Howdy gents,
I have a Stevens 44 in .25 Stevens Long rf that I am resurrecting that was left to me by my father. I have read the posts regarding how to go about shooting one of these again, and greatly appreciate all the info that has been provided here towards that end. I am going to try the .27 caliber power load cartridges first with H&N .25 Air Rifle slugs that are supplied in the 28 gr. to 46 gr. range. I thought that I would back the slug up with a felt .25 cal. bore cleaning pellet that has been soaked in a Balistol/water of some as of yet undetermined ratio and left for the water to dry, leaving the oil. I plan to use Ramset level 3 Green medium power loads to propel the slugs.
My question is that I have measured my Stevens barrel's twist rate and found it to be between 1:17.5" and 1:18". Applying the Green Hill Formula used by Steve Garbe, it would appear that bullet weights around 35 gr., or less, would be the most appropriate. Just curious why the factory loads featured 65 gr. bullets, which would seem to be under stabilized by an 18" twist, at least according to the formula? Any thoughts on any of this by you fellas?

Along another line, I saw a post in another section of this forum that indicated the availability in Italy of Fiocchi .25 Rim fire loads made in Italy for the humane slaughter of cattle. The metric designation for them is 6.3/12, and they are listed as being power level 'strong', and no bullet weight is given. I wrote to the company in Italy asking for them to consider exporting some of this product to the USA, and I wrote to the USA division of Fiocchi and asked them to consider importing some of this product for those of us that have .25 RFs we'd like to shoot again conveniently. I'd like for all those interested to email them both as well! It's not hard and won't take you too long, their email contact addresses are easy to find! Who knows, maybe it will do some good!! Thanks!

P.S.: Already got a reply from FiocchiUSA, they have no plans to import these rounds at this time!

I have a 18 twist barrel on a Ballard, in 25/20SS and shoot two bullets in it. A ,510 long, shortened 257420 and a custom, short spitzer, that's .535 long. Both with good accuraty but, not match accuracy. The bullet impacts aren't tipped, they're nice and round.

BTW, the Greenhill Formula, doesn't accurately gauge the twist needed for 200 yrd or less shooting.

This says 17 is the rate.

I did some calculations and the 257420, with the GC removed buy reaming, should stabilize in a 17 twist.

Thanks for the replies to my post gents!  All that info helps a lot!
Thanks kootne for the explanation of how a bolt gun worked.  I was going by the fact that on their web page they refer to Rim fire ammo and show an image of what looks to be a .22 LR cartridge next to a much larger, presumably RF, cartridge.
  
The web site also has a section for 'blank cartridges', which does not show anything in .25 or 6.3/12mm, so my assumption, which is likely wrong, was that these were regular RF cartridges with bullets.




       

uscra112, I have the same .25 RF cartridge drawing you posted, and going by its indicated dimensions, figuring by known proportions, the presumably 65 gr. bullet illustrated, is about .63 inches long.  This seems pretty long to stabilize in a 1:17 or 1:18 inch twist barrel unless the low velocity has more to do with it than I thought.
Also, the '.310 cattle killer' you mentioned, would you know if it is a blank or a complete cartridge?  Thanks!

Greenhill notwithstanding, the .25 RF with that 65 grain bullet was considered very accurate.  At one time it was common to use it in Stevens break-open single shot pistols for target competition.   

The cattle killer cartridge had a bullet. It's in Barnes somewhere, but just now I can't put my finger on it.   

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The .251 lie stems from Barnes, and has been replicated in Wikipedia, which has led to arguments on the Innertubes.  I once planned to correct the Wiki article but found you need to have an associate's degree in computer science to do it.   If one of you young'uns care to take a crack at it, I will send you my draft.

Only know that I traded emails with him, letting him know that a lot of boys' rifles won't fire converted .17 WSM brass, it being thicker and harder than the old stuff so as to handle the high pressure .17 WSM load.  (Ask me how I know.)    I asked him what his powder charge is, but he didn't answer.