I have been playing with a 25 RF, which is near the same thing.   It is a serious shooter with 75 gr lead bullets and a near case-full of AA9, slower than the shotgun-powders one would think that would work best.  It has shot 1.5" group at 200 yd.   It makes me think of taking up squirrel hunting again.   There was a photo of a substantially-identical Stevens 44 1/2 on the cover of the Journal ~20 years ago -- a rifle that had been the favorite squirrel rifle of Gary Cooper

CHRIS

rgchristensen wrote on Jan 23^rd, 2023 at 11:32am:

I have a Stevens 47 on a 44 that was 25RF I had redone to 25-20 single shot. Are you converting hornet cases in a original Stevens?. So far mine is not shooting nearly as well as yours but it sure has been fun. Is yours an original barrel.

Perhaps I am wrong but as I understood the 25 RF barrels had a groove diameter of .251" same as the 25 acp but the 25 CF barrels had a groove diameter of .257"/.258"

bullshop wrote on Jan 23^rd, 2023 at 2:14pm:


Correct, but I have one on a Stevens Model 47, 44 action, .251 groove diameter, 17" twist, and marked "25-20" in Stevens script and chambered for the 25-20 SS cartridge.  Quality Control was not their speciality.

So if I buy a 25 RF for the purpose of converting to CF its just a stab in the dark on what the barrel dimensions will be?   Seems like a .251" groove would severely limit mold choices or a lot of bullet sizing would be required.
I did buy a model 44 Stevens in 32 RF to convert to 32 CF. Wiki says the groove diameter for the 32 RF was .316" so I was a little worried about molds. Turns out all my 32-20 molds shoot good in it sized to .313"  It is now a 32 S&W long and is a really fun gun to plink with.

17" is a pretty slow twist for 25 caliber.  I think the 25-20 wcf was a 14" and even that was limited to about 85gn bullets.
I bad a 25-20 wcf built on an 1898 Krag action with a 10" twist barrel and it shoots really well with  cast bullets of 117 - 120gn intended for the 25-35 wcf which originally had an 8" twist.
I got the Hoch 25 Hornet yesterday and just looking through the barrel I will guess somewhere around a 10" twist.  The mold is for a tapered spitzer that I will guess slightly over 100gn.  Hope to cast some today and find out for sure. The chamber appears tight and intended for breach seating with bullets from this mold. Yestereve I loaded one round of fixed ammo with a 65gn PB bullet sized to .259" and it will not fully chamber .  If this rifle is to shoot fixed ammo as it is the case necks will have to be turned or a bullet diameter less than .259" or a combination of both will be in order. I wont alter the chamber because then the breach seating system may be rendered useless for accuracy.  I am anxious to try it as intended.  My intention is to go with about a BHN-9 to 10 alloy since the velocity of the cartridge due to its slight case volume will be limited to traditional black powder velocity at about 1300 fps.  Let the chase begin!

bullshop wrote on Jan 24^th, 2023 at 11:29am:


Right on both counts.  The rimfire rifles were designed to work with the 65 grain bullet that the proprietary Stevens black powder cartridge used.  It was meant to be a small game cartridge, nothing more.   

I'm trying to finish a Favorite with a 14" twist liner in it, if my Arthuritis will ever let me.  Plan however is to stick to the 63 grain bullets you cast for me last fall, owing to the small case and limited strength of the Favorite action.