.257 Roberts - Savage Short Action or Long Action?

[Dadof10]

.257 Roberts - Savage Short Action or Long Action?

I've done some searching and there are "opinions" all over the place
on this one. Bottom line - Will a .257 Roberts work in a Savage short
action or do I need to get a long action?

I currently have a .308 Savage Weather Warrior. I'm wanting to
convert it to a 7mm-08 and I know that is just a barrel swap and
head space job. Farely simple according to what I have seen.

I also have this wild hare for a .257 Roberts. I'm kind of nastalgic
that way. Can I build this off a Savage short action or do I need to
buy the long action? I'm pretty sure I can use the .308 bolt for the
.257 Roberts.

I'm really looking to hear from someone who has built the .257
Roberts on a short action Savage and want to know how that
worked for you.

I will be using this for Missouri whitetail so am interested in the
100/117/120 grain bullets. I'm willing to limit to 117 grain if that
works in the short action Savage. If it won't, I will get a long action.
I also plan on using the .257 Roberts for coyotes so would go to
lighter bullets for that.

I found a long action used Stevens at a good price but I don't know if
it is a Accu-trigger or not. That can be fixed pretty quickly - it only
costs money.

Appreciate any thoughts or considerations on this.

Steve

[Cycler]

Hodgdon's data for the .257 Roberts lists a maximum COL of 2.89" for a few loads and less for most and it includes bullets up to 120 gr so they should fit in a short action mag. I was a bit surprised since, as a general rule cartridges based on the 7x57 case are often too long for the Savage short action.

I did a bit of digging and found a letter I received from Savage dated November 6, 1968 (!) replying to a similar question about what other cartridges would fit my .243 Win short action Model 110 (they were all called Model 110 in those days). One of the recommended alternatives was indeed the .257 Roberts with a COL of 2.775" and the 6 mm Rem with a COL of 2.852". So between the Hodgdon data and Savage's own recommendations, your short action should work fine.

[Dadof10]

Even though I've been hunting my whole life (I'm 53), I've never gotten into modifying/building guns. I am familiar with guns though.

I pulled out my Lyman manual. It shows a max COL of 2.775 for the .257 Roberts with 100 and 117 grain bullets. The Lyman manual shows a max COL of 2.820 for the .308.

I noticed this before my post, but wanted to see if anyone else picked up on this also.

Thanks for the reply, Cycler.

Steve

[JCalhoun]

You could buy a box of factory .257 Roberts ammo and see if they will fit in the magazine.

Also, the Stevens will not have an Accutrigger.

[243LPR]

I'd probably opt for the long action to seat heavy bullets long if the barrel is throated for it.

[ellobo]

Ditto on the long action.

El Lobo

[VA Bigbore]

Yes, you can build it on the short action. It will fit. You will lose some of its capability because of the magazine length and short bolt, but it will work. I helped rebarrel a buddy's SA 110 to .257 Roberts. A long action will give you all the functionability of the cartridge, but you can use a short action to do a build if that is what you have/want.

[scratcherky]

To obtain full potential of the 257 Roberts, a long action is needed. Also, rounds need to be reloaded. If not a reloader, a short action will suffice.

[Dadof10]

I appreciate the feedback from all.

I'm leaning toward the long action especially since I've found a good deal on a Stevens .30-06 that would be the action donor. This would leave my short action .308 for the 7mm-08 build.

If I can pull all of this off, I would have a .30-06 (Remington 742 semi-auto), a 7mm-08 built off my .308 Savage, and a .257 Roberts built off the Stevens action. With 3 rifles, I should be ready for any Missouri whitetail or coyote at this point.

Now, I have 4 sons that I will need to leave a deer rifle each. Sounds like I need to start thinking about the next niche to fill.

This forum is full of enablers I tell you, just full of enablers.

Steve

[JCalhoun]

Yes sir and we are very good at it! ;D :D

[scratcherky]

Once you get that 257 Roberts built and dialed in, you will probably leave the other 2 rifles in the safe.

[halfmile]

Most gun makers use a short action for the Bob. The exception is Ruger, they have a medium length (or used to at least) which works fine.

The caveats re length and reloading are correct. You could always have a custom chamber reamed with a short freebore to get to the lands with shorter rounds. Since that will cost money, the 110 is the correct answer.

HM

[Dadof10]

It seems the consensus here is to use a long action. That is also the decision that I was coming to in my research.

I will be reloading so it sounds like the LA provides additional capability that the SA would not. This means the .308 will become a 7mm-08 at some point in the future.

Will keep everyone posted as I look for a LA project gun.

Mentioned to the wife tonight that I am looking at a rifle as a build project for another deer rifle. She said, "I thought you have a rifle." I replied, "I have two but will need to leave rifles to the 4 boys." "Oh" was all she said. Do I have a peach or what?

Don't like to keep secrets in this house.

I will keep everyone posted. I'm still looking for opinions and thoughts so don't stop replying to this thread.

I really appreciate all of the feedback here. This forum is great as far as knowledge of the members. Even the opinions are good to read.

Steve

[Three44s]

Look at it this way,

You'll have both actions at your disposal!


Three 44s

[Slowpoke Slim]

The short action will be fine. You asked for someone who has built one, and I have. It works perfectly. No issues, nada.

I started with a short action weather warrior in 243. All I did was pull the factory barrel and install and headspace the drop in replacement barrel.

It took no other work. Magazine was fine as it was.

To those that repeat the line that a long action is better, less limiting, etc. I want to know where you draw that from? It is absolutely incorrect in the Savage short action. The magazine is plenty long enough. This is an old wives tail that needs to be put to rest.

The only way you're going to seat your bullets longer than the Savage magazine is to go with a custom long throated reamer when you spec out your replacement barrel. If you go with a "standard" reamer for your drop in barrel, you can't get the bullet long enough to NOT work in the magazine before you hit the lands.

Here is a short, fun video I made of my short action Savage 257 Roberts feeding factory ammo after the last time someone piped up on here and said it wouldn't work, and told me I was wrong...

http://s490.photobucket.com/albums/rr268/slowpokeslim/?action=view&current=P1050700.mp4


That is a factory Fed premium 120 gr partition round.

Here's a still picture of the round sitting in the mag...



I can seat the bullets, both 100 gr and 115 gr ballistic tips, as well as the 100 and 120 gr partitions in my rifle so that they touch the lands, and they will still fit into and feed from the magazine. As I said before the ONLY way this would be any issue at all would be if you somehow reamed your chamber for an extra long throat. A standard reamer made to SAAMI specs will not allow this to happen.


EDIT-- I tried to figure out how to get the video to play from my thread post, but can't. I thought the last time around I was able to do so. Sorry I'm not computer savvy enough to get it to run in the post, so you'll have to click the link to see the video. It's a short one though.

[slaroy]

I have to agree with slowpokes. I have also built a Bob on a short action. I reload and have only come across one load that was too long; a 115gr Berger seated way out. I have had zeroed issues otherwise. I even have a long action waitingand have no desire to rebuild the Bob on the long action.

[Dadof10]

Slowpoke and Slaroy,

Thanks for responding. Nice to hear that it has been done.

Now to find another donor action. I have my .308 but I would like 2 rifles - one in 7mm-08 and one in .257 Roberts.

Steve

[ADK_Matt]

I too think I agree with slowpokes and slaroy. I recently made a special order with Effie Sullivan at Savage and though I begged her to build me a 257 Bob on a long action, she advised against. She stated that Savage short actions are actually mid length when compared to other manufacturers short actions. I compared it to my other Bob which is a Winchester Featherweight XTR and Effie was right on. I would gather that on a custom rebuild, you could go either way, but for what it is worth my new Bob is built on a Model 11 action from the Lightweight Hunter. I just set it up and will report back with how it prints. Here's a couple pics...