Is the .25 ACP worth reloading?

I'm on a mouse gun kick at the moment and have my eye on a used Beretta 21 chambered in .25 ACP to match the one I have in .22 LR. I have about 600 rounds of .25 ACP factory loaded ammo but no firearm to digest them. If I buy the Beretta (and I probably will) I will most certainly want to reload the .25 simply because I reload for everything that I own. Does anybody have any experience with this? How much trouble is this cartridge with its miniscule powder charges? Does anybody know if the Beretta will shoot cast bullets? If so, where would I be able to get a mold?

Dave Sinko

Dave, I loaded for 25 acp over thirty years ago. About all I can tell you is that it's a pain. My fumble fingers had problems handling the small cases and slugs. I used jacketed bullets only. My happiest day with the 25 was when I got rid of it. Sorry that I can't be of much help but this will get your question bumped back to the top.

I went though a mouse gun phase but limited to 32 acp and 380.

I personally do not see a use for the 25. The 32 ACP is tricky enough to load without crushing cases.

JMHO but I do not think a 25 is worth anything let alone reloading.

I would like a Berreta 32 myself.

25ACP

I load for it, I do not find it much harder then anything else.
I have the RCBS Handgun Competition powder measure so the small charges do not bother me much.
It sure does not save me much as I do not really shoot them a lot.
The only reason is their terrible sights. I have a Ortigies and Colt junior and Colt 1908 and Browning Baby and Fraser copy.I think the guns are neat , But,
if I had a Beretta I would shoot it more as I really like my 22LR version and used to shoot my 32 Beretta a fair amount.The sights and grips are much nicer on Beretta.

Yes it is worth reloading for if you plan on doing much shooting at all with your gun. i have reloaded both jacketed and cast bullets with great results. my preferred powder is VV N310 but Bullseye also gives good results. Unless you have a very high quality powder measure that will deliver very consistent charges with the tiny powder charges required; you will need to weigh each charge because there is very little difference in a starting load and a max charge.

OK, this looks like it has potential. I have a decent supply of loaded ammo and brass that I have picked up and saved over the years. Magtech makes brass and bullets, and I also see a 35 gr. Gold Dot for sale. But what about casting? My RCBS Cast Bullet Manual #1 has data for one cast bullet but I don't see any molds for sale in the Midway catalog. I was hoping that Lee makes some kind of tumble lube mold but I don't see one. I would NOT want to have to run these bullets through a Lubri-sizer.

I don't have high hopes for the cartridge in general. My impression is that the .22 is actually more effective but the centerfire .25 offers much more reliable ignition. It would serve a very limited role, but since I have the chance to get one and play around with it, why not?

Dave Sinko

Rule3 said:

I would like a Berreta 32 myself.

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If Beretta could work out the problems they've had with the TomCat's frame cracking then they'd be decent enough but until that I'd personally not touch one with a 20' poll. Same for the Nano, Beretta makes some great large semis but their efforts at compacts isn't so good, at least where the Tomcat and Nano are concerned.
As far as reloading the 25acp, sure if you plan on shooting it much but if not it'd probably be just as cheap to buy factory ammo and not put the money into dies and stuff. JMHO, YMMV.

TNFrank said:

If Beretta could work out the problems they've had with the TomCat's frame cracking then they'd be decent enough but until that I'd personally not touch one with a 20' poll. Same for the Nano, Beretta makes some great large semis but their efforts at compacts isn't so good, at least where the Tomcat and Nano are concerned.
As far as reloading the 25acp, sure if you plan on shooting it much but if not it'd probably be just as cheap to buy factory ammo and not put the money into dies and stuff. JMHO, YMMV.

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The Nano is so new, what bad reviews have you read on it?

I got to handle one at the shop and it appeared to be excellent quality.

David Sinko said:

OK, this looks like it has potential. I have a decent supply of loaded ammo and brass that I have picked up and saved over the years. Magtech makes brass and bullets, and I also see a 35 gr. Gold Dot for sale. But what about casting? My RCBS Cast Bullet Manual #1 has data for one cast bullet but I don't see any molds for sale in the Midway catalog. I was hoping that Lee makes some kind of tumble lube mold but I don't see one. I would NOT want to have to run these bullets through a Lubri-sizer.

I don't have high hopes for the cartridge in general. My impression is that the .22 is actually more effective but the centerfire .25 offers much more reliable ignition. It would serve a very limited role, but since I have the chance to get one and play around with it, why not?

Dave Sinko

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Hello David. I am sure one of the distributors will have a bullet mold or you can go direct with the manufacturer. It doesn't have to be a tumble lube design to be tumble lubed.

Unless you find one on an auction site, you'll probably have to have a 25 acp mould custom made. Lyman & RCBS discontinued them long ago.

358156hp said:

Unless you find one on an auction site, you'll probably have to have a 25 acp mould custom made. Lyman & RCBS discontinued them long ago.

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I just looked on the RCBS site and they are still listing at least 1 mold for the 25 ACP. I then checked Midway and they have it in stock. See Here.

ArchAngelCD said:

I just looked on the RCBS site and they are still listing at least 1 mold for the 25 ACP. I then checked Midway and they have it in stock. See Here.

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Hmmm. How can this be? I said something wwwrong? I was wrong once before... sometime back in the '70s, I think it was. I want a recount, yeah! I want a recount.

Sorry about the bum info...

If I were you, I would shoot the 600 you already have before I made the plunge for reloading components . You might have a different point of view by then.

vic3620

TNFrank said:

If Beretta could work out the problems they've had with the TomCat's frame cracking then they'd be decent enough but until that I'd personally not touch one with a 20' poll..........................

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I cracked the frame on a regular Tomcat when I ran some hotter 73gr rounds I bought for a CZ-70 through it and Beretta replaced it with the INOX version.
So far the INOX version has taken everything I've fed it.

Back on topic (almost).

I takes steady hands and keen eyesight to reload the small stuff, and I don't have either anymore, so I don't. 38 cal is as small as I go.

As for the 25acp being worth reloading, you'd have to shoot it a lot to make it worthwhile money-wise since the bullets and dies are scarce and come with a premium price tag, but shooting what you reload is sort of priceless if you enjoy reloading.

I have a few C&R .25s , but don't really shoot them much. I seem to find so many partial boxes of .25 ACP at gun shows and in the pre-owned bargain bins at gunshops for such low prices , I never even considered reloading them.

I love the .25 ACP and feel it is highly under rated and misunderstood.

I have a cheap Titan Tiger that is extremely accurate, even at extended ranges, and is very reliable with both jacketed and cast bullets. I don't have a mold for it, (which I'd like to rectify some day), but there is a local bullet caster that does.

The only down side to handloading them is the case is pretty small for my arthritic hands to hold. As others have mentioned you need a meter that is capapble of repeated accuracy with small powder charges and the Lyman no. 55 is perfect this. Or you can do them one at a time if you have the time and patience.

ArchAngelCD said:

I just looked on the RCBS site and they are still listing at least 1 mold for the 25 ACP. I then checked Midway and they have it in stock. See Here.

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I looked yesterday and it wasn't in stock. Maybe they got a Saturday night truck in. Either that or i have lost my marbles and imagined it out of stock. But i don't think I imagined it. I took my meds and washed them down with whiskey to guard against the DT's

Jellybean said:

I love the .25 ACP and feel it is highly under rated and misunderstood.

I have a cheap Titan Tiger that is extremely accurate, even at extended ranges, and is very reliable with both jacketed and cast bullets. I don't have a mold for it, (which I'd like to rectify some day), but there is a local bullet caster that does.

The only down side to handloading them is the case is pretty small for my arthritic hands to hold. As others have mentioned you need a meter that is capapble of repeated accuracy with small powder charges and the Lyman no. 55 is perfect this. Or you can do them one at a time if you have the time and patience.

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I have had two of those little Titan's. They both worked like a champ and were very accurate. For some dumb reason I don't have either of them anymore

Used to load 25s on a Dillon, mostly for sale at gunshows. I'd run through 3 or 4 hundred of the factory rds and decide if this was worth initial cost of dies, bullets, etc. I would probably reload it just because I enjoy time on my bench, whether its 25s or 45s

I bought the gun this morning. I was hoping it was a 21 like my .22, but this one is a 950. Since it lacks the DA function, it looks like cocked and locked will the be way to carry it. That could be a bit problematic, especially if I choose to carry it weak (left) handed in a pocket holding it with a shooting grip. I don't own or use any handgun with a safety that needs to be snicked off as it's brought into action.

The good news is that it fed and ejected all the 75 or so rounds of mixed ball ammo I had on hand. I had a few failures to fire with aluminum case/Berdan primed Blazer and GFL. I presume these have harder primers. Most everything else was Winchester and they fired just fine. I started with a bag of loose rounds and some of the headstamps were very hard to read. Recoil was more brisk than I had expected it to be for a .25.

I checked the Midway website and it said the mold is out of stock. And it's expensive! I'll hold off on the casting for now unless I can find something cheaper. Lee dies don't seem to be very expensive, and I'll stick with jacketed bullets first. I have enough brass, Federal primers and 231 to last forever, so I may as well take the plunge. In the grand scheme of things, 600 rounds of ammo isn't a lot or even enough to develop an informed opinion of a new gun.

Dave Sinko

JohnnieB said:

I cracked the frame on a regular Tomcat when I ran some hotter 73gr rounds I bought for a CZ-70 through it and Beretta replaced it with the INOX version.
So far the INOX version has taken everything I've fed it.

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Back off topic. The frame on the Inox version is still alloy, just like on the full size 92's and if you keep running hot ammo through it then it'll crack too eventually.