I’m considering the purchase of a M-25 – 5 chambered in 45 Colt. It’s advertised as an older model with a pined 4” barrel, and “custom grips” which appear to be the Eagle copy of the S&W target grips. I have been assured that the timing and lock up are tight, there is no hammer push off, and both the bore and charging holes are in very good condition. As expected there is some holster ware along the leading edge of the barrel and the right side of the frame. Does not have a box or any paper work, and appears to be a nice shooter grade revolver, which is what I’ve been looking for.

Do any of you have any comments about the M- 25 –5 either good or bad? If so PLEASE feel free to let me know.

Thanks All,

Fred

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Always Stay Strong!

I am not aware of any complaints with these. I would not run any really hot loads through this gun due to the thin chamber walls you have after boring them to .452" but otherwise I would enjoy having the gun you describe.

You need to love it for what it is. It is not a magnum and should not be treated as such. I really enjoy mine.

This one gets lots of coverage here.

If you want it for shooting, check the throats. If just for an addition to your collection, don't worry about them.

I have posted this many times here now, but will be happy to do so again-

The older Pinned guns with the N prefix had oversized throats and were not the best shooters. Some with a N prefix did have the correct throats, but they are the exception to the rule, as most will be .455"-.458" in diameter. Any 25-5 with the ABC 1234 serial system will have the correct throats in it and be a great shooter ( as long as it has been taken care of, of course)


To check the throats, take a jacketed (use a jacketed bullet and not lead, since lead is normally lubed and sticky in of its own nature anyway, which can give a false impression that they are fitting correctly) bullet with you (Hornady 300 gr XTP's work best because they are longer and are .452" in dimeter) and drop it into the chamber from the rear. If it falls right on through, the throats are too large ( normally .455" or bigger) to give very good accuracy. If it hangs up briefly in the throat, then falls on out, you are looking at throats that will be in the area of .453"- .454", and will work with some of the larger bullets out like the factory Win, and Rem swaged lead bullets.

If it hangs up in the throat, but can be pushed on through using a pencil or pen, and using only finger pressure to do so, you have a gun that will potentially be very accurate and what you are looking for in a shooter.

If you get one that has large throats, the Winchester and Remington swaged lead bullets that they sell at places like Cabela's will usually improve their accuracy with standard loads by quite a bit since they run .456" and .455"respectively, and have hollow bases to help the bullets obturate and fill the throats which in turn help align them with the bore before entering the forcing cone.

Nickle plated, 6 inch tube, target stocks, pinned barrel.
Purchased at a very good price (my wearing Marine dress blues at the time helped, no doubt) back in 1984.

No hot loads, just factory or factory equiv reloads. A smoky beast on an indoor range...but I can call my shots with it up to 50 yds.

I swear by mine and on cold days, she goes in a shoulder holster as my CCW.

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The Last Standing Knight

Can someone explain what a swaged lead bullet is compaired to the Remington 45 L COLT 250 GR LEAD RN I shoot in my 25-5?

Swaged is cut out like a cookie cutter rather than cast with molted lead going into a mold. Swaged bullets are softer and lead the bore more than cast and in general are not as precise in manufacturing. I personally avoid them. I do not know what type Remington uses.

Thanks for the great input all!!

Fred

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Always Stay Strong!

I have a 25-5 made around 1980 N802xxx with a 8 3/8" barrel.
The front of the cylinder measures .454. You can feel the 300gr XTP engage the rifling with 5/16" still sticking out the rear. Total bullet length is 13/16"

It seems to shoot OK with a 250gr RN over 8.0gr Unique. I let a friend shoot it and the way the sun was shining, I could see the bullet fly through the air and arc to the target.

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Corripe Cervisiam

old bear, are you looking at the one in houston ,tx. ? collectors ? looks a little rough to me for those $s. thanks.

Actually, a swaged bullet is formed by swaging a cold almost pure lead slug in a form die. They are cut to a length that is predetermined by the factory from a lead wire spool that is close in diameter to the caliber being formed. The lead cutoffs or "slugs" are then placed cold into a form die or series of forming dies that will form the bullet into the desired outcome.

Cast bullets are formed by pouring molten lead alloy into a mold that cools very quickly and then is opened and the formed bullet drops out. It is then run through a sizing die where it is sized to the appropriate finished diameter and lubed all in one pass. Cast bullets use various amounts of lead and metal alloys to determine their hardness, and they can range from just a bit harder than swaged to a lot harder, depending on the application.

Swaged bullets are best kept to velocities between 700 - 1000 fps.

Cast bullets that are sized correctly for the gun in which they will be shot, lubed properly, and made of the correct alloys can be fired at speeds up to approximately 2000 fps.

Remington and Winchester both use soft swaged bullets in their factory loads.

My four inch 25-5 is one of my favorite six guns. With a load of 8.0gr of Unique with a 255 LSWC I dont feel undergunned!

Attached Images

25-5 grips left 1.jpg (138.1 KB, 181 views)

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Stay safe people!

"Swaged bullets are softer and lead the bore more than cast and in general are not as precise in manufacturing."

Swaged bullets can be plenty precise. The .38 Special 148 grain hollow base wadcutters are swaged and loaded into what may be perhaps the most accurate revolver ammunition you can buy.

Great information. After 60 plus years with firearms I'm still learning. Thanks

I have been told on this forum that 25-5's with alpha-numeric serial numbers, (AAA889x or such) have correct throats and longer cylinders. I just picked up a 25-5 with 6" barrel with AlphaNumeric serial number and the throats are tight at .4525 or so. I have trouble pushing .452 lead bullets through the chambers. I'm having my buddy Stoney resize my bullets to .451 and that works perfectly. I'm very impressed with this gun and it is quickly becoming a favorite.

I'm using RCBS 270-SAA mold bullets, designed by Dave Scovill of Handloader magazine. This mold is an engineering improvement of Elmers fabled mold, I believe 452421 or close to that. This mold lengthens the front driving band to better center the bullets in the chambers. There are other improvements that I can't remember right now. These bullets are excellent and come out at 280gr. or so depending on alloy. Mt. Baldy bullets make them, and I can recommend them without reservation. Using 8.0 gr Unique or PowerPistol, and your ready to go. Easy to shoot, accurate, and deadly.

I had a 25-3, as I'm sure everyone is sick of hearing about, that had horrible throats, and a short cylinder. I tried many different diameters including .454 soft lead, and nothing would shoot better that a mile at 25yds. The gun was beautiful, but not a shooter.

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beaver

old bear, may have to take a look, are you going to hgca show at reliant ? thanks, john in nw houston.

I have a 4" 25-5 that is my most prized handgun. It started as one of the "bad" ones with oversized throats. I was a able to find a cylinder with correct throats and it has shot like a dream ever since.
Again, my mostest bestest handgun.

My daily plinking load is 7.5 gr of Unique and a 270gr Keith style Leadhead.

Hunting load is same bullet over 17.0gr of 2400.

Enjoy.
Dave

old bear,

Don't ignore the information Gun 4 Fun posted about cylinder throats. I would not wish the dissapointing experience I had with my 25-3 .45 Colt's .458" throats on you. At the time I was enjoying casting my own and had no interest in shooting store bought bullets. I had to resort to realitively light 300 to 340 grain .45-70 rifle molds and charges that were not reloading manual approved to get that 25-3 to shoot worth a darn. That made it kick somewhat like a .44 mag. but without a .44 magnum's loud muzzel blast. If you don't have your heart set on a blued gun I expect it would be easier to find a 4" 625 .45 Colt than a 4" 25-5 with correct diameter throats. All 625 .45 Colts have correct diameter throats and a Mountain Gun's 1950 style tapered barrel substitutes for the old fashioned appearance of blueing.

Best Regards,
Gil

" I expect it would be easier to find a 4" 625 .45 Colt than a 4" 25-5 with correct diameter throats."

I am looking at trading my Colt 1911 series 80 1991 Government Model for one of these. The 25-5 is a 1980, 4inch, with a pinned barrel and hogue grips. I don't have a serial number yet but will check the gun out in the next day or so. The seller says the throats measure 10 thousandths over spec of .452-.453. Not being a math wiz, but knowing my decimals that would mean the measurement is out to 4 places, .4521-4531. Is that even possible to measure with digital calipers? Even if he means over by 1/100ths that would still be in spec, right? .453-.454.

Any thoughts on whether it is a good deal......I am suspecting yes depending on condition of the gun but with the way Colt is going it could be kind of hard to find any new 1911s.

Thanks for any feedback.

What is the actual barrel bore size on the 25-5? Did S&W use the 25-2 specs of .452 or are they .454? I no longer have a 25-5 to check.

First, a review of the math . . . if the standard cylinder throat measures .452" . . . and the cylinder throats are 10 thousandths oversize . . . that would mean the throats are .462" (.452" + .010").

Second, pinned barrel model 25-5s from the 1980 era are well known for "oversize" throats, but normally they're in the range of .454" to .457". I've owned two such revolvers and they both ran .457" - .458". I put oversize in quotes because I've been advised that .457" - .458" is/was within SAAMI specs.

I currently have a Dec 1980 4" pinned barrel Model 25-5 with .451" to .452" cylinder throats . . . but I'm convinced the gun was sent back to S&W and the cylinder replaced. I say that because of the smaller throat size and the serial number is stamped on the rear face of the cylinder under the extractor. I suspect that more than just this one was returned for a cylinder replacement so check each one with a pin or ball gauge . . . or simply do a go/no-go test by dropping a .452" and then a .454" bullet down the cylinder throat.




Russ