Back in the mid 1940s some gunsmith of the northwest was reaming a round in surplus European Military rifles he called a short magnum that was 2.3 inches in length, which would put it midway between the Remington 2.1 inch short Magnum and the standard 2.5 inch .264 Winchester-7mm Remington Mag cal.

It would feed well with the box magazine not lengthened, as it was about the same lenth as the various 57 mm rounds.

I had a friend with such a short magnum, a .256 short (2.3 inch) Magnum, that was really a 6.5mm, he claimed it would outperform the .257 Weatherby.

Is that wildcat still around?

cannonballmount

The closest I could find is the Gipson 6.5mm Magnum. This was mentioned by both Fred Barnes and Richard Simmons. It was the Gipson .250 Magnum necked to .256. The parent case was the .275 H&H Magnum with a sharper shoulder and longer neck. It used .256 Newton bullets. Barnes used a 1917 Enfield action. They did some actual chronographing of two loads. 150 gr bullet ahead of 58.0 grains of IMR 4350 gave them 3,116 fps. A 130 grain bullet ahead of 60.0 grains of IMR 4350 gave 3,350 fps.
They checked the chronograph accuracy by comparing adevrtised .257 Roberts loads with 100 grain bullets, 2,900 fps with an actual 2,850 fps.

The cartrisge is pictures in Richard Simmons Wildcat book. An interesting case, I like the longer neck. Not sure if this is the one you mean but it is the closest one I found to your description.

Check out the .308 Norma Magnum.

Well, it was just a thought. My recollection was that the 256 short magnum was actually .264 and had a 2.3 inch case, that would put it exactly midway beteen the 6.5mm Rem mad and the .264 Winchester mag.

At that time the was a Gibbs line, from Viola, Idaho (I think).

On accout of the Korean War, hunting and target rifles were slow to hit the store shelves, but surplus rifles from WW2 were readily available. Trouble was, Noma wasn't around making loads for the vast number of Military rifles. Wildcats sprung up that would work through the somewhat shorter military actions using available brass and bullets. Rounds suitable for Elk, moose and big bears. Those were hayday times for good gunsmiths.

The 300 Norma was 2.5 inches long. It was probably closer to the case of the 7mm Shultz and Larson. That short case was used for a number of calibers. I think the gunsmith making the line was located in Twin Falls, Idaho. Owners of these short magnums claimed they would match Weatherby loads, and with the powders available then, they were probably right.

Thanks for you time and considerations, guys.

The 250 Durham Magnum was made on a 264 Win Mag case and was 2.32" long. it used a 117 grain spire point at 3330 fps using 55.0 grains of 4350. There was also a .264 Durham Magnum with the same case measurements except got the neck dia. with a 140 grain spire point at 3130 fps with 56.0 grains og 4350. There was also a .30 #1 Ackley short Magnum which was 2.482" long this was based on the 300 H&H Magnum. Hope this helps.

Lee L.

I heard of 280 Ross for British .303 rifles to be converted to, not a true magnum but magnum enough for the day. And 8mm/.338 for 8mm Mausers not short but 30'06 length.