doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion Classic & Custom Single Barreled Sporting Rifles @ doublegunshop.com 25-20 vs. 25 WCF

I took pity on an old timer, struggling around with his walker,at a local show today.I made an offer on a low wall,(with no intention of keeping it),and a deal was struck.On checking to see that it was pre-98,my referance says 1891,(ser.# 47667),but the barrel is marked 25 WCF.
COTW says the 25-20 WCF was introduced in 1892 for their lever gun,would Winchester have chambered the singles for their 25 WCF prior to 92,or is my dating wrong?

Deleted: Info I found was not about the .25-20 WCF cartridge.

The early CF 25-cal Winchester 1885s used a long skinny cartridge case that later became known as the 25-20 Single Shot case, but in the early years it was simply called the 25-20 Winchester. Then later when the 1892 Win needed a 25-cal cartridge, they found that the early case was too long for the action and so the 25-20 WCF case and nomenclature was born. After 1892 the name of the early long skinny case was changed to the 'Single Shot' designation to avoid confusion (?), while the new shorter fatter case received the 'WCF' name.

Brass for the 25-20 Single Shot is hard to find and usually doesn't last long when reloaded, but Jamison is apparently OK. I've used lathe-turned cases with mixed results and won't use them again.

I like these little rifles and would like a chance to trade you out of this one if you decide to get rid of it.
Regards, Joe

Thanks Joe,I think I understand.I'm dealing with snow right now,will PM you later with some details on the rifle.

Daniel L. Shuey, "W.R.A. Co. Headstamped Cartridges and Their Variations, Vol. 1" says that Winchester did not market the 25-20 WCF until 1895.

Then I went back and read what John Campbell wrote. The action was manufactured and given a serial number. They were made in batches, not as a continuous production process. The time between the completion of the action and the assembly into a rifle might have been as short as a day or as long as several years. Probably dependent on demand and the economy. The action was made in 1890 or 1891, but was apparently assembled at some time 1895 or later. And who knows how long it sat in a warehouse?

Or the rifle might have gone back to Winchester for rebarreling, in which case there might be some code numbers on the barrel beneath the fore-end. Or (less likely) Winchester might have sold some gunsmith a barrel.

Is the rifle worth the cost to have it lettered?

I just checked with a 32-20 case and the rim is to large,so I guess it's still a 25-20 single shot.
Thanks