I had a Marlin 1894 handed down to me and now I'm trying to get some reloading components together. I haven't found any .25-20 WCF brass for less than a $1/ case so I'm thinking of trying to form the brass from .32-20 brass that I can get from Starline. I was wondering if anyone had any experience with this? I have found some instructions online but I've never reformed brass. I have been reloading for a few years but this this is taking it to a new level. Also, if anyone has any experience with this round i'll be buying a mold soon and would love to hear what you've had the best results with. Presently I'm looking at the lyman 257420.
forming .25-20 brass
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The case length of a 25-20 case is 1.63". The 32.20 case is only 1.315". It will still work but the neck will be a little short. Resizing brass isn't all that difficult but there will inevitably be a case or two sacrificed until you get the process down. If you are starting off with new cases that saves you an annealing step to soften the necks. Here are a few bits of advice I've come up with over the years.
* Use a good quality case lube like Imperial sizing die wax and apply by hand (but sparingly) to the neck/shoulder area. A lube pad can be used to lube the case body but I just do the whole case at the same time to save a step. Note: if you use too much lube you'll dent the shoulder but if this happens it should fireform out if they're not too bad.
* You can probably go down from 30 caliber to 25 caliber in one step depending on the hardness and thickness of the brass but if you start getting corrugated neck walls or collapsed shoulders you may have to use an intermediary die like a 7-08 and take it down in two steps.
* If you're going through all this trouble you'll want to get the most out of your case life so take your time setting the die to the proper head space. If you adjust the die so that the bolt just closes on a resized case you'll keep case stretch to a minimum and avoid work hardening the brass on subsequent resizing.
* Use a good quality case lube like Imperial sizing die wax and apply by hand (but sparingly) to the neck/shoulder area. A lube pad can be used to lube the case body but I just do the whole case at the same time to save a step. Note: if you use too much lube you'll dent the shoulder but if this happens it should fireform out if they're not too bad.
* You can probably go down from 30 caliber to 25 caliber in one step depending on the hardness and thickness of the brass but if you start getting corrugated neck walls or collapsed shoulders you may have to use an intermediary die like a 7-08 and take it down in two steps.
* If you're going through all this trouble you'll want to get the most out of your case life so take your time setting the die to the proper head space. If you adjust the die so that the bolt just closes on a resized case you'll keep case stretch to a minimum and avoid work hardening the brass on subsequent resizing.
Thanks Eksurt. I am still learning about this round. The rifle I have is a .25-20 WCF not the .25-20SS (single shot). There is a difference. The WCF is a necked down .32-20. I did find some helpful instructions as I continued to search and if I am successful I will post the process here. Others confirmed what you wrote about not trying to jump too much. .05" seems to be the limit. I especially appreciate your comment on head space as I had not thought of that.
The February issue of shooting times has a article on this very subject
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