Have you ever ever puzzled why there are so few rimfire cartridges available on the market? You’d suppose the recognition of the .22 Lengthy Rifle would immediate ammo makers to provide us just a few extra choices. As an alternative, ammo firms stay centered on churning out new centerfire cartridges whereas rimfire followers stay caught with just about the identical menu of choices yr after yr.
It hasn’t at all times been this manner. Following the introduction of the .22 Quick in 1857, ammo makers piled onto the rimfire bandwagon and launched a whopping 75 completely different rimfire cartridges over the following 4 many years. Many of those had been solely short-lived experiments, in keeping with Frank Barnes, and that quantity was whittled all the way down to 42 by the flip of the century. However that’s nonetheless dozens greater than the 14 rimfire cartridges on faucet at Halfway USA, most of that are out of inventory.
Some of the widespread of these previous rimfires was the .25 Stevens Lengthy. The .25 Stevens appears to be like quite a bit just like the .22 Lengthy Rifle, however it used a heavier .25-caliber bullet that trendy powder would have launched considerably quicker.
World Struggle II put an finish to the cartridge’s business run, so we’ll by no means know if it might have competed for the eye of Twenty first-century varmint hunters. But when ammo firms cared to develop their secure of rimfire cartridges, they might do worse than giving the .25 Stevens a re-assessment.
Picture of .25 Stevens through McLaughlin Auctioneers.
Historical past
Scant info exists in regards to the origins of the .25 Stevens. Barnes notes in “Cartridges of the World” that it was developed collectively by the J. Stevens Arms & Software Co. and the Peters Cartridge Co. Although right this moment referred to as a budget-friendly sub-brand of Savage Arms, Stevens was among the many largest gun makers on this planet within the early 1900s. Peters was additionally a big firm, supplying ammunition to numerous international locations all through each world wars. Creating and releasing a cartridge collectively would have been a bit like Federal and Ruger teaming as much as create a model new big-game cartridge.
There may be some debate about which rifle was the primary to be chambered within the .25 Stevens. The Stevens Crack Shot No. 15 was supplied within the .25 Stevens in 1900, however the cartridge was additionally chambered in Stevens Favourite rifles, which had been produced from the Eighteen Nineties to the Nineteen Thirties. Each the Crack Shot and the Favourite had been a part of Stevens line of Boys Rifles. Marketed to children (as their title implies), these small lengthy weapons used a falling block lever motion in a single-shot configuration. They had been designed to be secure but additionally efficient on a boy’s favourite small-game targets.
The .25 Stevens was discontinued in 1942, however it retained a loyal following many years after. Legendary gun author Elmer Keith known as the .25 Stevens a “most glorious cartridge” within the 1961 version of his ebook, “Sixguns.”
“Of all of the rim fireplace pistol cartridges, the one I appreciated greatest was the .25 Stevens lengthy,” he stated. “This can be a actual small recreation cartridge and one I wish to see used right this moment in Okay-22 and Colt Goal revolvers in addition to the Ruger Single Six.”
Although Keith admitted that the .22 LR is a “very helpful cartridge” for observe and “some small recreation,” the .25 Stevens is a “much better rim fireplace cartridge for small recreation searching.”
“I’ve howled for a revolver for the .25 Stevens for over 30 years,” he stated. “This previous cartridge has lengthy confirmed a super small recreation cartridge, which the .22 L.R. will not be.”
Ballistics
Why did Keith want the .25 Stevens to the .22 Lengthy Rifle? Surprisingly, he doesn’t get into a lot element in “Sixguns,” however we are able to make some assumptions.
Keith claimed that out of a type of Ruger Single Six revolvers, a 60-grain .25 Stevens might obtain a muzzle velocity of 1,300 to 1,500 feet-per-second (fps). A rifle would seemingly propel that bullet even quicker.
“With using a hole level bullet of about 65 grains, at velocities of 1,200 ft or higher, they might be enough for large sage hens, jack rabbits, even shut pictures on coyotes and bobcats,” he stated. “With stable bullets they might not be too harmful for even fox or gray squirrels.”
A bullet from a .25 Stevens travels about as quick as a .22 LR, however it weighs about 50% extra. This produces further downrange power, which is a giant motive why, in keeping with Barnes, it “had a wonderful fame on small recreation, particularly for not ruining edible meat.”
Or, as one fan put it on a gun discussion board in 2021, “it anchored small recreation in a method the .22 Rimfire might by no means accomplish.”
If the .25 Stevens had survived past 1942, it might have benefited from even additional enhancements. Barnes studies that Remington had been engaged on a high-velocity model of the cartridge previous to the outbreak of World Struggle II. This quicker load was rumored to have the ability to propel a 67-grain bullet 1,400 fps, including about 200 fps to the unique model.
Had the .25 Stevens survived to 2025, trendy powders might have added an extra 200-400 fps. This is able to have allowed it to rival the ability and velocity of the .22 Winchester Magnum Rimfire.
The .25 Stevens Immediately
Regardless of a loyal following and stable in-the-field efficiency, the .25 Stevens wasn’t good. It was considerably dearer than the .22 LR, which undercut its enchantment to younger hunters who might have been given a Stevens rifle for Christmas.
Barnes additionally studies that it suffered from a good quantity of bullet drop. These heavy bullets dropped quicker than the .22 LR, making pictures past 70 yards tougher. A high-velocity model would have solved that downside, however it didn’t survive to see that improvement.
Immediately, no rifles are chambered within the .25 Stevens, and no ammo firms manufacture manufacturing facility rounds. As a result of rimfire cartridges are successfully not possible to reload, would-be followers of the Stevens are restricted to an ever-dwindling provide of century-old weapons and ammunition.
Whether or not the .25 Stevens Lengthy (or related cartridge) makes a comeback relies on whether or not any ammo makers are prepared to take a threat on a brand new rimfire. A number of new .17-caliber rimfires have been launched in current many years, and the .22 Winchester Magnum Rimfire fills a few of the house the .25 Stevens might have occupied.
Nonetheless, relating to ammunition, it’s good to have choices. If an ammo firm wished to provide a .25-caliber rimfire, I’d wager good cash that hunters and gun fans would at the least be prepared to provide it a shot.
