Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles 6.5X55 or 257 Roberts

This had turned into a meeting of the Minds!

I think Ingwe's jealous....(grin)

Now if I just had a .257 Roberts setup like that 7x57 of Ingwe's I'd be all set.

Ingwe does have some pretty nice rifles even if they ain't in 270.
A Bob and 7x57 would be a pretty 'classy' combo. Did I just say classy???

No offense to anyone but I see some biased BS in this 257R vs 6.5x55.



First of all if you look at Nosler Load Guide you see the 257 R maxing out at around 2,850 or less. Now if MD says you can take that bullet to 25-06/3000 mv speed I'll believe him.
But then to say the 6.5x55 shoots 140s at 2,700 is typical is really shorting it by 150 fps.

2nd of all why don't you compare a Hornaday 6.5 120 Amax at 3,000 to a 115 BT?
Seems to make more sense comparing closer bullets weights and shows the better flexibility of the 6.5 that it can go low weight to higher weight bullets and cover any ground a 25 caliber or 27 caliber ( in a 06 case) can.

At 1000y the 6.5/120/3000mv has a velocity of
1,329 fps that puts it just above what a
25-06, excuse me a 257 R can do.

NOT to mention the 123g SMK with a .510 BC that hits 1,429 fps at 1000y.

And while we are at it let's look at what the "real" potential of the 6.5x55 can do.

Let's look at the Swift 130 S2 which btw I just tested this bullet into some wet phone books it penetrated just as much as the 270 130 partition and 6.5 140 AB and had a wider CS.

At 2,900 fps at 1000y it's velocity is
1,500 fps. thats 200 fps faster than a 25/115BT Not bad for a bullet that weighs only 15g more.

Gee, and no wonder I can tell the difference between shooting a 260 Rem and a 25-06 at long range.

Btw, They can tout the 257 R on elk but when it comes down to it on a nice bull hunt which would you rather have?

A 6.5 shooting a 140g NP or a 257 R shooting a 115/120g bullet?

I know which one I'll take.

6.5

Perhaps that explains the 'bias' towards the Roberts.



I don't see elk mentioned in his plans, but what the heck, lets throw in a chance hunt for Cape Buffalo whilst we are at it. I would suggest a 375 Ruger.

6.5 in a Ruger.

This may be one to close to call....yet!

SU: 3000 is doable in the Roberts with the 115

SU35,

The Nosler data uses the really old pressure standard for the .257 Roberts of around 45,000 CUP. In a 24" barrel it's pretty easy to get 3000 out of a 115, and no, this is not .25-06 speed.

With manual data it's pretty easy to beat 3100 with 115-120 grain bullets in the .25-06, and there is published data to that effect. Nosler lists loads for both the 115 and 120-grain that push 3200 in a 24" barrel.

Just for giggles, let's run the data on a 115 Berger VLD at 1000 yards, started at 3150 from a .25-06. Retained velocity is just about 1550 fps, over 200 fps above the 6.5 A-Max started at 3000 from a 6.5x55.

Before Alliant ended up being paired with Speer, their 2005 load data listed .257 Roberts +P data that got 2945 with a 120-grain bullet (not a 115) with the listed pressure as 48,000 psi. In fact have gotten over 3100 fps from a 26" barreled .257 and 115's using Alliant's +P data for RL-22.

I have owned a number of 6.5x55's and haven't found it capable of getting 2850 with a 140 in a 24" barrel, even when loaded to similar pressures, but just for fun let's use some accurate interior ballistics formulas to "convert" a .257/115 at 3000 to a 6.5x55/140 loaded to the same pressure, in the same barrel. The answer comes out to be about 2780. I am not saying 2850 isn't possible, but it would happen at a little higher pressure than a .257 takes to get a 115 to 3000.

I used a 140 A-Max in the Sierra program example because until your post, everybody had suggested the big advantage of the 6.5x55 lay in heavier, more ballistically efficient bullets, not bullets of the same approximate weight. We are also talking about varmints at 1000 yards, not deer. I doubt that a 1000-yard groundhog would ever know the difference between any of the bullets mentioned, at the velocities they retain.

The original poster only plans to use his rifle on deer, not elk, and not anywhere near even 500 yards. I only brought up elk because I have never been able to detect any difference in how well either round kills elk, despite the extra 20 grains of bullet in 6.5mm spitzers. Both cartridges are commonly used on meat elk here in Montana, probably more .257's than 6.5x55's, and nobody I know has had any problems with either round.

I have personally shot quite a few pronghorns and deer with both rounds out to 400 yards, and never could tell the difference, since all the animals either died right there or went at most 30-40 yards. This is the big game use the original poster was asking about. The animals included mature whitetail and mule deer bucks weighing from Montana and Wyoming.

If you can tell the difference in effect between a .260 and .25-06, congratulations.

Gosh, I went through "analysis paralysis" when in the .260 Rem vs .257 Roberts buying mode. Then to make matters worse the "short action Roberts" reared its ugly head, how in the world would I ever shoot the heavier bullets in a short action Roberts! Fate forced my hand into the Roberts because the .260 is scarce and darned if even the 100 grain bullets crammed way down into the cases don't shoot well and kill stuff. Folks like me that shoot deer at usually much less than 150 yards don't need to worry about this stuff, and despite the absolute hate of Kimber rifles here on the fire I sure like my select classic Roberts. After having it for less than a year it would be the last rifle I would part with. What's not to like, accurate, no recoil, kills stuff!

No biggie at all but i was looking at MD post.

Just bought my first BOB, an early 80's Model 70 FWT, and I'm just waiting for it to show up. Going to be strictly a deer rifle for me, primarily western Washington blacktails, with shots out to a max of 400, with most being 250 or less. Had thought about getting a Swede or having one built, but it was just too hard to pass up the looks of that Model 70 FWT stock in BOB configuration. Now I need to get some load and bullet recommendations for it.

Ok, true, but wouldn't you say the data used by Nosler is for the old 6.5x55 as well?
After all the x55 has pretty much the same water capacity of a 260 IMP which i know will get 2,900 mv shooting a 140.
Maybe it comes at higher pressure, I don't know.



I knew that's what you were doing and I figured that I might as well show how flexible the 6.5 was by showing that it can shoot the same weight class of bullets of the 25 caliber but 6.5's for the most part have higher BC's in that weight class than the 25's and can be shot at the same speeds.

As the OP wanted to shoot chucks out to 1000.
There is no way in sam-hill a 257R is going to match up with a 6.5x55 in that category. (show me one 25 caliber rifle in long range competition and I'll show you 500 rifles in 6.5.) Not to mention that he will probably spend most of his time shooting chucks.
The 6.5's simply have to many bullet choices that out BC the 25 calibers , especially with a 123 MK in the 6.5.

On deer/lope at 200y take your pick.

On elk, I would rather take a 6.5x55 and yes I know you guys in Montana take elk with less including the 220 Swift of which is the only round a close friend of mine in Anaconda uses.



As I stated, at long range I do, with the lighter recoiling 260, thank you.

For anyone who thinks it matters.

Here is what I do every Sunday afternoon.

Shoot at, notice I said at, clay birds at 1000y. We get pretty close, within 4" to 6" for about 90% of our shots. I've yet to hit one but i have fun trying.

We do this with 6.5 mountain rifles.

Here's a pic that shows the birds through a spotter.

+1. I looked in 7 different reloading manuals [some of the data was +P] and not ONE manual had any 115-117grain 'bob loads going anywhere near 3000fps. On deer sized game, the difference would be minimal, but when things start getting big, or require deep digging, the 'bob could come up short.

The great advantage to the 6.5s is the VERY high BC and SD values of HUNTING bullets.

Check out what pressure "+P" actually is compared to the pressures of modern cartridges like oh...the 85 year old 270. Load up the Roberts to those pressures, and there is absolutely no reason not to, and you will see what the boys are talking about.

Or just load it to 250AI velocities....

Wow, splitting hairs has rarely gotten this good!

SU35,

I already showed you the numbers on a 115 Ballistic Tip started at 3000 fps at 1000 yards. The differences between that and a super-high BC 140 6.5 were meaningless, and still would be even if you upped the velocity on the 140 100 fps. Either one is perfectly sufficient for killing a chuck, and one is about as easy to hit with as the other.

If you get 2900 from a 140 out of a .260, I can't understand why you can't comprehend getting 3000 out of a 115 from a .257.