anyone shoot 256 win mag?

[farmbif]

I'm looking at a gun chambered for 256 win mag and was wondering how difficult it is to make the brass.

[Jim22]

I once owned two of them - a Marlin lever rifle and a TC Contender. Managed to blow up the Marlin with loads that were fine in the Contender. My memory is that forming the brass was not something I did because at that time I could buy ammunition and brass. I do remember also having trouble with case stretching and sometimes head separation. The cartridge was factory loaded with 60 grain boolits. Flat point. I still have the Contender barrel but gave away all brass and loading dies to a gun writer who then complained. Go figure.

[MostlyLeverGuns]

I made 256 from 357 long ago. I took a 256 die and bored out to intermediate, about 30 cal. I annealed sized to 30-357 in three steps, annealed, sized to 256 in another 2 steps then annealed before loading. My Marlin 62 had an oversize chamber and was hard on brass, splitting at the shoulder, this was 1970's and 256 brass was difficult to find and there was NO INTERNET to share information. Never could get the Marlin to shoot very well. Probably today I could. Neck reaming may or may not be necessary. Prvi makes a .22 Jet that might be fireformed. I also made brass from 221 Fireball that worked OK.

[farmbif]

so far 2 bad reports on the old levermatic 62, I might just leave it where it is, I had to rebuild a levermatic 57 a few years ago and parts were next to impossible to find.

[Kylongrifle32]

The 256 win mag is one of my favorites in the Contender pistols. But I am using it with pointy varmint bullets and ringing out the performance as far as I can in the T/C. If you load accordingly for the old lever gun if would make a fun shooter.
I form my brass by first annealing it then a pass thru a 30 Mauser die. I then use a 256 die with the expander rod removed. Then another pass with the expander rod reinstall. Anneal them again and trim to a consistent over all length and load them up.

[nhithaca]

I have a factory 10" T/C barrel and have not had a hard time finding the correct Winchester brass. In fact all the brass I have was new unprimed in factory boxes. Have about 150 pieces collected from gun shows over a 5 year period before I even got a barrel. Works great with the 75 grain spire point bullet from Speer.

[Jedman]

I have a couple of 256 WM rifles and found making brass from 357 mag. to be quite easy.
I have another rifle I built in 300 blk. out rimmed that I cut .060 off the bottom of the sizing die and run 357 mag brass thru once and it forms them to 30 cal. 100 % with no bad necks. So I first run 357 mag brass thru this shortened 300 blk. out die then anneal them re lube with Imperial sizing wax and run them thru my 256 win mag sizing die and they form 100 % good cases even using old fired brass and even nickle plated form slick as can be.
I bought a bag of 22 jet brass thinking fire forming them would be easier or less trouble but never fire formed any of them once I found how easy it is to make 256 running the 357 brass thru the two dies.

Jedman

[stubshaft]

I had a Contender barrel chambered for it and played around with it for a while. It was a fun cartridge and I didn't have any problems with forming cases from 357 mags.

[Johnch]

I just had a rifle re barreled to 256 Win Mag Rimless
My rifle uses 223 cases cut down and reformed with 256 Win Mag dies
I have to ream the cases to get the right neck thickness
But it isn't hard

John

[rbuck351]

I have a 10" TC and found a 256 case forming die set with the reamer which makes it very easy to make cases from brass or nickle cases. Before I found the case forming dies I used a 30mauser and then a 256 die. Lee had a sale on a 6cav 25auto mold that cast over size 52gr boolits. They work great with a light charge of most any fast powder.

[upnorthwis]

I was one of the lucky ones. Bought a .256 Win Mag barrel about 10 years ago and it came with a couple hundred brass. Tried using it for IHMSA half-size production. Only bullet that worked was 75 gr. JHP. Anything heavier couldn't hit minute of berm.

[Three44s]

No 256 WM skin in the game here but some experience with its older cousin, the .25-20 Win.

Mines in a Contender so pointy bullets are safe and the 75 gr V max really shines!

If I had a 256 barrel I would sure be trying that bullet, provided I could find some right now ......

Three44s

[daved63]

so far 2 bad reports on the old levermatic 62, I might just leave it where it is, I had to rebuild a levermatic 57 a few years ago and parts were next to impossible to find.

I have a Levermatic 62 and have had no trouble out of it. I have not tried cast in it, but it shoots the 60 grain jacketed bullets quite well. I have formed quite a bit of brass from 357 Magnum and it is easy if you have intermediate steps to get the neck to 30 caliber and then to 7mm before going to 25. I use an old universal sizing die with the 30 caliber and 7mm bushings in it. After that I run it into a 256 Win Mag trim die and its done. You get a few culls from wrinkled shoulders but not that many. If you skip the intermediate steps you get more culls than usable brass.

[pertnear]

Last year I bought 250 brand new 360 Dan Wesson cases from Starline for $78 with free ship (still in-stock). I converted these to .256 Win Mag cases by first annealing & then passing them through a Lee .30 Luger die ($22 die from Midway). Then final FL size through a standard set of RCBS .256 WM dies. Use Imperial sizing wax for all sizing operations. After trimming they are good-to-go!

BTW: .360 Dan Wesson brass has a thicker, stronger web than regular .357 Mag, so capacity is slightly reduced. Start reloading at minimum & work up.

[farmbif]

well unfortunately I can't put my grubby paws on the 62, just photos and sale comes up in a few days. it doesn't look like it was kept real well and the sale will be as is, no guarantees, as much as I would like one of these 62 levermatics, I won't go more than $250 for this one that seller has rated at 40-70 % condition, rear sight missing, drilled receiver and scarred stock, upon close inspection of photos the bolt kind of looks like it might be canted. more risk than I want to take unless it sells real cheap.

[Bent Ramrod]

A friend had a Marlin Levermatic in .256 Magnum and he and I shot it a few times. It seemed to me that it was about at its pressure limits far as design went. All we shot was factory ammo, no reloads, but there was a bright ring around the bases of the fired shells, which to me indicates a rather short reloading life.

Rear locking bolts in lever actions tend to compress along their length, and then spring back. This causes cases to stretch at the base. Townsend Whelen remarked that the early 22-3000 Savage lever actions were good for 1 or 2 full-house reloads and then it was better to use reduced loads in those shells from then on, if long case life was desired.

I see a fair number of those Marlins at gun shows, almost all of them in .22RF or Magnum. Not many .256s and never saw one in .30 Carbine. I wonder if they loosened up from shooting and became unserviceable.

[farmbif]

the guide blocks, that's what I think they are called, in the levermatics were made out of some sort of pot metal, there certainly are not steel. several rollers in the mechanism. its a unique action for sure. and ive been down the road looking for parts before not an easy thing to find certain key parts in the mechanism.

[Jim22]

The Marlin was originally advertised to be availablr in .256 Win mag, .357 mag, and .30 carbine. I have never seen one in anything but .256.

[nhithaca]

Never heard of the 62s being offered in 357, but I believe they were originally going to be available in 22 Jet. Never happened. Only 30 Carbine and 256 Win Mag. The 30 Carbine models are the rarest.

[trooperdan]

I have two of these, both .256 and .30 Carbine. Less than ,000 were made in .256 and fewer than that is .30. I love shooting both of them and will soon try forming some .256 from .360 DW. Glad to have some tips here from those that have done it. Thanks guys!

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