.257 Roberts

Cris

Well-Known Member
Just been looking at an interesting rifle but it is only chambered in 257r.

Anyone use this cal and if so what performance are you getting and what ammunition is on the market in the uk for it?
 
No experience with the calibre so this - with the exception of me encouraging you to buy it (go on - you know you want to!) - is a useless post, but boy would I like to own a rifle in that calibre. By the numbers / on paper it looks like someone redesigned the .243 to increase it's usefulness for deer. Same recoil, lower velocity and heavier bullet for the same energy (e.g. less possibility of meat damage than the .243 - always down to shot placement in the end).

If I wasn't only a few months into an FAC I'd be asking for a variation for a "Bob". Never get it past the Mrs until she's forgotten about that .308 I bought, but absence makes the heart grow fonder and all that...

Everyone I've ever asked who shoots one has said they're brilliant, will knock anything in the UK over and are fun to reload. I've been promised a go on three occasions and it still hasn't happened, but fingers crossed. I think factory might be hard to come by, but I believe most of the American manufacturers offer at least one or two possibilities each, so if you asked specially, you'd be able to get hold of something.

I'm going to have to start looking into that variation...
 
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Well to put in a variation would do no harm would it... Got to renew later this year anyway. Small steps and all!
 
I am in the middle of building one on an FN98 action..it's gonig to be the angel of death for a lot of roe deer! and I suspect, a rifle I will go to the grave with.
 
I have owned and used a few, and built a few more. It's a great deer round. Think 7x57 necked down to 25 caliber. For a 25 caliber I like it better than the 25-06. Certainly more efficient. Look at Hodgdon's site for performance.~Muir

(I"d take it hands down over the 243)
 
.257 Ackley Improved

My records for my reloads show:
117gr S/Spitzer over 50.5gr H4831sc Av velocity on four shot group 2972fps. Tack driver
..................................47.5gr Vit160 Av velocity on four shot group 2967fps. Tack driver.

Very accurate and flat shooting and a very good kill calibre for all deer species in the UK IMHO.

The above loads are safe in my rifle but cannot say the same for somebody else's.

Research the .257 Roberts or the .257 AI on the net and I don't think you will be disappointed.


ATB


Max
 
Just been looking at an interesting rifle but it is only chambered in 257r.

Anyone use this cal and if so what performance are you getting and what ammunition is on the market in the uk for it?

If this baby is what you're considering you've got to be able to reload.

http://www.guntrader.co.uk/Guns-For-Sale/results.php?fetch=Results&Filter[NewType][]=Rifle&Filter[NewMechanism][]=Bolt%20Action&Filter[NewMechanism][]=Falling%20Block&Filter[Calibre][]=.257%20Roberts&perPage=30&sortField=Price&sortOrder=asc


I've never seen factory ammunition on sale for it in the UK. If you can reload (you can convert 7x57 cases to .257 Roberts BTW at a pinch) then it will do.

The problem is that it normally comes chambered in a standard-length action (long) where the .25-06 is available. This killed the .257 off as it will outdo it in every way.

Also, the factory ammunition .... if you can get hold of any ... is no barnstormer.

The only factory ammo offered by Winchester (XP257P3C) 117gr RN (even in +P form) ... when clocked in 22" barrels only delivers about 2610 FPS @ 1770 FPE.

You can push it faster yourself, but both the Hornady and Speer manuals max out with the 117 - 120gr at 2800 FPS in standard barrel lengths. That's what the books say. The .257AI is a better performer, but that's not what you're looking at.

From 2 reference sources I've got, the .257 in a Winchester M70, and a Ruger No. 1-B was also disappointingly accurate with both factory & handloaded ammunition. That's not a complaint you hear often about the .243 or the .25-06.

It's not difficult to make up ammo for it if you've some experience. It would be interesting as a project, but even with all the reloading gear in this ad. on offer I'd really have to think about it....... like 'why bother at all?'

The .257 has a few fans as you can see from above, but it's languishing in the calibre stakes even in the USA for good reasons. In the UK it's in nowhere land, or you wouldn't be asking for advice despite the bargain price this rifle's going for.
 
Well that's mostly why I posted as I couldn't find the calibre listed in RWS or Norma ammunition catalogues. Its not a thread about what calibre is better than another as there is no better round than the 243 as we all know. Just looking at a particular rifle only chambered for some reason in this calibre from the US.
I gave up faffing with reloading about 20 years ago so I guess for me its not going anywhere but thanks for all the info guys.
 
Well that's mostly why I posted as I couldn't find the calibre listed in RWS or Norma ammunition catalogues. Its not a thread about what calibre is better than another as there is no better round than the 243 as we all know. Just looking at a particular rifle only chambered for some reason in this calibre from the US.
I gave up faffing with reloading about 20 years ago so I guess for me its not going anywhere but thanks for all the info guys.

I do think the .257 Roberts has an edge over the .243 for deer, but it just got swept away by the tide in the 1950's. 6mm is popular as a dual purpose vermin/deer round in Europe too, but .257" is peculiar to the U.S. so it's always going to be harder to get ammo here, if not the bits to make it up.

For some reason Ruger rifles seem to come up quite often in the two .25 cals, with Remington more popular in the .25-06. Many people here don't fancy these makes, or American rifles at all for that matter so that doesn't help the .257 Rob either.

If there was only one left-handed rifle on the planet in this calibre only then I would have to buy it, but as the 6.5mm will be here for eternity there's no need to worry.:):lol:
 
I think that it is a better calibre than 25-06 as it does the same, as far as the deer is concerned, with less powder and less blast. Plus you'll be working at a near filled case so more efficient. Reality is that it is rather specialised and were it not to be accurate, the rifle that you are buying, it may be difficult to sell on.

FWIW the supposed factor loadings in the USA have (like USA factory loadings for the 8x57 Mauser) always been loaded soft. If you use loading data for use in modern Mauser action rifles or other modern rifles (and not for the Savage lever action and etc.) then you have a very useful cartridge.

I am told that the Americasn ALWAYS rate this with the 117 grain bullet or 120 grain bullet and that with the 100 grain it is not as good as the 243 Winchester or 6mm Remington. Personally? I'd a;ways prefer a 257 Roberts to a 25-06 but unless the rifle is accurate AND has a twenty-four inch barrel I'd not look at it.

Maybe the 6.5 Swedish is better?
 
I've only owned one 257, but it was great little deer rig. Someone built it on an old small ring 98 action ( perfect length for the cartridge ) and stocked it in a very German styled stock. I took one smallish Mule Deer with it so it hardly qualifies me as an expert, but it worked perfectly. A good friend of mine , another transplanted Englishman , hounded me for it until I caved and sold it to him.According to him , it is the ultimate Deer rifle. He's taken a lot of game with it and it is an utterly reliable deer cartridge . As enfieldspares says , the heavier bullet is the best choice and , at least here , the most commonly used . The 257 is enjoying a bit of a resurgence in popularity around here lately, but brass is still a bit hard to find. As others have pointed out, you can form it from 7X57 easily enough but keep an eye on the neck wall thickness after sizing down.

I think it would make a really good all-rounder for hunting in the UK as long as you have a reasonable amount of brass . It's an easy cartridge to load for , it generally isn't picky about powder , and it's a very efficient case design . Now I think about it , I should have kept that Mauser . In short , buy it , I would lol.

AB
 
I think that it is a better calibre than 25-06 as it does the same, as far as the deer is concerned, with less powder and less blast. Plus you'll be working at a near filled case so more efficient. Reality is that it is rather specialised and were it not to be accurate, the rifle that you are buying, it may be difficult to sell on.

FWIW the supposed factor loadings in the USA have (like USA factory loadings for the 8x57 Mauser) always been loaded soft. If you use loading data for use in modern Mauser action rifles or other modern rifles (and not for the Savage lever action and etc.) then you have a very useful cartridge.

I am told that the Americasn ALWAYS rate this with the 117 grain bullet or 120 grain bullet and that with the 100 grain it is not as good as the 243 Winchester or 6mm Remington. Personally? I'd a;ways prefer a 257 Roberts to a 25-06 but unless the rifle is accurate AND has a twenty-four inch barrel I'd not look at it.

Maybe the 6.5 Swedish is better?
You're talking to the wrong Americans. I have had very accurate loads in all bullet weights from 60 grain HP to 120 grain SPs. It is a great long range varminter with the lighter bullets. US Factory ammunition is anemic due to the number of odd ball rifles that were chambered / rebarreled for it over the years. (Arisakas and 1893 Mausers) Hodgdon's data has 115's clipping 3000 fps. It's no sissy.~Muir
 
Falling block Ruger #1 International / stutzen listed as $1400. Probably difficult to find in the UK.
 
A TWENTY INCH barrel? No. Dismiss it. That is going to seriously reduce your velocity with the "Bob". Such that in some bullet weights it may, perhaps, just fall under the 2,450 fps floor.
 
I have a Remington M700 full size, 24-inch barrel .257R and a .250 Savage. They both are a lot more rifle on game than the numbers say.

The .257R is loaded with 117 and 120 to the same velocity and trajectory as a .30-06 with a 165 or 180-gr bullet, making it a nice companion to shoot, with about half the recoil of a .30-06.

If I were just buying a .257R, I would want a Model 70 Featherweight or Remington 700 Mountain rifle, with 22-inch barrels. A friend shoots 110-gr Nosler Accubonds in hers for pronghorn antelope, whitetail and mule deer, and 75 gr for woodchuck and prairie dogs.

Don't worry about speed. Like the 6.5x55, it kills with mild loads. The Remington 117-gr RN at 2,650 fps punches way above its weight.

Browning made the A-Bolt II in in wood and Stalker models, and in the Micro Medallion. Remington made them, long ago, in a Model 7 Mannlicher stocked beauty.

Why these manufacturers don't make them again, I do not know.
 
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