Howdy,

I have not posted in this section before but a specific need has come up and I figure you guys could assist me. I am in need of a 25-20 lever action. I know Marlin started making some again in the late eighties and early nineties. This would work fine for what I need but they seem almost impossible to find. The one I have found was selling for an arm and a leg. I am not looking for one to be a safe queen or part of a collection. This gun is to be used. Is there a gun dealer that specializes in weapons like the one I need? Is there another manufacturer that is producing good 25-20's currently that I could purchase NIB? Any suggestions are appreciated.

Ben

Guns International, Guns America or Gunbroker might be you best places to look.

You might just get a Rossi model 92 in 357 mag and rebarrel it. Or find an old clunker Winchester 92 or Marlin 94 and rebarrel or reline. You'll be lucky to find a good 25-20 for under $600.

I've been wanting a 25-20 for years, but the reality is that you'd be just as well off to use a .357 lever action, and keep it .357. Same speed and trajectory basically, but better suited for deer and still covers small game.

The only advantage of the 25-20 is that it has a cute case.

I still want one, eventhough it makes no sense. $600 is dirt cheap for a 25-20.

$600 is dirt cheap but I figured a new Marlin might be in that range. I may be way off on the price. I picked up a beautiful Win 92 carbine for less a few years ago. You just have to be at the right place at the right time.
I have shot thousands of rounds of 25-20 over the last 45 years. It was my first high powered rifle. Killed lots of small game with it but still have yet to shoot a deer with one. The round is very accurate and very good for coyote size game. The 357 is a good fun caliber to shoot in a lever carbine and much cheaper to shoot. 38 specials are really fun to shoot.

With the .357 lever action I am worried about damage to the small animals I will be shooting. 25-20 seems like it would be less chance of blowing something apart.

SMTU, remington makes a 125 grain jacketed soft point 357 bullet that looks like the big brother to the traditional 86 grain 25-20 bullet.

Like everyone else, I have a soft spot for the 25-20 as well, my Dad had a 1892 chambered for it and on occasion I'd tramp around in the woods with that instead of my 22. The problem was that to ammo was ungodly expensive for me so if I was hunting squirrels or rabbits I could get by with 3 or 4 shells but with a pocket of 22's you can afford to shoot a few off. Anyway, that was a neat little rifle to carry.

a 40% orig 92 that looks like it went through boot camp hereabouts is selling for 900.
ammo is like 60.00 for a box.

if rossi were to get a clue they could make the 25,32,218,and many others, and sell a bunch of them.
i mean how hard would it be to make a 41 mag or 327 federal?
a diff bbl and bolt. thats how hard.

SMU. best pof luck on findinmg a 25-20. I know a guy that has one of those Marlin's like you mentioned, in like new condition in the factory box.

I wished I could get it from him. I have seen it one timer and i don't believe it has ever been fired.

I have wanted one for several years, but after packing my 1894 Marlin in 44 Rem Mag for the past couple of years, I am plenty happy with it and the results I get with 245 grain cast Keith-Style bullets.

Hope you find what you are looking for, I believe you will enjoy it.

Is 218 bee harder to get than 25-20?

Ben

I thnk I have seen only one 218 Bee in my life, and it was setting in a gun cabinet in a ranchers home between Valentine and Thetford Nebraska.

Ive got two boxes of 25-20 Winchester ammo. 50 rounds to a box. 86 gr soft points. Ive had em a long time, hopefully Ill have a rifle to shoot them in one day.

You might look at the Browning model 65 in 218 Bee or the Browning model 53 in 32-20. Both are very well made guns and are very accurate. You can find them pretty easy I think and cheaper than original Winchesters.

quote:

You might look at the Browning model 65 in 218 Bee or the Browning model 53 in 32-20. Both are very well made guns and are very accurate. You can find them pretty easy I think and cheaper than original Winchesters.

Can you scope them? How accurate do you think they are? Much Thanks for the tips.

Yeah you could but who would want to! If you want a scoped gun get a 22 Hornet. I'd put peep sights on the lever guns. My model 53 will put them in the same hole at 50 yards.

quote:

Yeah you could but who would want to! If you want a scoped gun get a 22 Hornet. I'd put peep sights on the lever guns. My model 53 will put them in the same hole at 50 yards.

I need a small fast handling gun and I am a lefty. Gets hard to find a good left handed bolt action 22 hornet that I can shoot as quick as a lever action.

I think the Marlin would be the gun you want if you are left handed and want to scope it. Find one in 357 or 44 mag and load cast bullets really light for lots of fun. This would be much cheaper than a 25-20 or 32-20 to shoot. 25-20 brass doesn't last very long.

One will discover that the .357 Magnum case is almost identical to the .256 Win mag case....and I'd be willing to bet that .256 Win Mag cases could be formed from .357 Magnum cases....

Load the .256 to .25-20 capacity or more if you wish.....and all you need is a barrel change if you start with a .357 magnum!

How is this:

http://www.gunbroker.com/Aucti....aspx?Item=220481469

A Rossi .357 used, then rebarrelled to .256Mag is within most guy's budget. It is as close as ya can find to an affordabele shooter.
You can pick the barrel-length you choose...Mine is 21".
My magazine is at the end of the forestock, but the factory-length would make it a 3/4-length if it had a 22" barrel. Pick and choose.
Mine has a Lyman tang-sight, but there are several, different sights to be used.
While you're at it, a round barrel, half-round, or octagonal could be made at the time.
60gr, 75gr, or 86gr jacketed bullets are available, or use the 86gr FN semiRN cast GC that I use.
Have fun,
Gene

I've had a Marlin M1894 in .25-20 since the early 90s. It is a fun, accurate rifle for small game and plinking. I handload only, and component cost is minimal, as you'd expect. I load to several levels, from light small game loads to high pressure coyote loads. Been using the same 150 cases for two decades and have never discarded a case, just lost a few in the field. Just don't understand comments about short case life unless the dies are incorrectly adjusted.

I hunted with the rifle using a Williams peep for years, but as my eyesight weakened I put on a small red dot and love it. True, it is not quite as pretty with the dot sight but at least I can hit game with it.



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The bee and the 25-20 were offered in a limited run to Davidson's. I think off the top of my head it was a 500 gun run on each caliber. They were in the 1894 platform.
They do turn up for sale sometimes but generally asking prices are around $750. to $800. these days.

This is a site you might want to check out!
http://www.marlinowners.com/fo...25-20-reloaders.html

Jim

I can tell you from experience the 25-20 is about the worst deer caliber that I have ever seen used, that and the 30 Carbine..I had a couple of friends that went with them..I ended up killing everything they wounded, and their shots were placed well enough btw...I have seen better killing power with a 22 L.R. Hollow point. If I were to use a 25-20 or 32-20 for deer I would opt to keep the range at about 25 to 40 yards and hope for a head shot or at least a positive heart shot, and the heart shot would be a hard tracking job I suspect, so use it in open country.

I had a Rem pump mod 25 carbine in 25-20 with a 2.5X Lyman Alaskan scope on it that I used for Turkeys and it was about ideal as the bullets didn't expand much, if at all, and it killed them on the spot..It was a neat little rifle. I could have shot a whitetail in the head at up to 50 yards with reasonable certainty, but never did, I had better calibers for that.

Keep your eyes open and roam the local shops and gun shows. Carry enough cash to pay for one without trying to foist a check or trade onto a seller. Just tear your pocket off quick-drawing your wallet out, and walk off with your newly acquired rifle.

I found a beautiful one of the little mid-80s series lever guns at a local gun shop about 5 months ago for right at $550, out the door, taxes and all. And it is in at least 98% condition. doesn't look as if it's ever been fired. Heck, I even bought a new gun safe so I could sort out my lever guns and let them live where they don't have to take any snot from my BR and Palma rifles which are in the vault....until I sell most of the bolt action stuff. The levers will then inherit the fancier digs of the vault.

I have not yet shot a deer with a .25-20, but in my salad days I fed a wife and 2 kids with a less than 5 lb. Remington M25 carbine in .32-20. Actually my 4-11", 95 lb. wife also killed a few deer with it. My neighbor killed a bunch of small whitetails with his Savage 23-series bolt action .25-20. They all tasted just as if they had been smitten by a .356 Winchester. Anyone who thinks the .25-20 and 32-20 won't reliably kill small deer such as the Columbian blacktail, AZ Coues deer, or south Texas Whitetails needs to work on his hunting skills IMO.

They're not as easy to hunt with as a bigger gun, but used properly, they will get the job done with no sweat.

The modern Marlins rarely go for less than $800 on gun broker. Dig out a lot of money or do without.

I just saw this post. Sorry. There was a nice Marlin 94CL at auction on gunbroker.com. The auction closed yesterday (Sunday) at, I believe, $905. I sold mine a few months ago for @ $900 and it was not perfect.
Not trying to pee in your chili or anything but I agree with Ray. From time to time, living in the country as I do, critters visit to forage in the cat's food. I found the 25-20 to be very ineffective for "relocating" skunks and raccoons at even 10 yards (the 9mm also proved to be a total dud but that's another story).
The 25-20 loads were a 75 gr Hornady SP, double loaded, one in the chamber, one in the magazine, at @1800 fps and also Remington 86 grain factory loads . Shoulda worked but didn't do very well. Took three shots to finish both times I used the 25-20. The .218 Bee works great with a 40 gr W-W HP at 3000 fps. A .22 LR with some older Quadshoks works quite well. The .223 and larger, no problema. A 20 gauge loaded with #4 (?) buckshot, the load with 20 .25 caliber balls, is absolutely devastating out to 35 yards.

I can understand comments about the poor killing power of the .25-20 when using inappropriate bullets - and that includes the lousy 86-grain factory loads. A .22 LR is a poor killer of game if you use shot cartridges, and a .30-30 would be less effective on game if you loaded 220-grain FMJ bullets.

The factories used to offer a 60-grain bullet loading, which was a fantastic killer of small game. Loading the Hornady 60-grain FN makes the .25-20 into a great killer of small game like coons (been there done that, have lots of coon in my area), but can cause too much meat damage on edible game like squirrels, rabbits and grouse at high velocity. For those aminals I use the Speer 75-grain flat point (designed for the .25-20) at around 1400 fps, which kills very well due to its broad flat point (which is almost a wadcutter and works better than any .22LR I've used). The same Speer bullet loaded up to 1800 fps works very well on fox and coyote. I can certainly understand how a pointed 75-grain bullet designed for the .257 Roberts would fail to expand and kill well at much lower .25-20 velocities. Poor bullet choice is the problem, not poor cartridge performance.


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Welllllll! I'll have to bow to Alberta, any caliber if used properly will kill deer, I have used the 22 L.R. to much to make the statement I did, so I'll take it back, but still I have seen a few deer make a lot of tracks and leave little or no blood trails when shot with the 25-20..I have shot deer with my 38-40 handloaded and it didn't impress me much either..I personally think deer rifles begin with the 25-35 and 30-30.

I will however bring to his attention that SOUTH TEXAS whitetail get up to 240 lbs and pack B&C heads that give Canada a run for the money!..its the Texas Hill Country whitetail that's the little fellow!

As a kid, I used a 25-20 when hound hunting. Even took my first bear with it.
I met an old timer while hunting in South Africa, who said the 25-20 was his favorite gun.

quote:

Originally posted by Atkinson:


I will however bring to his attention (mine) that SOUTH TEXAS whitetail get up to 240 lbs and pack B&C heads that give Canada a run for the money!..its the Texas Hill Country whitetail that's the little fellow!

Okay, lesson learned. Thanks, Ray. I wasn't really aware of that.

I try to avoid hunting in Texas as much as possible. I've always been a disciple of hunting public land, of which there is danged little in Texas when compared to other western states. I guess that's because I have always rooted for the little guy who couldn't buy his recreation and who could use the food. He usually does okay on public land because necessity is a very strict instructor.

quote:

Originally posted by SR4759:
The modern Marlins rarely go for less than $800 on gun broker. Dig out a lot of money or do without.

Perhaps. But what does one expect at a professionally run auction house?

Our local gun stores have some of their best sales days when the big gun auctions are being held locally. Folks go to the auctions, see what stuff is going for there, and then go to their local gun stores later in the day where they can obtain the same thing for substantially less dough.

If you want to have a scoped lever, in a small game calibre, think about a Marlin in 357 Mag.

Just taylor the loads to shoot the game you are hunting.
38 Special and 357 Mag brass, and bullets are a lot easier to get than 25-20, 32-20 or 218 Bee.

Plus you could have a handgun in the same calibre...