Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles 257 ROBERTS vs.308 WIN for whitetail only hunting

I only have five 308's I can think of real quick, so I can't argue too much.

laughin'!


You forgot about ammo though, not sure if you can even buy 257 Roberts ammo in town. Probably can find a dusty box in the one sporting goods store but just in case I like to keep an extra 200 or 300 rounds loaded up.
For those sub 78 yard Obsama bin whitetails.......grin

308 shooting 150-165s. Very minimal recoil.

Go with the .308 if you plan to shoot one in the rear shoulder from a golf cart.

Amen to that, @ 79 yds you're fubar should of gone 308 to limit the suffering....

Dober

No, that takes a 30-06 and a 180 Core Lokt.

I've gotta admit, even though I put in my vote for the 257, I'm planning on doing a lot of my hunting this year with a new .308win. I can't see either being a bad choice, although I must pick between my red/black Mackinaw with Mad Bomber or my ghillie suit with drag bag, depending on which rifle I tote that day......

I'm having a 20" bbl 243 put together this week. What's the fubar distance for that one?

Yes.

I roll with the 308. But go with what makes you happy.

An 80gr TTSX at 3,350 should be good to at least 90yds.

I've got a handful of parts coming together for a Faux-Ti type of 243AI. Pondering 21" or 22", but it may be after I get done building tower stands and planting fall food plots before I see how much extra jingle I've got left for the gun fund.....

If a person doesn't handload I can certainly see where readily available ammo could make all the difference....but how many here shoot factory ammo?

Sounds like a cool project JPro.

But will there be suffering when I shoot a deer "in the ribs", whatever that means?

Good point. Better let him alone so he can be peacefully eaten alive by predators when he's old and feeble.

Mine isn't a lightweight, it's more of a standard weight handy-dandy for tight blinds.

It started out as a 20" bbl. 7mm-08 700 Youth stuck into an H&S sporter stock, both gunshow finds at good prices. But the barrel turned out to be a fouling bitch that also had a curve to the left. After dialing in enough horizontal correction it shot really great for a few rounds, until it fouled and/or got hot.

I put the rifle in the closet last year and kind of forgot about it. Yesterday I went to a local guy's shop with a couple of small projects, so I brought Old Tomato Stake along. He happened to have a new SPS take off in 243 and made me a deal to put it on my rifle.

New take off 243 barrel, lap in bolt lugs, set back the barrel so the writing lines up and min. headspace chamber, trim barrel to 20" and cut recessed 11 degree crown for $145.

So now I'm going to dispense some 6mm suffering this year.

That should work. A 20" with handloads will likely be about even with a 22" fed factory stuff, which is plenty fast to dispense adequate suffering.

Do you think it will look funny if I fit it with a 2.5-10x56mm Nikon Gold I have sitting around? I may want to dispense some suffering 29min. and 59 sec. after it's officially dark.

Yes, it will look funny. Go for it.....

Split the difference and get the best of both worlds...a 7mm-08 If .25 and .308 were my only choices, I would go .308. If you need a blood trail, the .308 will give you one. Having been privy to several .257 Roberts and .308 kills, they don't always bang flop with the .25 Bob and the bullet doesn't always exit. White tails love to do the death dash and are generally in thick brush, which can make the "finding" very difficult. I would again go with .308. Flinch

Caution should be observed, if you pull the trigger on a .257 Roberts it might kill all the deer in the valley.