Help with 25-5

[LanceL1]

I haved owned a blued 4" 25-5 ser# N715750 in 85-90% for about 20 yrs shooting it occasionally and informerly. I've gotten to the point of wanting to shoot and load for it with more purpose and Have just recently learned about the oversized chamber throats which after measuring with a dial caliper it appears mine is ~.457. In the past I have casually loaded with 230gr RNL .452 (45acp ) bullets and cant really say how they shot as I never tested beyond tin cans, etc.
I've read here the Rem bulk .457 at midway shoots well in these. My question is with my existing dillon dies will not the
.457 bullet get squeezed back down via the standard size died case or how do you expand the case and keep proper bullet tension, etc. Also, How fast/hard can you push those bullets.
Lastly, should I just sell this gun (and for how much) and look for one with better chamber throats
Thanks in Advance
Lance

 

[keithherrington]

By all means try the bulk bullets. I doubt the dies are so close in tolerance to make any real difference. I'd also try 250 lead flat nose cowboy bullets over 8.5 of Unique. They worked well in mine.

 

[BUFF]

The bullets expand the case as you seat them. No problem.

I have the same big throats on my M-25-5's, and began sizing some of my cast bullets to .454" for them. Big improvement. I now size ALL of my .45 Colt-intended bullets to .454", and they shoot from correctly dimensioned guns just fine.

Many cast bullet dealers and makers offer that size. Try some.

 

[hamourkiller]

My 25-5 has some big cylinder throats and I solved this by sizing to 454 as mentioned above. My most accurate bullet is a classic 454424 Keith SWC 255gr cast out of range scrap with 2.5% tin added. Classic 50/50 lube and 8.5grs unique.
My mold was from a group buy over at castboolits, NOE has one of these left.
WW with small amount of tin will work great, the bullet will upset to fill your chambers and seal off the gases.

You will want to stay with fairly soft alloy 9 to 15 bh

NOE-Moulds on hand for sale #2- - Cast Boolits

There is a great mold group buy going now for the rcbs clone 454 270 gr SAA SWC. It will be a brass cramer style mold so you can cast hollow points or solids

MiHec RCBS 45-270-SAA Brass Cramer style two cavity mould - Cast Boolits

Remember keep the alloy just hard enough to avoid leading but soft enough to obdurate and seal those large cylinder throats. My 25-5 went from a shot gun to one of my most accurate handguns with sizing to 454 and medium alloy hardness.

 

[Vulcan Bob]

I have a couple of Colt SAAs with .456 dia. cylinder throats and use the bulk Remington 250 gr bullets in them with good results. The Remington 250 bulk bullets are .455 dia. I use Lee dies to load them and have no trouble other than the rather messy external lube that gums up the dies a bit. I have been takeing to giveing the bullets a quick bit of a wipe down to remove excess lube with a terrycloth rag before seating them and this helps a lot.

 

[LanceL1]

Thanks for the reponses so far. I reload extensively but I do not cast my own...do you know anybody who is offering that keith style bullet .454 and appropiate hardness for sale?

On the remington bulk .455 how fast can they be pshed without leading issues...anyone have good load recomendations for that bullet?

I did call S&W for the heck of it and they said they could fit a clynder from the "classic" series for about $200 total shipped.Or you can buy the clynder for about $120...I've done alot of work on my own firearms over the years but have never fitted a clynder.
Have to think about that one.

 

[Gun 4 Fun]

$200 seems like lot of money maybe, but considering the cost of a new Smith, and the fact that they will make sure that everything is right before sending it back, I would say that ain't too bad a deal to have the work and shipping, and you don't have to do anything or worry about not getting it just right. On top of that, they will have all the parts that they might need right there to use, while you may find that you need something, then have to wait for it.

Best of all, and new cylinder with proper throats will allow you to use an almost endless variety of bullet load combo's without worrying about getting them "just right".
My 4" 25-5 has the correct throats fortunately, as does my 25-7 which is a real tack driver.

 

[Vulcan Bob]

I would think you would like to keep the velocity with the Rem bullet under 900 fps as it is a soft bullet. I load 7.5 and 8.0 grains of Unique under the Rem 250 bulk bullet with good results with both my Colts and S&Ws. Just fer grins, one of my Colts with a cyl dia. of .456, most accurate loads are with a Cast .454 dia. SWC. Go figure, ya never know till ya try it out.

 

[scattershot]

I have one, too, with the same size throats as yours. I find that .454 bullets work well, and obturate to fill the chamber throats nicely. Sure a lot cheaper to just get the right sized bullets than to change the cylinder, IMO.

 

[LanceL1]

I greatly appreciate the shared experience and will certainly try the .454 remington 1st and possibly some other .454 bullets before I consider taking more extreme action (ie;cylinder change).
Thanks for the load info as well
With other .454 bullets (besides the soft remington)does anyone limit velocity/pressure due to bullets being somewhat oversized,etc?

 

[BUFF]

"With other .454 bullets (besides the soft remington)does anyone limit velocity/pressure due to bullets being somewhat oversized,etc?"

I was worried about that, but the .45 Colt loaded with 8.5 grains of Unique/250-260 grain lead bullet is pretty low pressure, close to traditional factory stuff from W-W and R-P.

When I decided to try sizing to .454", I loaded up some rounds with .454" and .452", cast from wheelweights with a bit of linotype (fairly hard bullet), 7.5, 8.0 and 8.5 grains of Unique and shot them from a Colt SAA and 2 M-25-5's, at the same time. I could distinguish no difference in apparent pressure levels between .452" and .454" at each charge level, judging from effort to eject empties, point of impact, report, etc.

I doubt the pressure difference is significant.

8.5 grains of old Unique with any of these bullets (the 2 lead factory bullets or my home-cast SWC) "about" duplicates factory velocities and pressures, I think. I see no reason to load the .45 Colt any hotter in either S&W or single action Colts. If I needed more power than that, I'd drag out a .44 Magnum.

I shoot the same cast .454" SWC in a variety of S&W .45 ACP revolvers, usually then loaded in Auto Rim brass. Even in the correctly sized chambers of my M-625's, I see no evidence of pressure increases, although logic says there must be some increase.