260 Rem to 257AI - Rem 700 Mtn

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ILoveBigRacks

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Am debating purchasing a Rem 700 Mtn in 260 Rem. I've already got the same in 7mm-08 and while I'm a fan of the 260, I'm thinking I might prefer something a bit further away from the 7mm than the 6.5 to fill the safe out. Have been watching for a 700 Mtn .257R to pop up that I could buy and later have Ackley'd but they are few and far between and I've just about given up.

So, if I were to go this route, what would be involved in the .260 Rem to the .257AI?
 
Buy a 25 bore barrel, remove your 260 bbl. thread, chamber, finish and fit the 25 barrel to your receiver. You used to be able to buy pre chambered bbls in 257 Roberts from Brownells (among others) not sure if that is still true or not. It's not rocket science, but to do it right you'll need to find a good smith and expect to spend around $700 if someone else is doing the work. - dan
 
In Remington the 260 comes in a short action and the 257 Bob AI works much better in a long action. Might want to consider this, much better to start with a 270 or something. You could always go for a 250 Sav AI on the short action
 
Thanks Dan. I didn't figure it would be cheap, especially if I went with a quality bbl. If I was even able to track down the pre-chambered barrel I'd still have to have it reamed for the Ackley anyways so may as well go that route from the start.

I was hoping that was all there was to it. This rifle has the factory detachable mag so I was mostly concerned there wouldn't be any mag/feeding issues to deal with. I was pretty sure they made the 700 260 Rem all short action out of the factory.
 
c-fbmi said:
In Remington the 260 comes in a short action and the 257 Bob AI works much better in a long action. Might want to consider this, much better to start with a 270 or something. You could always go for a 250 Sav AI on the short action
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So, the .257 Roberts is based on a short action but if you were to build a .257AI, you'd go with a long action? Can you educate me a bit on the reasons for this? It's all greek to me so am really curious. Does it just allow you to seat the bullets out further? I've heard that's the benefit of basing a 6.5 on a LA, but hadn't heard it of the .25 cals.

BTW, your ident sounds familiar - you ever fly into CYEG?
 
.257 Roberts is a longer case, an intermediate cartridge along with the 7x57 (identical and its parent, just a larger dia. bullet all else the same). A short action won't really work for it, far too tight. I like the .257 better than the .260 myself, I'd just shop for a new rifle, you can get a Ruger .257 Roberts, same weight as the Rem mountain rifle, for $650 used and it's a nicer gun than the Rem to boot in my obscure opinion. Really look into the .250 Savage suggested to you too, lovely, lovely little cartridge (parent of the .22-250) and it is a true short action cartridge that leaves lots of room for long bullet seating. One of the most efficient and lowest blast/recoil cartridges ever made for what it does.
 
Ardent said:
.257 Roberts is a longer case, an intermediate cartridge along with the 7x57 (identical and its parent, just a larger dia. bullet all else the same). A short action won't really work for it, far too tight. I like the .257 better than the .260 myself, I'd just shop for a new rifle, you can get a Ruger .257 Roberts, same weight as the Rem mountain rifle, for $650 used and it's a nicer gun than the Rem to boot in my obscure opinion. Really look into the .250 Savage suggested to you too, lovely, lovely little cartridge (parent of the .22-250) and it is a true short action cartridge that leaves lots of room for long bullet seating. One of the most efficient and lowest blast/recoil cartridges ever made for what it does.
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Good info, thanks. Sounds like if I wanted to stick with a short action then that might be the way to go (250 or 250ai). I'd have a hard time convincing myself of going through the trouble of building a 257AI on a LA rather than just buying a .25-06 off the rack. Not a huge fan of the Ruger bolt actions. Had a compact in 7mm-08 a few years back and while it was a great shooter and built like a brick sh!thouse, I just found the action clunky to cycle, not smooth at all IMHO. Sounds like I've got a few things to ponder.
 
If you're pondering a 25 cal AI, basically a wildcat anyway, ever consider a 25-284, works well in a short action and equals or exceeds the 25-06. Far and away the best short action 25 cal in my opinion, the 250 sav AI is cute but nothing like the 25-284. You can buy dies right from Huntingtons and brass use the 6.5-284 from Norma, Nosler and even Lapua I believe. Sometimes you can find new or once fired quantities of Win brass around. Wildcats based on the 284 case are one of my passions and the 25 is one of the better ones. I have a 22-284, 6mm-284 and have had 25 and 6.5 and 35 in years past. Just a thought.
 
Why not leave the 260 barrel on it and just rechamber to the 260AI? That is a very potent little cartridge too and brass is readily available from multiple sources. I have a 260 Improved and I am loving it so far.

But I understand the need to get something different too, sometimes you just gotta scratch that itch!
 
For the 25-284 any short action rifle with the standard .473 boltface........22-250, 243, 250 Sav, 260, 7-08, 308, 338 Fed, 358 Win.............Regardless of what some others on here may say I have built probably a dozen rifles based on the 284 case and never have I had a feeding problem.
 
The 25-284 has tweaked my interest too. Looks like a 25-06 in a short action...very cool. However the 260AI allows heavier bullets and does not require a new barrel.

But on the other hand it is pretty darn close to your 7mm-08. Better get the 25-284 just for the cool factor!:cool:
 
Crashman said:
The 25-284 has tweaked my interest too. Looks like a 25-06 in a short action...very cool. However the 260AI allows heavier bullets and does not require a new barrel.

But on the other hand it is pretty darn close to your 7mm-08. Better get the 25-284 just for the cool factor!:cool:
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A lot of folks say that about the .260, the heavier bullets, and it's true, however it's not often mentioned that the .260 doesn't offer much for varmint bullet choices, where I have four different 75gr and under pure varmint bullets to choose from in the basement in .257". A .257 offers a good deal more versatility than a .260. Have yet to meet a creature a 140gr .260 would kill that a 120gr .257 would not, as well. Granted, you could go to 160gr round nose in the .260 but the .260 I had wouldn't accommodate them, as I believe most won't willingly due to throat length and seating depth.
 
Just checked my .264 bullet collection, I have 85 grain winchester hollow point match, 100 grain soft point, 123 and 139 grain HPBT match, and 156 Norma Oryx. Quite a broad range, however I feel the 156 are too long for effective use in the 260, probably a better match for the 6.5X55 swede.
 
ILoveBigRacks said:
Good info, thanks. Sounds like if I wanted to stick with a short action then that might be the way to go (250 or 250ai). I'd have a hard time convincing myself of going through the trouble of building a 257AI on a LA rather than just buying a .25-06 off the rack. Not a huge fan of the Ruger bolt actions. Had a compact in 7mm-08 a few years back and while it was a great shooter and built like a brick sh!thouse, I just found the action clunky to cycle, not smooth at all IMHO. Sounds like I've got a few things to ponder.
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I'm digressing, but it's amazing how we all have our preferences in rifles, I find my Rugers incredibly smooth, fluid, and silky and found my Remingtons crunchy to feed and cycle- we're complete opposites. :)

.25-06 is a good choice if you're looking for horsepower in a .25 with factory ammo available. Starting to get into an awful lot of powder for what it does territory, but it certainly shoots flat and gets the job done.
 
Why anyone would downgrade from a .260 to a .25 anything is beyond me. 6.5mm bullets trump .25's in every aspect. But also, having a 7-08 would make it hard for me to want a .260, or a .25. .243 would get my interest, but only slightly.

Were it me and I had to have something else, I'd be going .260.

95 Vmax for deer down to varmints
120 TTSX for bone
120/140 Amax/Berger/Scenar Gongs
 
archie_james_c said:
Why anyone would downgrade from a .260 to a .25 anything is beyond me. 6.5mm bullets trump .25's in every aspect. But also, having a 7-08 would make it hard for me to want a .260, or a .25. .243 would get my interest, but only slightly.

Were it me and I had to have something else, I'd be going .260.

95 Vmax for deer down to varmints
120 TTSX for bone
120/140 Amax/Berger/Scenar Gongs
Click to expand...

7mm-08 when you run the numbers is just a .308 by a different name, actually the .308 shoots flatter at all hunting ranges out to 400 yards for any given matched bullet weight due to greater efficiency with the larger bore. I've posted .308 vs 7mm-08 ballistic charts on here before and it surprised a good few. With the .25 you can shoot 60 and 75grs for varmint in the mid to high 3000's fps ultra flat, 95grs is just getting way too big to call a varmint rifle. Many of us want an all round rifle for light big game and varminting, and the .25 cal is the equal of the .243 as a varminter and lets face it kills game just as well as a 120 or 140gr 6.5 with 120gr bullets. To many of us, that represents a lot more versatility. In response to your thoughts, my thoughts are 6.5 is an awkward middle ground due to it having only big game bullets with one or two overweight varmint options, and I'd rather go 7mm or .30 cal for more bullet weight if moving heavier, I remain a quarter bore fan. :)

bigracks, check this out, the work is done for you and cheaper than you could build it for:

http://www.canadiangunnutz.com/forum/showthread.php?893788-Rem-Model-7-25-284-stainless
 
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