Mystery .257 levergun wildcat

[Bill in Oregon]

I was just rereading an article by the late Francis Sell on the handiness of a curved buttplate for snapshooting deer in the Oregon coast woods. This is in the 1984 Gun Digest. Sell demonstrates the use of this buttplate on a custom Marlin 336 he had barreled to a .257 wildcat -- but gives no other information about it. Anyone know what old Francis might have been using? He does mention snapshooting a couple of ravens with the 117-grain soft point, so maybe it was a .25-35 improved??

[3leggedturtle]

Think he called it a .25Tomcat. I had the article in a American Rifleman but lost it back in the 90's. Think it was a slightly improved 25/35 with athe neck just a touch shorter than the stock 25/35. It moved the 117gr RN at 24-2500fps out of his 24" barrel If anyone could post that article, if copyrights have expired I'd appreciate it too. 3leg/Todd

[Bill in Oregon]

Todd, thanks. I have been doing some searching and found some information on the .25-35 Tomcat. Supposedly, P.O. Ackley helped Sell with this wildcat, which features a 35-degree shoulder and what seems to be the original case neck, vs. the 40-degree shoulder and shortened neck of the Ackley Improved.
Man, I would love to find a copy of that American Rifleman article "A Custom Deer Rifle."
Sell lived in the Coast Range of Oregon, where snap shots at blacktails are the norm.

[AJMD429]

Reminds me that someday I would like to rebarrel a 357 Mag levergun in 256 Win Mag...

[earlmck]

Reminds me that someday I would like to rebarrel a 357 Mag levergun in 256 Win Mag...

That should be a natural, Doc. I once had that cartridge in a Marlin model 62, but the gun was such a tinker-toy feeling thing compared to my model 92 Winchester 25/20 I just could never warm up to it. But the cartridge has real fun potential.

With all the old Marlins out there stuck in the back of closets, you'd think re-barrelling to 25/35 or a wildcat version thereof would be more common. And 219 zipper, too. I would love either (or both) of those, especially in the 24" 336A configuration...

[Booger Bill]

I had a .256 win mag in a ruger hawkeye. Then I had a martini action rifle chambered in it. Now I have a T/C contender barrel. I would love to have a winchester 92 built in one. I knew a guy who had a beauty. Maybe someday have a barrel put on a taurus 92? I have one in .357. A browning 92 would be nice but who wants to butcher one? I have a browning 92 in .44 mag. Wish it was in .357 or .256 win mag. I do have the dies and a couple hundred case`s and maybe a 100 factory and a bunch of reloads. I love that cartridge. Its almost no recoil, flat shooting but a ear ringer.

[BenT]

If you like Francis Sell get his books "Small game hunting " and "Advanced hunting on deer and elk trails" . Have copies and won't part with them because they are a pleasure to read. In the book Wildcat Cartridges volume two Francis writes about his 25-35 tomcat. He uses 30-30 brass to form and shoots a Marlin with a 24 inch barrel to get to 2600 FPS.

I have done some testing on an improved 25-35 . It is a 25-35 blown out to 25 Rem. I filed down the rim of a 25-35 and fire formed it in a 25 Rem model 14 . The shoulder blew out without splitting, which in a 25-35 AI it will. What this does is just give me 25-35 head stamped brass instead of 30-30. Also no custom dies needed just use 25 Rem dies. The 25 Rem isn't tapered like the 25-35 , it equal to a 30-30 necked to 25 cal.

My testing showed the 25-35 holds 36.1 grains of water, 25 Rem = 43 grains, 250 Savage = 46.5, and 25-35 AI = 46.3 . So there is an improvement in case capacity, close to the 250 Savage.

So I am waiting on a friend of mine who is has done barrel work to buy a lathe. Plus I am stuck on using a Glenfield I have or picking up a Win 94 AE.

[AJMD429]

I have a browning 92 in .44 mag. Wish it was in .357 or .256 win mag.

There's always the 357 B&D (44 Mag necked down to 357 Mag - close to 357 Max ballistics).

[Bill in Oregon]

Ben, that's some great information.
It sure is tempting to find a donor 336 or 94 and rebarrel.

[Booger Bill]

Here are my 92 clones. One is the rossi in .357 and the gold trigger one is the browning 92 in .44 mag. About 45 years ago I had a 92 rifle that was a shotout 25/20 redone in .357 mag and (gulp) a shotout 73 rifle 32/20 redone to .38 special. Both are long gone.

[william iorg]

Now I’m not suggesting that you root around in another feller’s Photobucket account but…
This picture is in the album 25-35 in the sub album Francis Sell. There may be something else in there you are interested in.

http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd3 ... 0ed500.jpg

[Bill in Oregon]

William, thank you. I might just have to nose around and see if anyone makes that reamer, or call Dave Kiff.

[william iorg]

I have not found anyone who stocks the reamer. I now have a donor Model 94AE so I am part way there. I am thinking Manton for the reamer.

[Sixgun]

There's really nothing wrong with the standard 25-35. We all know everything is shot placement.---6

[BenT]

I have not found anyone who stocks the reamer. I now have a donor Model 94AE so I am part way there. I am thinking Manton for the reamer.

I haven't found anyone who stocks a 25 Rem reamer either,so I would have to get one made. But I have the dies already. I am not sure what barrel length to go with , 24 " for max velocity or 20 " for handiness.

[Sixgun]

I have not found anyone who stocks the reamer. I now have a donor Model 94AE so I am part way there. I am thinking Manton for the reamer.

I haven't found anyone who stocks a 25 Rem reamer either,so I would have to get one made. But I have the dies already. I am not sure what barrel length to go with , 24 " for max velocity or 20 " for handiness.

Ben,
With the powders that are suitable for a cartridge of that size, it won't matter. Get what pleases you.----6

[william iorg]

When you click on the link you willsee the case drawing for the Tomcat.
Click the advance arrow and among other things you will come on a row forming steps for the .25 Remington.
I like the .25's.

[Bill in Oregon]

Sixgun, that is the article that got me going on this. I was looking at replacement wood at Treebone.

http://www.treebonecarving.com/marlin-l ... tocks.html

[william iorg]

I am pleased that's the article. You know there is another? From Handloader? That's where the load chart came from.

I shoot the "Modern" 25-35 - that's is in modern rifles. I load to velocities as reported in the 1920's and '30's. Now I admit they were using longer barrels than I am so my pressures are higher. On our smaller West Texas deer the 25-35 with 100-grain bullets - I feed the Speer 100-grain JHP through the tubular magazine with no trouble - the 25-35 does the job very well.

I would very much like to have a Tomcat.

[Bill in Oregon]

William, just grabbed my old Handloader/Rifle Master Index. Francis' article on the Tomcat was in Rifle magazine No. 83, September-October of 1982. Once again, I regret getting rid of all those back issues!

[Bill in Oregon]

Just sent dimensions to Dave Manson for a quote on a reamer. Will let the gang know when I hear back.

[John in MS]

Very interesting!! I will be following closely!

Thanks for sharing!
John

[BAGTIC]

P.O. Ackley said that of all his 'improved' cartridges the one that showed the greatest increase in performance was the 25/35 Improved..