I finally found a Henry .22 I wanted. Picking it up tomorrow.
In my search I ran across a "new" Winchester 25-35. Anyone using that cartridge? (I mean using it with good results?)
Brass and bullets are available. I think it might be a nice CLA rifle.
Michael

Mike, I have a Winchester in 25-35. What a neat old cartridge. I've shot it in a few silhouette matches. It is very accurate and the recoil is almost non-existent. The main issue is knocking over the rams at 200 meters. If you can hit them in the shoulder or hindquarters, they usually go down. On the other hand, a center hit is pretty iffy in the take down department.

I’ll sexond Jim’s accessment. I have a 94 Winchester that was made in 1896. It is a really cool caliber. No recoil, very little wind deflection; BUT; they are iffy on rams. I shoot mine on occasion at club matches, but I would never consider using it at a big match.

Al Foust

Michael,

I will on occasion shoot my 25-36 Marlin, which is very close to the 25-35 Winchester. As Jim and Al mentioned, rams can be problematic with near center or low body hits. At most ranges where I have used it, high body or head shots are pretty dependable in bringing them down. However, it only takes a tiny bit of a head wind to "hold them up", so even a good high body hit might not be good enough. I hate that, because it is without a doubt the most accurate of all my lever guns, new or old, and as has been mentioned, recoil is minimal.

Greg

Phenomenal round. I spotted a well known character at high power nationals 6 years ago who hit 7 of 10 rams at 500 meters in day 1 match. 3 or 4 went down. The rifle is about 110 yrs old. Just amazing to watch.

The round doesn’t transfer enough energy or momentum to reliably take rams. The above character claims he can push the 117 RN bullets fast enough to take them down.

Keep in mind there’s only 1 manufacturer of heavy RN bullets and they discontinued the product for a couple years. Not a good thing.

I recommend you make a 30-30 your primary rifle and get a 25-35 for fun

edgehit wrote: ↑Tue May 08, 2018 8:04 pm Phenomenal round. I spotted a well known character at high power nationals 6 years ago (snip.....)

Gee... I wonder who THAT could be?




- Tim

PS- for the record, 25-35 is one of the most accurate (and fastest/flattest shooting) rounds to come out in a Lever Action platform!

edgehit wrote: ↑Tue May 08, 2018 8:04 pm
Keep in mind there’s only 1 manufacturer of heavy RN bullets and they discontinued the product for a couple years. Not a good thing.

I happen to shoot a 25-36 Marlin quite a bit for this game. First the above statement is only partially correct. Hornady produced the 117 round Nose bullet for the 25 cal. they only produce it once every couple years but I have been able to keep my eye out and have nice supply.

As for not taking rams. Out of 50 or so Rams shoot and hit at Raton over the last 2 or 3 years, I have only lost 2. I have lost that many with a 170 gr 30-30 also. I will concede it is on the light side, but I will not allow as it is to WEAK to get the job done.

The 25's (25-35/25-36) are by far the flattest, and inherently most accurate calibers, with the least recoil available for this game.

GRIZZ,

If you are willing to share your load data, I would like to compare your loads to my loads. Anything that will help with those rams!

You can email me at gts1096 at gmail dot com

Look forward to hearing from you.

Greg

I did find the CFE-223 can be used to get more velocity with reasonable pressures. I still lost rams though.

Al Foust