Vintage Varminting
Suppose we were stepping back about eighty years. Saturday nights we’d gather around the Silvertone radio and tune in the Jamboree for some music while we played a few hands of Euchre by the parlor heating stove. When the time came to talk varmint hunting, we would have some different critters in mind. That nasty red-tailed hawk was not only a threat to the chickens, but it would bring us a bounty if we turned it in to a game protector. The same went for the great horned owl that struck at night. Foxes were a problem, as were the clover munching woodchucks. Raccoons always provided fur as well as sport. A large part of the Pennsylvania population lived on farms, and varmint hunting was more about protecting crops and livestock than about sport.
Most likely, the varmint rifle was a .22 rimfire, and often as not it would be loaded with the less-expensive “short.” A box of “longs” or even a box of “long rifle” shells would be around for tougher targets. Still a few folks were shooting a centerfire—a “high-power,” and a fairly common chambering was the .25-20 Winchester Center Fire (WCF). Famed gun writer Ken Waters said that in the first quarter of the 20th Century there wasn’t a finer combination small game and varmint cartridge in existence. Frequently chambered in the Winchester Model 1892, the .25-20 could also be had in the Marlin Model 27S pump, the Remington Model 25 slide action; then came the Winchester Models 53 and 65, and the Savage Model 23B bolt action sporter. Winchester’s classic Model 43 appeared in 1949. When the .222 Remington appeared in March of 1950, the demise of the .25-20 seemed certain.
The .25-20 had been preceded by the .25-20 Single Shot cartridge. The balance of powder charge to bullet weight enabled some of those Maynard single shots to deliver 10-shot groups of three inches or less at 200 yards. A lot of contemporary rifles couldn’t match that accuracy. The Winchester folks seized the opportunity in 1895 and necked down their already successful .32-20 WCF to handle the .257 diameter bullet. The .32-20 had been around since 1882 and frequently was found in the famed Winchester 1873 rifle.
Originally loaded with an 86 grain bullet and a mild charge of black powder, velocity was less than 1,400 feet per second (fps), nothing impressive today, but the .25-20 gained a reputation as a deadly round on small game. When a shooter combined the corrosive effects of black powder with that era’s primers, thorough cleaning was an important ritual. These loads explain why many of the earlier models have pitted bores. With the advent of smokeless powders a special “High Velocity” load appeared with the speed upped to a tad over 1,700 fps. Neither as accurate nor as gentle on meat as the original loading, this load did not make a lot of friends.
By 1930, someone put a 60 grain bullet ahead of a stronger charge of smokeless powder and ignited it with the new “Kleanbore” primers. This load cut the trajectory considerably, regained the original low velocity accuracy, and knocked the dickens out of varmints. It also ruined a lot more meat, and it was not recommended for game hunting.
In the last decade of the 20th Century, Marlin catalogued their Model 1894 in .25-20, and reports on that rifle’s accuracy were good. When coupled with a scope and fired from a bench rest, 100 yard groups about one inch were said to be common. A few 1892 replicas are available in vintage chambering, but the .25-20 is not a common find today, and Marlin no longer catalogs this chambering. Whether a hunter has a vintage .25-20 or a recent replica, there is still a thrill to be found in some old-time varminting. This means stalking closer and making a shot with open sights. It also means becoming reacquainted with the virtues of open sights in an optics age.
Many newer open sighted rifles have front sights that are just plain crude. The basic assumption of manufacturers seems to be that “iron sights” are useful only for close range work on large targets. The wide blade type sight is common on some of these rifles. However, if you handle a rifle from the “primitive old days,” you will often find a delicate gold or brass bead, and sometimes a tiny bead of ivory. The smaller bead allows the shooter to still see the target, even if it isn’t the size of a bull moose.
The rear sights on older rifles are also better designed for shooting with accuracy. Instead of a broad flat plane with a square notch for the front sight to settle in, the older sights often guided the eye to a fine notch, just right for the front bead. That step elevator that no one pays much attention to today also has a function. By raising the rear sight a precise amount, the range of exact impact would be extended. The best way to determine the exact range for each step is to fire at measured ranges and adjusting the rear sight up a notch at a time. However, a shooter can come close by knowing the velocity of the specific load being fired from that specific rifle and shooting at a 100 yard target, measuring the elevation created by each notch in the rear sight elevator. Then, trajectory tables for that bullet and ballistic coefficient can be consulted to determine approximate ranges for each step on the rear sight elevator.
Of course, if the rear sight is a peep sight, one can make minute adjustments, not just the ones permitted by the steps on an open sight elevator. However, few shooters will be using a .25-20 for precise long range shooting in the 21st Century.
Finding out where an open-sighted rifle will strike at longer ranges is easier to do than to describe, and a hunter owes it to the sport to know where the bullet will strike as a matter of ethics.
The .25-20 is not a long range precision cartridge, but it is completely capable of dispatching garden and hayfield pests without a lot of recoil or noise. A moderate velocity load will do a fine job on game like turkey without tearing up a lot of edible meat. On varmints, it will do a more convincing job on a woodchuck or coyote than a .22 magnum, and it is a lot of fun for just plain shooting. You better have a fat wallet if you plan on plinking with factory loads, as the last box of fifty I priced was $35 and that was a while back.
The handloader will find the .25-20 very economical to shoot. A box of 100 bullets runs about $20, small rifle primers are adequate, and with loads ranging from a start of below seven grains to a maximum of twelve grains, depending on the powder, a pound goes a long way. One must be careful though, as the case walls are thin and easily bent if mishandled or case necks crushed if the crimp is too enthusiastic.
Hornady lists a starting velocity of 1,800 fps up to a maximum of 2,300 fps with their 60 grain flat point. Speer claims their 75 grain soft point will work at the lowest loading of 1,492 fps up to the maximum of 2,008 fps. The authoritative Lyman handbook lists the Remington 86 grain soft point between 1,060 fps and 1,751 fps. I’m reluctant to push the maximums with vintage rifles. Pushing an older rifle to disintegration is not an intelligent hobby. Case life is also short with hot loads, so moderation has many virtues.
It almost goes without saying that any bullet intended for use in a tubular magazine must have a flat point. All bullets intended for the .25-20 are made with a flat nose. Anyone firing an older rifle should have it checked by a competent gunsmith to determine if it is safe to shoot. Some of the earliest .25-20 rifles were intended for black powder only and will not withstand the pressures of modern smokeless loads.
The slugs fired from a .25-20 are not constructed to disintegrate on impact, nor do they have the high velocity that would cause them to fragment on impact. Thus, it’s important that one make sure of the backstop and not send a ricochet off to do unintended damage.
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