.25 caliber question

[Ezra]

I have a .25 caliber barrel on order and was wondering what kind of powder charge you guys might recommend.  I will be using .240 Hornady round ball with a patch.  Will fffg work in a .25?  If so, what do I use, like 10-15 grains?  Thanks.

Ez

[smokinbuck]

Ezra,
I don't have a .25 but do have a .29-.30 Bill Large barreled rifle. I shoot a .285 RB with a .010 pre lubed patch and 20 grains of 3F. Makes a pretty accurate load for this rifle.
Mark

[Kermit]

My .25 flintlock has a 44" Rayl barrel. I shoot .240 Hornady buck and settled on 18 grains of 3f Goex and a .010-.012 linen patch. My barrel loses a little accuracy with more or less powder. Usully lube with spit.

[Ezra]

My .25 flintlock has a 44" Rayl barrel. I shoot .240 Hornady buck and settled on 18 grains of 3f Goex and a .010-.012 linen patch. My barrel loses a little accuracy with more or less powder. Usully lube with spit.

Thanks Kermit.  I think I'll start at 15 grains of fffg and work it from there.  My barrel is coming from Bobby Hoyt, and it's a tad longer at 47".  I use a similar linen patch with spit (or bear grease if I have it) as well.

Ez

[hanshi]

That ought to be some rifle, Ezra.  Do post pics and shooting results.

[Ezra]

I am having Curt Lyles forge me a buttplate and trigger guard for an Ambrose Lawing style rifle.  Probably a bit on the small size (caliber wise) for a Lawing, but I really like the lines of his style rifle.  Using a late Ketland flintlock from Barbie, no percussion for me.  Stock will be walnut.  Hope I can make it reasonably worthy of his name.  

Ez

[Ezra]

I am not too proud to admit that I have learned something from one of our kind members.  The Lawing rifles came well after the the flintlock period.  I am, therefore, going to modify my plan for a Lawing rifle to an early Bean style.  With a flintlock and proper Bean style hardware.  Thank you to the member who helped me in response to my e-mail to him. 

Ez

[Hungry Horse]

Ezra;

  I just gotta ask what you could possibly use a .25 cal. muzzleloader for? Somebody told me a .32 cal. round ball was about the same weight as a .22 long rifle bullet, if thats the case, a .25 cal. round  wouldn't have enough oomph to do much of anything. Seems like it would be like shooting a real slow loading, smoky,smelly, pellet gun. Please enlighten me.

                         Hungry Horse

 

[Ezra]

Crows.  I will christen the rifle Crowkiller.  It will be a 50 yard (maximum) gun.  My .240 roundball weigh in the neighborhood of 20 grains.  Probably work well on squirrel too.

Ez

[Kermit]

Try thinking of a 25 as a hyper .22 short.

[Ezra]

If a the .25 was a smooth bore, it would be a 333 gauge...

Ez

[2lookindown]

Hungry Horse, Would you be willing to try and catch a 25 cal round ball in a catchers mitt at the speed of somewhere around 1800 fps Oh yea I will shoot for the midsection....

[Kermit]

There was a .17 cal flinter listed for sale on this site a whilr back. A .25 is HUGE.

[Ezra]

I mean it is a QUARTER of an inch.  21 grains of speeding death. 

Ez

[2lookindown]

Ezra, I think some of these guys think all it is good for is killin flies and such.... But they are not willing to try and catch one... I just don't understand ... It will make a good squirrel rifle.... I have a .29 cal to pick up over at Howard Kelly's ...I shoot a .32 a lot I can't wait till I get the .29 home...

[WadePatton]

tha's why i ordered a 30 cal.  so i could look down on all the .25's and .27-8-9's with my bigger, heavier, insanely deadlier of course, bore and balls.     (not to mention the 17's and 20's and 22's)

they burn powder make smoke and punch holes in whatever they're pointed at, provided it's small enough and close enough.  

personally i doubt i'll ever have a woods use for anything smaller than 30, but that need has nothing to do with it and want has everything to do with it.  

380+ shots per pound of powder at 18 grains...hmmm that sounds eco_nomical.

[Ezra]

One shot a day fer a year an ya still got powder left!!  How awesome is that? 

Ez

[Daryl]

The .25 calibre air rifles are pretty much restricted to shooting sub 1,000fpswith 25gr. to 40gr. pellets in order to achieve good accuracy. 
A .25 round ball ML rifle will push or slightly exceed 2,000fps with a patched round ball, with amazing accuracy - perhaps not quite as good as the air rifle but close enough for small game.  The guys shoot field rats to 125yards with their 'little' and underpowered .25 cal. air rifles, compared to the .25 Flinter.  On small game at close ranges the relatively high speed little ball will be devastating.  Of course, the round ball will slow down fairly quickly,but should work on small game within your accuracy range.  Even the high speed (900fps) .25 air rifles destroy meat on a bunny shot through the shoulders.

[Keb]

I have a .20 cal smooth rifle & a .25 cal rifle. I shot 15 gr. 3f out both. I don't shoot either of them very often because of the cleaning difficulty factor. I've had to fish a lost patch out of the .25 every time I've cleaned it. I'll stick to the bigger bores thank you.

[Ezra]

For those of you who have these small rifles, I have a question or two about what type of ramrods do you use?  Wood?  Steel? Brass?  Some combination of the two?

Ez

[Kermit]

I have a proper plastic coated red handled range rod. 
I've thought about making a rod of brass tube, but think it may be easily kinked. For this wee bore, a solid brass rod isn't much heavier and serves well. Wiped down with dirty cleaning patches, the color of the brass doesn't offend. The little hickory rod is for display purposes.

[Daryl]

As far as a range rod, goes, a smooth tool steel rod, like Kleen Bore sells would make for a decent rod at .200" diameter. I rarely use a 1/4" KleenBore coated rod for loading but usually for cleaning my .32, flinter, although the 5/16" hickory 'rifle' rod gets used normally for loading.

[Gene Carrell]

My 25cal is a Rayl bbl. and you can use a 1/4" SS rod in his bore. I use .250 rb with 0.012 ticking and 15gr 3Fg.

[Dave R]

Gene,
How hard does it load with .250" rb and .012" ticking?
Some guys use .240 and thicker ?

[Gene Carrell]

It is not at all difficult loading; remember the bore is somewhat larger than 0.250 so as to accommodate a 0.250 rod. I also find it easier to keep fouling to a minimum with a tight load. It takes less loading effort than loading a 0.395rb w/ 0.018 patch in a GM 40cal.