Replacement Cylinder for 25-5

BSA1

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I have a Model 25-5 with 4" pinned barrel. Unfortunately this gun has oversize chamber throats. (.454" bullets easily drop through them). A recent discussion about the 25-5 has me thinking about taking this gun off of the shelf and having a cylinder with proper size chambers installed on it.

So what is the best way to do this?

1. Try to find and buy a used 45 Colt cylinder and hope the chambers and throats are sized to current specs?

2. Buy a .357 or .41 Magnum cylinder and have the chambers recut to 45 Colt? The advantage I see with this method is the chamber throats can be cut to match the bore of the barrel for best accuracy.

If #2 gunsmith recommendations please.
 
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Curious to see the responses on this. I have a 25-5 and thought this was not an issue with the "dash 5" models. I haven't even fired it yet.

What's your serial number (leave off last 3 digits). If I have any bullets, I'll check mine. Good luck!
 
How does it shoot with jacketed and lead bullets? Many, including me, have never had an accuracy issue with the 25-5.
 
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First you can try jacketed or plated bullets. I had a Model 625 that patterned with lead but was a tack driver with plated bullets. I also have a Model 25-2 that was truly worthless as far as accuracy. I bought a .44 Magnum cylinder and had Andy Horvath chamber it for .45 Colt with .451 cylinder throats and it is now very accurate. There are a number of .44 cylinders currently on ebay.
 
I have a Model 25-5 with 4" pinned barrel. Unfortunately this gun has oversize chamber throats. (.454" bullets easily drop through them). A recent discussion about the 25-5 has me thinking about taking this gun off of the shelf and having a cylinder with proper size chambers installed on it.

So what is the best way to do this?

1. Try to find and buy a used 45 Colt cylinder and hope the chambers and throats are sized to current specs?

2. Buy a .357 or .41 Magnum cylinder and have the chambers recut to 45 Colt? The advantage I see with this method is the chamber throats can be cut to match the bore of the barrel for best accuracy.

If #2 gunsmith recommendations please.
How does it shoot with the present cylinder and oversized throats? If you can hit body mass at 50 yards, and keep it in the torso at 25, it should be good enough; at least good enough to not have to spend that kind of money to make it marginally better. Of course, if it patterns at 15 yards like a shotgun does at 50, maybe it does need something. My throats aren't quite the size of yours, I can push .453 bullets through mine with a stiff finger, and mine (4") will hit within the 9-ring on a B27 target at 25 yards with me behind the trigger. I imagine a better shooter can tighten it up a good bit.
 
Who is BMCM?

Gun is unfired as the throats are over .454". Probably .457". I have been down this road before with a Colt SAA that had .457" - .458" throats. The only bullet that would shoot anything like a group were hollow base soft lead bullets.

jmiles1960 - This was a common problem with early production ones.

Hair Trigger - Only accurate guns are interesting. This one is not. The 45 Colt is capable of excellent accuracy with correct size chamber throats and bore and bullets sized to match. I learned about this the hard way with a Colt SAA with oversize chambers and throats. I learned about how accurate the 45 Colt can be in my Ruger Vaqueros. As you comment .453" can be accurate but .451 and .452" is better. 45 Colt is my favorite big bore cartridge.

series guy - Thanks. I will check with him.

Since this is a smithing forum looking for advice on the cylinder not on reloading.
 
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Are you a competitive target shooter?

Have you fired it yet?

Most of these revolvers are accurate enough for many shooters.

Find another cylinder that will fit the frame. Have it reworked to 45 long Colt. Specify the diameter you want the throats.

Have you measured the bore?

There are several members of this forum who can do the work. They can identify themselves if they want to.

Kevin
 
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I had the same problem with large throats in my old model 25-5. Several years ago, I purchased a new stainless cylinder/extractor in .45 Colt from Midway and fit it to the gun.

Also sent the new cylinder to Pinnacle High Performance to be cut for moon clips. Gun shoots great now. The original cylinder remains unaltered. Just another possible option.


 
When I bought my 25-5 I was unaware of the problem. I am a handloader and used the normal .452 lead boolits as I had done in the past. I was very disappointed in the accuracy.

Then I read on this site about .454 boolits, so I bought a new mold. My 25-5 is now a tack driver. Since I like to standardize on one boolit for each caliber I tried my new rounds in my other revolvers.

But the funny thing is that my 45 Colt Blackhawk, Vaquero and Redhawk have shown improvement as well. Now all I load with are .454's.

Try it before you make a decision.
 
Who is BMCM?
*
A member here, who does some neat work on various platforms and has in the last few years opened up as a "real" gunsmith. You can find a good bit of his work on 3rd gen pistols in that sub-forum. He has worked on a couple of my revolvers, too.
 
I have the oversized throats (.455/.456) on my Model 25, as well. I find that it shoots jacketed and soft cast bullets well. Try those bullets before you spend a lot of money you may not need to.Also,,if your bore is oversized as well, a new cylinder may not solve the problem.
 
When I bought my 25-5 I was unaware of the problem. I am a handloader and used the normal .452 lead boolits as I had done in the past. I was very disappointed in the accuracy.

Then I read on this site about .454 boolits, so I bought a new mold. My 25-5 is now a tack driver. Since I like to standardize on one boolit for each caliber I tried my new rounds in my other revolvers.

But the funny thing is that my 45 Colt Blackhawk, Vaquero and Redhawk have shown improvement as well. Now all I load with are .454'.
.

For some reason posters keep trying to turn this into a reloading discussion.

I have a lot of experience reloading the 45 Colt. In fact I prefer to use .454" cast bullets. (Not .454' like yours. I can't get .454 foot bullets to fit) lol.
 
Are you a competitive target shooter?

Most of these revolvers are accurate enough for many shooters.

Why do I need to be a competitive target shooter to want a accurate revolver?

Find another cylinder that will fit the frame. Have it reworked to 45 long Colt. Specify the diameter you want the throats.

Source for cylinder? What caliber?
 
I have the oversized throats (.455/.456) on my Model 25, as well. I find that it shoots jacketed and soft cast bullets well. Try those bullets before you spend a lot of money you may not need to.Also,,if your bore is oversized as well, a new cylinder may not solve the problem.

I guess I should appreciate your attempt to save me my money but this is not a reloading question. FYI I have some leftover Remington soft cast lead bullets with a hollow base. The lead is soft enough for the skirt to expand and fill oversize throats and bores. However I want to use the same hard cast lead bullet in all of my 45 Colt firearms.
 
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