1894 CL 25-20 questions

[yooper2]

The 25-20 has become my favorite small game/bumming-in-the-woods cartridge. I think I'm going to try and round one of these CLs up to join the old Remington pumpgun. Were there multiple iterations of these like with the 32-20 CLs? Are they microgroove or conventional rifling? Anything in particular to this model to look out for? Thanks for any thoughts you may have on this.




Eric

[Sixgun]

Eric,
It's a great little cartridge that like the .22 L.R. kills out of proportion to its size. The Marlin CL has conventional Ballard rifling. I bought this one new when they came out....late eighties? Early nineties? I still have the box for it.....and it looks like new. Shot maybe 500 rounds out of it.

I installed a full length magazine......still have the half length......came from the factory with a 2.5 lb. trigger......shoots into an inch at 100 with the 86 gr jkt Remington bullet and a mess of 2400.....with the scope. As I have other Winchesters and Remingtons in this caliber, I might sell this in the near future...sans tang sight.....not D & T -----6




Funny thing you mentioned the 25-20. I've been making changes on this 25-20, getting it ready for turkey season. It's my official Winchester Scout Rifle. A Model 53 takedown 25-20 and the changes I made are not permanent. I installed one of those Pearsons non d&t rail mounts and put a 2.5x long eye relief Leupold scope on it. The scope will pop right off and the tang sight can be used. A barrel band along with a slip on butt cover made it usable for a sling. ----6






This pic shows the butt cover for a no drill sling stud.

[yooper2]

Hey Jack,
That 53 is wonderful! Nice combination of a fine old rifle tweaked to work in way that doesn't do anything permanent. If only everybody who gets their mitts on nice guns were so thoughtful.

The 25-20 has just been doing it for me lately. It's got enough zap to flatten coyotes and doesn't tear up any meat on smaller edibles with moderately hard cast loads. But wait, there's more! It uses small amounts of powder/lead and doesn't split your eardrums with every shot. What's not to like?

My grandfather shot a nice buck with a 25-20 once, when it put it's head down to munch on something he brained it. Those little pieces of lead penetrate a lot deeper than one would expect them to.

Drop me a line when/if you get tired of that sweet little Marlin taking up space on your shop. I'd rather send my money to a fella I trust and who will put it to good use! For the time being I'm still stuck in Mass so there is certainly no rush on anything. Probably going to still be digging holes here when the snow flies.

Eric

[yooper2]

P.S.

Are you shooting any cast in your 25-20's? I mostly shoot the RCBS Cowboy bullet and sometimes the 257420 from Lyman.


Eric

[jdad]

When they were reintroduced after 2004 they had microgroove rifling.

[Sixgun]

P.S.
Are you shooting any cast in your 25-20's? 257420 from Lyman. Eric

In probably 95% of ALL of my shooting, excepting .223, .257 Rbts, 22-250, 308, 06, .270, and a few others, my main choice of a projectile is wheel weights with 4% tin, water quenched.

I've never owned a 25-20 that was a tack driver with 86 gr lead...they shot ok but nothing to write home about. My choice is the 257420. The 70 gr. Speer that I use at the bigger matches such as the Pa. State Champs or Regional matches is the best........nothing, cast or otherwise has ever matched the 70 grain Speer when driven to 1700 in the little 25-20.

When you get home and have time, let me know and we will discuss Ben Franklins. The price will be more than fair and you know the gun will be "right" with a money back guarantee. It ain't going anywhere. --------J

[yooper2]

I figured as much, just think it was the first time I've seen you post load info for a traditional cartridge with jacketed bullets! My little pumpgun prefers the heavy RCBS bullet with 6 gr. of 2400. Running about 1350fps or so.

I'll hunt around for some of the Speers. I'll drop you a line when I get back where I belong. This is the first time I've missed a Michigan small game season since I could walk. The folks here have to shotguns for their small game, so that will be a first as well. Anyway, thanks bud, and we'll be in touch.

Jdad, thanks for the info. I wondered if they had had both types of rifling like the 32-20s.

Eric

[boolitshooter]

Sixgun please put me as second in line for the Marlin 25-20 after Yooper2. I sold a Winchester about 20 years ago for good money about 20 years ago. Big mistake, I miss having a 25-20.

[GunnyMack]

Great little round! I enjoyed my Savage 23B so much that while I was in gumsmiff skool I put together a mini farquharson in 25-20 too!

I used to shoot hornady 60 soft points, Winchester 680 powder. Good enough accuracy to shoot Praire dogs. Like you mentioned, cheap to load! I once got a confirmed PD @ 275 steps. 2 witness... Took me 3 to hit it!

I think I need to take my little guns to the range!

[Sixgun]

Sixgun please put me as second in line for the Marlin 25-20 after Yooper2. I sold a Winchester about 20 years ago for good money about 20 years ago. Big mistake, I miss having a 25-20.

I hear ya Boolitshooter. Some cartridges, like the 25-20, 32-20, 30-30, and the 45-70 leave a big void if you sell one. We all kick ourselves in the azz a while after we do such stupid things. The bad part is the money we get from a sale usually gets blown in the wind at a retarded insurance bill or something equally retarded like a weekend shopping spree..

If experience means anything, I'm pretty sure Eric is gonna snag the Marlin. He always says what he does.....but......there is a light at the end of the tunnel.......I run into these kind of guns all the time. Just last month I turned down an original 1894 Marlin in 25-20 that was a takedown with a half rd/oct. barrel for 12. The bore was OK but not bright with sharp lands. In the small calibers you need near perfect bore condition for it to be accurate.....not always, but usually and I did not want to take a chance. The bigger bores are more forgiving.

With fall and winter upon us that means gun auctions and estate sales are coming my way. If anything comes up I'll post in the classified.----6

[Camel73]

Hey Jack,
That 53 is wonderful! Nice combination of a fine old rifle tweaked to work in way that doesn't do anything permanent. If only everybody who gets their mitts on nice guns were so thoughtful.

Eric

Eric, Sorry... so sorry, lol... but it just wasn't in the cards for my baby. Not a nice rare caliber or year like here - and I figured I may as well make it mine since someone would have to pry it from my cold dead hands before I parted with it anyhow. Then to be left only to a deserved kin.

I blame it all on John Wayne, ha. Anyhow, don't mean to disrupt - just thought I'd throw that in there.

PS - still all original parts though! lol