Optimum barrel length for .257 Roberts

[rquack]

Yesterday I broke a bit of new ground.... ordered my first custom built rifle in .257 Roberts. I bought a new SS Remington 700 in 7mm-08 during a pre-hunting season sale for about what I'd been willing to pay for a SS Rem 700 action alone. My 'smith recommended using a Douglas XX barrel, and thoroughly going through the action to true it up. I'll be lightening up the barrel a wee bit, using a No. 1 contour to control weight [I hate lugging around a heavy rifle; nearly 30 years hunting with my Model 7 has spoiled me]. I thought that duplicating the original length of 24" was about right, but my 'smith likes the idea of shortening it up a bit to better control barrel whip. [He rightly pointed out that the 18.5" tube on the Model 7 prints 1/2" to 3/4" groups using handloaded 120 grain BT's from an anorexic looking factory barrel. But I always thought that when I re-barrelled that Model 7 I would lengthen it a bit to minimize muzzle blast though.] We agreed to start at 24" and cut it back if accuracy problems were noted. Initially I'll use the original Rem plastic stock with the additional benefit of bedding the action, until I get ready to spring for a nice piece of wood.

I guess after all the rambling above, I have two main goals for the rifle. 1. Shoot VERY accurately; I want 1/2" or better from this project, and 2. Be a comfortable lightweight hunting companion for myself and my grandson [in about 8-9 more years]. I recognize that the light weight will compromise the accuracy, but I'm confident in my ability to work hard and long enough to develop accurate handloads.

And I liked the sentiment that my gunsmith expressed when I communicated these desires: he said, "If it doesn't shoot, you want to have to go see your optometrist, not your gunsmith." We agreed that he perfectly understood my expectations.

Although I don't like to question the judgement and experience of the professionals that I'm hiring, I also want to learn while doing this project and accessing the vast experience of the members of this board seems like a great place to solicit knowledgable input.

So,... when all of the powder burn rate and bullet weight and barrel contour/weight variables are considered what is the generally accepted optimal length for a .257 barrel? I don't plan on pushing the limits of the cartridge; I'll plan to use 85 grain BT's and 100 grain BT's or PT's and I'm not looking to make the hottest loads in the book as I am looking for a very modest recoiling rifle at the conclusion of the project. You're thoughts.....

 

[JD338]

rquack

Congratulations on the 257 Roberts project. A 24" barrel is what you want as it will give you full potential of the 257 Bob. You can expect to get up to 3000-3100 fps with a 100 gr BT or PT bullet making it a flat shooting quarter bore.

JD338

 

[DrMike]

+1 on JDs answer. I'd be comfortable with a barrel between 22 and 24 inches, though I'd lean toward the 24 inch barrel if I had the option of building as you are doing. It will simply wring out the potential of the cartridge. The Bob is a great cartridge.

 

[Desert Fox]

With the efficiency of the 257 Bob, I won't hesitate to use either 20" or 22" especially since it's a no. 1 contour. If you're use to your Model 7 with 18.5" barrel, a 24 " will be too unwieldy for your taste.

 

[bullet]

257 Roberts could do very well with a 24" barrel for a lot of reasons. I find my 24" on my Nosler M48 TGR 7mm-08 just perfect as the 24" barrel really balances out the handling of the M48 putting the balancing point right under the receiver a little forward of the trigger guard and my velocities are excellent with my hand loads due to the 24" barrel and the same would be true of velocities for the 257 Roberts, making it more versatile on game to be taken and the ranges would be increased.

 

[Oldtrader3]

I always want at least 24 inches of barrel for my .257 Bob's, especially in case I have to shoot underloaded factory ammo in the rifle.

 

[1Shot]

I myself would go with a little heaver barrel profile and 24" and go with a different barrel maker than Douglas. Shilen or Heart have done better for me than Douglas. You asked and I sent forth my 2 cents worth. :mrgreen:

 

[bullet]

I agree with using something besides a Douglas barrel, I have actually had to have one replace on a new custom and I had it replaced with a Shilen barrel and that solved the problem, but a heavy contour is not needed if barrel to receiver is done right along with bedding and free-floating. I have a true quarter inch rifle with a light contour on my 7mm-08 and the receiver to barrel fit along with the stock, bedding and free floating with trigger have made that possible.

A heavy contour in a hunting rifle defeats the ability or inhibits a rifle for spot and stalk purposes and will limit your enjoyment of carrying the rifle in the field for any period of time much less making it much harder to handle when in a tree stand or in a difficult position in the field trying to steady your rest.

My rifle including scope weights 7.6 pounds and is a quarter inch rifle. Heavy barrel might make mine shoot better but it is certainly not needed considering the level of accuracy I get and I sure don't want to lug around a heavy rifle when stalking game or sitting in a tree stand having to adjust for different angled shots, and a heavier hunting rifle is not very conducive to instinctive shooting.

 

[PJGunner]

I have two rifles in .257 Robt., a Winchester M70 Featherweight with 22" barrel and a Ruger #1 B with 26" barrel. I like them both. The Ruger is a true .50" gun but the M70 is only 1.25" at best, so far. That's with the 100 gr. barnes TSX. The 100 gr. Siera Pro-Huntes are little better being closer to one inch. I guess the thing is just how accurate does a deer rifle have to be? If I shoot at something smaller, it'll most likely be a jackrabbit or coyote so once more a .50" accuracy level isn't really needed.
Despite the disparaging emarks about Douglas barrels, I have four very nice custom rifles with Douglass barrel and all shoot MOA or less. The .35 Whelen is a true .50" rifle, the 7x57 a true .375" rifle with loads it likes and the .280 Rem. is .75" on average. The only one that's only a one inch gun so far is a Mauser I just had done in .308 Win. It's a project still in the working stage. FWIW, all four rifles are on Mauser actions. I left out a 30-06 that also has a Douglas barrel that is sub-MOA, generally right around .80". In some ways it too is still in the "project" stage although I've had it for years. It was recently restocked into a McMillan stock and I've had to redo all the load work ups for the gun.
Paul B.

 

[bullet]

I had two rifles that had Douglas barrels before 2005 that were good shooters, but in 2007 my smith had some real problems with Douglas barrels including mine and his trouble with Douglas making things good turned him off the them and does not use their barrels anymore. What is so strange is that is all he used for years and has 14 rifles of his own with Douglas barrels. Don't know if things have now changed back for Douglas but I do not want to risk it again. It cost me to much.

 

[FOTIS]

22-24 is fine. If you are going to custom build it make it 23" to please all. :mrgreen:

 

[bullet]

22-24 is fine. If you are going to custom build it make it 23" to please all. :mrgreen:

I like you FOTIS :lol:

 

[JD338]

Hart makes an excellent barrel. A #4 24" fluted would be ideal. :wink:

JD338

 

[257 Ackley]

22-24 is fine. If you are going to custom build it make it 23" to please all. :mrgreen:

My thoughts exactly :mrgreen: I did that exact thing with a 7mm-08 I had built about 20 years ago. Make it really custom with a different barrel length than normal. Anything from 22 - 24 inches will give you most if not all the potential the 257 can produce. Nice choice of caliber BTW!

 

[BK]

22-24 is fine. If you are going to custom build it make it 23" to please all. :mrgreen:

Funny thing, when I get around to getting custom tubes screwed on some rifles, I'm probably going to go odd lengths... 23 in a .338-06, 25 in a 6.5-06.

To the original question, I wouldn't have a problem with anywhere from 20-24", but lean towards the latter just because I like a longer tube. I think a longer barrel handles better for a big tall guy like myself.

 

[rquack]

I'm sorry to hear about a few bad experiences with Douglas tubes; I hope that by using their premium grade barrel I will eliminate most chances for a problem. The opinions on length run from 20, 22, 23, 24; guess as long as I don't use a 21 I'll be OK - lol. As noted earlier, I'll be using 24 as a starting point; if problems are noted, we'll be shaving it back an inch at a time. Although this is my first build I have a great deal of confidence in my gunsmith with over 45 years of experience. His son also works in the shop and has about 30 years on the job. Several of his crew have been around since I started trading with him over 30 years ago. He built a .30-06 for my brother 25 years ago on a Rem 700 action that still shoots cloverleafs at 100 yards using factory ammo.

As I recognize the limitations of this cartridge and am building it as a low recoiling rifle, I'm willing to accept a bit of velocity loss by needing to shorten the barrel. But I still am concerned about the aesthetics of having too short a barrel. I like the looks of my Model 7 with 18.5" tube, but I also like my .270 Rem mountain rifle with its 24" barrel. I'm concerned over the aesthetics of marrying a short skinny barrel to a fat full sized stock. I like shooting, but not carrying, the 7 mag. Guess I'm just spoiled by the lightweight rifles.... or a bit lazy. [I'll let you decide on that.] But never having hunted outside of Michigan and never needing to take a shot over 140 yards [most are under 85], worrying about carrying around a big gun for that shot that has never presented itself in 35 years of hunting is something I no longer obsess over. Hunting deer in the woods rarely allows you to see 100 yards, let alone shoot that far. I prefer to match the weapon to the situation, so if hunting a farm field from a elevated stand and longer range shots were possibly in the cards, then I'd probably be lugging that 1/2 moa 7 mag around with me and not complaining about it one little bit. But for now... give me light weight, light recoil, lethal and accurate.

And I also have many of you gentlemen to thank for the choice of .257 Roberts. I can't hardly remember a negative comment being posted about the cartridge. All research on bullet choices also revealed overwhelmingly satisfied shooters, whether hunters or target shooters. And from the recoil perspective, my Model 7 using 140 grain ammo banged me up a bit, and I was truly impressed by the loss of recoil yet the retention of accuracy and lethality provided by the 120 grain Nosler BTips. I can't wait to see how this will feel shooting 100 grain BTips at targets and deer; and even the 85 grain BTips as target ammo. I thought about going 250 Savage, but ultimately decided I could shoot reduced loads to duplicate that performance if I wanted to, but couldn't punch it up to attain the Bob's performance. [I don't go outside of published loads for my ammo.] So the Bob was my boy.

Again, many thanks for your opinions and insights. And thanks also for helping me to settle on the Bob as a cartridge choice. The clock is ticking on my 6-8 week wait... So I'm now accumulating dies, bullets and brass. I want to be ready to go when the gun shop calls.

 

[JD338]

rquack

Go talk to Rob Canze at Williams Gun Sight, 810 653 2131.
Rob will set you up with the perfect rifle. :wink:

JD338

 

[SJB358]

Good luck with your build. Sounds like its going to be a sweetheart.

 

[Oldtrader3]

Good luck with that .257 Roberts build. I am working on a restoration of an older Roberts as we speak. I am refinishing and cleaning it up, getting ready to shoot it soon.

 

[tddeangelo]

22" barrel, 45.0gr RL22, 110gr AB:

I have shot this load for groups a few times. This group measured, center-to-center, about 0.7". All subsquent groups were that size or smaller. I think the smallest was just under 0.6".

That is shot from a stock M70 FWT XTR. Only change I made to it was to lighten and clean up the trigger through adjustment. I think bedding work would shrink that groups a bit, and I think seat depth may pull that one "flier" in a bit as I fiddle with that load, but for a consistent performance of under 3/4" from a stock factory rifle, I didn't argue with it much!

Good luck with the project!