256 Winchester Magnum Rifle

[mashh1]

A gun dealer in our area have a Universal Firearms ferret rifle in 256 Win mag for sale, which is a M1 30 carbine copy with 10 round magazine. it is not a common rifle & calibre on our side, and no information available on net also. ammo is available with some dealers but i have read on net that winchester stop making ammunation, so it is also a factor to consider before making a decesion. any opinion on this calibre and rifle,
regards

[thirtyzerosix]

brother can u plz let me know if he has .30 06 rifles.

Many thanks

M.Singh

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[Risala]

What difference would it make even if he did have,you wouldnt be able to lay your hands on it in any

case

Sanjay

[Grumpy]

Mashh1, The .256 Win mag is a bit of a weird beast. It was introduced as a pistol calibre in 1962 as the result of a collaboration between Winchester - who made the ammo - and Ruger who built a very peculiar single shot pistol for it based on a revolver frame ! The pistol had a very short life and Winchester - the only maker of .256 WM ammunition - deleted the calibre from its list back in 1990. Muzzle Energy was something like 1,050 ft lbs from the long pistol barrel.
Basically ammunition is not available anywhere- and neither is brass. If you wanted to hand load you would have to form your own cases. I have an idea - which might, or might not be true - that cases can be formed through laborious process from .357 mag cases.......but don`t quote me !
The Universal Firearms Ferret is a gun that is very rarely seen. I`ve heard of it but have never seen one and I haven`t seen a picture even in those books that mention it. Very collectible apparently...........although you have to remember that for collecting purposes, condition is everything. A poor condition example - with just a few exceptions - is usually worth very little. Refurbished collectors pieces might be worth more than a gun in poor condition but nothing like as much as a gun in ORIGINAL good condition.
I`ve just discovered that Chuck Hawks has a short article available on the .256 Win mag.........Seems I wasn`t too far out in what I said.

http://www.chuckhawks.com/256Win.htm

Sizing dies are available as well......but you need three of them.

[mashh1]

sanjay i can buy it if i am willing to pay the demanded quids which i actually dont want to do at the moment.

thank you Grumpy once again for a very detailed analysis, i think that single shot ruger is called Hawks eye, which is a cash intensive collecter item in states, i saw one on Gunbroker for nearly $2k. the problem with this rifle will be as reloding equipment is not available here, so i cannot consider of this option. i think i will have to hang it on the wall. it can be rebarreled to 357 mag after the approval but that would be a bubba's job

collecter value is of no use here and i dont think it can be exported to some place on earth where it have more value,
thanks & regards

[TwoRivers]

Yes, the .256 is a necked down .357 Magnum revolver case, and cases can be formed from that case.