The .25-21 Stevens was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 centerfire

Centerfire ammunition

A centerfire cartridge is a cartridge with a primer located in the center of the cartridge case head. Unlike rimfire cartridges, the primer is a separate and replaceable component....

 rifle

Rifle

A rifle is a firearm designed to be fired from the shoulder, with a barrel that has a helical groove or pattern of grooves cut into the barrel walls. The raised areas of the rifling are called "lands," which make contact with the projectile , imparting spin around an axis corresponding to the...

 cartridge

Cartridge (firearms)

A cartridge, also called a round, packages the bullet, gunpowder and primer into a single metallic case precisely made to fit the firing chamber of a firearm. The primer is a small charge of impact-sensitive chemical that may be located at the center of the case head or at its rim . Electrically...

.

Designed by Capt. W. L. Carpenter, 9th U.S. Infantry, in 1897, the .25-21 was a bottlenecked round, based on the longer .25-25

.25-25 Stevens

The .25-25 Stevens was an American centerfire rifle cartridge.Designed by Capt. W. L. Carpenter, 9th U.S. Infantry, in 1895, the .25-21 Stevens was the company's first straight-cased cartridge. It would be used in Stevens' single shot Model 44, as well as the Model 44½ rifles, which first went on...

. It first straight-cased cartridge. It would be used in Stevens' single shot Model 44 rifle, as well as the Model 44½, which first went on sale in 1903. In addition, it was available in the Remington-Hepburn

Remington Arms

Remington Arms Company, Inc. was founded in 1816 by Eliphalet Remington in Ilion, New York, as E. Remington and Sons. It is the oldest company in the United States which still makes its original product, and is the oldest continuously operating manufacturer in North America. It is the only U.S....

 target rifle.

While the .25-25 was popular, the .25-21 offered "practically the same performance and was a little cleaner shooting." It was also found the usual 20 or black powder

Gunpowder

Gunpowder, also known since in the late 19th century as black powder, was the first chemical explosive and the only one known until the mid 1800s. It is a mixture of sulfur, charcoal, and potassium nitrate - with the sulfur and charcoal acting as fuels, while the saltpeter works as an oxidizer...

 charge of the shorter, bottlenecked .25-21 offered "practically the same ballistics" as 24 or in the .25-25. It was highly accurate, reputedly capable of generating 0.5 in (12.7 mm) groups at 100 yd (91.4 m).

In power, the .25-21 was outpaced by the .25-20 WCF and .32-20 Winchester

.32-20 Winchester

The .32-20 Winchester, also known as the .32 WCF , was the first small-game lever-action cartridge thatWinchester produced. It was initially introduced as a blackpowder cartridge in 1882 for small-game, varmint hunting, and deer. Colt produced a single-action pistol chambered for this cartridge a...

, while today, even modern pistol rounds such as the .38 Super

.38 Super

The .38 Super or .38 Super Automatic is a pistol cartridge that fires a diameter bullet. The Super was introduced in the late 1920s as a higher pressure loading of the .38 ACP or .38 Auto. The old .38 ACP propelled a bullet at . The improved .38 Super Auto pushed the same bullet at...

offer superior performance.

Sources

• Barnes, Frank C., ed. by John T. Amber. ".25-21 Stevens", in Cartridges of the World, pp. 74 & 123. Northfield, IL: DBI Books, 1972. ISBN 0-695-80326-3.
• ______ and _____. ".25-25 Stevens", in Cartridges of the World, p. 75. Northfield, IL: DBI Books, 1972. ISBN 0-695-80326-3.
• ______ and _____. ".25-20 WCF", in Cartridges of the World, p. 20. Northfield, IL: DBI Books, 1972. ISBN 0-695-80326-3.
• ______ and _____. ".32-20 Winchester", in Cartridges of the World, p. 46. Northfield, IL: DBI Books, 1972. ISBN 0-695-80326-3.
• ______ and _____. ".38 Colt Super Automatic", in Cartridges of the World, p. 46. Northfield, IL: DBI Books, 1972. ISBN 0-695-80326-3.