Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Rem 722 in 257 Roberts

I've been eye-balling one in a local Pawn shop for a couple months now. They are asking $450 but told me today that they would sell it for $325 out the door. I "think" that is a decent price for that gun but the on-line sites are all over the place for those guns. It's in fair shape, this gun has obviously been used but other wise take care of...no rust or serious dings in the metal or wood. It is missing the rear sight and the front sight blade.

It's not a gun I would use much but the combination of gun and caliber is drawing me to it.

Is this one I shouldn't pass up at $325?

Grab it!

They were a bit heavy for a light round like the Bob, but they shoot great...and it's a 257 ROBERTS!

Buy it! .......... It will soon become your favorite rifle. My 257 will be the last one I sell.

An excellent buy for $325! You'll never lose $$ if you can buy it for that price and decide that you don't care for it.

One thing I'd check before buying is the extractor. If the extractor breaks it's sometimes difficult to find a replacement, and you either have to have a different type of extractor fitted, or replace the entire bolt with Remington 700 short-action bolt. Both work but add considerably to the price.

A 722 .257 with a price tag around $300 sat in a local store several months last year, because the extractor was broken. Somebody finally bought it, apparently deciding they could get around the problem somehow.

John,

I'm curious as to the cost to change to a Sako type extractor? I pondered that before I sold my 722 257 Roberts.

Are they as dangerous as Butch Lambert maintains?

I bought it.

Thanks for the tip on the extractor.... checked it with a magnifying glass and it is good. They threw in a full box of Remington ammo and an old Lyman All American 4x that looks like it's never been on a gun.

Sounds like you stole it. I have a 722 in 257 Bob. It is my go to gun for down here. It is very accurate. Congrats on what sounds like a heck of a deal.

Bruce,

I dunno if they're dangerous or not. Have fired a lot of Sakos with "Sako" extractors over the decades, as well as other rifles with similar designs, without a problem.

I've never had the job done, partly because I've never had a 700/722 extractor break in at least 100,000 rounds fired. But have heard prices start at around $125.

MikeByrge,

Good deal, especially with the classic scope!

One thing I'd do now is use a spray degunker, something that dries quickly, to blow out the inside of the bolt face all around the extractor. One reason they can break is bits of brass getting caught underneath the extractor. It's something I do now and then with my own .257 722, as well as my 700's.

Perfect set-up just find some vintage bases & rings.


41

+1

Vintage Buehler base and split low rings would be about perfect.

Great snag.

DF

[b][/b]



Tell me the truth. You used a mask and a gun, didn't you?


GREAT SNAG!

Rates a two-cool...

MikeByrge: Good for you!
I have owned a lot of Remington 722's and 721's - they are good, reliable, safe and usually rather accurate Rifles.
It'll be fun finding and re-attaching those sights if you plan on that.
My close friend out in western Washington bought each of his three sons a Remington 722 Rifle in caliber 257 Roberts when they were around 12 - 13 years old and taught them gun safety then marksmanship and then took all of them Hunting with these Rifles. His sons are about 40 to 45 years old now and they all still have their Rifles.
Each of those sons has killed a Washington State Mt. Goat with their 257's and each was reported to me to have been a "one shot kill"!
The 257 Roberts with good bullets and good shot placement is a superb Deer and Antelope cartridge.
A number of years ago (eight?) I sold a Remington Model 722 in 257 Roberts.
I was selling it at a gunshow here in Dillon, Montana for a friend of mine and he wanted me to ask $500.00 for it.
It was in EXCELLENT and all original condition.
I was hoping that Rifle would not sell and once the gunshow was over I would offer him $400.00 for it and have a minty and nifty little 722 for my collection.
Well that didn't work out, as an elderly fellow from Idaho saw it and bought it for full asking price!
So much for my plan!
I hope you enjoy your 722 as much as I have enjoyed mine.
Let us know how it shoots.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

MD,

That's about what I paid 3 years ago to have a Sako extractor put in a 300sav just before deer season. The old extractor wasn't "broken" just worn to where it wasn't doing its job.

Mike,

I would have paid that for it in a heartbeat, and then taken the heat when I got home 😀

Mine is one of my faves. So easy to shoot and load for.

I'm glad you bought it Mike. I passed up a Remington Mountain Rifle in .257 Roberts almost 20 years ago and have never seen another once since. Considering the price it had on it I don't know why I ummed and ahhed so long. So sometimes you just gotta jump in with both feet and grab it. Congratulations.

I searched for one of those yrs ago & finally found one owned by an older fellow in Ontario. I pestered him for over a year to sell but to no avail. Ended up having one built.

Good score. I've always had a soft spot for 721/722s.

That was cheap.....

Sweet, a nd a nice chambering to boot. I picked up a 722 in .300 Savage a couple of years ago, I've been shooting it open sight and loving it.

A Remington 722 is perhaps the most cost effective way to obtain a quality .257 Roberts, they're well built rugged rifles. You got a great deal on the rifle, welcome to the .257 Roberts club it is an easy cartridge to reload for. I was fortunate to find a pre'64 Win. M/70 Featherweight
that the previous owner rebarreled to .257 Roberts using a Douglas barrel turned to match the original FW profile.

One of the interesting aspects of the 722/721 is that when they were introduced, many shooters reacted to them in the same way many react to Ruger Americans and other 21st-century "affordable" bolt actions. Here's what Bob Wallack, a gunsmith and a frequent contributor to many shooting magazines, had to say about them in the 1958 GUN DIGEST:

“The motto at Remington these days…is ‘all for production,’ so their rifles are designed for ease of manufacture and to sell at a certain price. Every part that can possibly be banged out on a punch press is banged out on a punch press, much to the sorrow of any real gun bug. Such methods do not affect the handling qualities or functioning of a rifle, certainly, but neither do they add up to a gun that a guy’d want to own with pride.”

Interesting.

Mike Walker and crew had a feel for the market and what people wanted.

Bill Ruger had that same sense of market and reportedly out voted his bean counters on more than one occasion.

It seems that Ruger still has that market sense, is being rewarded accordingly.

Is capitalism great or what...

DF

Looking at the prices on GunBroker, you did get a good deal!

I was pretty young back then, but I remember those same sentiments being expressed by by father and his hunting buddies regarding the 721/722 versus the M70. And the same comments were made regarding the "stamped sheet metal" in the Remington 870 versus the machined steel Model 12.

Thats a great snag..lucky you.

Doc

Wish I had mine back; a classic

When I was in graduate school, I made pocket money by shortening the barrels on 722s for guys who wished that they had bought 600/660/600Mohawk carbines before Remington dropped them. I'd buy 722s for under $150, mostly in 222 and 300 Savage, shorten/crown the barrels to 20", and install a Williams ramp front sight if the buyer wanted a front sight instead of a slick muzzle.

Yep, heard those opinions, even had those thoughts myself.

Pretty is as pretty does, sorta took the day and those guns proved themselves.

And, I think we'll see the same with with the Ruger American series.

There's a lot to say for pure function. Even the plain looking 722/721's have their own clean lines and asthetics.

DF

I agree. I recall when the RARs were first introduced. A bunch of grumpy old farts (like me) on this forum opined that Ruger had lost its bearings and was going down the tube by entering the economy rifle marketing. The bean counters were in control, the RARs would be the demise of Ruger , etc.

Time marches on. I love the old rifles, but as an engineer, I have to be impressed with how they have, to a significant extent, solved the accuracy issues in mass produced rifles: bedding, trigger pull, reciever stiffness, etc.

Ruger may be more progressive with twist.

Remington was "slow" to the game.

DF

MD, I love you, but disagree on the newer 700 rifles as far as the receiver goes. They are made on CNC machines and are much straighter. They have had a lot of problems with primary extraction because of the bolt handle being brazed in the wrong position. If you will look at a Sako extractor on a Sako you will see why they are not dangerous. When installed on a Remington it is lined up with the bolt race way. They can and have traveled the bolt raceway and injured some people. I know personally of 2 that did that. If mine fail it will get a M16 extractor if I can't replace it with a factory unit.
Below is my 722 in 257 Roberts. I was able to purchase it from Mike Walker himself.






Mike said he had the key to the wood box with the better wood. I sure wish the receiver wasn't tapped for his mount on the Lyman Alaskan, but he told me that it was his favorite deer rifle.

Seems I remember something about a trip to the wood shed.

DF

Butch,

Dunno where I said the present 700 actions aren't straight.

My first (and still the most) experience with Sako extractors on 700's occurred with the late Dave Gentry, who installed them routinely--including the one on the .280 Remington he built for me around 1990. He did not install them where they'd line up in the bolt raceway, and in fact installed them in basically the same position relative to the bolt face and lugs as Sako does. Would appreciate hearing why they'd need to be installed so they'd be in the raceway.

John, what other location can they be installed to extract the cartridge. You will see that if you cock your rifle, the Sako is lined up with the right raceway. I figured that you were saying they made as many parts as possible with a punch press. If that wasn't your intent, I apologize.
Now we do know of one Remington 25-06 that won't shoot and after a lot of work and expense, it went down the road.

Butch,

You apparently missed that the "punch press" quote was from an article in the 1958 GUN DIGEST written by Bob Wallack, a well-known gunsmith and gun writer of the day--and was about the 721/722, not the present 700. While Wallack doesn't specify what parts were "punch pressed," I would guess one would be the sheet-metal floorplate, with other possibilities the extractor and bolt stop.

The Sakos I've owned have had the extractor located alongside (not in) the upper edge of the right locking lug, which means they're alongside the very upper edge of the right raceway, not exactly IN the raceway. (If they were, part of the locking lug would have to be machined away) It's the same location where Dave Gentry installed Sako extractors on 700 actions.

It's also the same place the "Sako-type" extractor is located in the Tikka T3, Howa and Nosler actions. Yet you wrote, "If you will look at a Sako extractor on a Sako you will see why they are not dangerous." If they're not dangerous on a Sako, why would they be dangerous in the same location on a 700, or those other rifles? (Saw an on-line description of a Tikka blowing up a number of years ago, but the bolt remained intact, including the extractor.)

Never heard of any problems with Dave Gentry-installed Sako extractors on 700's, and never had the slightest trouble with mine, even though I was something of a handloading hot-rodder back then, as was Dave himself. In fact that Gentry custom, a .280, was my primary big game rifle for several years, used from Montana to the Arctic Circle. I eventually traded it to a friend, who then used it for quite a while before finally trading it back to me. After another couple of years I sold it to a guy through the Campfire Classifieds, and heard not too long ago that he's still using it with no problems. An example of one, of course--but dunno how many Sakos, Tikkas, Howas and Noslers are out there with the same basic system.

Beautiful! A 725 blank on a 722.

Well, it has a grip cap like a 725, but IIRC, 725's were checkered.

Having a key to the wood box paid off...

And, insider connections...

DF

There are a couple Bob's on GunBroker now

Mine wasn't quite that nice, but it was not bad. It was too heavy for me after I screwed up my left shoulder. It has a proud new owner.

I think it is a keeper.

Finally got a chance to shoot it. Having it out in the sunlight I noticed more flaws in the wood and metal than I saw before though nothing too bad. No complaints about the way it shoots. I've shot enough to know I am just not that good of a shot and 2" groups at 100 yards with a 4x scope Is about as good as I shoot any rifle.

Now that I know that it functions I'm going to refinish the stock and reblue it.

Looks great to me. Classic set up!

I like it! Mike, maybe if you put a variable power scope on it you could improve your groups?

He could change the target to suit the reticle/distance/magnification combination. By doing so I've been able to shoot well below MOA at 300 yards with a 4x scope.