I have a Miroku Browning Low wall in 22 Hornet that I absolutely love. But the Hornet isn't getting any use. Reading the post about stalking rifles got me thinking about what a fantastic whitetail rifle this would be in 257 Roberts. I know this gun was available in the 260 Rem and I looked for a while but was never able to find one. I checked and Numrich had an extractor for the 243 so that shouldn't be an issue as I assume it could be made to fit. My question to the experts could the rifle be safely rebarreled. The 257 Roberts is loaded to a slightly lower pressure than the 260 rem so I think it should work. I never liked the look of the Hi wall so I don't want to go that route. I want to confirm that this is a modern manufacture not an antique. What do we think?
Browning 1885 Low Wall rebarrel
- Thread starter jed
- Start date
I cant answer your safety concerns, but I would recommend reboring instead of rebarreling if you proceed. Much cheaper in this case. A tapered octagon barrel, its already blued, indexed, drilled and tapped and extractor cut cut.
vagrantviking
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- High River, Alberta
I think a low wall in 22 hornet would be an easy gun to sell and kind of a shame to pull apart but if the gun you want to buy isn't available it makes it a tougher choice.
Not an expert in that action but if its made in a 260 Rem then the 257 shouldn't be an issue.
Not an expert in that action but if its made in a 260 Rem then the 257 shouldn't be an issue.
I lean towards suggesting that you trade the low wall for a high wall model and rebarrel that. The original Winchester low walls were only made in pistol calibers and the high wall gives a lot more support to the top of the breach block
cheers mooncoon
cheers mooncoon
As I said above I am not a fan of the hi wall. I understand the limitations of the original low wall chamberings but wonder if the newer quality of steel allowed Browning to step up to the 260 rem. if I recall correctly the 260 was 60000 cup and the 257 Roberts 58000 cup. Since it was John's Birthday the other day I was thinking of an American classic in an American classic I guess. If I rebarreled it instead or rebored it I could always switch it back. Maybe I will see if I can find a low wall in 243 win, no one would care if I modified that and the extractor would need less work. Before I do anything I guess I should talk to Mr Ron Smith and see if he is willing to rebore it. Maybe he knows something we don't.
There is no comparison between the low wall and the high wall of this vintage. The low wall is a much nicer rifle.
While the hornet is a beautiful rifle just the way it is, it’s also more common than the low wall 243 or 260 - so which is the bigger sin to alter? Plus I think the 243 is too big at the shoulder for a Roberts reamer to clean up the chamber without setting the barrel back and losing the whole point of a rebore.
In my opinion (whatever that’s worth) if you want a 257, go for it. You aren’t building it for someone else so who cares what someone else thinks. That said, if you decide to sell the hornet - give me first chance.
If you do go ahead, tell him not to restamp the barrel - it always looks horrible.
While the hornet is a beautiful rifle just the way it is, it’s also more common than the low wall 243 or 260 - so which is the bigger sin to alter? Plus I think the 243 is too big at the shoulder for a Roberts reamer to clean up the chamber without setting the barrel back and losing the whole point of a rebore.
In my opinion (whatever that’s worth) if you want a 257, go for it. You aren’t building it for someone else so who cares what someone else thinks. That said, if you decide to sell the hornet - give me first chance.
If you do go ahead, tell him not to restamp the barrel - it always looks horrible.
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While the gun might stand up to the proposed cartridges, I would also expect greater wear between breach block and the recess that supports it. It depends how much you are going to shoot the gun; 10 or 20 shots a year probably no problem for quite a few years but if in addition you spend a lot of time working up a new load and just general practicing it would not surprise me if you started to experience an increase in headspace. Also the issue is not pressure as such but rather thrust on the breach block. Multiply the pressure of your proposed cartridge times the area of the base of the shell and compare that with the same data for the most powerful cartridge that the gun was originally manufactured in. Pressure times area is a measure of thrust
cheers mooncoon
There is no comparison between the low wall and the high wall of this vintage. The low wall is a much nicer rifle.
While the hornet is a beautiful rifle just the way it is, it’s also more common than the low wall 243 or 260 - so which is the bigger sin to alter? Plus I think the 243 is too big at the shoulder for a Roberts reamer to clean up the chamber without setting the barrel back and losing the whole point of a rebore.
In my opinion (whatever that’s worth) if you want a 257, go for it. You aren’t building it for someone else so who cares what someone else thinks. That said, if you decide to sell the hornet - give me first chance.
If you do go ahead, tell him not to restamp the barrel - it always looks horrible.
You would try to snake that Hornet for yourself you rotten bugger hahaha
Browning low wall is a much stronger action than the original winchester version. I would feel comfortable rebarreling to .257 roberts.....would be a great little deer rifle.
I pulled the barrel off a 45 colt version to engrave it. It requires heat to remove since browning uses a thread locking compound during assembly.
Stomp
I pulled the barrel off a 45 colt version to engrave it. It requires heat to remove since browning uses a thread locking compound during assembly.
Stomp
