M25-2 oversize throats

[oldRoger]

I have a M25-2, 6-1/2", N24XXX, .45 acp, nice trigger and while it shoots reasonably well, it certainly is not as accurate as either my 14 or 24.
I strongly suspect the throats are the problem. My plug gauges show the throats are over .455" and less than .456".
I usually shoot lead and I can buy .454" bullets and some designs in .455". Since this is my only 45 acp revolver I hate to have a special inventory and loading set-up for it.
S&W does not have a replacement cylinder; the new stock cylinders according to S&W would require their installation as many parts must be changed. I have contacted some people who handle S&W parts but have not found a .45acp cylinder, and of course there is no guarantee that it would have better throats in any event.
So what to do? Suck-it-up and buy special bullets, or send it off to S&W? Or is there another alternative to this sort of common problem?

 

[Vulcan Bob]

.454 dia. lead bullets usually shoot ok in that size of throat. Jacketed .452's will also shoot ok if not extremely well. Or give the Berry's or Raineer plated .452's a try, you never know what will shoot well. Good luck!

 

[deanodog]

My 25-2 has oversized throats also. I recently tried some .452 230 gr round nose in auto rim brass and it shot them very accurate. I am older and don't have the best vision but I was very pleased with it.

 

[carelesslove]

oldRoger, carelesslove, here !

I have a M25-2 with 0.455+" throats, too. It is a beautiful thing, but I never had one that leaded as bad, and - at best mediocre - accuracy with jacketed, or plated bullets.

After trying hard cast SWC bullets (in 230 gr. thru 255 gr.), in 0.452" and 0.454", I was ready to give up on it and an old gun sage told me to try his "recipe" - ZERO swaged (dead soft) 200 gr. SWC, over 3.8 - 4.0 gr. Bullseye.

It straightened out, right away, shooting 1 1/4", 5 shot, 25 yard groups off sandbags. There was no leading whatsoever.

His rational was that the soft SWC upset fully at firing to seal off the throats. The lube stayed on the bullet all the way to the bore, where it swaged down to ~0.452" and stabilized nicely.

The hard cast stuff didn't obturate, and the blowby just took out the lube before it got to the barrel. All it could do was lead.

I have paid attention to other's accounts of M25-2 problems and have heard this "recipe" didn't work for them - citing "skidding" in the forcing cone.

I don't know how others dealt with this, but mine has done very well - no skidding found on recovered bullets, no leading (even in the forcing cone), and the grouping just couldn't be better for my old eyes.

I have also had acceptable (~2" groups) with Berry's plated 200 gr. bullets, but the soft swaged work noticeably better for me.

Best of luck, carelesslove

 

[oldRoger]

Thanks for your comments.

I have tried my regular autopistol loads which are .452"--200gr SWC and 225 TC bullets, disappointing. I also tried some coated 225gr TC and bought some 220 gr DEWC, also disappointing. I bought a box of 230gr FMJ match ammo same results.
A friend of mine has a 25-2 which is very accurate both in his hands and mine.
Since my M24 is set-up the same way, 6-1/2" barrel and two "T"s is much more accurate also, I have to assume that at least in this case the gun is the problem.

I will look for swaged bullets, I wish someone made HBWC in about 220gr for it.
There is no reason that the barrel should not shoot lead well, 1911s are very accurate with these same bullets.
R.

 

[H Richard]

Would appreciate a recommended source for the Zero 200 gr bullets. Thanks.

 

[carelesslove]

H Richard, carelesslove, here.

I live in NC and ZERO is a popular brand down here. I order / buy them from Little Hardware, in Charlotte, NC.

They sell wholesale, but will provide retailers in your area. Just go to their website ZERO Bullets.com

Good luck, carelesslove

 

[oldRoger]

Magnus Bullets makes swaged .45 cal bullets and so does Precision Delta, both sell direct, but only .452" dia. Precision Delta makes the best .38 148gr HBWC I have found. I would imagine that their .45 swaged bullets are first class quality as well.
Certainly a soft bullet should obdurate better. The theories I have read are that the large throat in addition to allowing gas to bypass permits the bullet to start into the forcing cone skewed. Soft tends to make this distortion worse.
The plain fact of course is that for accuracy the lead bullet should be the same size or slightly larger than the cylinder throat dimension. A bullet should not fall through the cylinder.

455" is too large for a .45 acp throat. While it is possible to find bullets .455 or .456"in dia. using them presents other problems.

And we are told that S&W no longer makes throats this large. I think the real question is what to do about the throats, not trying to find bullets to fit.

 

[Frank237]

See if You can find some of the old .454" 250 gr HOLLOW BASED .45 colt slugs. Remington used to sell them in bulk. I had a sweet older 25-2 and years back same situation as yours..oversized cyl throats. By using those slugs, or the cheap swaged 45 acp target slugs I got acceptable accuracy.

FN in MT

 

[Dave T]

I had a 25-2 of about the same vintage as the OP's gun. I shot it in practical revolver and IDPA matches for almost 3 years. The way I solved the over sized throats (like the OP, mine measured .455"-.456") was to load Meister .454" cast 200g RN bullets. I loaded them in RP brass as the case mouth is thinner and took the larger bullets better than thicker brass. I loaded them on my Star Universal with the same die settings I used for my IPSC load. All I had to change was the powder measure bushing.

Off hand at 25 yards I could keep a cylinder full on the head of a IDPA silhouette (6" square). It shot those .454" bullets as good if not a little better than jacketed Ball.

Dave