Thread: 257 roberts

@Shearer the 22-250 is an arsehole of a thing. Loud, barrel burner, absolutely useless on even a wee fallow deer. Not practical for rabbits as its way to deer to run.

You can't go wrong with the 257 Roberts it leaves the .243 for dead when loaded with 100 bullets. it is a reloaders calibre factory ammo is underloaded, I have a 25/06 and really don't need all the drama a Bob would do as well
at the distances I shoot, 300 metres is the longest shot I have made, if the target is further away I stalk closer, people shoot reds with .243's and nobody gives them any grief the Bob has a big following in the US they are owned by reloaders who know the value of a good cartridge, The Hornady 100 grain spire point was probably designed for the .257 Roberts with the new powders it can make 3000fps even the 117 SPBT can reach 2800fps Deer haven't got any tougher in recent years, The Germans knew what they were doing when they developed the 57mm case some of the best calibre's are built on it, the 5.6x57 6mm Rem 6x57 .257 Roberts 6.5x57 7x57 8x57 9x57 9.3x57 9.5x57
all do a great job of taking animals like Deer with out any fuss, I wouldn't trade my 25/06 for a Roberts but I have a slot in a gun cabinet for one

Have had a .257 improved for 25 years - first rifle I owned. Similar to Tahr's; small-ring Brno Mauser, and also currently fitted with a True Flite having shot out 3 barrels prior to this one. My one and only bush rifle. With a short or long action I'd probably pick something else, but is still worthy of consideration for a medium length. I can't see 100ft/sec making much difference over the -06. No performance complaints that couldn't be attributed to limitations common to the 6mm - 6.5mm bore sizes.

I've got a .257 in a custom Mauser, it too is a VZ33 Brno action. Its a fine cartridge. The .257 Roberts will do anything the .243 will do, only better, and the .243 can do everything....comparing it to the .25/06, it's not as fast. LOL. (But let's remember that often .25/06's are not as fast as people want them to be either, I had one and couldn't get more than 3050fps with a 117 grain bullet out of it.) But I have nothing against the .25/06.

If you want to compare it with something, compare it with a 6.5x55 or a .260 Remington shooting 120 grain bullets; with 100 grain bullets, it's like a .243.
It is a very friendly cartridge.
If you don't like it because you think its 'obsolete', that's fine, but I think you would have to get creative to make an argument that you couldn't hunt anything you liked in this country with one and do just as well as any other high powered rifle cartridge, except with less recoil. But people who think that way are usually .308 or 7mm-08 owners, and shouldn't be allowed on threads about interesting cartridges.

I would get one instead of a .260 Rem. I would get one instead of a 6.5x55. I would get one instead of a .243. I would get one instead of a .25/06, but I wouldn't if I already had one. I would get one if I was a handloader.

Originally Posted by Shearer

It is not as good as either.
Not as good for big game as the 06 and not as good as the 22-250 for small game.
There is a reason it has faded into obscurity.
It has novelty value but little else going for it.

Ignore the above comment. The Roberts is a lot better than the 25-06. And I say that after many years experience with both. I used a Roberts for many years before switching to a 25-06 after my Roberts was stolen. I went to the 06 as I thought "well it should do everything the Roberts did but better" and I still had lots of 25 cal projectiles etc. Well my shooting didn't change but I found the 06 did not put deer down as well as the Roberts. (My shooting was with reds in national park and fallow around Wanganui) So that's practical experience. In years of use with the Roberts all the deer I shot went down like they were hit by lightning. So it's a mild shooting cartridge, knocks deer down like lightning and doesn't use much powder. What's not to like?

Firstly, I would like to apologise to all the 257 Roberts fans I have offended (all 6 of you).
I have never owned a 257 Roberts (or a 25-06 or 22-250) and am not ever likely to. My comments in this thread were a response to the original post.
If I had to choose a big game (deer, pigs) cartridge from ONE of the above 3, it would not be the 257 Roberts. I consider all three to be on the "light" side for my liking, so the 06 is the obvious choice. Just a bit more energy and range capability with heavier projectiles.
If I had to choose ONE of the above 3 for small game (rabbits, hares, wallabys), it would not be the 257 Roberts. 22 cal is far more to my liking for such work.
@Wirehunt. Yes the 22-250 is loud and harder on barrels than most (maybe why I have a 223) but it is more suited to small game than the other two.
@Kudu. If your kill rate went down with the 25-06 compared to the 257 Roberts with the same projectiles, then the only thing I can think is that you shot the 257 better or those projectiles didn't like the extra speed. Can't think of any other logical reason for it. After all, the deer wouldn't have known what cartridge you were using.
The 'bob' is rather unique but there are reasons it is not very popular.
Original factory ammo was loaded quite soft so it didn't seem very impressive when the 243 came along at full power built on a modern short action. Rightly or wrongly that is what people wanted - more power in a modern rifle.
Yes, you can hand load for it (and will generally have to because of the dismal array of factory ammo available for it - if anyone even stocks it) but the modern short action doesn't sit well with the case which is about 5mm longer than the 243 family. A bit limiting case capacity wise if you want to load the heavier for calibre projectiles to maximum velocity. The action length that best suits this cartridge (like the Mauser) are much less common now so is it really worth the bother? If you are really into the rare and wonderful, how about a 250-3000 Savage? Very similar performance to the 'bob' (handloaded) and even harder to get ammo for.
Please note - the above comments and observations are entirely my own personal point of view related to the first post in this thread. The 257 Roberts will kill things just like many other cartridges and if that is the cartridge you want just get one.

Originally Posted by Shearer

Firstly, I would like to apologise to all the 257 Roberts fans I have offended (all 6 of you).
I have never owned a 257 Roberts (or a 25-06 or 22-250) and am not ever likely to. My comments in this thread were a response to the original post.
If I had to choose a big game (deer, pigs) cartridge from ONE of the above 3, it would not be the 257 Roberts. I consider all three to be on the "light" side for my liking, so the 06 is the obvious choice. Just a bit more energy and range capability with heavier projectiles.
If I had to choose ONE of the above 3 for small game (rabbits, hares, wallabys), it would not be the 257 Roberts. 22 cal is far more to my liking for such work.
@Wirehunt. Yes the 22-250 is loud and harder on barrels than most (maybe why I have a 223) but it is more suited to small game than the other two.
@Kudu. If your kill rate went down with the 25-06 compared to the 257 Roberts with the same projectiles, then the only thing I can think is that you shot the 257 better or those projectiles didn't like the extra speed. Can't think of any other logical reason for it. After all, the deer wouldn't have known what cartridge you were using.
The 'bob' is rather unique but there are reasons it is not very popular.
Original factory ammo was loaded quite soft so it didn't seem very impressive when the 243 came along at full power built on a modern short action. Rightly or wrongly that is what people wanted - more power in a modern rifle.
Yes, you can hand load for it (and will generally have to because of the dismal array of factory ammo available for it - if anyone even stocks it) but the modern short action doesn't sit well with the case which is about 5mm longer than the 243 family. A bit limiting case capacity wise if you want to load the heavier for calibre projectiles to maximum velocity. The action length that best suits this cartridge (like the Mauser) are much less common now so is it really worth the bother? If you are really into the rare and wonderful, how about a 250-3000 Savage? Very similar performance to the 'bob' (handloaded) and even harder to get ammo for.
Please note - the above comments and observations are entirely my own personal point of view related to the first post in this thread. The 257 Roberts will kill things just like many other cartridges and if that is the cartridge you want just get one.

love it !!!
so you never owned one
never fired one
BUT are the perfect "put down " expect on them

comparing it to a 6.5 shooting 120s seems odd, because you'd be mad to use 120s in a 6.5


well, bye

also the .243, correctly loaded, has more potential than a .25-06. well, bye again

also .257 Roberts has a certain intangible factor of being "neat". Bye for real this time

Originally Posted by sakkaranz

love it !!!
so you never owned one
never fired one
BUT are the perfect "put down " expect on them

@sakkaranz I guess you meant 'expert'.
If you read what I posted again you will see I did not "put down" the cartridge. I pointed out the reasons I thought it was not popular and that there are others I rate more highly. And no, I am very unlikely to shoot every cartridge in existence to see which one I like best.
Like buying a vehicle, I won't go out and test drive a sports car if I want it for going off road and I won't test shoot a 44 magnum if I want to shoot game at 500m. I have never felt the need to 'try' a 257 Roberts because its performance does not fit my needs. As I said. If it fits yours, go for it.
PS. Found a cheap left handed 20cal yet???

Originally Posted by gimp

also the .243, correctly loaded, has more potential than a .25-06. well, bye again

On what planet?

lol
no they all seem to be .270

Originally Posted by 257weatherby

On what planet?

This one. It depends what "potential" means to you.

No one who knows what a ballistic coefficient would ever own a 25cal for related reasons. I own and use a 257 Roberts for one reason, it's just cool... There are no free lunches in physics so you may as well get a 280 if you're going to burn as much powder as you do in any 06 case...