Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles What is the biggest critter you'd shoot with a 257 Roberts?

what i am giving up with compared to a 30-06

Although I've hunted elk with my .257 Roberts, I've never shot one with it. When doing so I set lower limits on the range I'd be willing to take a shot when compared to other cartridges and loads I've used, including a .30-06.

The 257 Roberts is my favorite cartridge. I've been using it since 1995. The biggest critter that I've killed with one has been deer. It is an excellent cartridge and it's in light weight rifles. With premium bullets I think elk would be on the menu.

You're giving up a lot, but the '06 has a lot to give. I would hunt elk under some conditions with it. Dennis in AZ's kids killed elk with a .250 Savage, so the Bob sure will.

I expect you'd need to shoot it well.

Since bull elk hunting in winter is often a long shot proposition here in AZ, I'll stick with the '06 or 7 WSM.

I'd shoot everything except elephants and cape buffalo with it.

Still doesn't make it as good as an -06 or other chamberings with more muscle.

For deer you really aren't giving up anything. I would tackle caribou or elk with mine. But I have been using one f o r 25 years. Fine cartridge.
GreggH

My favorite deer cartridge. Been using it since the 70s. Wouldn't use it for elk. Too many better options

A black bear once came by while I had a tag while deer hunting. That's why I load Nosler Partitions. Double lung shot, he didn't go 15 feet.
Elk, Moose, or big bears? No. I have rifles with more oomph in the rack.

It depends, if said critter unknowingly is about to become my meal or if it knowingly wants to make me his.

Not that I would, or that he didn't have other choices, but my Dad tagged a moose with one. One shot, typical moose thought about it a bit, then toppled.

Black bear or elk.

If planning a hunt, the Bob would be in the mix of rifle choices from deer on down. In a pinch, it would kill anything given proper shot placement and premium bullets.

so Africa is completely off the table?

Load it with 100 TTSX and it will do what a .270 will do.

I use mine for deer and nothing else. Perfect for the intended purpose.

Biggest critter I'd tackle with a .257 Bob?

Rosie O'Donnell.... in the pelvis.... with a 120 Partition....

Girdle shot!

This is the biggest thing I've shot with a kinda Roberts (250AI and it slings bullets at the same speed as my Roberts). I didn't feel handicapped.

There is really no limit to the size animal I would be willing to shoot with a .257 Roberts. If the opportunity presented it's self, and a .257 was what I was armed with at the time....I would shoot almost anything (particularly anything in North America).

With that said, on any larger animal (elk, moose, buffalo) and even more so on animals that could bite (lions, tigers and bears) I would be damned careful about shot placement and the situation. If things were not "perfect" on these animals, I would have to pass on some shots, but with the right angle, right distance and sure shot placement I'd shoot anything that came along....including the Big 5.

To me, the real question is not what I "would" shoot with a .257, but what game I would actually "choose" a .257 as a weapon for. A .257, to me, is a very good deer/antelope rifle.

Anything bigger and you are asking too much of the smaller bore and small bullets. Not that it can't be done....but it would be far from perfect. Even on deer it would not be my first choice and bullet placement has to be precise.

Where I hunt hogs are always a possibility. An "average" size hog of 100-125 pounds is about like a deer.....but the rare hog of 300+ pounds will certainly make you wish for more gun than the .257.

I must admit that one of the largest hogs (435 pounds) I have personally taken was shot with a .250-3000. The range was short and the angle perfect.....and the .250 was what I had with me that morning.

A classic case of what "would" I shoot with a .250.....but if I had known ahead of time that beast was going to show up you can bet I would have chosen a bigger rifle. However, one shot....one dead hog proved that the little guns "can" work when conditions are perfect.

For Africa the upper limit would be about hartebeest size. Not saying you couldn't do kudu, eland or elephant but as stated above, not the first choice. The Bob would be a perfect light rifle for impala, bushbuck, etc. although my light rifle has been Mrs Blacktailer's 308 in the past.