I have a hankerin to build a roberts improved mountain type rifle , I would not insist on a short action but I would have a slight prefererence for one. I have a Remington 03 A3 action it might do just fine. I plan to start this project right after hunting season.
Would a Remington 700 short action work?
Mabye a MRC 1999 action. I would love to get my hands on a winchester classic compact action, do they realize how well that might sell as an action ?. I could allways go with a charles daily or a military mauser, I really like the claw extractor type actions, but I know remingtons are great too. Any short actions that will work well for this project > ...tj3006

I have never fired a round of 257RAI anyway but single shot, even though there is a magazine down there in my Mauser.

The 257RAI will work fine with a 308 type Rem700, in single shot.

If single shot suits you then any action is fine.....Personally the .257 Roberts is a magnificient hunting round too and the longer action will help loading the longer bullets without seating so very deep. I had a Browning micromedalion in .257 Roberts and loved it.....but confined my self to the 100 grain bullets.

The MRC short action (really being a medium action) is easily long enough for the Roberts.
- mike l

The answer is yes and no.

Yes, you would have no problem building a 257 roberts on a 308 gun, and it would work just fine

NO,as the remmy may or may not allow you to set the bullets out further than "nominal". Setting bullets out long is what the 257 is known for and why it works so well.

It would be better, and all of 5/8 longer to build the roberts on a "long" action, and have the extra mag length available

you know on the 700, remington on makes two action lengths, right?
one at the 223 length and one that takes the 300 RUM....

jeffe

jeffe

Try a Yugo M-48. It is the perfect length action for the 57mm cases and as good a platform for a custom as an M-98.

I have one and a hinged bottom metal from a Spanish '93 action that are a perfect match. Ill probably make a 7X57 carbine out of them as Ive already got a 257 AI on an M-98.

i have 4 257's on long actions and 1 on a 700 mountain rifle..there is little or no difference in a handloaded 257 vs ai and i know the regular will feed out of a rem 700 la, sa and mkx action..i have seen several ai's thet do not like to feed from the magazine.There is unused internal case space when i load my sa with 45.0 gr of h4350 so in a custom the short action is fine.

The winchester m70 classic short feed action is perfect for the 257 as it allows an col of 2.9"..they are just really hard to find.

tom,
Yup, I'm sitting on a new M70 Classic SS in .243 that I bought purposely just for the action, with an eye to rebarreling to a 257Bob. When I bought it, I didn't have a grandson, but now I do, and he's 4 years old, so now my plans are to rebarrel it for him. If I run across any more of these on the gunracks, I'm sure I will snap 'em up (no telling how many grand sons I'm gonna end up with!).

I got one of my sons a 700 Mountain Rifle in the 257 when they came out. What a sweet little rifle!

Thomas Jones:

The magazine on the Remington 700 is a tad too short to allow you the latitude you will want with a .257/.257 Imp, as is the magazine of the Sako L579. The Winchester medium action magazine is just a little longer and is perfect, as is the magazine on the "short" MRC. Some gunsmiths have successfully lengthened the 700 magazine for use with slightly longer cartridges.

As someone mentioned, the "short" Mausers are a perfect fit for the 57mm case of the Roberts. Wonder why?

I've been shooting 722s in 257 Roberts for years, and in fact have gone through a number of barrels. The 2.8" OAL(sometimes you can eek out 2.825" and still fit the mag) has never been much of a problem, even with the 115-120s. In fact, I mostly shoot 115-120s. Accuracy has always been good to eye-popping. Sure you can go with a longer action, but you don't gain but 50 fps or so (I've had them on LA too). Personally, I'd rather have the nice, short, light 2.8" SA, and save the LA for a 25-06 or 6.5-06. Moreover, since you're getting it barrelled, you can get it throated to work just fine from 2.8" OAL. Besides, a "mountain rifle" is supposed to light and compact... JMO

Thanks for all the replies guys.
I alredy have a little ruger RL in the roberts. I like it a lot. but I had to tweek it quite a bit to get decent preformance out of it. It is fussy about loads too, but i have a couple loads that it likes. But the problem with it is that its short and pencil thin barrel heats up real fast, 4 or 5 shots and it is is quite warm and 10 shots it is really starting to get hot. I already have a 25,06 in the works with a 26 inch douglas barrel, on a Interarmas MK 10 action. It will have a sporter weight barrel and a laminated thunb hole stock.
I expect it will heat up somewhat quickly too.
I want a rifle that sort of split the difference. A little heavier than the ruger and a little longer barrel, The rugers barrel is only .55 inches at the muzzle. My 25,06 is to be .625, On my next quarter bore, I want 22 to 24 inches and about .600 at the muzzle. I am not a fan of fluted barrels. The greater surface area is suposed to aid in cooling, and it might, but less steel, causes it to heat up faster in the first place.
As for action, I think mabye I will just buy the best action I can find, as long as it will
be in my price range. and fit the cartridge.
I think feeding problems on an AI case will likly be less with a Mauser type exptractor than a push feed. Gotta make 2 and a half more payments on my Chevy PU then i will have to cash to start the project !!!
...tj3006