256 Win. Mag.

[Rimfire McNutjob]

I'm confused ... perhaps perpetually if my wife is consulted ... but did Winchester actually chamber any of their firearms in the .256 Win Mag? I've seen the Marlin 62, I'm sure T/C made a barrel for it, and there was that one single shot S&W Hawkeye ... but no Winchester? Did Remington ever chamber it?

It seems like it would be a great conversion for a '92.

[airedaleman]

No and no, and Ruger made the Hawkeye...

Bought my father a Model 62 in .256. He didn't like it; too "modernistic" for him.

[Rimfire McNutjob]

My bad, I should have recalled that it was Ruger with the Hawkeye. My brain somehow equated it with the Jet.

I'll have to see if I can read up on their introducing the 256 Win Mag. Perhaps it was something akin to Marlin or Ruger working with Hornady to produce new cartridge designs or at least to bring a wildcat to factory status.

I think I recall Sixgun mentioning that the 25-20 could be loaded up to 256 Win Mag ballistics with today's powders. Maybe that's a reasonable way to go. I it seems the walls of the 25-20 are a bit thinner than the 357 Mag case though.

[bcp]

Universal M1 carbine and TC Contender.

Bruce

[awp101]

I thought the Universal M1s were 5.7 Johnson (.22 Spitfire)? Were they made in .256 Win Mag?

[mescalero1]

awp101,
Yes, I have seen and shot one.
Very nice.
But then I own a 5.7mm Johnson & a .30 Carbine.
I may be jaded.

[bcp]

Universal 256 Win.:

http://www.m1carbinesinc.com/carbine_universal4.html

Bruce

[shdwlkr]

I am waiting for a nice lever action model 92 in 357 mag to show up that needs to be rebuilt into a 256 win mag and then I will be a happy camper and have something that should have been built but nobody could seem to get it off the drawing board.
Me I like to have the unusual and that would be unusual and I would like to build a 44 special on an old winchester model 92 action that is only waiting for me to get enough loose cash to do.

[mescalero1]

I want to do a .256 on a Marlin.

[awp101]

Universal 256 Win.:

http://www.m1carbinesinc.com/carbine_universal4.html

Bruce

Ahhh! I'd forgotten the .256 Ferret and Win Mag were the same!

[shdwlkr]

mescalero1
Sounds like a good idea to me if you like marlins. I don't and can't even tell you why. I just like winchester actions better for some reason. But I might just have to go with a marlin if I can't find a good winchester action to begin the project with.

[JFE]

Wouldnt it be neat if Davidson's did one of their limited runs of a Win 92/53/65 (take your pick but no tang safety please), button mag, shotgun butt and fitted it with a Marbles tang sight.

[nemhed]

And once again, I've learned something about a cartridge I didn't know existed. Sounds like a fantastic varmint round for a Marlin to be chambered in. Brass for these looks a little pricey though. My problem is I'm obsessed with square bolt Marlins and am always looking for an excuse to get another, but alas my dreams are larger than my wallet!

[awp101]

Brass for these looks a little pricey though.

Got a .357 Mag? If so, you have the basis for .256 Win Mag brass...

[6pt-sika]

I got a pair of Marlin 62's in 256 and 30 Carbine .

Kept them about 2 years , got dies for them both and then sold the two rifles a couple months ago !

Got nice new Redding dies for both as well !

I'm gonna keep the 30 Carbine dies , but I may just list the 256 WIN MAG dies for sale on Gunbroker when I return from PI !

[Lawyer Daggit]

Marlin 62, Ruger Hawkeye, Universal Carbine, TC barrel.

I once owned a single shot built on a .310 Martini Cadet action- useful calibre, wish I had not sold the gun.

[Booger Bill]

My post is almost a repeat of lawyer daggets. I started out with a ruger hawkeye, had a martini built up and still own a T/C with a barrel in it. I have seen a win 92 built up in one and would like one like it. The guy who has it had his partner a gunsmith build it up. He ran a gunshop and took it to africa once to shoot small game. They didnt seem to worry about the pointy bullet in the mag tube. .256 is a beautifull round.

[Remington40x]

There were a fair number of Martini Cadets converted/customized to .256 Winchester over the years. It made a very nice little varminter, pushing a 75 grain bullet out of a 24 inch barrel at about 2400fps. Sort of a slightly heavier Hornet, but better suited to coyotes than the small quiet .22s.

I have wanted to get a Marlin .357 customized to turn it into a .256. I want a 24 inch barrel, the 2/3 magazine, pistol grip and small forend from the old style 336A and a tang mounted peep sight with a Redfield Sourdough front sight. Priced one years ago and the gunsmith wanted a couple of grand to do it back then, and that didn't include the price of the rifle as a starting point. "Back then" was at least a decade ago, maybe a decade and a half. Can't imagine what it would cost today.

[3leggedturtle]

Best of all it was made in 1962, same as me, also velocity and drop match the 17HMR but with a bullet that weighs 5 times more, I get 2350 fps "CHRONOED" using 21 grs of H335 and Hornady 87gr SP. Am waiting to work up a max load of RL7 with the Hrndy 75gr HP. Actually saw 2 Universal ferrets at a Cbela's with consecutive SN#'s for $399 apiece. Just didnt like the thought of my reformed brass flying in the weeds. I shoot a 24" bull Contender carbine. Fun little cartridge.

[Lawyer Daggit]

Sadly it is one of those caliber that the so called experts working for shooting magazines were highly critical of, and that those who actually worked with the caliber loved.

I think their beef with the round was it went against their perception of what a varminter should be- an anorexically thin case with a 55 gr bullet. The 6.5 Rem Mag died I believe for similar reasons.

[awp101]

Actually saw 2 Universal ferrets at a Cbela's with consecutive SN#'s for $399 apiece.

Which one? How long ago?

[mescalero1]

The one I played with, we found if we used .223 brass; to form the .256 brass, we got more reliable feeding in rapid fire mode.
It was a HOOT!

[awp101]

The one I played with, we found if we used .223 brass; to form the .256 brass, we got more reliable feeding in rapid fire mode.
It was a HOOT!

Did you use .256WM dies with a .223 shellholder? What other brass could be formed?

[uncowboy]

I have the Marlin 62M and I am shooting the Sierra 75Gr HP and getting .600" groops at 50 yards. Can't wait to see some crows in the fields or a weary fox running through the cut corn. This thing is sweet. I have the Marlin in 256WM and 30 Carb and 22WMG I like them all all though I have not worked up a load with the 30 Carb yet. I am thinking the Sierra 125 GR sp. What do you think? J.Michael

[mescalero1]

AWP101,
Ya mon,
thats the way we New Mexicans, Texans, Mexicans do it!

[awp101]

AWP101,
Ya mon,
thats the way we New Mexicans, Texans, Mexicans do it!

Irie mon, serious tings...

The wheels, they are a-turnin' regarding the .256 Universal and a carbine....