1885 25 WCF|General Discussions & Questions|Forum|Winchester Collector

All Model 1885 barrels marked “25 W.C.F.” were chambered for the 25-20 Single Shot (S.S.) cartridge, so yes, they will chamber a “25-20” round.  They will not chamber a 25-20 W.C.F. cartridge.  When Winchester adopted the 25-20 Single Shot cartridge in 1890, it was the only cartridge in that caliber, so Winchester marked the barrels “25 W.C.F.”.  When Winchester developed and introduced the 25-20 WCF (repeater) cartridge, they changed the caliber on the Model 1885 barrels to “25-20 S.S.” or “25-20 W.C.F.” to make it clear which was which.  Over the production life of the Model 1885, the vast majority were chambered for the 25-20 S.S. cartridge.

Bert