SW model 25

[Brad]

Since we are short at work and I will be getting some OT I'm thinking seriously about getting on a wait list for a SW Model 25. I have a Ruger BH in 45 Colt but ink a nice double action would be a fine addition.
I currently own ZERO SW handguns. None, nada. Lots of Rugers.

Anyone got a SW 25 and care to share a few thoughts?

They are on allocation from most distributors so it could be quite a wait.

 

[Josh]

Always wanted one, I love my blackhawk but the S&W is the bees knees IMO. Of course my M57 is my favorite 41 mag, but if i am headed to the woods i always grab the blackhawk.

 

[frnkeore]

I have a nice 625 - 5. I bought it about 10 years ago but, I'm a rifle shooter that got off on a pistol kick for about 3 years. As a result, I haven't shot it very much.

From what I learned about them, you shouldn't shoot the 32k loads in them. The P+ loads are fine and their top limit is 24 - 28k, still a LOT of power can be had. I would consider a a top load to be 21.0 gr 296/H110 with a 300 gr lead bullet. I think that load would take anything that you can find in North America.

I like the trigger a lot in single action, it's the best of my three 45 Colt pistols (BK, RH & 625). My BH has .450 throats and will only shoot 2.5" 25 yard groups, The RH and 625 have .452 and both will do 1.5 @ 25 but, the 625's trigger is much better than the RH.

My 45 Colts:

 

[Brad]

Thanks, that is good info.
I have a BH if I feel a need for higher pressure loads, but I don't care for those these days. I did that phase a while back and found that the extra velocity wasn't worth the extra recoil.
I wouldn't mind a nice 750 fps load with a 452454. Would be easy to get with Unique or maybe Red Dot.

 

[frnkeore]

8.5 gr of Unique is a excellent load with any 240 - 270 gr bullet. It will give you ~850 fps.

Frank

 

[Dale53]

I have a number of both Ruger and Smith's. I have a couple of Rugers in .45 Colt. It is a very good hunting cartridge that, for years, was overshadowed by the .44 Magnum. Frankly, at reasonable woods ranges there is little difference in their terminal effect.

The Smith's routinely have MUCH better triggers than Rugers out of the box. I don't believe I ever met a Ruger that didn't benefit from a trigger job. Having said that, the Single Action Rugers can be given very nice triggers but they don't come that way.

I have several Smith "N" frames and they have all been MORE than satisfactory with great triggers. Just because I can, I have replaced springs in several of my Smith's to give me a better double action trigger (mostly, lighter). You can, of course, go "too far" and end up with an unreliable revolver but that is not necessary (just don't go "too far").

Ruger Single Actions that have under size cylinder throats (a common complaint in .45 Colt caliber) will benefit greatly by having that corrected. I reamed my Ruger SS Bisley Convertible (both cylinders) to .4525" and it NOW will shoot well under 1" at 25 yards off a rest. I have done several other similar revolvers with the same results. Doug on this board offers this service at a reasonable rate and IMO is a MUST to get the best from these revolvers.

My "standard" load in the .45 Colt cylinder using .45 Colt brass is 8.5 grs. of Unique behind a 250-260 gr SWC. That same powder charge behind the RCBS 45-270-SAA bullet (my Mihec moulds cast these at about 285 grs.) sized to .452" makes for a VERY nice and powerful load for both S&W and Ruger revolvers without straining them. They will shoot clear through a large whitetail, end for end, at 100 yards. A feller just doesn't need a more powerful handgun for most things in this area. I wouldn't be afraid to tackle Deer (or even an Elk at reasonable ranges) and Black bear. I would want a bit more for a Grizzly (I have NO experience with Grizzlies but I do have a good imagination).

Strangely enough, the large caliber (.44 and .45's) make excellent edible small game revolvers. I have taken a goodly amount of rabbits (cottontail and snowshoe) and grouse, etc without issue. Shoot the close ones in the head and through the "slats" if they are further away. No meat damage to speak of and instant stops...

You might want to check out this web site for "hands on" information about the .45 Colt in Smith revolvers:
http://www.handloads.com/articles/?id=12

FWIW
Dale53

 

[9.3X62AL]

What Dale said, in its entirety. Early years of my LEO career showed a nearby agency authorize the S&W Model 25-5 in 45 Colt. I was quite envious of this agency's foresight and concern about arming their personnel with upgraded sideiron of a decisive character. One thing to keep in mind about many of the 44 and 45 caliber S&W revolvers of that era (late 70s through the 80s)--most of them have wide throating but groove diameters that run more toward SAAMI minimum specs. Just so ya know.

The S&W 25-series 45 Colts can be upticked a little pressure-wise, but I would go slowly with that process. The 45 Colt's performance specs of the 1870s required it to shoot laterally through a cavalry mount and inflict a wound on a "hostile" using that mount as cover. With its conical 255-260 grain lead bullet at 1000 FPS from a 7.5" SAA barrel, the cartridge could and would meet this standard reliably. Using 9.5 grains of Unique, my Bisley Blackhawk averages 1000 FPS with Lymans #454190, #454424, and #454490. This is sort of a "45 Colt +P", though not a screamingly excessive overload. I've run hundreds of these loads through a Uberti Cattleman x 4-3/4" without problems--they shoot close to the fixed sights and cases fall free from an opened gate more often than not. Brass lasts forever--as long as I resize it in an RCBS steel sizer die. The tungsten-carbide die sizes them WAY too much--down to .469"--turning them into short-lived "Coke bottles". The steel die sizes to .477"--much mo' bettah, as the late Felix Robbins was wont to say.

This 45 Colt benchwork and firing had a profound effect on my large-bore handgunning habits. Like many of us, there was a time that Pouring On The Coal made sense to me. Turning money into noise (and recoil) was fun. For a while. Along about age 40 the concept of Mortality finally dawned upon me, a thing I ignored with enthusiasm for my first 4 decades. Handmaiden to Mortality was Wear And Tear, the possibility that all of the unwise uses I had put my body to might conspire to slow my roll at some point. Among those arguably abusive usages was the firing of Magnum revolvers. It was dawning on me as my 50th year was on the horizon that I really didn't like getting hammered by handgun recoil. I genuinely enjoyed the 41 Magnum and its lead-bullet 210 grainer at 950-1000 FPS. I could and still can shoot the 45 Colt in both Ruger and Uberti with 255s at 900-1000 FPS all day. LOADS OF THIS SORT CAN SHOOT THROUGH A HORSE, FOR CRYIN' OUT LOUD. WTH am I doing running #429244 out of my Redhawk at 1450 FPS??

Getting hell-hammered, that's what. I bought a little Winchester/Miroku Model 92 repro (GORGEOUS little carbine!) to shoot these full-tilt loadings through. Now, 90% of my 44 Magnum loadings consist of Keith's #429421 at 800 or 1000 FPS (no mark or green ink respectively)--5% consist of Mr. Keith's load/blue ID ink (#429421 at 1200 FPS) and the remaining 5% are for the rifle, and have red ID ink.

 

[waco]

Brad
There are currently 37 of them on gun broker right now.
6 with 8" barrels
1 with 7"
12 with 6"
1 with 5"
And 3 with 4" barrels.

 

[Brad]

I will go look. I want a 6 inch barrel and won't pay too much.
Some of those guys are awful proud of their guns.

 

[waco]

You got that right!

 

[Brad]

I would rather wait a year for a new gun at 900 bucks than buy used, sight unseen, for 1200. I'm not in a hurry and don't have a major hard on for one.
Truth be told, I have never paid that much for any gun. I still remember cringing over paying 550 for a new Ruger SRH back in the mid to late 90s.

 

[9.3X62AL]

You can always do what a partner of mine did--he didn't like the big throat/small groove offerings of S&W in the 1980s, so he found a clunker Model 28 and had it bored out CORRECTLY to 45 Colt. He was shooting wadcutters in it for the most part, so the short cylinder of the N-frame 357 wasn't an issue for him. It was one accurate critter, too. He has used Lyman #452423 to take at least 3 deer with it, too.

I came close to opening up a 4" 1980s Model 29 to 45 Colt not long ago, but the seller got delusions of largesse and I walked away. I might have been born at night, but it wasn't LAST NIGHT.

 

[Brad]

Some people see dollar signs way beyond worth. I tend to walk past lots of them at gun shows.
Time is on my side. This is a want, not a need. I own a very serviceable BH in 45 Colt and a very nice Marlin 1894 CB too. This itch can wait to be scratched.

 

[9.3X62AL]

Similar sitch here, Brad. With a 4" M-29 and 5.5" Redhawk in 44 Mag already on hand--and a BisHawk 7.5" in 45 Colt that shoots GREAT--my large-bore rollerpistol needs are well-covered. I read Gunbroker and Auction Arms primarily for entertainment, given some of the pricing therein. Reminiscent of a Steve Winwood/Traffic album title from the 70s--"Shoot-Out At The Fantasy Factory".