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I'm researching around the interwebs about building a Savage in.257 Roberts. Those of you that have done it, and are into it, I have a few questions. Would it be better to buy a bare action and go from there, or get a rifle and rebuild it? What are all the quirks like shank sizes and screw spacings? The process of rebarreling them looks relatively easy, I was just wondering about everything else.
just buy a no frill rifle, that way you get all the small parts that will bankrupt you if bought separately. theres a large shank, and a standard shank, just about all of them are the standard shank, except the wsm's and really big mags. dont worry too much about the different screwspacing, magazine style, as there are stocks available for the different versions. if oyuve got a good action wrench, and barrel nut wrench, rebarreling a savage is about a 15 minute job.
Yes, buy a basic rifle and build to your taste.
But you absolutely want to plan what action length and thread size you end up with.
I have a A&B barrel in .257 Roberts I bought from a member of another forum. It was as near as I can tell unfired. I mounted this barrel on a long action first.
I found out that the throat on said barrel is short ..... not painfully short .... just not a long one.
I took my first loads set to that throat and placed them in the detachable magazine of my 4.4" Short actions (latest version) and it fit COMFORTABLY.
It's a myth that you have to use a long action Savage for a .257 Roberts! I have personal and recent experience with this. Why lug a long action around when it serves no useful purpose?
Now if you end up with a long throat barrel or have the barrel you find throated .... that's different. If you were not going to get a late model short action ..... there are (I believe) three different screw spacings in them ....... then a LA may be needed.
The Roberts is a light and lively cartridge ..... why turn it into a loggy dog?
The Long action in Savages has not changed one iota for a long time if ever .... it's 5" and a little bit of change.
Shank sizes:
Large shanks came out for the Ultra and Short magnum cartridges. There are some small or regular shanked barrels in those chamberings from Savage but not a lot. You'll also find the target rifles in large shank. I am not too up on the target versions so you'd have to ask specific questions about them with someone else on that subject.
If you want a second cartridge in your Savage, and it would be a Ultra or Short mag then the large shank would be the way to go. Otherwise there are more used barrels in the standard calibers (everything that is not an Ultra or short mag). Finding a used .257 barrel in large shank would be tanamount with winning the lottery. Having a barrel custom built in either shank size should be a piece of cake but I'd veryify that with the builder before I sprung for a particular action.
Web sites:
I do most of my info gathering as well as build finds for barrels and accessories for the Savage rifles over at Savage Shooters dot com. There is a lot of know how over there in the membership. I have gotten some at accurate shooter and gotten stuff here at Boolits as well.
It is rare when a person acquires the tooling (not very expensive) and the knowledge and experience to build their own guns with a Savage platform ...... and it becomes a "one trick pony".
The freedom is so "intoxicating" to be able to perform such opperations that most once bitten by this bug are never the same!
So it could be that you want to run away while you still can?
Best regards
Three 44s
To build the 257 you are going to need a long action. So the screw spacing is of no concern as all the long actions are spaced the same. Just look around at the different stock options before getting one. Look into the Boyd's stocks. They have some nice ones. Then start looking into barrels. Check out Northlanders Supply, Jim usually has a bunch of barrels on hand. He has actions also. Call him and tell him what you want to do. He is a really nice guy and will not steer you wrong.
Get on the Savage shooters site and you'll find all the info you need. Do go to a pawn shop and buy an older M110 for $250-350. If possible get a caliber in the same family you are wanting to build the new gun out of. That way the bolt face will fit. There is small chance you will get an oddball size screw spacing but not likely. You'll know what we're talking about from the savage site. Do get a standard long action screw spacing with a small shank barrel. You will have many more options to change later on if you decide to. Boyds has a huge selection of very nice stocks with that spacing. The older models are more likely to have what's called a 4 screw trigger which can be stoned and made into a very nice trigger. Again the savage site tells how to do this. A good barrel and action wrench will cost around $100 but once you join the "Brotherhood of the Barrel Nut" you'll use it more than once. It's just too stinking easy to make any gun you want once you get the hang of it. If not it's easy to sell for close to what you have in it. Take off parts can be sold to recoup your cost. Complete used M110 actions can be bought for $200-250 but will have to be sent to a FFL which will usually cost you something. The complete gun can be had for close to that. Midway, ebay and other suppliers have all the misc. parts you may need and savage parts aren't that expensive. With a little help Savages are very easy to work on. Good luck.
Floyd
Not so, however, you will most likely prefer the long action to get the most out of the 257 Roberts.Quote:
To build the 257 you are going to need a long action
http://www.savageshooters.com/showth...or-Long-Action
You could use a Stevens if you're going to replace the trigger, barrel, and stock. It'll be cheaper to start on. I wanted to stay with the accutrigger, I wanted to keep the original barrel to switch between calibers and I wanted stainless so I started with a Savage 16. Make sure your original bolt face matches the caliber you'll be moving to or you'll be stuck purchasing a new boltface.
I listen to the hoopla about long and short actions. Bull, IF you buy a new long action you can also fit larger cartages to it later. Short actions will all ways be used for short shells..
There is nothing wrong with using a LA savage for a Roberts .....
The OP would be best served by deciding what other cartridges he wants to field with this gun when it's not a Roberts.
I have two SA's and two LA's plus a Marlin X-series LA so I can do whatever I want.
When I found out my Roberts barrel was in fact throated normally, there was no need to pack it around in an action that can accommodate a .375 H&H or .338 Edge (near a .338 Lapua). Nothing was going to be gained except longer arms.
Best regards
Three 44s
Long actions are great for varying bullet seating depth/overall length and feeding thru the magazine. I have 8 custom rifles I built on Savages, 6 are long action, flat back version. I true the receiver face and barrel nut, usually add a custom barrel, an often use the factory synthetic stock or a B&C stock that goes for around $125, with pillars, just skim bed it. I recently bought a long action 30/06 for $200 out the door at a local gun shop, had sat there for a year, with bases. I stuck a 4x12 Burris fullfield, old USA made scope on it, and tweaked the trigger, with federal classic bluebox, shot 5 shots into 3/4"! After the barrel got a little dirty, 25 rounds, group tightened to just over1/2"!I decided to just leave as is, but most Savages Ihave had have been shooters.
I have been a member over on Savageshooters for a while now and have built 5 rifles from the ground up. The most cost effective were the 2 I built on Stevens rifles I found very inexpensively at LGDs and online. The advantage of finding a used rifle is you can sell every part you do not end up using in your build, and defray some of the costs. I do all of my rifles in long action regardless of caliber. That allows me to convert to any caliber I want.