25-2 Quandary Keep -Interesting Update! #36

[steamloco76]

I searched gun stores for years looking for a high condition Model 25-2 45 ACP revolver. Finally found one last August. It was part of a huge S&W collection purchased by the gun shop. All the guns were 98%, basically NIB, just with no boxes.

My 25-2, #N640XXX has the 6.5 inch barrel and full target options including football cut-out target stocks. Just gorgeous as you can see from the photo. You ask what is the quandary? Well, I hoped that being a last of production pinned barrel 6.5 inch gun dating to 1980 that it would have correct throat dimensions. I was not that lucky, .458" is what it gauges. Shoots FMJ ball well, but .452 lead looked like a shotgun pattern. I don't wish to get into casting in my current location, so I'm left with keeping the 25-2 as a safe queen or offering it for sale. Paid pretty much full retail because of immaculate condition. Not sure which way to go

[weatherby]

I think it's a nice gun and as you know hard to come by.
I'm not sure so correct me if I'm wrong but could you just buy the lead
bullets sized at what you want them ?

[arjay]

There was a list posted last week of a number of commercial casters.I'd email em all and see if one of them could size an order that fit your gun.
Edit:I'd keep it as it's a beautiful example and besides,they all don't have to be shooters :-D

[H Richard]

My 25-2 has the same problem, with throats about .454. I tried .454 cast bullets and got fairly severe leading in the rear portion of the barrel. I loaded up some Hornady 230 gr. FMJ and shot them yesterday, and it was like a laser. Just one hole cluster groups. So, I consign this one to either factory ball or jacketed reloads. Each gun has it's own favorite loads, I have stacks of GI ammo cans with different loads for a lot of other guns so this is not a problem.

[Cal44]

If it shoots FMJ ball well, why not just use that and call it good?

Ball 45 ACP is pretty inexpensive and easy to come by.

[M29since14]

Originally Posted by Cal44

If it shoots FMJ ball well, why not just use that and call it good?

I think that is what I would do. It's unlikely any cast flat-base .45 ACP or .45 Colt bullet is going to do well in that gun. You might get a hollow-base bullet to do OK but those things are tedious to make and are going to be hard to find unless you are making them yourself. I'd just be glad it shoots with ball.

I have had several 1955s/25s over the years and never found a single one that really shot anything well enough to justify keeping it. Most of them I have seen have been 4- or 5-inch guns (50 yds) - on a good day.

[zonker5]

What you should do is sell the gun to me!! I'd be more than happy to feed it a steady diet of FMJ.

Seriously, it is a beautiful piece, I'd keep it and just feed it what it likes.

[Gun 4 Fun]

One thing to remember with the 25-2- the throats aren't the only issue. They also have shallow rifling (like a 1911) with 6 lands and grooves vs the standard 5+5 in other S&W's because they were designed for ball ammo. If you want to shoot lead, usually the opposite of what works in other revo's holds true, meaning a very hard cast bullet of around 20-22 BHN will shoot better because they hard enough to hold the rifling as they engage it upon firing. The softer slugs will skid as they hit the rifling, causing poor accuracy and lots of leading.


You won't find a lot of 25-2's to pick and choose from, so I'd keep it and shoot jacketed slugs on the days I felt like firing it.

[2ndAmendmentNut]

If you want a gun that shoots cast this one will never be it. You might improve the accuracy with a soft, fat, hollow base bullet but you will never be able to fit a cast bullet in excess of .458 inside of an ACP case. The bullet will either get shaved down, sized down or the brass will bulge making it impossible to chamber.

If you don't plan on shooting it very much the occasional FMJs won't be to expensive. If you want a gun you can shoot a lot and save money by shooting cast I would stick that one away in the safe or sell it outright.

Personally I have no use for a revolver that I can't shoot cast out of so I would sell it outright.

[fyimo]

Nice revolver that is hard to get so I would feed it what it likes to eat.

[05CarbonDRZ]

I have found that my 25-2 also shoots plated bullets just as good as FMJ.Just another cheaper option to try before ditching it.

[Nframecollector]

This gun dates to 79-80. I have one from the same era that's shoots any cast bullet I feed it and I size all mine to .451, most accurate revolver I own. Do you want to sell the target stocks?

[tennexplorer]

I would consider looking for another cylinder. The ones for the 22-4 have tight throats and will fit. Minor fitting may be required.

[steamloco76]

I'm pretty much stuck keeping the 25-2 in question as I have $800 in it. The finish on the revolver is nearly flawless and it has one of the lightest, smoothest N frame triggers I've felt. Too bad my 4 inch. fixed sight 22-4 Thunder Ranch shoots rings around it. Guess I'll try and find a 6.5 inch presentation case for the 25-2 and make it 'all happy' in the safe while I shoot the 22-4 and the 625-8 five inch. I have to use ball or plated in the 625-8 too, as it has the new EDM rifling which doesn't work well with lead.

[M29since14]

Originally Posted by steamloco76

...I have to use ball or plated in the 625-8 too, as it has the new EDM rifling which doesn't work well with lead.

We love the new rifling, don't we? (NOT!) I wish someone would offer me a real barrel for my 329PD. It's probably ECM rifling, not EDM, isn't it?

Anyway, you might consider looking for a new-production cylinder for your 25-2 if you want to make a shooter out of it. I have one sitting in a box just waiting for someone to put it in my gun, but I have not gotten around to checking into it at this time. Probably will this winter and will know more then. Hopefully it will not be a big project. I need to get it out and start measuring. I think the rifling configuration of the barrel is a minor concern because I know the gun shoots reasonably well with the old H&G #130 bullet and AA2 powder. It seems likely it will do even better with a proper cylinder.

[dgludwig]

My Model 25-2 made in the same era (1972; Serial No. N622xx) also does better with hard ball but isn't that much less accurate with cast bullets. Like other posters, I would keep your beautiful revolver and just stick with hard ball bullets-they aren't that much more expensive.

[perrazi]

try Remington swaged lead 250gr bulk bullets. they are hollow based and are for the 45 colt, but they also work well in these. I have a 25-2 of the same era and it shoot cast 200gr swc in one hole at 25 yds. the bullets must be a hard cast bullet though.

[aphelion]

Originally Posted by steamloco76

I'm pretty much stuck keeping the 25-2 in question as I have $800 in it. The finish on the revolver is nearly flawless and it has one of the lightest, smoothest N frame triggers I've felt.

You should have no trouble getting your 800 bucks (or more) out of it. Many people care more about how they look than how they shoot.

[Doug M.]

Question: I have often wondered about the feasibility of swapping for a newer cylinder that is correctly cut. How hard is it to get a new cylinder, and what does it then cost for the whole package to purchase and fit?

[aphelion]

Originally Posted by Gun 4 Fun

One thing to remember with the 25-2- the throats aren't the only issue. They also have shallow rifling (like a 1911) with 6 lands and grooves vs the standard 5+5 in other S&W's because they were designed for ball ammo. If you want to shoot lead, usually the opposite of what works in other revo's holds true, meaning a very hard cast bullet of around 20-22 BHN will shoot better because they hard enough to hold the rifling as they engage it upon firing. The softer slugs will skid as they hit the rifling, causing poor accuracy and lots of leading.

This gets repeated often, but in my experience it just isn't so. I have had a couple of Smith & Wesson M25-2 revolvers in 45 ACP/AR around for years. I bought the first one 40 years ago. It shot well with jacketed bullets. The conventional wisdom then was that cast bullets had to be of a hard alloy to work well because of the narrow lands and shallow rifling. So that's what I started with using the 452460 and linotype. The results were terrible, hardly staying on the paper at 25 yards. I persisted, trying different powders and charges, and with the 452423, all working no better than the last. And there was a fair amount of leading in the forcing cone. I didn't have much use for a revolver that only shot jacketed bullets, so I was just about to peddle it. Before I did, I decided to try a load using the 452460 cast from air-cooled wheelweights and Unique that I used in a 1911. I was rewarded with a nice round 2" 25 yd group. After tweaking the powder charge and OAL I could consistantly get 1 1/4-1 1/2 groups at 25 yards. Accuracy held up to 100 yards. This was against everything I'd read about cast bullets in these revolvers and was the beginning of me being very skeptical about "conventional wisdom" when it came to reloading, the skepticism serving me very well over the years. I still use that load almost exclusively to this day in those guns. It is no trouble to consistantly hit a 1 1/2" wide ground squirrel out to 60 yards with that combination.

I was always puzzled why the softer bullet worked so much better than the hard one in the M25-2. I lived in Alaska for 15 years and did a lot of shooting over snow covered ice in the winter. I recovered many, many cast bullets just sitting on top of the snow after shooting looking just like they did when they exited the muzzle. It was like picking berries. One day after shooting the M25, I received a clue. Recovered 452460s showed the usual skidding, but what was different was that there were two distinct engravings on the front of the bands, one wide faint one and one heavier about the width of the lands. It was plain that when the bullet first entered the rifling, it skidded considerably. But then the softness of the bullet allowed it to obturate, filling the bore and taking the rifling. By the time the bullet left the muzzle, it had almost completely 'healed' itself. I think I still have some of those bullets around here. I'll put up some photos if I come across them.

I learned much of what I know about cast bullets from ones recovered from the snow. Failures from gas cutting, slumping, misalignment, incorrect alloy and poor fit were all easy to see.

[Gun 4 Fun]

I have had just the opposite experience with my own guns. The harder the bullet is (up to a practical point), the better my current 25-2 shoots. I think part of the theory of hard bullets being better comes from the fact that most 25-2's and 25-5's were made with over sized throats so that a soft bullet won't slug up enough in them to work well if the throats are over by more than one or two thou. Mine is one of the many like that. The throats in my -2 run .456"-.457". The softer bullets obturate better than the harder ones do upon firing, but usually not enough to completely slug up the bullet in the throats, so they enter the FC and bore at an angle and skid leaving a mess down the first couple inches of the bore. Once I started using harder bullets, the leading started getting less and less.

One thing I have found is that a heavier cast SWC in the 250-260 grain range does better both in leaving less leading, and also in better accuracy from this gun with its over sized throats. I keep them running near, or at the top end.

The snow and bullet comment brought back some fun memories. I used to fire into gallon milk jugs packed as tight with wet snow as I could make them (I cut out a 4" hole in the spout area to do it) when I was a kid so that I could recover bullets fired from my .22. I never once recovered a HP that expanded in the slightest, so I stuck with plain old solid bullets. None of the many animals I killed with that gun (which I still have 40+ years later) ever knew the difference.

I also lived in AK in the mid '80's. My bro still lives there to this day.

[aphelion]

Originally Posted by Gun 4 Fun

The throats in my -2 run .456"-.457".

Both of mine run at .452, as does a new cylinder I have on hand I got from somewhere back in the mid-70's. Mine are the only ones I've been able to measure, so it has always puzzled me that others report such a wide variation in throat diameters in this model. S&W usually got this part right because I haven't seen that big a variation in the other calibers. The 45 Colt is somewhat understandable, but not the ACP/AR.

[mickeyblueyes]

Steamloco, there are many good fixes explained here. What I see is like this , a beautiful women, stunning , a head turner. But super high maintenance. Nothing or anyone pleases her. Its all about herself. Thats your current revolver. If your going to hang it on the wall and look at it great. If you want to shoot it? Well for sure you can make money on it. Sell and move on to a latter edition than a -2. Consider a PC for nice shooting experience. Also should be a latter release than a -5. Sorry for the simplistic thread.

[LoadedRound]

I would keep it. I would LOVE to keep it. I mean true LOVE.

[Art Doc]

Interesting that so many shooters are saying their 25-2s are inaccurate. Were these not intended to be serious target revolvers?

[jtcarm]

My experience with a 25-2 is the sights are regulated for 200 grain SWCs. Mine shot high with 230 ball with the rear cranked completely down.

Those are enormously over-sized throats, and I don't know what to tell you. Even if you cast your own, you would almost need a custom mold as no OTS .45 ACP or Colt molds are going to drop bullets that big.

The other option would be custom cast, which would likely run more than FMJs.

[M29since14]

Originally Posted by aphelion

Both of mine run at .452, as does a new cylinder I have on hand I got from somewhere back in the mid-70's...

Consider yourself blessed - or lucky, if you prefer.

The "NIB" S&W .45 cylinder I have to possibly fit to an older M25 has exit bores that measure .453". It's new production so I presume this cylinder was made for the re-introduction of the Model 22s. I am not doubting your word but I have never seen an S&W .45 cylinder with .452" exit bores and I have looked at a few of them. Most I have seen range anywhere from .455-.457", give or take a half-thousandth either way.

[steamloco76]

Originally Posted by mickeyblueyes

Steamloco, there are many good fixes explained here. What I see is like this , a beautiful women, stunning , a head turner. But super high maintenance. Nothing or anyone pleases her. Its all about herself. Thats your current revolver. If your going to hang it on the wall and look at it great. If you want to shoot it? Well for sure you can make money on it. Sell and move on to a latter edition than a -2. Consider a PC for nice shooting experience. Also should be a latter release than a -5. Sorry for the simplistic thread.

I have a TR 22-4 four inch and 625-8 which has been massaged by the Performance Center. Both have chamber throats around .452" and as such shoot cast, plated and FMJ very well. The 625 has sights for 200 gr. I finally put a Millet red dot on it to get over the elevation issue. the 22-4 is dead nuts on with all 230 grain. I just really wanted a 25-2 to join these two, so if I do move on, I won't be looking for another.

Originally Posted by SaxonPig

Interesting that so many shooters are saying their 25-2s are inaccurate. Were these not intended to be serious target revolvers?

Yes, S&W just screwed the pooch by using chamber reamers with dimensions from the old 45 Colt black powder days specs when .458 bullets were the norm. Colt did the same thing. You would think someone would have realized by 1950 or so that the current specs were .451-.452" and made new reamers.

Originally Posted by M29since14

Consider yourself blessed - or lucky, if you prefer.

The "NIB" S&W .45 cylinder I have to possibly fit to an older M25 has exit bores that measure .453". It's new production so I presume this cylinder was made for the re-introduction of the Model 22s. I am not doubting your word but I have never seen an S&W .45 cylinder with .452" exit bores and I have looked at a few of them. Most I have seen range anywhere from .455-.457", give or take a half-thousandth either way.

The cylinder of my 22-4 will hold a .452" bullet without letting it drop through. Same for the 625-8. Seems by 2006 or so S&W had the throat dimensions down pat.

I am seriously considering offering the 25-2 for sale as I have a few too many safe queens and this gun is too clean for me to really want to screw around with it much.

[Tin]

Sell it...!!! Go ahead and sell it..., and with the money, you can take lessons on how to kick your own butt with your own foot....Guaranteed...!!!

[series guy]

I bought a .44 mag cylinder on Gun Broker and had Andy Horvath fit it to my 25-2. Had it chambered for .45 Colt with the throats reamed to .451. He did a great job as this gun shoots a nice cloverleaf at 25 yards. The bluing was an excellent match also. It's now my favorite shooter.

[Culina]

I have a 5-screw 1955 target and it shoots just as well with 200gr hollow based round nose lead as it does with 230 jacketed ball. I get the bullets from Bear Creek, they are moly coated and don't cause any leading issues for me. I have no idea what the throats are on my cylinder though.

[ISCS Yoda]

Sell it...!!! Go ahead and sell it..., and with the money, you can take lessons on how to kick your own butt with your own foot....Guaranteed...!!!

I have to laugh - that remark is as close as anyone came to saying what I was sure would be oft repeated, to wit, "You should sell it; where should I send my check?" or similar remarks. What restraint y'all showed!

I always wanted a M25 in 45 Colt my own self but I could live with a .45 ACP cylinder.....

***GRJ***

[steamloco76]

Originally Posted by Tin

Sell it...!!! Go ahead and sell it..., and with the money, you can take lessons on how to kick your own butt with your own foot....Guaranteed...!!!

Originally Posted by Kurac

I have a 5-screw 1955 target and it shoots just as well with 200gr hollow based round nose lead as it does with 230 jacketed ball. I get the bullets from Bear Creek, they are moly coated and don't cause any leading issues for me. I have no idea what the throats are on my cylinder though.

Originally Posted by ISCS Yoda

I have to laugh - that remark is as close as anyone came to saying what I was sure would be oft repeated, to wit, "You should sell it; where should I send my check?" or similar remarks. What restraint y'all showed!

***GRJ***

Well, I only entertained the idea of selling because thanks to current conditions in the economy the only way I can scratch the itch to buy is to sell something. Actually sold two guns to put tires on my truck.

As long and hard as I looked for a 25-2, and finding one with the 6.5 inch tube in beautiful condition, I will do the sane thing and keep it. Figure I already have to shoot my 625-8 with Berry's or Extreme plated bullets, why not the 25-2. I will have to look into the 200 grain hollow base bullets too.

I really appreciate all the thoughtful replies-and the restraint you all showed not going for the easy PLEASE sell it to me!! reply.

[YeshuaIsa53]

Have you tried lead Auto Rim from GA ARMS? those ARE NEW AMMO.

[varmint243]

I guess I'm a little slow.
I have been following this thread today and I don't see a down side.

Sell it and recoup what you put out for it, seemingly easy enough. You got it for reasonable market price.
or
Keep it and enjoy it with ammo that it likes and maybe it will be worth more in the future.

I bought a very nice 6" 25 -2 because I couldn't find a 5" 625.
I found a 5" 625 shortly there after and cleaned up the 25 -2 and put it away.
I generally prefer stainless and someday I will figure out what to do with the 25 -2.
If the day comes to put it back into service as a shooter I will.
If the day comes to sell it I will do that.

Either way works

[steamloco76]

I stopped at my favorite LGS yesterday after work to talk to him about my 25-2 saga here on the forum and shoot the bull a bit.
He was busy entering a bunch of used inventory into the computer, so we sat in the office. I happened to spy a blue Bangor Putna era S&W box buried under a pile of trades. "Hey, what did you get in the old S&W box?" " What- Oh, almost forgot about that one. It's a gun from my personal collection I sold to a guy who kept nagging me for a Model 25. He returned it saying the barrel and cylinder are all wrong. It's been there a couple months. Have a look."

Well I open the (incorrect for the gun) box and find a 98% condition 6.5 inch barrel full target N frame. Looking at the cylinder length and using my 25-2 as a reference, it was obvious this one was a 45 Colt version. Might be the guy thought it was 45 ACP. Model 25-2 on the frame, serial #304XXX dates to 1976/77. Bore looks like standard lands/grooves for 45 Colt. Then I look at the right side of the barrel. Roll making is 45 CAL MODEL 1950. Something seemed odd to me about that, as I was sure my 25-2 from 1979 has .45 Cal Model 1955 on the right of its barrel.

Got home and pulled the SC of S&W to have a look. Seems a 1976/77 era 25-2 in 45 Colt should have .45 Colt CTG on the barrel or .45 Cal Model 1955 if chambered in 45 ACP. (The Model of 1950 is the very rare 44 Special Target Model discontinued in 1967.) Reading on if find 'It has been reported that 1000 to 1500 were shipped with the barrel incorrectly roll marked 45 CAL MODEL 1950.' So it seems my LGS has one of those reported incorrectly labeled 45 Colt 25-2's. I emailed him my findings.

[Gun 4 Fun]

Originally Posted by steamloco76

I stopped at my favorite LGS yesterday after work to talk to him about my 25-2 saga here on the forum and shoot the bull a bit.
He was busy entering a bunch of used inventory into the computer, so we sat in the office. I happened to spy a blue Bangor Putna era S&W box buried under a pile of trades. "Hey, what did you get in the old S&W box?" " What- Oh, almost forgot about that one. It's a gun from my personal collection I sold to a guy who kept nagging me for a Model 25. He returned it saying the barrel and cylinder are all wrong. It's been there a couple months. Have a look."

Well I open the (incorrect for the gun) box and find a 98% condition 6.5 inch barrel full target N frame. Looking at the cylinder length and using my 25-2 as a reference, it was obvious this one was a 45 Colt version. Might be the guy thought it was 45 ACP. Model 25-2 on the frame, serial #304XXX dates to 1976/77. Bore looks like standard lands/grooves for 45 Colt. Then I look at the right side of the barrel. Roll making is 45 CAL MODEL 1950. Something seemed odd to me about that, as I was sure my 25-2 from 1979 has .45 Cal Model 1955 on the right of its barrel.

Got home and pulled the SC of S&W to have a look. Seems a 1976/77 era 25-2 in 45 Colt should have .45 Colt CTG on the barrel or .45 Cal Model 1955 if chambered in 45 ACP. (The Model of 1950 is the very rare 44 Special Target Model discontinued in 1967.) Reading on if find 'It has been reported that 1000 to 1500 were shipped with the barrel incorrectly roll marked 45 CAL MODEL 1950.' So it seems my LGS has one of those reported incorrectly labeled 45 Colt 25-2's. I emailed him my findings.

The 1000-1500 incorrectly roll marked "Model of 1950" guns are still 25-2's with 45 ACP length cylinders, but have the heavy barrel instead of the tapered barrel of the model of 1950 45 ACP (See page 165). If the gun you looked at had a full length cylinder for the 45 Colt cartridge, someone had a cylinder from a 25-5 fitted in it. The cylinder stop lug on the lower left side of the frame should have been altered or replaced to work correctly with the longer cylinder since it would be longer at both the front and rear in relationship to the cylinder stop notches.

The other possibility is that it was a 25-5 mis-marked as a 25-2 which wouldn't be all that uncommon.

[steamloco76]

Originally Posted by Gun 4 Fun

The 1000-1500 incorrectly roll marked "Model of 1950" guns are still 25-2's with 45 ACP length cylinders, but have the heavy barrel instead of the tapered barrel of the model of 1950 45 ACP (See page 165). If the gun you looked at had a full length cylinder for the 45 Colt cartridge, someone had a cylinder from a 25-5 fitted in it. The cylinder stop lug on the lower left side of the frame should have been altered or replaced to work correctly with the longer cylinder since it would be longer at both the front and rear in relationship to the cylinder stop notches.

The other possibility is that it was a 25-5 mis-marked as a 25-2 which wouldn't be all that uncommon.

The gun definitely has chambers long enough for 45 Colt, however the fit of the cylinder looks right and factory. Did the 25-5 exist in the N 304XXX 1976/77 range?

I may have been wrong about the rifling, after I looked at my 25-2 45ACP again, they seem the same. Question now, is the gun in question a mis marked 25-5 45 Colt with a heavy target profile 45 ACP barrel roll marked 45 CAL MODEL 1950. Curiouser and curiouser.

[Gun 4 Fun]

Both the limited run 25-3 and 25-4 were 25's chambered for the 45 Colt, but with short ACP length cylinders (albeit, both are slightly different at the rear due to the differences in rims/headspacing from the ACP to the Colt), and were produced in 1977. The 25-5 didn't come out until 1978, and it had the full length cylinder that they due to this day.

I am guessing someone had one of the mis marked guns and wanted a 45 Colt, so they had a full length cylinder installed. The factory could do that back then, so it would look factory correct.

[steamloco76]

Alright, I went to take a very close look at the mis-marked "45 CAL MODEL 1950" today and took my 25-2 along for comparison.

First- the cylinder is the short 25-2 version just like mine, except it is definitely chambered in 45 Colt.

Second- the rifling is the same in both guns-the shallow .45 ACP stlye.

Third- the mis-marked barrel has a full target rib, is 6.5 inches long but has the red ramp Baughman style front sight not the full target Patridge style. Frame sports a white outline rear, target hammer and a smooth faced wide target trigger. All bluing looks 100% original and there are no factory refinish or re work stamps on the grip frame.

Serial #303XXX and definitely stamped 25-2. The only thing we can figure is the original owner either swapped cylinders or had the 45 ACP cylinder bored to 45 Colt.

[Gun 4 Fun]

Due to headspace differences an the length from the stop notches to the rear face of the cylinder, he would have had to had a new cylinder fitted.

[fuzzymcnab]

Howdy gents,
Thanks to all who took the time to post some great info about the model 25. Shame on me but I had no idea the rifling was similar to a 1911 and that the chamber throats were so big.
My question then is this. Does this shallow rifling issue carry into the 625 models? I ask this because I have one I bought new 4 or 5 years ago that I never have been able to get good accuracy out of with lead bullets.
Thanks as always,
Fuzzy

[series guy]

My 625 Model of 1988 has oversize cylinder throats and shoots cast lead like a shotgun but shoots Rainer plated like a laser. It's one of my favorite guns. Must be why my lovely wife appropriated it. On the plus side she's used it to win our club bowling pin shoot 4 years running.

[Gun 4 Fun]

Originally Posted by fuzzymcnab

Howdy gents,
Thanks to all who took the time to post some great info about the model 25. Shame on me but I had no idea the rifling was similar to a 1911 and that the chamber throats were so big.
My question then is this. Does this shallow rifling issue carry into the 625 models? I ask this because I have one I bought new 4 or 5 years ago that I never have been able to get good accuracy out of with lead bullets.
Thanks as always,
Fuzzy

The rifling in your 625 is EDM rifling and a lot different than traditional rifling. It will shoot well with lead, but it is a lot more finicky about which lead it likes. Take a look at your rifling and you will see how the lands are rounded at each shoulder compared to traditional rifling, and also where the land meets the groove. It is radical, but it is clearly different, even to the naked eye.

[RubEric]

I wish I could take photos like steamloco.
My 25's:
45 ACP purchased in 1967



.45 LC

[Fishslayer]

Originally Posted by M29since14

You might get a hollow-base bullet to do OK but those things are tedious to make and are going to be hard to find unless you are making them yourself. I'd just be glad it shoots with ball.

Bear Creek makes a moly coated 200gr RNHB in .452 that is pretty widely available, at least in my area. It works really well in my bottom feeders but I haven't tried it in my M1950 Target yet. I feed it plated SWC. I just got tired of cleaning lead and it shoots the plated just fine.

[jimmyj]

Hi:
I keep seeing members that have a lot more knowledge than me that the Model 25-2 was designed for FMJ loads.
Back "In The Day" Bullseye Shooters used Model 25-2 for their "45" gun
in the "3 Gun Match" (.22,38,45). All were shot with lead bullets. I used 2.7 Bullseye with a 148gr W/C for .38 and 4.5 Bullseye with a 200gr SWC for .45. I shot in the "Expert Class". I used revolvers even after the "Giles Autos became the "Match Guns".