Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Mausers and Military Rifles Looking for ammo in 6.5 x 257 Roberts

I do not reload yet but find myself with a beautiful rifle but no ammo. Any recommendations for a company that can load it would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Jon

LGS had some Privi Partisan PPU 139 gr 6.5 x 57 today. First I've seen.

Nice to know, but 6.5 x 257 Roberts is not 6.5 x 57

I almost fell victim to same thought Aagaardsport.....then read up and learned that Craigster is right. Close but not the same. Beautiful little sporter....shame i cant shoot it.

Buy these and learn to handload.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/LOT-101-WILDCAT-HERTERS-FL-DIE-SET-6-5-JAPANESE-ROBERTS-6-5-X-57/133574899763?hash=item1f19af3833:g:fMwAAOSwDaVfrd-5

Yes, an Arisaka re-chamber most likely, only way is hand loading. Custom dies as well. They are not a standard SAMMI Spec either. Doable, but lots of issues. Basically a custom probably from many years ago. Chamber, shoulder angle, throat length etc. A chamber cast will tell. No factory ammo. Perhaps some one off custom loaders have ammo, but to what spec?

That’s a tough one. Question is, is it worth the trouble and expense to you, or would perhaps a re-chamber or rebore be in order? Not sure about the bore size on those. I recommend consulting a good gunsmith. Or just hang it.

Call Jesse.

http://www.35caliber.com/index.html

The 257 Robberts is a 7X57 necked down to a 25 caliber bullet. It used the standard Mauser 57MM case as it's base.

So you may find the standard 6.5X57 Mauser would work fine.

Look here>>> https://www.grafs.com/retail/catalog/product/productId/77007

and here>>>>> https://www.grafs.com/retail/catalog/product/productId/26782 (Note <<< on that one the picture is wrong, but it's the standard 6.5X57 round. Don't get the rimmed round)

If you buy a box you can check the head-space and see if it's OK for your rifle.

If too tight you can probably run a chamber reamer into it and set it for correct dimensions to use that ammo.

If it's goods the way it comes so much the better.

If the head-space is too loose I might recommend having a gunsmith set the barrel back 1 turn (1/12 inch) and re-chamber.

But getting you rifle up and running should not be all that hard to do. PM me if you have questions

How about some pics? Would enjoy seeing this neat odd caliber sporter.

The shoulder on the 6.5x57 is .028" forward of the 6.5-257's. So, unless that 6.5-257 was reamed too deep, you'd have a real hard time forcing a bolt closed on the case. Yes, it might be reamed at the cost of a chamber reamer. It'd be a lot easier to simply reload. I bet I still have a spare set of 6.5-257 dies.

A chamber cast might be in order.

Z1R If he would get into reloading I'd agree.

But a rented reamer is not bad either. You can ream by hand with an extension if you go slow and carefully, and a rental is only about $50
If he were to set up the chamber for the standard 6.5X57 and then buy about 300 rounds ammo he is probably done for life. I'd assume if he's not a reloader now, he probably is not going to do a lot of shooting, so 300 may be a lifetime supply.

Sure might help if he could tell us more about the rifle.

If the rifle is indeed an Arisaka, weren't there some differences in the bore diameter? Seem to recall they weren't always the standard .264. Old NRA book and I think Cartridges of the world talked about using the 6.5X57 round but said they would not always work or be safe.

Hey guys...thanks for all the suggestions. I will try to upload some pics. It is an Arisaka. I have some brass that the prior owner shot (his reloads) prior to his passing. They could not find his dies. The boxes even have his re-loading recipe on the box. The little carbine would be a perfect youth rifle.as it has a shorter LOP and is about the size of a Remington Model 7. I shoot quite a bit but calibers I can usually pic up at the local sporting goods store. I have put together quite a supply of some of my favorites like the 257 Roberts, 250 Savage, 7x57, and 7-30 Waters....I even have plenty in 6.5 Jap..... Just nothing for this one....since I got it so cheaply, I didn't hesitate.

I picked up a sporterized Arisaka for my youngest bot. It was chambered in 6.5-257. Primary reason I bought was because it was made with 12" LOP which fit my son perfectly. We shot it for a while, he could handle the recoil but the chamber had been cut a little too deep such that we could only get two or three reloads on the cases. We replaced it with a 6.5x55 I built him on a SR Mexican 98 action. I may still have the dies if we didn't sell them with the rifle. I'll look tomorrow in my reloading room, if you are interested. His shot very well and got him hooked on the 6,5mm! If you have .257 Rbts cases, it's a simple matter of running them through the 6.5-257 sizing die, then loading.

Thank you so much. Very interested. 257 Roberts cases are plentiful at my house. Thanks again

Any luck finding them Z1R? Id gladly buy them

101Guns, Sorry. I looked and I must have sold them with the rifle. I usually hang on to dies cuz I have a way of acquiring more rifles all the time. Really sorry, I thought I still had the dies.

So suppose we have a re-chambered Type 38, not certain if it is 6.5-257 or 6.5x57.

So we buy us a box of PPU 6.5x57mm ammo and give'm a try and the bolt wont close?

You suppose we might pull the bullets, use a 6.5x55 die to set the neck back, in small increments, until l the case will just `chamber, re-seat the bullets and be on our way?