Compact .257 Roberts?

[David4516]

So, I had this crazy idea that I'd take an old 95 action Mauser that I had and turn it into a custom rifle in .257 Roberts

It was going to be a light and compact rifle, 18 inch barrel.

I took it to a gunsmith a few days ago, he looked it over and apparently it's in worse shape than I had thought. His recommendation was to just leave it as-is, because it would cost significantly more to turn it into what I wanted than it would to just buy a brand new rifle...

The thing is that I had already bought dies, brass, and bullets for reloading the .257 Roberts. So I've learned a lesson... next time don't buy the reloading goodies before you have a gun for them.

If possible I'd still like to find a small .257 rifle. Intended use is mainly deer hunting. I'd like something that is a little easier to carry around in the brush and what-not.

I'm having trouble finding a .257 in anything other than a full sized rifle however. I know it's not a "short action" caliber, but do you guys know if anyone makes a short rifle with a long action?

I know that some will say "just by the full size gun". Normally I would, but I've already got a full sized hunting rifle (Ruger M77 in .280 Remington). I don't know if I can justify buying a gun for a niche that I already have filled... I need something different or the wife will say "but you already have one". And she'd be right.

As a side note, why aren't there any short-action cartridges in .25 cal? Like a .257-08? I prefer .25 cal to .24 cal for my purposes, I think that a 120gr .25 bullet is probably better for use on Deer than a 100gr .24 cal bullet...

 

[jimmyraythomason]

Why not a .260 Remington? You could get a Remington Model 7 and have it re-barrelled in .257 bob.

 

[Bigfoot]

Several makers do sell true short actions chambered in 257 Roberts. There was a thread on this 'short action issue' a little while back. You can search my name to find it. Off hand though look up Kimber, that little short action Montana in 257 would be sweet, very small and light.

 

[dakotasin]

257-308 is a wildcat called "25 souper". fantastic little round - just hasn't been standardized yet.

250 savage and 25 wssm come to mind for sa 25 cal commercial chamberings. 25 wssm should provide 257 roberts capability.

my suggestion is to find a rem m7 or ruger compact in a chambering that will as closely as possibly match your bolt face and magazine requirements, and have a custom pipe put on. you're likely to be far more happy w/ the end result. or, find a kimber montana and call it a day.

i have a 98 mauser i converted over for a short and handy rifle. barrel is 19". for a lightweight brush buster rifle, the end result was so-so. for a really nice hunting rifle, i am satisfied. for your purposes, i think the end result of my rifle would have been much better had i used a short action receiver.

 

[Auburn1992]

Why not buy a .257, have the barrel and stock shortened?

 

[tango2echo]

Ruger M77 Hawkeye #HM77RL from the factory in .257 Roberts sounds like what you are looking for. 20" bbl and 6.75lbs. Why not have a smith shorten the barrel a couple of inches and recrown, hollow out the buttstock and foam fill it, lighten the bolt, and put a good adj. trigger in it. Looks to me like you could have the rifle you're wanting for under a grand, or about $1300 with decent glass on it. Just my 2 cents.

t2e

 

[dubbleA]

Food for thought..........

Ruger made their 77 MKII in an ultra light model in 257 Roberts, it weighs appx 6 1/4 lbs with a 20 " bbl. They can still be had for around $600 NIB

Kimber chambers the Roberts in their 84 Montana, it comes with a 22" barrel and weighs in at 5 1/4 lbs.

I have both the 25-06 and 257 Roberts and they handle the 120gr pills, that said I think the the same bullet would eat up powder/case capacity in say a 308 size round, though I have been rounds more times that I care to count.

 

[Zak Smith]

I hunted with a .257 Roberts (Ruger) and it was a nice little gun.

Your best bet to buy a compact (short action) rifle with similar ballistics is the .260 Remington. You can load it almost the same as the .257 Roberts +P.

 

[bpl]

Options I'm aware of:

Current Production: Kimber 84M or Ruger Ultralight or M700 CDL Limited

Used: M70 Featherweight, Rem M722, Rebarreled Mauser

 

[NCsmitty]

I would not give up the plan to make something out of the 95 Mauser, as the 257 Roberts is a great round for it.
MidwayUSA has Adams & Bennett barrels that are short chambered series 2 that fit the small ring Mausers in the F-14 contour at 21" long in 257 Roberts.

Here's a link to midway.
http://www.midwayusa.com/viewproduct/?productnumber=133868


If you just have the 'smith fit the barrel to the action, and you do some of the metal finishing and fit a stock, you'll be set.



NCsmitty

 

[genethornton3]

The intermediate mausers work well for 257s. My 257 Ackley is built on a Mexican intermediate/large ring. The 257 Ackley is nice because you can still fire Roberts ammo in it (and by doing so you are fire forming your cases for reloading to Ackley) If you're looking for a complete gun rather than a project, try looking for a Ruger 77.

 

[Ol` Joe]

Your smith was likely right. By the time you`ve turned the bolt handle, drilled & tapped the receiver for a scope, adjusted/replaced the trigger, replaced the barrel and paid for chambering and headspacing, replaced the stock or inletted for the new barrel and bedded the one you have, added a new wing safety that allows use with a scope, you have a lot more spent then the $650-$700 a new Ruger would run.
Resale in the future, if you decide to sell, will be much better with the Ruger too.

 

[David4516]

Somehow I manged to miss the Ruger Ultralight. Thanks for bringing it to my attention, it might be what I end up going with. Maybe with a Leupold 2-7x33 scope...

I like the Ruger M77 rifles, I have a full sized Mark II in .280 Remington that I'm really happy with. It's just a little more gun than I really need for deer...

Anyway, thanks for the advice and ideas so far, and keep them coming. It will be a couple more pay-days before I can afford to do anything, so I have some time to think. The more info I have to base my decisions on, the better...

 

[bpl]

I'd say go for the Ruger Ultralight in .257R! Its the closest production gun to what you said you are looking for. It looks like a nice little rifle. It has a Mauser-like action with 3 position safety and maybe even controlled round feed (not sure, but thought I heard that somewhere). I don't personally own a Ruger rifle, but I've known others who have and were quite happy with them.

 

[lefteyedom]

How about a Yugo 48 Mauser? it would work nicely for a 257 Roberts. Gunsmithing charges are the price you pay to have what you really want.
If money is the issue then, get a savage 10 and rebarrel it. If you stay with the Savage Barrel nut system it is a very easy do it yourself job (with a set of go no-go gauges).

Ether way get what you really want and work the overtime if you have to. You wil be happier in the long run.

 

[Lloyd Smale]

If you dont mind the limitations on bullet seating dept a 257 will fit in a short action. Remington did there 6mms in short action and the 257 in long and there the same case. It would work fine if you stuck to 100 grain bullets. That been said ive got a little tang safety ruger ultra light (long action) in 257 and it shoots sierra 100s into an inch at a 100 yards and 117 sierra flat based spitzers into 3/4s of an inch. Amazing for such a light wippy barrel. Its only about 6 lbs and makes for a light litte gun to walk the woods with.

 

[dirtyjim]

most smiths won't touch a 93 or 95 action & in some instances i agree with them. the main reason is 93 & 95 actions are very soft, compared to a 98 action. if you've ever done any shaping on one you would know they cut like butter with a file, but thats not a real big problem. just send the receiver, bottom metal, bolt shroud & safety to be color case hardened & the bolt to be recarburised. if the bolt it soft enough you may be able to have it color cased but most of the time you cant. then you will have a safe receiver that will look better than anything remchester puts out.

building a sporter will cost more than buying a new rifle but thats not why we build them. we build them to get the rifle we want not the rifle remchester thinks we want.

mexican small ring 98's would be a good candidate along with turk high hump 1903 actions. with the turk 1903 action you can have the front ring surface ground to the same size as a small ring, or just surface grind the sides of the front ring leaving the top high giving it a little bit of a square bridge look.

 

[MCgunner]

Personally, I'd stick with a 22" barrel. My old 722 Remington has a 24" barrel and is still quite light and compact and shoots HARD. It's up there with the 25-06 factory stuff with my handloads.

That Ruger, though, with the 20" barrel is available and would fit your wants I bet. You should look at that one. If you can scrounge some gun shows, old 722s show up occasionally and they're quite affordable. Mine is an inheritance.