grs for cast is kinda pushing the weight spectrum.
I run a 72gr plain base and it shoots well but I had to use a super slow powder to make it work.

for jacketed bullets AA-1680 is the powder to make things work.

good luck finding brass [kinda] the 32-20 has a thinner rim than the 25-20 but will usually work and thankfully star-line is making it right now.
otherwise it'd be 65.00 a box Winchester stuff as the only option.

extra holes on these little rifles is fairly common.
I have seen them with screw holes for a wire so they could be hung on/in sheep wagons.
holes for peep sights.
holes for scopes.
carved stocks [do it at home specialists]
checkering done with a nail and a pocket knife.

hornady makes a nice 60gr flat point that is an excellent small game bullet.
and of course the 86gr Remington bullet works well too.

I shoot several .25-20s, my M1894 likes the Speer 75FP best. A great bullet, its wide meplat does not need high velocity to kill small game well. AA-7 gave best accuracy between 1300-1500 fps and has ample power. For higher velocities AA-9 and H-110 worked well up to 1750 fps. In my rifle AA-1680 gave poor accuracy.

The Hornady 60-grain FN shot best with H-110 at 1900 fps. Faster speeds did not shoot well in the M1894.

Best cast accuracy is with a 90-grain FNGC from an LBT mold. AA-1680 and AA-7 worked best with this and the 86-grain Remington bullet. Good luck finding the latter.

Many of the original .25-20 bores are in poor shape with pitting common when corrosive primers were used. They may not handle cast very well.



.

My hands down, all time general plinking rifle is a 1910 vintage M92 with a 18 3/4" octagon barrel that's been relined with a Redman's sleeve.

The RCBS 85 grain "Cowboy" bullet works especially well for me, but there's a trick to it. This bullet was designed for use with black powder, so the grease grooves are a little deep... which leads to over lubing... which leads to fliers and crappy groups to the point of keyholing. I tumble lube with Lee liquid alox thinned three parts to one with gasoline before sizing. No more fliers, and it shoots minute of beer can or better out to 200 yards or so. All in all, more than I have any right to ask for when it comes to casual shooting and plinking.

Most folks say the best powders are 4198 and 4227, but I've had my best results with WW296 (7-7.5 gr.), and Re-7 (can't recall the charge offhand). Velocitys run from 1350 to 1450 FPS.

My mould and alloy drops bullets right at 90 grains which seems to be too heavy for most rifles, but mine's been relined with a sleeve that's rifled one turn in 13", which stabilizes just fine. Your milage will probably vary, if you have the standard 1 in 14".

At first I had problems with split cases (necked down Starline .32-20 and factory .25-20), until I started neck sizing and head spacing using the shoulder. These rifles have a wide range of chamber dimensions. A friend of mine has both an M92 and a Remington M25 pump, both in .25-20. Comparing the fired cases, the shoulder is nearly 1/8" farther forward on the brass from the Remington, which explains the horrific loss rate he had when full length resizing.

All in all, the most pleasant shooting rifle I own!

Porosonik.

I'm lucky enough to have a small supply of the original Winchester 86 grain jacketed bullets for .25-20. Using 13.5 grains of AA2200 gives me 1725 fps. AA1680 should also be a good powder for this round.

I have both a Remington Model 25 and a Savage Model 23 chambered for .25-20. I'll second what was said about neck-sizing (or at least minimal resizing). The little case headspaces just fine off of the shoulder. If your cases are stretching enough that they require FL sizing then your pressures are too high and you should back off. After all, there are only about a dozen .25 caliber factory cartridges which offer more velocity than the .25-20 if velocity is what you're after.

8.5 grs of H110 60gr flat pt. 1700ft/velocity. Win brass.
92 win made in 1929 there bouts. Never hunted with it much shot a few ground hogs and 1 deer. had to chase the deer a ways, lung shot. didn't loose any meat, I traded it off a few year ago. I kept all the brass and components thinking I might get another

Well, I think I may have gotten the 3 D&T'd holes on each side issue figured out.

I saw an 1885 with similar hole pattern and a Lyman 41 sight mounted to it. That takes 4 holes but 3 are in the same pattern. Working with an old gun sight company to see if they were for a Lyman 41, 42 or 45 or something similar.

P.s., found another box of factory Rem 86grs. for $65 on a small shops shelf. My dealer says the new price has gone up to $89. Time to start really reloading!!

You guys are making me want to find one to go along with the couple hundred rounds of new in the box brass I have.

This thread made me go find my Remington M25 slideaction...

Jens:

Really a nice quality 25 and a very interesting scope mount.

ACG:

Outdoor Limited and probably Freedom Ammunitiion have Rem 25-20 86s for just under $58/box. I just bt 5 of them.

I'm kind of late to the .25-20 game, but have recently purchased 3 of them, a relatively new Marlin 94CL, a Rem 25 with scope, and a Marlin 27s which is sitting at my FFL dealer's waiting to be picked up. I would have already shot at least a couple of them, but we've been in a monsoon, most of last month or so. After the last drought I said I'd never complain about rain again, but this is pushing my vows.

People are dying because of this, mostly because Texans don't seem to understand that water and especially fast moving water, can kill you. Interestingly France, and especially the Paris area are having similar floods right now as well.

I own a Winchester Model 43 in .25-20 Win. My rifle shoots best when using IMR-4198 or SR-4759 powders; using both 75 gr. & 86 grain bullets. I like to keep the velocity at around 1,500 FPS.

Jens, you sure have wonderful taste in rifles!

I played with them over the years. Had a Savage bolt action, a Remington mod. 25, and they both shot decent..later had a Win. 92 and it was a fun gun...Range wise it wasn't a particularly good truck gun for coyotes and didn't kill them very well anyway. Great out the pickup window Jack Rabbit gun, but ammo was expensive and the 22 L. R. was preferred. Ive seen it used on deer at close range and its a pretty poor killer, same on antelope.

Back when, it was a simi popular deer rifle for youngsters and wimmen! The 32-20 was a little better and that was common knowledge, but the 25-35 Win took over the first gun for kids and girls, and it was the real deal, and still the preferred choice for mule deer and whitetail where I was raised..Still is btw, but the 30-30 has dented it has a beginners rifle, mostly because ammo is more available..The 222 has made a strong move in that Texas Big Bend country for a first deer gun..

Just about every old timer I knew as a kid had one, and they got a lot of use back in the depression feeding families. I just wish brass was easier to come by.

Porosonik.

I understand Porosonik. I ended up getting 100 Starline nickel plated, 32-20 cases, annealing them and necking them down to 25-20. Only reason I got the nickel was to keep them separate from my 32-20 ammo. It's working fine so far. No problem with neck or rim.

My rifle in 25-20 is a bit different. It's a Jeffrey Rook rifle that was originally in 255 Jeffrey. Someone in decades past had re-chambered it to 25-20 WCF and as is often the case the bore looked like a rutted gravel road. I had it re-lined back to 25-20, to go back to the Jeffrey cartridge was simply cost prohibitive, and have been working up loads for it. Best so far has been 6 grs. of IMR-4227, open cell foam filler and the Lyman gas checked 257420 bullet cast of 50/50, lead/lino. My goal is to keep the velocity and pressure low in deference to the old Jeffrey Rook rifle. Velocities average 1259 fps and all signs good. Now it just needs a taller front sight.