Any 25 Remington fans out there?

[Rickster]

Hey SS40. Those are some cool pictures. I especially like the expressions on the faces of the people in the pics. No fake smiles like you get today. I almost feel like I know those guys, just from seeing those pictures. And the guy with the goatee and big moustashe. What a character he must have been. Maybe it is just that all 25 guys are "special"?

[Supersporter40]

Hi Rickster!

I found the same thing as far as case capacity. I wasn't suprised by that as much as I was by how stout and short the 250 HP case looks beside the Remmy. Had UMC used a design with the shoulder pushed forward it could have been identical I bet. The way it is the 25 Rem looks to be built for shooting cast with the long neck.

I loaded up a dozen 25Rem last night using 29gr of H380. 117gr Hornady seated to 2.540" is perfect for the crimping on a trimmed case. It should be just short of 2300 fps.
Will be shooting for groups with the model 14 and the model 8. Will be the first time for using the aperture on my model 8. Be interesting to see how the same load works in two totally different rifles.

Will also be trying the 250 HP, 30-40, 7x57 and maybe even an 1100 Husqvarna in 06 if I buy it tonight. Hope to post favorable results upon my return.

[Supersporter40]

Originally Posted by Rickster

Hey SS40. Those are some cool pictures. I especially like the expressions on the faces of the people in the pics. No fake smiles like you get today. I almost feel like I know those guys, just from seeing those pictures. And the guy with the goatee and big moustashe. What a character he must have been. Maybe it is just that all 25 guys are "special"?

The Goatee guy was a character indeed. His son now 87 years old is a friend of mine and we have swapped many a good story. He does the talking and I just soak it all up. The picture is actually a hoax in itself. It is all genuine, but for a laugh he pasted on that goatee and mustache. It came out as a great picture, I wished he had done one without it tho. I'll be getting them blown up for the "toy room" display.

Here is another pic of the Goatee Guy and Martin Arneson moose hunting with their 25 Rems!

[Rickster]

hahaha I thought maybe something was going on with that goatee pic. Looked like that moose had been dead for a while.

Have fun shooting. I had planned on shooting (instead of typing) this morning but I am now waiting on a cold front to clear out. Weather should be nice after that.

I have a lot of 25 Rem data, still in notepad form. I need to get it transferred to the computer so I can post it.

Regarding 117gr bullets. I tried out 120gr bullets in the Mo 30 last weekend. 4350 was the IMR powder of choice. On a lark, I tried RL15, which should be a little too fast. Worked great. Easily got 2500fps without too much pressure. Great accuracy.

I recently got set up to reload at my range. So it is now a lot more efficient for me to develop loads than before. But, on account of the wind, I use a powder measure instead of a scale. So all my data is in numbers such as 2.65, 2.7, etc. I need to convert them before I pass them on.

[Rickster]

Back from the range. Was working up 100gr loads with 3031 in the Mo 30, looking for something mild in the 2500 to 2600fps range when I had a case head separation. No harm done. Didnt even notice anything until I tried to extract the case. These cases had been shot alot, and sometimes hard. Time to retire them.

I had 7 previously loaded rounds for the Ruger #3 (87gr Hornady SP with 31gr of H4895 for 3050fps). Since I had decided to retire these cases, I decided to empty them into a target. The two shots to the right are sighters. The five in the center target were shot rather quickly with the scope set at 7 power. While shooting, I couldn't tell the difference between the target dot and the bullet holes. I sure was pleasantly surprised when I looked in the spotting scope. I havent done anything to this rifle other than put an old scope on it. The barrel isn't free floated. I haven't fine tuned the load. No trueing of the cases. The tarnished bullets were from an odd lot I picked up cheap at a local gunshop. Yadda Yadda. I can only imagine what a 25 Rem is capable of with quality bullets, in a Rem 700, with a bench stock and a target scope.

[Supersporter40]

Well at last I got to shoot 100yds with both the 25's yesterday. Can't say as I am excited about the results tho. The sun was blazing ( I have the sun burn to prove). Anyway, I had a time trying to get a bead on my 6" bullseye with the glare on the front bead being off to one side slightly. I held the same for the groups in each gun and only managed about a three inch group with either gun. The 14 has the typical wheel sight and the Model 8 wears a Marbles tang sight.

Load was CCI250's (all I have for primers) H380 at 29gr and the 117gr Hornady RN. That should be about right as I was getting one inch groups at 30 yds both times before shooting the 14. Glad I only loaded 11 rounds of that load. I have been able to get groups half that size before with irons in bolt guns, but maybe that is too much to expect from these old girls. Bores are almost like new in both. I dunno.

Going to try some other loads with perhaps 3031 that Tbury has proven in his little gem.

[Rickster]

You might feel better if I were crazy enough to take and post pics of my typical groups when the sun gets involved with a front bead sight. I usually burn those targets before anyone sees them.

The only iron sights I can shoot consistently use a front sight I made myself. It is a .25 inch peep (yes, on the front). I combine it with a 0.1 peep in the rear. Works great for old eyes. The combined effect of the two peeps is to bring the target into perfect focus. Just put the target in the middle of the front peep and pull the trigger. The rear sight acts like a ghost sight, giving a fuzzy outline. After very little practice, getting everything centered is fast and goes without thinking. I find that I shoot better in the field with this setup than I do with a scope. Milk jugs at 200yds don't have a chance if I point my Rem Mo. 25 or Mo 14 their way.

I put a better scope on the Ruger #3. Testing went OK, but it was windy. I need to redo one of the scope mount holes also. It is way off center. Probably wont shoot any better when I get done, but it will look a whole lot better.

[Supersporter40]

I wonder if it isn't the primer being too hot. A standard one might be better.
It didn't help when my wife came over to ask if I was almost done she only gave me two hours in the first place to shoot five rifles. Didn't get quite finished with all the loads for all of them.
My Krag did shoot very well on the other hand. Just need to try it again to prove the load on several targets and then I can load a bunch for it come winter time. What a pleasant suprise to see three strikes from that carbine go inside an inch with next to no load development. Wait, someone slap me, it was likely a fluke.

[Rickster]

I didnt have much luck with H380 either. H380 gets weird as the case starts getting full. My theory is that it packs up and doesnt ignite well. But you know what they say about theories.

3031 gave super results with 75gr bullets, and decent results with heavier bullets. I havent tried it on 117 or 120 bullets yet. Some things to keep in mind with 3031: - It meters poorly (not an issue if you weigh loads). - Pressure rises quickly as the load increases. Looking at my 3031 w/100gr data, the velocity curve arched upward, instead of being a straight line or leveling out as other powders do. I have noticed with my Mo 14 in 30 Rem that each grain makes a big difference when getting near 30 grains. Paco made a similar note regarding 30-30. - It is also a bit fast for optimum use in the 25 Rem with heavier bullets. Having said all that, I think it should do well with light loads in the Mo14 or 8. Its big advantage in that regard is that it is bulky. 26.25 grains of 3031 takes up the same amount of space as 29 grains of H380. So even light loads will do a decent job of filling the case.

In my preliminary tests, RL15 worked the best with heavy bullets in the Mo 30. RL15 is very close in speed to H380 but requires a less powder weight. Pressure behaves well as the load increases. With 120 gr bullets, I took it up to 32gr and near 2600fps in the Mo. 30. Best load for that rifle was 31gr for a little over 2500fps, but that is probably too hot for the Mo 14 or 8. I am thinking 27 to 28 grains should give you 2300fps, and mild pressure, depending on the rifle.

[Supersporter40]

The other thing I believe you mentioned was the temperture of H380 can get quite high increasing the erosion of the leades. Another good reason to change. I have H4895, perhaps that is better. Where does one find the temperture of specific powders? All my rifles are vintage hard to replace items and they need to live almost indefinetely. They aren't really of huge value to other folk, just sentimental to me.

Alot of folk like to use a specific powder for each cartridge and I can see how that works better. Having said that it would be nice to feed the pigs with one fat keg. RL15 I have not tried in a few years but it seems pretty versatile. And as you mentioned meters much easier than all the IMR variants I have tried.