School me on the 257 Roberts!!

[rockrat]

Just picked up a Ruger tang safety 77 in this caliber, at our local Cabelas. Only decent buy in the whole rack as far as I am concerned, and in an interesting caliber to boot.

Those that have had or have Roberts, I would be appreciative of any info you can part with.

Sorry no pics, its in the shop with bore cleaner soaking at the moment. Can post later.

Thanks

[Combat Diver]

Good cartridge, 7x57 necked down to .257". The Roberts is also called "Bob" for short and has a loyal following.

[Hickory]

You have what I call the pre-magnum North American rifle.
The 257 Roberts could do it all before the magnum craze
took off in America. Hunters and I mean hunters (those who would take the time to stalk close to their prey) could and still can down any North American game animal with a 257 Roberts, and that includes grizzle bears. But most can not deal with the excitment of shooting a bear of this size and power with a light caliber such as a 257 Roberts. The trick is to get close and hit them in the right spot.
In my opinion you can kill everything in America with the Bob, everything from ground squirrels to grizzle bears.

[Bret4207]

Lovely old round, IIRC it should be rifled for the 100-120 gr bullets. With cast they do well too if you can find a heavier boolit than the little 85 gr 25-20 designs.

I much prefer the tang safety Rugers to the newer ones.

[AnthonyB]

You have a great cartridge that has been my favorite since I was a teenager. My M70 Featherweight will push a 120 grain Partition over 2900 fps and is a primo deer rifle.
Tony

[primersp]

i have one like your ,i never can shoot in a accurate cast bullet ,but with jacketed i have a bunch of 87 grs hornady at a very fair price , 1cm at 100m for 3 shoots ,but the slim barrel
warms very quick.
i have made a beding and adjust the triger to the light possible.
now i 'm happy with the rifle

[280Ackley]

No experience with cast. With condom bullets, slow powders (RL22 and IMR4831) and heavy for caliber bullets (110 accubonds, 115 partitions, and my most favorite 115 Berger which kills faster than any other load I've seen on whitetails)

[jmsj]

rockrat,
My father has been using a 257 Roberts for as long as I can remember. He uses +P ammo in his rifle. He has killed enough deer, antelope, prarie dogs(really) and coyotes to fill a small house w/ it. I've seen him shoot deer @ 400 yds and once he killed a coyote that was dog trotting along @ 350 yds with his 257 Roberts.I too really like the original style Ruger 77. My go to gun for elk hunting is in 7MM Remington Mag.
jmsj

[Lloyd Smale]

I absoulutely love the round. It kills deer very dead and with very little recoil. Only downside to it is ive owned 3 rugers and a win. featherweight and have yet to have one that shot well enough to earn a permenant spot in the safe. Someday I will find one to fall in love with. Just told my buddy that one of my goals next year is to find one of the limited run rem classics in 257. Ive got a feeling that if one is going to shoot that may be the platform.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

I am a fan of the 257 Rbts.
I have one build on a czech mauser receiver.
lightweight, light recoil, and flat shooting.

btw, there is discussion in the GB section about a heavy (120gr) boolit mold.
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=92400
Jon

[atr]

I've been shooting the .257 Roberts for years, it is one of my favorite calibers, for deer (whitetail and Mule) and critters such as coyotes. I have always found this cartridge to be very accurate and flat shooting.
For deer I use the 120 gr spire point. If I am in timber then I use the 117gr (120) round nose. I use IMR 4350 for a powder with the J-bullets. For some reason this is one of the few guns of mine that I don't shoot cast through. I don't think I would shoot brown bear with this round...for bear sized critters I go to my next favorite caliber the 7x57.

[rmb721]

I have a Remington 722 in 257 that I use 100 grain Speer bullets with 37 grains of IMR-4064.

[yarro]

My dad has taken around 70 deer and a couple of black bear with his. His original is on an old Mauser action that he bought through the mail and had rebarreled when he was 13. His new one is a Winchester model 70 that he bought a few years ago when someone has a special run made. I used that model 70 to shoot the biggest buck I have taken. It is a great all around caliber with low recoil. Superior to the .243. It should be good for Elk as my buddy in Arizona has taken all of his except for his last one with a Savage 99 in .250 Savage that was originally his grandfather's deer/elk gun, which is lower velocity.

I plan on finding one for my son.

-yarro

[Char-Gar]

The round was first a wildcat developed by Ned Roberts. Most factory rifles used a short action and the factory ammo used a deep seated bullet to keep the LOA short enough for the short actions. This robbed the round of case capacity and therefore velocity. Gun savy folks starting building 257 Roberts rifles on 03 and Mauser actions and with the longer magazine, the bullets could be seated out and the velocity jumped a couple of hundred feet per second with the extra powder capacity.

The Roberts pretty well ruled the roost as a combination deer/antelope/small critter round until the mid-50s when the new 6mm rifles almost killed it off. The 243 Winchester and the 244/6mm Remington pushed to Roberts off stage.

It is still a wonderful round, particularily in an action that can fully utilize the powder capacity. I once had a rifle in the Ackley Improved version that was a real screamer It was a death ray on far away mule deer and antelope.

[222]

I had a Rem. Classic that iwas hampered with a short throat so bullets can't be seated out as far a I think they should but has hunted gophers to coydogs to pronghorn, whitetail and muledeer it even went as a second rifle on a elk hunt. I gave it to my wife as a wedding present an she stopped hunting 20 yrs ago. I borrowed to back last year when my scope bit the dust during deer season and 117gr made venision out of a doe for winters meat. Love that rifle and the wife too.

[Doc Highwall]

I have a pre war model 70 in 257 Roberts and I use to load it with H4831 with a 100 grain bullet and it is just sitting in the back of my safe waiting to be shot again. Too many irons in the fire.

[FergusonTO35]

I'm resurrecting this thread because I'm now a member of Club Ned:

101019

This is my Howa 1500 which began life as a .30'06. Last year I sent it off to E.R. Shaw and it came back with a stainless 1:10 twist magnum sporter contour .257 Roberts barrel. It wears a Weaver 2-10X38 scope in Leupold rings and a Weatherby Vanguard synthetic stock I painted OD green. This is going to be my only gun that doesn't see boolits. Well, not in the immediate future anyway. The plan is to shoot 117 grain slugs at ~2600 fps with mild recoil and excellent accuracy. I have a can of H4350 and some 117 grain Hornady BTSP's. Does this sound feasible? I have been so far put about 50 rounds through it using IMR XBR8208 and IMR 4064. Accuracy has been easily minute of whitetail, of course I'm hoping for much better than that. I love how the thick barrel doesn't heat up the way most do, I think that helps alot. Any advice appreciated!

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

I'm resurrecting this thread because I'm now a member of Club Ned:

This is my Howa 1500 which began life as a .30'06. Last year I sent it off to E.R. Shaw and it came back with a stainless 1:10 twist magnum sporter contour .257 Roberts barrel. It wears a Weaver 2-10X38 scope in Leupold rings and a Weatherby Vanguard synthetic stock I painted OD green. This is going to be my only gun that doesn't see boolits. Well, not in the immediate future anyway. The plan is to shoot 117 grain slugs at ~2600 fps with mild recoil and excellent accuracy. I have a can of H4350 and some 117 grain Hornady BTSP's. Does this sound feasible? I have been so far put about 50 rounds through it using IMR XBR8208 and IMR 4064. Accuracy has been easily minute of whitetail, of course I'm hoping for much better than that. I love how the thick barrel doesn't heat up the way most do, I think that helps alot. Any advice appreciated!

I Have used IMR4350 with 117gr J-words and get Bullet holes that touch each other at 100yd. H4350 and XMR4350 are close enough to do the same, but you should always workup your load and NOT use these powders as interchangeable. But I have switched to Hodgdon's HYBRID 100V...again basically like the other powders mentioned for purpose and burn rate, but HYBRID 100V meters much better.
Good Luck


PS, since you were playin Show and tell...I'll play right there with ya...both are 257R using Mauser receivers.


http://i640.photobucket.com/albums/uu127/JonB_in_Glencoe/MonkIImausercustom257Robforphotobucket.jpg (http://s640.photobucket.com/user/JonB_in_Glencoe/media/MonkIImausercustom257Robforphotobucket.jpg.html)

http://i640.photobucket.com/albums/uu127/JonB_in_Glencoe/Mauserforwallpaper_zps061ff32f.jpg (http://s640.photobucket.com/user/JonB_in_Glencoe/media/Mauserforwallpaper_zps061ff32f.jpg.html)

[FergusonTO35]

Cool!! Did you make those stocks? H4350 is a bit crunchy in my Uniflow but still gives me a variance of less than 1%. What twist do you have? Got any pet loads?

[seaboltm]

I have a BLR 81 and a CZ BRNO 21 in 257 Roberts. The 257 hand loaded can do almost what a factory 130 grain 270 can do. Figure a 117 grain flying at nearly 3000 fps, versus a 130 grainer flying right at 3000 fps. The 257 does better than the 243 or 6mm on medium game, and does fine for varmits too! Factory loads are a bit weak, offering very little (no?) advantage over the 243 Winchester. Loaded with 117 grain bullets with a good charge of IMR 4350 and the Bob starts to shine. The Ruger will handle pressure, so loading the 257 to something like 260 Remington pressures is really no big deal, just be careful.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

I have a friend that makes custom Mausers...He made both of these. Honestly I don't know the twist rate. and I don't recall my J-word Pet load right off hand, but I am sure it's probably in the middle of the road, otherwise I'd remember it. BTW, the top one only gets Cast boolits.

[FergusonTO35]

Sounds good. As a long time .30 WCF user I know a 117 grainer at 2600 fps will get the job done. To be sure the Howa will handle much stronger loads but what I really want is easy shooting, accuracy, and barrel life.

[Huffmanite]

Own several mauser actioned rifles (91, 95, 98) barreled in 257R and a Ruger Hawkeye 257R. So......yea, I like the cartridge and I just shoot paper with it.

[FergusonTO35]

What kind of accuracy do you get with the Ruger?

[Throwback]

One of my favorite rifles no doubt, but I don't load cast in mine. With Hybrid 100V it'll come close enough to the .25'06 that I feel the larger cartridge isn't really worth bothering with. I have a Remington 722 and a friend has a post-WW2 Mauser action. We have put to rest (in our minds) any stipulation that you loose any significant velocity with the shorter OAL. You just have to add more powder to accomplish the same. The old complaint about long throats is valid and does remain a detriment to accuracy in a number of rifles. The Bob is an efficient deer killer and a joy to shoot. In the right rifle it is just plain accurate to boot.

[rollmyown]

I guess I should be grateful that Ruger only make the 257 Robers in their International rifle and not the light sporter. It's a combination I don't think I could resist.

[wch]

The 257 Roberts is the best rifle caliber that I can think of to teach a woman or a child to shoot.

[FergusonTO35]

The .257 (at least mine) doesn't kick like a .30'06 or .45-70 but doesnt really strike me as a light kicker. I find that even the .243 and .30 WCF could use a nice recoil pad with factory ammo. With today's lightweight rifles one really has to get down to the .22 centerfires to make recoil a total non-issue. Speaking of which, I'm looking at the Howa in .223 and its pretty sweet...

[runfiverun]

biggest buck I ever shot was with a win featherweight in 257 Roberts.
odd how I ended up with the rifle I wanted a ruger hawkeye and this one was sitting there unmolested since Winchester made it.
anyway the hornady 120 gr hollow point was the only bullet I had for it so I put some rl-19 under it and a fed 210 primer under that and called it a day.
I have put something like 20 rounds total through this rifle in the last 8 years and one was through that buck.
I only took the rifle hunting that day because I didn't know where we were going and it was the only thing I knew was sighted in that could shoot 300 yds if I needed to.
ended up being hand gun range...

[Lloyd Smale]

this is an old thread. I know because since my post ive got another 257. A 1a ruger. Finally ive found a decent shooting 257 and its pretty as a button to boot.

[John Boy]

School me on the 257 Roberts!!
Read here all about the caliber ...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.257_Roberts

[Clay M]

I like the Roberts.Many people look at the ballistic and don't seem impressed.
My father gave me a 1952 Mannlicher for Christmas back in 1980. It is a great round. My gun seems to show a preference for 100 gr flat base bullets.I have killed several deer with it and they were dead right there.Ruger is making the #1 International in a special run this year.
Enjoy your Roberts. It is a Classic round.

[square butte]

For those who may be interested - there is an interest thread in the Group Buy Discussion forum for an NOE mold which will be a copy of Lyman/Ideal 257(260)-325 at about 113 grains. Both round nose and flat nose versions will be available. Drawings are up in the thread from Swede. Tough mold to come buy. Take a look.

[rollmyown]

this is an old thread. I know because since my post ive got another 257. A 1a ruger. Finally ive found a decent shooting 257 and its pretty as a button to boot.

You're a lucky man Lloyd, That's the one I'd trade a kidney for.

[HABCAN]

When first introduced, I had a Ruger 77 .257R........and the throat was so long you could load bullets 'way out and use Ackley Improved powder charges!!!.........but it wouldn't hit s^&t no matter WHAT you tried, even factory. Then years ago at the local gun show I lucked into the Remington 700 Classic in .257R...........and before I got to really play with it I gifted it to one of my daughters........who keeps it as a safe queen and refuses to let go. <Slaps self upside head!> Solace is achieved with 7x57s, plural, and 6.5 Swede, etc.

[FergusonTO35]

One big reason I rebarrelled my Howa instead of buying a Ruger is because so many people report mediocre to poor accuracy with them in .257. I figured that if a nice heavy barrel on my Howa wouldn't shoot then nothing would!

Another question: my rifle has a Weatherby Vanguard factory synthetic stock. Like most of its kind this stock is very hollow underneath the barrel. Would it be a good idea to go ahead and bed it, or should I keep shooting it and establish what load it seems to prefer first?

[jonp]

You have what I call the pre-magnum North American rifle.
The 257 Roberts could do it all before the magnum craze
took off in America. Hunters and I mean hunters (those who would take the time to stalk close to their prey) could and still can down any North American game animal with a 257 Roberts, and that includes grizzle bears. But most can not deal with the excitment of shooting a bear of this size and power with a light caliber such as a 257 Roberts. The trick is to get close and hit them in the right spot.
In my opinion you can kill everything in America with the Bob, everything from ground squirrels to grizzle bears.

This is an old thread but this post caught my eye. If you are after grizzly with a 257 R you have made a serious error in judgement

[Hickory]

This is an old thread but this post caught my eye. If you are after grizzly with a 257 R you have made a serious error in judgement

Now, reread what I wrote. Big bears can and have been taken with the 257 Roberts.
No one should consider it unless, 1) It's the only gun you have, or 2) You can remain calm enough to put your shot in the right place, using the right bullet.

Eskimos have been known to take brown bears with a 222 Remington.
I guess the 257 can do as well. Not the best choice for grizzly, but it would sure be exciting.

[jonp]

I read your post. If its "the only gun you have" unless its subsitence and life or death at that i would discourage it. Kajamojo used a 22 savage hi-power to take several buffalo. You wouldnt do that would you?
All you have to be is wrong once.

[FergusonTO35]

My local shop got a bunch of Hodgdon H380 in. I found data for the .257 and it looks promising so I bought some. Anybody ever try this powder in the .257?

[MT Gianni]

This is an old thread but this post caught my eye. If you are after grizzly with a 257 R you have made a serious error in judgement
I spent an afternoon bsing with an old guide in Ovando, MT. My back was against a grizzly he had killed and the tanned hide draped over the couch. He wasn't a large man and hated recoil so all he shot was a 25-35. Deer, Elk, Sheep and Bear it did the job for him.
Never say never.

[starmac]

Lots of bow kills on big bears too, but most have a cool headed backup with some serious horsepower, in fact most that hunt browns with serious horsepower have backups too. There probably has been an eskimo kill one with a 222, but he may have shot 20 before he found a dead one.

[Suo Gan]

I hunted with one for thirty years and it is an inherently accurate round. I just got tired of the FACT that it WILL lose game over a 30-06.

It is about the best pronghorn or long range coyote round in existence.

The last bear I shot three times. The last buck that was all pumped up with adrenaline with its leg blown off from another hunter took 4 shots to kill.

Those are the facts as I know them...born from thirty years with one trail side. Take it for what it is worth.

For a juvenile or lady it is a good choice for deer. But it isn't a 30-06...neither are most of the rounds out there.

[NVScouter]

I hunted with one for thirty years and it is an inherently accurate round. I just got tired of the FACT that it WILL lose game over a 30-06.

It is about the best pronghorn or long range coyote round in existence.

The last bear I shot three times. The last buck that was all pumped up with adrenaline with its leg blown off from another hunter took 4 shots to kill.

Those are the facts as I know them...born from thirty years with one trail side. Take it for what it is worth.

For a juvenile or lady it is a good choice for deer. But it isn't a 30-06...neither are most of the rounds out there.

I love the 250-3000 with 87-100g bullets and the Bob would be great. I'm irritated that the US market limited the .25's to such light bullets. Even 120s cant compare the the 6.5's 140g bullets when the difference from .258 to.264 is so minimal. I was going to rebarrel another rifle to a .25 but this custom 6.5x55 feels the same and has better bullet selection. The US market sure shot itself in the foot there.

[Mauser48]

I load 75 grain hornady hollow points with 40 grains of 4064. Shoots great out of my remington 722

[MT Chambers]

I spent an afternoon bsing with an old guide in Ovando, MT. My back was against a grizzly he had killed and the tanned hide draped over the couch. He wasn't a large man and hated recoil so all he shot was a 25-35. Deer, Elk, Sheep and Bear it did the job for him.
Never say never.
Couldn't have been Keith then...........I like the .257 Roberts but not with cast, and if I had one, I'd Ackley it!!!!

[FergusonTO35]

Wow, this thread has taken some interesting twists and turns. Tomorrow I'm going to hit the range and try out Hodgdon 4350 with my Hornady 117's. I have 10 rounds each of 40.0, 40.5, and 41 grains. If the Hornadys shoot well and don't fall apart on game I'll probably just stick with them. They are reasonably priced, have decent weight, and are always available. My Dad just bought a 70 acre farm in the middle of big buck alley in our county and I'm planning to take full advantage of it!!

[Huffmanite]

What kind of accuracy do you get with the Ruger?

Alas, While the Ruger Hawkeye in 257R shoots just fine for, say deer hunting and etc., my rebarreled mauser action 257R rifles will outshoot it for accuracy when shooting for tight groups from benchrest at 100 yd targets. In other words, if I went deer hunting, certainly wouldn't think twice about taking the Ruger Hawkeye to shoot.

[FergusonTO35]

Well looks my Bob has to go back to E.R. Shaw. Cartridges are hard to chamber and I'm getting brass shavings on the bolt face and some split case necks. I think the chamber is just too tight. This is with both Remington and Federal brass, full length sized, and Hornady 117 grain BTSP seated and factory crimped in the cannelure. Happens with several different powders. Any suggestions before I send it back east? Pretty sad when my $200.00 Marlin Glenfield 30 will make groups half the size all day long!!

[doc1876]

Ferguson, As to the stock, my Howa stock moves. I have noticed that for some reason when it gets warm, the thing starts to move to the barrel. So, I think that bedding is the answer for me, so it may be for you also.

As to the comments about small calibers, I have pictures of my father killing antelope, deer, and I think the other is a bear with the .25-35, However as I have said somewhere here before, I cant hit the barn with the thing. We are looking into a different load setup. I don't know what the old man used, as he had been gone sometime.