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.256 Winchester Magnum
Historical Notes:
The .256 Winchester Magnum was announced, in 1960, as a new handgun cartridge. However, the only handgun that chambered it was the single-shot, enclosed-breech Ruger Hawkeye, introduced in late 1961. The .256 Winchester Magnum is listed as a rifle cartridge, because Marlin produced its Model 62 lever-action rifle in this chambering, and Universal Firearms made the semi-auto Ferret on the M-1 Carbine action. The Marlin rifle was available about a year after the Ruger Hawkeye, and both were discontinued after a relatively short production life. The Thompson/Center Contender, a single-shot pistol, was also available for this round. The cartridge is based on the necked-down .357 Magnum revolver case.
General Comments:
As a rifle cartridge, the .256 is considerably more potent than the .25-20 and several jumps ahead of the .22 Hornet or the .218 Bee. The factory-loaded 60-grain bullet develops over 2760 fps muzzle velocity when fired from a 24-inch rifle barrel. This offers 1015 ft-lbs of muzzle energy, which is well above the Hornet or Bee. The .256 Magnum is an effective varmint cartridge out to ranges of 200 yards. It can be handloaded with heavier 75- or 87-grain bullets to velocities of 2500 and 2230 fps, respectively. Although a good varmint and small-game chambering, it is not an adequate deer cartridge, and most states will not allow its use for this purpose. Winchester was the only commercial manufacturer to offer the .256 Winchester Magnum. It was discontinued in the early 1990s.
.256 Winchester Magnum Loading Data and Factory Ballistics
Bullet (grains/type) | Powder | Grains | Velocity | Energy | Source/Comments | ||||||
60 SP | H-4227 | 14.0 | 2500 | 833 | Hornady | ||||||
60 SP | H-4227 | 16.0 | 2800 | 1045 | Hornady | ||||||
60 SP | 2400 | 14.0 | 2600 | 901 | Hornady | ||||||
75 HP | H-4227 | 14.0 | 2400 | 958 | Hornady | ||||||
75 HP | IMR-4227 | 15.5 | 2500 | 1041 | Sierra | ||||||
87 SP | IMR-4227 | 14.0 | 2200 | 935 | Sierra | ||||||
87 SP | H-4227 | 14.0 | 2200 | 935 | Hornady | ||||||
60 SP | FL | 2760 | 1015 | Winchester factory load | |||||||
Dimensional Data | |||||||||||
Cartridge | Case | Bullet Dia. | Neck Dia. | Shoulder Dia. | Base Dia. | Rim Dia. | Rim Thick. | Case Length | Ctge. Length | Primer | |
.256 Winchester Magnum | A | .257 | .283 | .370 | .378 | .440 | .055 | 1.30 | 1.53 | S | |
Case Type: A = Rimmed, bottleneck. Primer Type: S = Small rifle (.175”). DISCLAIMER: Any and all loading data found here is to be taken as reference material only. This site and it's entities bear no responsibility for the use by others of the data included here. WARNING: For any modern firearm, it is essential that you adhere to the loading recommendations put forth in the reloading manuals of today’s components manufacturers, as well as to the owners manual of the maker of your individual firearm. The potential for things to go wrong is exacerbated in guns long out of production, those chambering obsolete cartridges, and those using cartridges containing blackpowder or cordite. As a separate caution, you must never fire any cartridge in any gun just because it looks similar to, or has a similar designation to, the cartridge the gun is chambered for. This can be extremely dangerous. Almost is not good enough, so if you are at all uncertain about the proper cartridge, have a competent gunsmith check the bullet diameter and case dimensions and firearms chamber and headspace. | |||||||||||
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