Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Savage Collectors Savage 99 in .257 Roberts?

I came across a Savage 99 in .257 Roberts at an upcoming auction. I'm thinking this was a custom conversion.

Did Savage ever make the 99 in .257 Roberts? From the auctioneeer's description, this was a later made (1969) Savage.

I'm tempted to bid on it. I wonder how a lever gun would do in .257 Roberts.

No

Rotary magazine or clip fed? I don't know about the clip fed models (heck, I don't even know their model numbers), but I'll wager some fair coinage that the .257 Roberts can't be made to work in a rotary magazine due to length. Are you absolutely positively sure it is in that chambering? Wouldn't be the first time an auctioneer made a mistake of that nature.

I could use a Savage99 in a 257 Roberts as I have dies, Nosler brass and E-tip reloads for that caliber but no rifle.

I have a 99CD that has been rechambered from 250-3000 to 257AI. The 'smith who did the work, Ray Montgomery in Grand Junction, CO, suggested that the standard 257 Roberts would feed better than the 40-degree shoulder 257AI and in retrospect, I would go with the 25 Souper, 257, or 25-284 if I was going to do it again.

Mark Benenson had a 99C rebarreled in 257 Roberts at one time.

Browning made BLRs in 257 Roberts for a number of years.

I think that a lever gun in 257 Roberts would do about what a lever gun in 243 will do. It is a little different, but not enough different to make it better or worse.

Assuming you could get it to feed correctly from the magazine, a 257 Roberts performs almost exactly like a 250 Savage.

Ya sure about that?? The .257 Roberts has more spunk than a .250-3000.

I couldn't remember the model number for the clip fed 99's to save my soul. I see now it's 99C. Anything post-mil goes right on by me.

I would have wagered that any cartridge longer than the .308 AOL would not have worked in the 99. But I guess it isn't so.

A 257 Roberts doesn't have a longer COAL than a 308, unless you want it that way. SAAMI specs for the Roberts is 3/100's of an inch less than a 308 Winchester.

I confess I do not own a chrono, but I do have several 257 Roberts chambered rifles, as well as several chambered for 250 Sav. I don't see a large difference in the reloading manuals, nor do I notice much difference on paper or when fired into deer.

The biggest plus I can give to the 257 is the ability to shoot heavier bullets, which leads me to ask: Was the rifle rebarreled or just rechambered?

Wow, that's splitting a hair. But I've never had a .257 Roberts so it goes to show that you learn something new every day.

I can sling 85's at 3400 from a 257 Roberts and 100's at 3100+, about 3-400 fps faster than a 250 Savage.

If a 308 can fit, a 257 Roberts can fit.

The 243 will do just about anything the 257 Roberts will do and the 7mm-08 will do more.

It's one of those novelty cartridges (257 Roberts) that falls into no-man's land IMO. Kind of like the 6.5x55 and the 250-3000. Only thing they really got going for them is they are cool.

A good enough reason to own any of them if that is what floats ur boat...

No novelty just a necked down 7x57. Load it with 75 grainers for varmints or with 117s for deer for a nostalgic COOL factor.

As Olgrouser posted, the case of a .257 Roberts is actually a necked-down 7x57mm case.

A 7mm/08 is a .308 case necked down to .284 or 7mm. The military version of a .308 is 7.65x51mm. Note the "51mm"... 6mm's shorter than a 7x57mm cartridge case (aka .275 Rigby or 7mm Mauser).

While the rotary Model 99 magazine will accept a cartridge case 51mm's long, I have to wonder if the Model 99's rotary magazine designed to accept a .243, a 7mm/08, a .308 and a .358 Winchester cartridge case all of which are either necked-down or necked-up .308 Winchester cartridge cases, can be alternated to accept a necked-down 57mm case?

Incidentally, the .244/6mm Remington cartridge is a necked-down 7x57mm cartridge case as is the .257 Roberts and the necked-up 8x57mm Mauser cartridge while the 7x57R is merely the "rimmed" version of the standard 7x57mm case.

Below, to the best of my knowledge, are all the various cartridges for which the Savage Model 99 rifle was manufactured by Savage Arms. Note the total absence of any 57mm long cartridge cases:


Savage 99 Calibers

.22 HP
.22-250
.243
.25-35
.250-3000
7mm-08
.284 Win.
.30-30
.303 Savage
.300 Savage
.308
.32-40
.358
.375
.38-55

I have also heard of several wildcat calibers believed to be factory specials which may have been made from time to time.


Strength & Honor...

Ron T.

You're nothing if not long winded with no point.

A Savage 99 rotary magazine could be made to fit the 244/6mm and 257 Roberts with most bullets, but would likely run out of magazine length with some longer/heavier bullets. Magazine length is a problem associated with some magazine/cartridge/bullet combinations. The Ruger American Rifle (RAR) 223 magazines aren't long enough for some of the longer/heavier .224" bullets. The 6.5 Creedmoor came into being because its shorter case length is a better fit in most short actions than the 260 when longer/heavier VLD bullets are used.

The only rotary magazine 99s that I have chambered for non-cataloged cartridges are a 99F in 260, rebored from 243, a 99R in 220 Swift that was reworked by Wilbur Hauck, and an 1899CD in 40-55, rebored from 38-55. OTOH, I have 99CDs in 257AI, 25-294, and 6.5-284. I have had 99C or 99CDs in 250AI, 25 Souper, 30-284, 338-284, and 35-284.

For years the .257 was handicapped by the insistance of of some rifle makers to chamber it in short actions. Factory ammo followed suit, being loaded to a rather short COAL so as to function in those actions (not to mention being rather anemic in performance too). What's weird is those short actions were often at the same time given nice long throats that were conducive to longer COAL that wouldn't in turn feed through the magazines. I haven't played with a .257 since the time I owned a M1952 Mannlicher-Schoenauer in that chambering, nigh onto 20 years ago. I can't speak to whether or not .257s are still loaded to that length or not. I know that I routinely loaded my ammo to a much longer length and it passed through that rifle's rotary magazine fine and my bullets kissed the leade. Velocity was, as I recall, in line with what Scott described above and accuracy was superb (as one would expect from a M-S).

All that is to say that I can see where y'all are right concerning that cartridge in the later .308 length 99 rotary magazines. But to do so would place oneself in the same boat that owners of Remington 721 .257s experienced back in the day- a gun with a short magazine that inhibited the performance of a very fine cartridge.

Do they still make a .257 Roberts +P cartridge?

Picking nits, but Remington offered the 257 Roberts in the short action 722, not the long action 721.