OK, been thinking about my last question where the consensus was to go for the 257 roberts over a 25 06 for a loaner/beginer gun. Well the gun I had in mind to re-barrel shoots way to good as an 8mm to go and mess with but I do know where I can get a ruger 77 in 243 for a "song and a dance" and I got to thinking...

would it be better/easier to re-barrel it to a 257 bob or to have it reamed to a 257? If I understand correctly, reaming is simply taking the existing barrel and making the bore larger. But the barrel will still read 243, would it not? And that could be dangerous to someone who did not know it was now a 257. Also, how easy is it to "screw up" a ream job? I have almost no confidence in the smiths out here that I know of to do much more than clean a gun and check calibers using moulds. I would probably ship the gun either to a reputable smith out of town or ship it to a company that makes and installs barrels, such as ER Shaw or something like that.


so, what do ya'll think?

also, thank you for your previous replies!

Dave

Dave-not that you asked but, if you already have it in a 243 I would not spend the money and or effort to turn it into a Roberts.

In my opinion they are pretty much the same and if someone was worried about the teeny tiny edge to the Bob then I would most cdertainly go to a bigger cal.

Just my thoughts.....

Have a super weekend

Dogz

"GET TO THE HILL"

Shaw and reputable don't belong in the same sentence, because there not.

It would require a rebarrel (or 1 hell of a lot of work).

In addition to reaming out the bore,it would than require new grooves to be cut. This operation would cost as much as a new barrel. Also the chamber won't clean up.

For a loaner gun, leave it in 243.

The 6mm Rem is the same case as a .257 Roberts, both based on the 7 X 57. Even though the 6mm is superior to the .243, they are close enough to just leave it like it is. A zillion deer have been killed in Texas with .243/6mm.

Is the magazine long enough for the .257 Roberts? It might limit bullet selection some. It would be less of a problem with 6mm but if it's already .243 then how much would you gain? Now if you have an itch for a quarter bore, then making it a .250 Savage would be cool and you could keep the same barrel profile. You'd probably be the only one on your block with one in that caliber.

Do a 250AI and give nothing up to the 257.

leave it. it would be money well saved.............
woofer

What you're talking about is called reboring, and is likely as expensive as a new barrel (and may not always be entirely satisfactory.) I'm not sure if a reboring company like Omak(sp?) could do so small an increase as from .243 to .257, but you could ask them. Reboring is usually used when the original barrel contour is difficult to reproduce, or when it is desirable to save the (outwardly) original barrel for authenticity.

Another problem you face is that you would need to use the .257 Roberts Improved in order for the old .243 chamber to "clean up". Most gunsmiths would likely want to set it back a thread, anyway. Something else to consider is that some of the early Ruger barrels were "outsourced" and were of marginal quality, so unless you "know" this barrel, you may want to go to a new one from the git-go. Considering that the Roberts is much better off with a 23-24 inch barrel anyway, rebarreling would be smarter than reboring.

Offhand, I don't know the magazine length of the Ruger 77 short action. The Roberts would work in it, but you might be limited in seating depth (as with the 722 Remington in that caliber).

Hmmmmmm...

A 308 win based cartridge and a quata' bore. Hmmmmmm. Has me thinking 25 Souper right away! Can't figure out why Remington didn't choose to demesticate it instead of the 25-06.

OH!

I'm sorry back to the topic at hand. I don't know about the magazine length on this one either, but would double check it before diving in with both feet. As far as the barrel is concerned it too has been my experience that reboring is usually just as expensive if not more so than just replacing the tube. Just not worth the trouble! You might be able to find someone interested in buying the old barrel and save a little more that way.

Quite frankly if I wanted a Ruger 77 in 257 Rob. I think I'd just look around and find one that Ruger built in that chambering! They're not around every corner, but they're not that hard to find either!