I have a question for the Quarter Bore group.  Would a reloadable rimfire cartridge in a .25 Stevens be legal to compete....either in Postal or shoulder to shoulder matchs?  I am tooling up to produce .25 Stevens using .22 Acorn blanks for priming. (.22 Hornet brass shortened to 1.125, expand to .25. Size case to .279 dia...In lathe, turn down excess brass in front of rim, thin rim,Primer pocket drilled/reamed .2235 for press fit of blank, 7mm end mill c' bore .05" deep for flush fit to head blank rim., 4mm end mill for firing pin clearance cut on case head edge.
      Sure it's alot of work...but somebodies got to do it to keep these old guns talking.    Anyway..can I use it?    Thanks!

Here's what I received from Ken several years ago...

Regards,
Joe

PURPOSE: 
The Quarter Bore Corps is an informal group of ASSRA members who enjoy owning and shooting the old .25 Caliber center fire single shot rifles. We have no real organization and charge no fees. We simply shoot and try to have a good time. In order to keep things on a lower technical level, and more enjoyable for all, the Q.B.C. subscribes to the idea of shooting old rifles and using old loading techniques which, as much as possible, reflect the customs of the 
"turn of the century". 
RULES: 
While we subscribe to ASSRA rules, we have these further ideals and clarifications: 
Rifle actions must be American made and "of the period."(OR CLOSE REPLICAS) These are usually Stevens, Winchester, Ballard, Hepburn, or Maynard rifles. These rifles should have suitable sights and stocks to fit into this approximate time frame. Tang sights 
and 3/4" tube target type scopes will generally be used. Scopes will be the various Lyman Target Spots as well 
as Unertls and, various older scopes such as Stevens, Winchester or Malcolm. 
While we believe that no one should alter a good old rifle, we realize that sometimes rifles are found which have been neglected or injured by thoughtless conversion to modern Varmint or rimfire calibers. Replacement or refinishing of any original parts is discouraged. When these rifles do require barrel or stock work, it should be expertly done so as to restore the rifle. Chambering shall be to some period single shot caliber. In .25's this would mean .25-20 Single Shot, .25-20 W.C.F. .25-35, .25-36 
.25-21,.25-25, and a few other Pope and Zischang chamberings. 
     NO modern supplies, equipment, stock styling, or loading methods will be allowed which could lead to an advantage being secured over/ or harm being done to the older rifles and methods. Rifles should look like rifles of the pre 1917 period. This means no free floating barrels, no flat or beavertail forearms, no stainless steel, no through bolts on Winchesters or Stevens. No excessively short barrels. Velocities will be generally held to those equivalent to a normal black powder load. Breech seated bullets are highly recommended. 

EVENTS: 
The Q.B.C. has no matches of its own. Instead, we 
simply shoot in three of the regular events of the ASSRA 
Summer Matches with our .25 caliber rifles. We shoot the May Match which calls for 10 shots at 200 yards offhand, any sights. We also shoot the Schoyen Match which is a ten shot bench rest match for score, any sights. Our group match is shot on the Kelly target; 5 shots for group at 200 yards, bench rest, any sight.
PROCEDURE: 
The usual procedure is to check in with the ASSRA Schuetzen¬meister upon arrival at the range. Fill out your entry forms 
pay range fees and purchase targets. Buy regular Schoyen, May or Kelly targets at this time for use with your .25 No extra match or membership fees will be charged for shooting in the Quarter Bore Corps Matches. When you have fired your targets with your .25 please score them and stamp them with the Q.B.C. stamp. It is possible to win the Q.B.C. matches and the ASSRA matches with the same target.

OUR QBC MATCHES RUN FROM THURSDAY THROUGH SUNDAY.

QUARTER BORE                     CORPS RULES

I respect the club striving for authenticity...no need for another arms race with the latest wiz bang zip gun. I am not all that sure of it's accuracy out to 200yds.  Also kind of leery of pressure on that thin rimfire case.  Would this be legal in our Postal match?  100yds. Seems long enough distance for this little one.

I actually shot mine a couple years ago at a match, and probably will again this year. All things considered, didn’t do too bad. Cross sticks at 200 yards, iron sights and shot a 160 with a missing bullet hole. Not sure if miss counted, or flat out missed. 

Score was middle of the board, 214 won it.

I use converted 17 WSM brass, and the bullet was a 56 grain 257420.

If you drink the Stevens Koolaid, they advertised it as good for target shooting to 200 yards, “under favorable weather conditions”.

Someone mentioned that one of the reasons the cartridge may not be accepted in Quarter Bore was that the cartridge originally could not be reloaded. While this is true, UMC offered primed cases, so it certainly could be hand loaded. 

UMC offered all of their rimfire ammunition, as primed cases.

Recognized as a true Quarter Bore or not, I’ll have mine out again, hopefully better results. 

Below are the description of the cartridge in a Stevens catalog, and a page from a 1895 UMC catalog. 

I encourage others to take them out and give it a go.

slumlord44 wrote on Mar 1^st, 2023 at 10:32pm:

No matter what, it’s another old single shot off the wall or out of the back of the closet and on the range. Another ambassador of history.

Many, maybe most, shooters have no idea there were Rimfire cartridges other than 22 & 17. A few know of 25 & 32. If you post a list like the catalog page above, they are amazed.

Get them out and shoot them this year!