My first Bob started life as a factory 257 Roberts in a classic 722 Remington my father bought back in the early 60's or late 50's not sure when he first got it, but I was quite young. Back then he was confused by others and though WD-40 was like Formaldehyde for rifles, which we know today is a poor protectant! But in the early 80's he gave me the rifle after not being used and only setting in a wood rifle case for over a couple decades. Along with a pristine 308 win in a 760 Remington pump, both classics, and both needing chambers redone by the end of the 1970's. The chamber was pitted bad enough on both that extraction became impossible on both with anything considered a mild load due to chamber pitting! Ya the barrels were in need of help as well, but useable, and the he would take them out every year or so and wipe them down, again with fresh treated WD-40, but only giving any attention to the outsides, and putting them back in the glass doored case, only be used for eye candy.
So the old Bob shot pretty good for it's lack of care, with slightly warmer loads of 4895 than listed with the Hornady 87 SP around 3/4" to 1", if shooting 3 shot groups, but every time I would have to knock the spent case out with a cleaning rod thru the muzzle. I polished and polished with I think Flitz, but not sure we even had that in the 80's. But I got it where I could hit the bolt with a small leather mallet to get them out. I finally had it rechambered to a 25-284, but 8 tom10 rounds, and the 1" groups grew. But I remember being fascinated at flat it shot as the Bob and what those 87 grain bullets did to whistle pigs. But just didn't care for the 25-284, and probably mainly because of the Hornady dies I had to use for it as all I could find back then.
So, this was just a couple years after my friend, and first real mentor, Fred Sinclair had introduced me to Ron Pence, a custom barrel maker just gaining some notoriety at that time. Actually I had met him after Fred would no longer build rifles, and I wanted to build my first Benchrest rifle back then on an XP action under Fred's guidance. That was my first super accurate rifle, and won many matches with that gun as both a 6br Tall Dog, and then a 6ppc when the brass became available, . That was why Fred suggested using that action for My first Benchrest rifle, as it was a custom I had in 308 win for unlimited Silhouette as a handgun built by Crowly from a Fireball back then, and when he opened the bolt up he used an m-16 style extractor, plus the back of that action had been scalloped for less weight. But enough, that was how I met Ron.
So we talked one about this rifle, and Ron had no reemers in 25 caliber, but I was enthused by how it shot so flat and how it destroyed the couple ground hogs out about 300 yards that I was able to hit with it. I knew it was no way getting a fair chance in the condition the barrel was in for accuracy. Ron had no experience with the 25 calibers, as back then with the new 6ppc coming on the seen, everyone was flocking to the 6mm for both target and varmint. He tried to convince me on the 243 to rechamber it, or even a 6mm Remington. But I was stead fast on having and evaluation a 1/4 bore rifle. So I agreed to pay half price for a new 257 Roberts, AI reamer. Mainly because I did have a commercial 7x57 Mauser on the Interarms action, that I had a local so so gunsmith rechamber to the 7x57 Ackley, I called it my 7mm short mag, as it was everything the 284 win was and maybe just a tad more, but that was my very first Ackley. So the decision was made to go for the new reamer, and a HV hand cut Pence Barrel with a 1-10 twist for undern 100 grain bullets.
That build was glued me and Ron as good friends, we were both surprised at not just the performance of the new rifle, but the accuracy, which we made even better after destroying the the forearm on 722 stock when opened it up and pillar bedded that 722 action to make this a working rifle. So I decided to go see me other old friend Tom Meredith who I also met years bak thru Fred Sinclair. Tom grind when I told him what I had, and what I wanted, and instantly introduced me to Dragonfire! This was a McMillan Benchrest stock he had configured for an old friend out west for a long range Varmint rig on a 700 action. He had recently took it in on trade for another stock he did for the guy for a new build. It was the one above I painted over the dragons on the side, they were red on a Black gloss finished meredith paint job. Tom was quite the artist in his own trade!
Anyways that was the story on my love affair with the 1/4 bore. Over the last 40 years I've after that first 257 got totally wore out I had Ron rebore the barrel to .300 rifle it for 308. We built another Ackley cartridge on, a 30-06 AI, accurate enough, but hardly an Improvement. If it was better it was not evident, there just want enough there to light a fire and feel I had made a big improvement in the old 30-06.
So I had Ron make me a 1-10 twist for a 6mm Remington, and this time, Ron popped for the AI reamer. I've since built three, and the last was an expensive lesson! The first with a 1-8 barrel for the heavies, and a hard lesson in the differance between Target rifles, and hunting rifles! I decided this after having such great results at 600 Benchrest with a 6BR I'll explain that, but after having such great results with it and 108 Bergers. I wanted more gusto! Hence a 6x47 Lapua, a little more than the Dasher, without stomping the guts out of my brass to get it. Again, another great rifle that did exactly what I expected.
That 6BR was built on that very first Pence barrel we chambered in 6mm Remington AI over 20 years ago, then about 6 years ago when I had Fred at SSS scope it, at around 1200 rounds, it so bad I would take an entire day to clean it, we found about 4 inches of burnt out throat, with some fire cracking a couple inches beyond that. Ron had quit building barrels about that time so it set in the safe. But since Ron won't build anymore barrels, and it is a 1-10 27.5" barrel in Heavy Varmint contour, so we decided to take 4.5 " off the breach then ream it for a turn 6BR, which produced like new results. 3500 fps with 65 grain Bibs producing .3" to under .5" groups when I do my part. It is used very sparingly and only on varmints today. That is also on a Savage Axis, and shares itself with another highly prized Pence barrel in 17 ca. But this one requieres a bolt head change, as it is chambered in Rons favorite cartridge, a 17 Mach IV, also only used today to shoot varmints, sparingly, as both are irreplaceable today.
Anyway bak to my lesson. Since I was doing so good on the 6mm band wagon, and all my projects were being successful, we decided to build a replacement for the 257 AI for Long Range Varmint. I mean the heavies were doing great and accuracy was as good in both the BR and the faster 6x47, why not run em 3500 fps in the big 6mm AI case? So we got a 1-8 Krieger, and decided I would use the same Stainless Steel Axis I built both the BR and Lapua in using the Laminated BR stock Fred built using a rail for an insert to allow bipod use for shooting Varmints in the field.
Sad thing was before I even got it together, my "demons" started appearing. First when I talked to Bob Blaine at Capstone inquiring about his thoughts on 105 VLD's or the new Target 105 EH and the 108 Target and EH. He thought maybe the EH bullets would not like the rpms I would create and over stress them. That maybe the thicker jackets used for the target bullets would possibly take the stress I would be putting on them with the bigger faster case.
The more "demons" reared their head when I talked to Randy Robinett. I want to order some of his hard to get at the time, nearly impossible, 104's. We had everything looking promising him to get me them before the barrel would get here and have them ready to test when he popped the question. "What are you wanting to shoot them for"? As soon as I told him, and said driving the hard in a 6mm Remington AI, there was a pause, then " wow Bob I'd really hate to send them to you, I have my doubts they are going to work".
Now after talking with Bob, who knows what he is talking about with the Bergers, Randy went into detail explaining! He did not think, again, that the bullets would perform to my standards at the "RPM" I would be spinning them. I didn't understand, as I knew I have to use a 1-8 to twist them fast enough to stabilize them. I wasn't registering the revolution per minute statement, from the spin per inch. Two big differences, and probably why 600 yard BR, where absolute accuracy trumps good enough to win, always involves cartridges generating optimum pressure at 3200 and lower velocity. It was at that speed the big bullets start to create to many rpms, and stress getting them spinning that fast overcomes the integrity of the bullet to take it and still deliver optimum accuracy!
But even after the in depth information from Randy, I was bound to try for myself. Knowing that optimum accuracy was compromised, any speed I could get was useless to me. After over 2 months, with both VLDs and EH, Hottenstein 108 barn Burners, Barts 103 hammers, H4831, N160, RL 22 and a couple others, all shot pretty good in the .2/s at 3100 or a little more, but by 3150 fps they all started opening up and the groups just grew from their. 3500 fps was available, but that meant .5" to .6" groups. That meant assured misses even when I doped everything perfectly at 600 yards, by the time you get to 800 the best you could hope for was 5" groups, which meant high percentage misses, like I say even if I doped the conditions and ballistics perfectly,,, which humanly impossible at those yardages in field conditions.
Expensive lesson, but I won't confuse what's best for Long Range TARGET shooting, with WHY it is different than what's BEST for hunting Long Range. Now if absolute best accuracy wasn't my #1 goal in everything I shoot, I guess I would look at this like others, but remember that Bull head I mentioned. @ 70+ thats likely not to change!
So there you have it. Not just my beginnings with this cartridge, but why I came back. don't get me wrong, the 6mm AI is a great LR varmint round, but when every box has to be checked, I'll run with the quarter bore. Today, over 30 years later, I have much better loading technique, components and equipment. I have to think this will be an even more effective rigg than that old 722 had at the time.
But that is how my love for this old cartridge, and the lessons I've learned around it evolved. I also am adding another AI Bob this year. I have my absolute last Hunting rig under way as we speak, it is a primary big game rifle being built in a 338-06 AI, and as light as I can to keep accuracy a primary goal, while making it light enough for a 70 year old man to carry all day for days. I am later going to have a second barrel built for it for anything smaller than Black Bear and Mule deer in the same #4 sporter contour 24" 1-9" to match the #4 Brux 338 barrel, it's the lightest contour Brux will make the 330 bore on. I want both barrels to fit the 20 oz stock it is being built on. But again, after 30 years of experimenting, I want this classic caliber part of that very special rifle as well.
Sorry for the long read, but I only covered part of my reasoning as well as feelings for this old classic, and why it is so special to me!