Thanks for your incisive and complete answer. I understand it well enough without illustrations.  I'm more familiar with the 6mm Remington than the .25 Roberts but have dealt with the issues with which cartridges based on the "in between" 7mm case must contend.

If I were starting a custom rifle from scratch to be chambered for any of the three, I'd be inclined to ignore the Model 70 as overlarge and lay about me for an Oberndorf Type A commercial action, one built on the intermediate size version of the original 1898 design.  

But i'm past that stage and will instead concentrate on perfecting .250-3000 loads for a couple of S*****e 99s that have followed me home. 

Thanks much for illuminating what was dark,

Bill

Zebulon said

I recall the late Townsend Whelen opining that owners of a Model 70 chambered for the 257 Roberts would do well to replace the bolt stop, magazine box,  follower and possibly the ejector to allow the rifle to function with the longer spitzer bullets the Roberts needed to perform well.  

I did the same thing on two Remington Model 30-S rifles that are chambered for the .257 Roberts.  By replacing the magazine box, and follower with parts intended for the Remington Model 30-S chambered in 7mm Mauser, I gained enough extra length to allow the loading of ammunition using the longer spitzer bullets I like to hunt with.  

BRP

Rick Hill said
Wow!  That's a lot of Winders.  Are they all different variations?  Sorry I missed seeing your & Elliot's display.
  

Yes, the display came together nicely although I still had a few more variations at home, just didn't have time to dig them out.

As squatters on your tables we tried to do you proud.

Best Regards,

Rick Hill said
Wow!  That's a lot of Winders.  Are they all different variations?  Sorry I missed seeing your & Elliot's display.
  

Yes, each one of them is a different variation.

Bert

If you look close, further down the line, you can see Lou Lutrell (top, middle of the image in the tan shirt) talking to Doug Hart (DEERHART here on the forum).

Best Regards,

TXGunNut said

There's no substitute for being in Cody for the WACA show. The pics are just teasers...and some of us look much better behind a keyboard than in front of a camera. Come see for yourself next year!
 
Mike
  

Hmmm....  I am not sure that I believe that!  My bet is most of us are much uglier and scarier in person than on a video cam or pictures... I know that I certainly am !!

I personally agree with Whelen, as did quite a few owners of Model 70s in 257 ROBERTS back in the day.  It is not uncommon to find M70s in Roberts whose magazine box, follower, spring, extractor collar/bolt stop extension, and ejector were replaced with the Group V-a (standard) parts to permit loading longer spitzer bullets without seating them well into the case.  

The only difference between the 7 M/M (V-b) and Standard (V-a) action is the magazine spring, which on the 7 M/M was given a slightly different "set" when hardened.  I presume this had something to do with the body taper of the 7x57mm case.  The springs were identical (made from the same part) before hardening.

On both the Swift (Group II) and Roberts (Group IV), the #4 ejector went with the "Swift" extractor collar/BSE.  The ejector was necessarily longer than Standard to adjust for the shorter bolt throw caused by the BSE.  It has nothing to do with Swift being a semi-rimmed case, just the bolt throw.  The slanted partitions in the #6 (Swift) versus #5 (Roberts) magazine box dealt with the semi-rimmed issue while using the same "Short" follower and magazine spring.  Swift, Roberts, and the 308 Winchester based cartridges all used the Standard extractor b/c they have the same case head diameter.

I know this would be easier to understand with pictures, but the whole chapter is over 40 pages long (!!!)...  If you want a picture of something specific I can post it here...

Best,

Lou

MidwestCrisis said
After all bar fights that happened over a barrels length, or the front sight being .76 from the muzzle, or the length of a fore end….   We won’t see anything from Cody until those involved want to speak of it publicly. 
  

Y'all gotta remember I'm from Texas where tall tales are a traditional pastime.

Mike

James W said
Did anyone put any videos of the Cody Gun show to see on the internet? On Facebook or anyplace? I don't see any. I only saw one short video of the National Anthem.
  

There's no substitute for being in Cody for the WACA show. The pics are just teasers...and some of us look much better behind a keyboard than in front of a camera. Come see for yourself next year!

Mike

It makes most things clear and is a very  useful document. 

I recall the late Townsend Whelen opining that owners of a Model 70 chambered for the 257 Roberts would do well to replace the bolt stop, magazine box,  follower and possibly the ejector to allow the rifle to function with the longer spitzer bullets the Roberts needed to perform well.  

I note the Roberts was furnished with the "220 Swift" ejector whereas the 7mm Mauser got the "Standard" ejector.  

I'm not sure why the short cartridge group would need an ejector designed to cope with a semi-rimmed case but assume the reason had more to do with the length of the Lee Navy case than rim and groove details.

But the Roberts is based on the 7mm Mauser case, for which a Standard ejector is furnished. 

Curiouser and Curiouser but I guess they did what actually worked. 

Look at the Table below, which gives the action components by Chambering.  You may need to consult your copy of Rule's book for pictures.  Since the FWT was chambered for Standard length (270 WIN, 30-06), Short (243 WIN, 308 WIN, 358 WIN), and Short Magnum (264 WIN MAGNUM) cartridges, they were built with internal components adapted to Cartridge Groups IV, Va or VIb depending on chambering.

The defining characteristics of the Featherweight were the barrel contour, stock, and aluminum components.  The other action parts were determined by Caliber, not Style.

Hope this Helps,

Lou

MidwestCrisis said
After all bar fights that happened over a barrels length, or the front sight being .76 from the muzzle, or the length of a fore end….   We won’t see anything from Cody until those involved want to speak of it publicly.