257 Roberts AI Finally!

wildcatter

Beginner
Jan 11, 2025
13
58
It's been nearly 30 years since I built me first 257 AI, and a week ago I took possession of my second. I have built 2 6mm Rem. AI in that time, which is on the same case, and my favorite in these calibers. Both about as efficient as you can get for the caliber. But I found the 257 AI was just dang near perfect. So the plan was, since Fred agreed to build the stock, I'd order a 25 cal. 1-10 twist 28" HV barrel. meantime I would find a donor action, and acquire the components and dies cutters, and mandrels to make this all happen while waiting on the barrel and stock to happen.

So I started looking for another Axis action, my 3rd now. I thought about the stainless steel I already had, but while waiting I found this. A brand new Youth model in a Muddy Girl camo stock, in 223? it was under 200 dollars, Brand New,, because it did not have a bolt?? But that was no problem for Fred, and I got a needed short mag for the 223 case to use in my custom Axis repeater that Fred built in 17 Mach IV. Sold the scope for 50 bucks, got a new magazine, and for less that 250 investment had the action and bolt.
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So after building the stock, that I told Fred if we didn't like it, because we had no idea what a Walnut laminate would look like with alternating grain? He started on the action, first bushing the bolt head for the smaller firing pin, and tuning the ignition system,,then blueprinting the action and timing everything. While attained all the dies, neck turning mandrels, Bullets, brass, and scope, then got everything sized turned and ready.
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As you see I started this project with the idea I would use 30/06 Lapua brass, as it was all I could find from Lapua that would work. But shortly after I sized a couple, and cut and trimmed them, I did some more searching. and finally in Canada I found the bronze gold! Lapua 8x57 Mauser Brass, in stock, but only 100 rounds. Whis was fine with me, as after building the last 2 6mm Rem AI rifles. I knew how good this brass is. It is the most consistent and the strongest cases I've found in this series of cartridges. I can stand em extremely hard, and the heads don't grow, and the primer pockets stay tight. But sizing down means neck turning even for a no turn reamer. I had some 7x57 AI and 257 AI made on R_P brass I sized down for those pictures.

I finally got the barrel before the first of the year, and last week fred walked into the clubhouse my gun case in hand on range maintenance day last week. I had told him when I dropped it of I wanted the barrel finished at 26" with 6-1/4" flutes starting 2.5" from the muzzle and extending to 4" in front of the receiver. As I walked over and opened the case, I was quite happy. I had finished the stock after sanding, with several coats of boiled Linseed Oil, then 4 coats, sanding between each with Deft Satin Urethane. So I knew how good the stock looked, but the Fluted then polished Brux barrel, really made it pop!! At least I felt it was well worth this wait to me! I guess it just don't take much to make me happy?
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Well- that is one of the best looking Axis reclamation's I have seen! Wish that (Joel) 257 Ackley was still knocking around the board. You guys would have some stuff to talk about! Congrats for finishing out a project well! What twist rate did you go with? Wondering if any one has tried the new Hornady 138's in .25 cal? CL
 
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Nice! Hope you enjoy it!

I have had a 257 Roberts but never one that has been Ackley'd. Still looking for a BLR in 257 Roberts.
I shot a friend's 257AI once out at the range and liked shooting it. Recoil was mild, accuracy was good, but it did bark!

When I went with a quarter bore in the AI version (my only wildcat to date), I went with the 250AI as I had read a couple of articles on rifles so chambered, including one on a rifle built by Charlie Sisk. That article about that Walking Rifle, or was it Walking Around Rifle???...helped me decide on that carthridge for a build.
I have had fun shooting the 250AI, even with factory Winchester 250 Savage 100 gr PP ammo to fire form cases. It will shoot those into sub-MOA groups at 100 yards. My wife even likes shooting it so much, she bought herself a Lipsey's Edition Ruger No.1 in 250 Savage.
I hope to finally develop a good load for it with the 110 gr AB. Or 115 gr BT.
I did send away a fireformed case to Quality Cartridge and got 200 rounds of properly headstamped brass for it.
Would be fun to take to pronghorn hunting, to Africa for springbok and some of the other similar sized antelope species, or Argentina for axis deer, blackbuck, fallow buck and mouflon.
 
Nice! Hope you enjoy it!

I have had a 257 Roberts but never one that has been Ackley'd. Still looking for a BLR in 257 Roberts.
I shot a friend's 257AI once out at the range and liked shooting it. Recoil was mild, accuracy was good, but it did bark!

When I went with a quarter bore in the AI version (my only wildcat to date), I went with the 250AI as I had read a couple of articles on rifles so chambered, including one on a rifle built by Charlie Sisk. That article about that Walking Rifle, or was it Walking Around Rifle???...helped me decide on that carthridge for a build.
I have had fun shooting the 250AI, even with factory Winchester 250 Savage 100 gr PP ammo to fire form cases. It will shoot those into sub-MOA groups at 100 yards. My wife even likes shooting it so much, she bought herself a Lipsey's Edition Ruger No.1 in 250 Savage.
I hope to finally develop a good load for it with the 110 gr AB. Or 115 gr BT.
I did send away a fireformed case to Quality Cartridge and got 200 rounds of properly headstamped brass for it.
Would be fun to take to pronghorn hunting, to Africa for springbok and some of the other similar sized antelope species, or Argentina for axis deer, blackbuck, fallow buck and mouflon.
Hope you get those ticked off your bucket list! The AI version of the 250 is like the &x57 and 257, for much the same reason.

I new how good this Roberts cartridge was the first time I built one 30 year ago, even before I made it an Ackley. I also had 223, 22-250, 7x57, 30-06, and soon will add the 338-06 to that list. I found the 7x57 and the Roberts were truly Improved when I loaded for them over available ammo, the rest was just a case of better case life about all I seen for a practical improvement. But most of them were already loaded to normal modern pressure.

The reason I think so many think that the 7x57 Mauser, and 257 Roberts were so great of an improvement was, they never owned the factory cartridge and reloaded it to safe modern pressures in the modern actions that are available today in those calibers. I never owned the 250 Savage opting for even more performance from the Roberts in that caliber, but it is the same. All the manuals and ammo available for it shows very anemic loads, nowhere near modern pressures. I understand why this is, with so many of these rifles first offered as wildcats on weaker military actions, and introduced on weaker actions than todays modern bolt actions can be loaded to.

If some just loaded these parent cases to modern pressure, we may well still have had them as options for todays offerings. These are Ideal case capacity in these calibers, leaving very little gain to the overbore magnums and larger cases in those calibers. The 7x57 is truly a short magnum in the ackley when loaded to the same pressures. Today the magnums get a little more gain with barrels over 24" and much slower powders that are available today, like Retumbo, and others.

But with the powders we had a decade or so ago like 4350, 760, 4831, 7828, rl 19, and the likes, the old Mauser brass was capable of max pressures with those powders using medium to heavy bullets, in 22 and 24 inch barrels. Whereas at the same pressure those magnum cases needed more of those available slower powders to reach the same pressures which they could hold, and give only marginally better velocities. Some cartridges like the proprietary Weatherby's with vastly more powder capacity really only got there larger gains by factory induced looooong freebores, jumping bullets over .100" with their factory ammo, to meet their claims, and still keep pressure safe. This really means low % gains with high % less barrel life.

All those larger cartridges while creating much more erosion than these very capable cartridges at the same pressures, and performance was very close for such little gain for me to justify the baggage they brought with them. Then they still were much more work tuning loads, and not as capable with more components, to attain the accuracy that came so easy with these more efficient rounds. In fact many times not capable of matching them with any loads as accurate. If they could, many times they need much heavier platforms to deliver it in the field. We see this even on the 600 and 1000 yard Benchrest guns and the calibers they use.

I am building a new first for my Ackley ventures as I speak. I am accumulating and have most in my possession with the stock and action on the way to build a new 338-06 AI. I already expect little gain in the improved cartridge, but welcome the straighter case and sharper shoulder for both case life, and I think that sharper shoulder offers better headspacing properties. But since this rifle barrel is only available from Brux in a #4 sporter, and they will not do a 330 bore any lighter, I have ordered a 257 in a 1-9 twist in the same heavier #4 contour for the 110 to 120 premium hunting bullets for lighter work, making this new lightweight hunting rifle a switch barrel for everything from Antelope to big and dangerous game with the 338-06 ai using the 225 grain AB. or 250 partitions.

But in the time I have left in this life, this should do more than I will ever take advantage of. I also will never bow to the idea their is any practical advantage to those magnum cases. The gains they offer, are negated to me with less accuracy and everything else they give up in field conditions, in the same weight rifles. I also know today with the rangefinders we have today, the flatter trajectory many claim is irrelevant when we know exactly where to aim, with rifles capable of delivering better accuracy at longer ranges, unless you want to lug around heavy varmint weight big game rifles which restrict your mobility, especially at my age!! But that pertains to all.
 
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That is truly a beautiful rifle.

I've been shooting a Remington model 722 that was rechambered to 257 Ackley for about 10 year for whitetail deer, what a pleasure. Nosler 120 grain PTs paired with Reloader 19 has provided good results. Note that Speer 120 grain also shoot well.

When it was still a 257 Roberts I did use it with 100 grain NBTs to harvest a 125 class buck at 188 yards in an open marsh with tall grass. He was double lunged but left no blood trail and traveled 80 to 100 yards beyond the edge of the marsh. The jacket of the bullet was against the far side. Because this is my land and I'm very knowledgeable of the paths that deer take was the only reason that I was able to recover it. After that I moved to the NPT but was unable to get them to shoot well out of my 722. Making it a Ackley increased the velocity enough to allow the 120 to shoot well. The 100 NBT would produce one ragged hole groups. The 120 won't match that but they do shoot .75 inch groups or less.
 
Nice! Hope you enjoy it!

I have had a 257 Roberts but never one that has been Ackley'd. Still looking for a BLR in 257 Roberts.
I shot a friend's 257AI once out at the range and liked shooting it. Recoil was mild, accuracy was good, but it did bark!

When I went with a quarter bore in the AI version (my only wildcat to date), I went with the 250AI as I had read a couple of articles on rifles so chambered, including one on a rifle built by Charlie Sisk. That article about that Walking Rifle, or was it Walking Around Rifle???...helped me decide on that carthridge for a build.
I have had fun shooting the 250AI, even with factory Winchester 250 Savage 100 gr PP ammo to fire form cases. It will shoot those into sub-MOA groups at 100 yards. My wife even likes shooting it so much, she bought herself a Lipsey's Edition Ruger No.1 in 250 Savage.
I hope to finally develop a good load for it with the 110 gr AB. Or 115 gr BT.
I did send away a fireformed case to Quality Cartridge and got 200 rounds of properly headstamped brass for it.
Would be fun to take to pronghorn hunting, to Africa for springbok and some of the other similar sized antelope species, or Argentina for axis deer, blackbuck, fallow buck and mouflon.
Yup- all of the above. Especially the part about Antelope in Africa. Wouldnt that be a blast. A 250 AI was thought by Ackley to be a very efficient Cartridge. Sorry, not to highjack your thread. A257 Bob Ackley is as well, and just more of a good thing! CL
 
I forgot to mention that the 250AI is virtually identical to the 25 Creedmoor...

And I see that Nosler is now producing brass for it!
Might have to get the barrel on my rifle restamped! :unsure:
(Should they decide to load ammo with the 110 gr AB and/or 115 gr BT so I don't have to use just handloads in my rifle!)
 
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