1894 Stevens favorite, Calibers .22,.25,.32, others, either RF or CF

Started by Chev. William, August 18, 2013, 08:15:27 PM

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Chev. William

It's now September, Labor Day Weekend, and The Past week has been 'interesting' but not fun.  At about 71,000 miles the water pump on my 2006 Dodge Dakota let go and Dumped all the coolant on the Street.  It is now fixed at a cost of savings.  Then I go the Notice that Fiat-Chrysler are ready to replace the DANGEROUS Air Bag Inflator Cartridge in my Steering wheel.  Interesting as they  Claimed the Passenger side one is not a problem although made by the SAME Supplier.

I now have Three of my Stevens Rifles back in Working order but still not refinished.
1.  The Stevens 1894 Favorite fitted with an Newer Round .22 Cal Barrel.
2.  The Stevens 1915 Favorite fitted with new Extractor and a Stevens .25 R.F. Barrel; this one is with a .22 R.F. Breech block for use with Adapter Cases employing .22 Blanks in reformed Hornet Cases and drilled/reamed as Adapter cases.
3.  The Stevens Model 12 Marksman fitted with a Newer .22 Cal. Barrel, firing pin, Cocking plunger with spring, and new Main spring and retainer Screw.

I have Three '44' Barrels marked as .25 R.F. in process of deciding what to do with them.
-  The First one has been Chamber Cast and Slugged.  It turns out to be chambered for .32 Colt Short with a 'Tight' bore of .298'/.304".  I will probably have this one Chamber reamed for .32 Long Colt or Possibly .32 Extra Long and use it converted to Center Fire.  The .32 Extra Long is an intriguing project, especially converted to Center Fire.
-  The second and Third ones are at my Gunsmiths for "clean and Slug" as both have Badly 'Crudded up' Bores, which have resisted my Efforts to Clean them.

The one with the 'Best Rifling' will be chambered to take my 1.250" case Length Conversion Cartridges for further Load development.
The other one will be set aside for later.

I have been Working on Reforming "5.7x28mm" used Brass to an Alternative Source for ".25 Stevens" size parent cases.  It has Been Successful in that the Reformed cases lengthen as the Diameter is reduced and yield cases long enough to use as a "new Wildcat" Cartridge, published as "6.35x32mmSR STEWART" and using .250" to .252" diameter Bullets. (.250 jacketed and .251" to .252" Cast Lead).
I am Very Pleased that "Ammoguide International" Added my Design to their Cartridge Master Database as Cartridge number 950.
It is my FIRST Published Design!
Load Development is starting at the 'Light end' as the first test rifle is a Stevens Favorite 1915 Action Based one.
-  So the first "Starting Load" is 1.0 Grains of Bullseye behind a 74 grain Lead RFN GC Bullet using WSP primers with a Overall Length of 1.500".
-  The Second "starting Load is 1.3 grains of Bullseye behind a 50 grain FMJ-RN Bullet using WSP primers also with an Overall Length of 1.500".
-  Loads will be increased about 0.1 grain at a time to approach a muzzle Velocity of about 1124 fps in this action.

The estimated Powder chamber volume is now 13.8 Grains of H2O.
NOTE: this is an 'almost' Straight Walled Cartridge.  There is a taper from .276" at .300" above the Base to .280" at the top of the Extractor Clearance Cut.  Head space is intended to be on the RIM.

Now back to forming more Brass.

Best Regards,
Chev. William


"Been there, But no 'Tee Shirt' survived.

Chev. William

Additional on the New 'source' of Brass replacements:
I have successfully reformed four hundred 5.7x28mm "once fired" FNB Brass into 6.35x32mmSR parent cases and now have Trimmed 50 of them to 1.125" length of the .25 Stevens or .25-10 Halsted wildcat.

The new Length has been Proposed as an addition to "Ammoguide International" 'Cartridge Master data Base under the name "6.35x28.6mmSR STEWART" with a nominal case length of 28.6mm and an Overall Cartridge Length 35.6mm nominal.

This is a Much easier to make case than the ones from .22 hornet Brass, although this conversion requires more Tooling investment to do smoothly it pays off in Much Less "Loss in the Forming Process".

Best Regards,
Chev. William
"Been there, But no 'Tee Shirt' survived.

Russ T Chambers

The catfish turned out great.  I added cayenne pepper to mine, but left the wife's more neutral.  The rice wasn't too dirty, and cat head biscuits weren't too furry.

Got our afternoon winds back!  17 mph with gusts to 30.
Russ T. Chambers
Roop County Cowboy Shooters Association
SASS Lifer/Regulator #262
WartHog
SBSS #1441
IPSAC
CRPA Lifer 
NSRPA Lifer
NRA Benefactor Member
Brother of the Arrow

Chev. William

Received a Second order of 1000 each 5.7x28mm FN empty cases from Monmouth Reloading and now have over 2000 cases for eventual processing into my 6.35 experiments.

To date I have formed over 400 to  6.35x32mmSR and then trimmed about 200 of those, the ones that formed up short of 1.220" minimum length, to .6.35x28.6mmSR specifications (1.125" nominal Length.)

These Are MUCH Easier to reform and have so far provided ZERO Loss due to problems in forming.
In comparison, my reforming of .22 Hornet Brass has resulted in about 5 percent loss in the Reforming process.
Both types are reformed to .276" body diameter after expanding the Neck/Shoulder to fit a .250" bullet.

I will continue the Reforming of Hornet Brass as they Yield 'parent' cases of about 1.38" length while the 5.7 Reformed only yield 'parent' cases of a maximum of 1.260", and usually less length.

I currently have 400 Hornet cases with Expanded neck/Shoulder waiting for resizing down to .276" body Diameter.
I have a further 300 cases that are Reformed but still need the Rims turned to .050" thickness (from .070").
The Hornet 'parent' also has more 'meat' in the Base to allow making adapter cases to use Rim Fire Blanks as Primer/powder Charge (PTL Blanks especially).  I can Successfully rework the "adapter" to either .22 Blank or .25 Blank sizes, but .27 blanks are too large for Hornet case use.

Best Regards,
Chev. William
"Been there, But no 'Tee Shirt' survived.

Chev. William

Today I received a Nice Present for Thanksgiving: "Ammoguide" Listed my "6.35x28.6mmSR Stewart" in their 'Cartridge Master Data Base' as entry number 958.

This is a Center Fire Cartridge made from a 5.7x28mm parent by Reducing the Case diameter to .276" as a Straight Walled Cylinder,
Which Lengthens the Case to about 1.250" then it is trimmed to 1.125" case length for this Cartridge design.  This results in a Strong ".25 Stevens RF" replacement.

Best Regards for the Thanksgiving Holiday.
Chev. William
"Been there, But no 'Tee Shirt' survived.

Chev. William

Interesting "News":
Pacific Tool & Gauge has Reworked their Web Page and now Chamber reamers are Listed By Categories such as ".25 - .257" an di found they now List  Both .25 Stevens and .25 Stevens Long Rifle reamers.

Looks like interest in these "obsolete' cartridges is increasing.

Chev. William
"Been there, But no 'Tee Shirt' survived.

Chev. William

My PT&G Order for one of their ".25 Stevens Long Rifle" Finish chamber Reamers is Promised for about Dec. 20th so I hope the Mails get it here Before Christmas.

Best Regards,
Chev. William

ADDED 20151225: Sadly No PT&G Reamer came in the USPS Christmas Eve delivery.
But some other Orders form other suppliers Came so it is a "Happy Christmas" for me.  

May All Have a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!
"Joy to the/World. . . . "
Best Regards,
Chev. William


Added 20160214: Still No PT&G Reamer???  Chev. William
"Been there, But no 'Tee Shirt' survived.

Chev. William

Long delayed update:
My order of a ".25 Stevens Long Rifle" Finish chamber Reamer came but contained a".25-25 Stevens" Finish Chamber Reamer" No Where even close!
I discussed it with PT&G and ended up sending back the .25-25 Stevens and received a refund.

I have re-ordered a ".25 Stevens (Long) RF" chamber reamer and am waiting fo rit to be finished and shipped.

There is also tw new designs on file at PT&G for custom reamers to be ordered by myself and others.

Both are related to 6.35 previous designs of mine.

Best Regards,
Chev. William
"Been there, But no 'Tee Shirt' survived.

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