Don,

If you'll recall, the 257 Roberts was introduced in 1934, during the depths of The Great Depression, when few people had much surplus income to buy things that weren't necessary for basic living. Then there was WW2, when there weren't any civilian firearms being made in the U.S. for at least 3.5 years and only a limited amount of the most common hunting cartridges being produced from 1942 thru late 1945. So, from 1934 thru late 1945, the 257 Roberts languished because of a pretty unfriendly market environment, world wide financial crisis followed by world wide total war.

I'd speculate that most of the rifles sold in 257 Roberts were sold between 1945 and 1955, when the 243 was introduced. The most common rifles chambered for the 257 Roberts during that period were the Remington 722 & 760 and Winchester 70. Both the 722 and 70 came standard with 24" barrels. Winchester also sold the 70 Fwt with a 22" barrel and a few 70 Carbines with 20" barrels. FN and probably a few other companies in Europe chambered the 257 Roberts for their U.S. and Canadian markets, but I don't recall any common U.S. production rifle chambered in 257 Roberts that came standard with a 26" barrel. The Remington 722s in 222, 222 Mag, and 244 originally came with 26" barrels, but, IIRC, the rest of the early 722s were cataloged with 24" barrels.

I think that it is common knowledge that the original ballistics claimed for the 243 were exaggerated to make the 243 faster (on paper) than the 257 Roberts with equal bullet weights and, since speed sells, the rifles chambered in 243 flew off dealers' shelves while those in 257 Robert gathered dust. Consumers bought the hype and Warren Paige trumpeted the 243 as the perfect dual-purpose varmint & medium game cartridge from his position at Field & Stream. Interestingly, Jack O'Connor remained loyal to the 257 Roberts and wrote about the 250-3000, 257 Roberts, 243, and 244 as being more equal than different, in terms of actual "in the field" performance.

Also, for whatever reason, the 257 Roberts has always been loaded to less than its potential by Rem/Win, often with what seem like suboptimal bullet choices. I'm old enough to remember when Winchester/Olin cataloged 87, 100, and 117 grain factory loads for the 257 Roberts, but the 100 grain was a rather round nosed ST with a lower BC, rather than a sharp pointed soft-point with a superior BC.

You must be having a senior moment tonight, 'cause "yet the round is light in a way and not really powerful enough. Most of us can shoot better guns." just doesn't make any sense.

Jeff