Well fellas here is another one. A friend has a Marlin short stroke lever gun in this caliber. Tha thing looks brand new (totally mint) and he wants 350.00 for it with bases. I am really taken by this little rifle but know nothing about it or the caliber. Can you tell me anything about it? Any loads? I understand you can use 357 mag brass to make cases. I guess no one makes cases anymore. It would be a dandy as a close quarters predator/varmint gun. Any help would be appreciated!

------------------
"If guns are outlawed...only outlaws will have guns!

POP, According to the Hornady vol 2 manual the 256 mag was introduced in 1961 in the Ruger hawkeye pistol and later picked up by Marlin in their M62. It`s based on the the 357 case necked to .257 and Hornady shows loads with 4227 / 2400 giving the best velocities. Data I have shows the 60gr Horn soft point with 13.6 of 4227 starting and 16.1 max @ 2800fps - The 75 gr Horn HP over 12.0 4227 starting to 15.0 max for 2500 fps - And the 87 gr Horn SP with 12.1 starting to 14.6 4227 @ 2300 fps. These loads were in Win cases with Win 116 primers fired in a Marlin M62 I don`t know how valid the data is in necked down cases with todays primers but this should give you a place to start. I hope this helps some....

In addition to the loads listed by Ol'Joe, I loaded some remington 86 grain bulk bullets intended for the 25-20.

Since I just wanted a mild paper punching load for 25 yards, I used 700X powder.

In my Ruger with a 8&1/2 inch barrel I got:
4.0 gr --- 1100 fps
5.2 gr --- 1300 fps
6.2 gr --- 1500 fps
All of these seemed very mild.

As to case forming, Nickle plated cases just crack and or wrinkle.

Brass cases can be formed, but I use the trim die that was included with the used gun and die set. Stopping and relubeing 2 or 3 times as the case is necked down helps. Even then many of the cases split at the shoulder when fired. I suppose I should anneal the cases after (or before?) forming, but I haven't bothered yet so I don't know how much that would help.

JerryO

If he doesn't want it, buy it!!!!!!!!!

Pop:

I've always wanted one of those Marlin Model 62's in .256. Found a nice one in .30 carbine, but that caliber just isn't as adaptable for the kind of shooting I'd want to do with it. Had a Marlin Model 57, which is the same basic action, in .22RF many years ago, and it was a fine gun which I never should have sold.

The .256 can likely be formed without much trouble from .357 Magnum brass, most especially if you start with virgin, unplated brass. Brass which has been fired a few times may give you trouble due to work-hardening, and nickel brass would also be harder to form. In my experience, annealling is tricky, at best, and should be avoided if you can find reasonably ductile brass to start with.

Think of the .256 as a .25/20 on steroids. The .25/20 has the .32/20 as its parent cartridge. I'm guessing case capacity to be 10 to 15% greater with the .256, so you can achieve .25/20 ballistics at lower pressures or a modest increase in performance at similar pressures. I can't say what a safe pressure would be in the Marlin, but both the .256 and the .30 carbine are fairly high pressure cartridges under SAMMI specs.

With my .25/20, so far the best groups have come with Speer 75 grain flat points.

By all means, buy this gun!