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257 Roberts

4K views 19 replies 8 participants last post by  tray 
#1 ·
i have a 25 roberts can it be rechamberd to 257 roberts ? also i have a257 roberts in a ruger light weight that i had throated to take advantage of the 120 grain bullets which worked out very well My question is does anyone make 140 gr bullets in 25 caliber? the 6.5 sweede casses are similar and i think they would work well in a 257 roberts. What do you guys think?
 
#2 ·
The 25 Roberts was Remington’s early name for the 257 Roberts. What rifle do you have?

The .25 caliber cartridges do not handle the heavy bullets as well as the 6.5’s due to rifling twist. The 25’s have a twist rate which is too slow.

Your rifle may be a collectors item, check before you modify it.
 
#4 ·
The description of your rifle is very intriguing.
Many of these rifles have significant interest among collectors. Early Springfield sporters always generate interest.
There are at least three different 25 Roberts and 257 Roberts’s variations. The standard 257 Roberts or 257 “Remington Roberts cartridge will not chamber in the two earlier examples of wildcats that I am familiar with.
When you load for this rifle you will find the various 100-grain bullets extremely useful in the Roberts cartridge. You will have no trouble with killing power and the 100-grain bullets. You will need to determine the throat length in order to load accurate ammunition for this rifle.
If you seat an 87-grain bullet out to touch the lands ahead of a stiff charge of IMR 4064 you may find you have a very fine varmint rifle in your hands. This may require a cartridge length which will not work through the magazine – which is not a problem for a varmint rifle.
As I said above the 100-grain bullets are generally a good all-around bullet for the Roberts cartridge.
The first thing you need to do is to get a cast of the chamber to see which Roberts’s cartridge you have. After that the loading is easy and you will have no trouble finding load information or people who shoot the cartridge with great satisfaction.
I would not consider altering the rifle in anyway until you have determined exactly what you have.
 
#5 ·
Tray, While you are checking out your rifle try to determine the rate of twist. It's generally regarded a one in ten twist is needed to stablize 120 grain .25 caliber bullets. Many of the older .25 caliber barrels weren't that fast.
 
#11 ·
Yeah, if you really want an actual .257 Roberts, you could probably sell what you have for twice what it would cost to buy a new gun. Or, you could keep it and shoot a very cool piece of history, which is one of things I think is very cool about certain guns. For example, my daughter used my grandfather's Model '92 in 44/40 to take her first deer this fall. (I know, I keep talking about that, but what can I say? I'm proud of her!)

Don't do anything to that gun except shoot it and take good care of it...or, sell it someone else that will do those things. :)
 
#13 ·
You will probably have to do a chamber cast to get some idea of what the exact dimensions.... custom dies available from several manufacturers, but get dimensions first.

CH4D, maybe?

Probably won't be cheap.
 
#15 · (Edited)
There are several points you need to consider with this rifle. While this is not an example of the “classic” Springfield Sporter” it appears to have considerable collector interest due to its origins and how it is equipped.

If your rifle is equipped with pre-WWII sights you will find these sights have considerable collector interest individually.
The pre-WWII Pachmayer and G&H side mounts were considered to be “state of the art” at the time and were selected for use by such notables as Townsend Whelen for his personal rifles.
The post-WWII side mounts were still of high quality and quite popular.

The style of stock on your sporter may have considerable impact on its value and collector interest – often the lightly modified standard sporter stocks bring substantial premiums on sporting Springfield rifles. Some rifles which appear quite plain and common have substantial value.

I have seen several highly collectable rifles altered with very unfortunate modern improvements such as removing pre-WWII scopes and mounts to install low cost and less desirable modern scopes and mounts.

I have recently examined a Lyman receiver sight which was damaged simply because the owner did not realize sights installed on heavy recoiling rifles were often attached to the receiver by solder as well as screws. The screws of this sight were removed and when the sight did not fall off it was driven off using a wood block and heavy hammer.

The configuration of your rifle will indicate how it was intended to be used. You may find your rifle was sighted for full power hunting loads using the scope and receiver sight while an open sight – if present was used for reduced loads for shooting small game in the hunting field.

I bought a very well used Savage Model 23 at a gun show once for less than the value of the Marbles sights which were installed and consider the rifle itself to have been a “free gift.”

I would like to see a picture of your rifle and to hear any of its known history.
 
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