Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles Advice solicited for deer loads, 250 Savage and 257 Roberts

All my rifles are twisted 1 in 10"

250 Savage Ruger #1 Light Sporter 22 inch barrel

257 Roberts Remington 700 24 inch barrel
257 Roberts Remington 700 22 inch barrel
257 Roberts Ruger #1 Light Sporter 22 inch barrel
257 Roberts Remington 600 Pac Nor #1 22 inch barrel

Bullets I have
100 Gr Sierra Pro Hunter
115 Gr Nosler Ballistic Tip
117 Gr Sierra Game King

Powders I have
H380
Varget
RL 22
H4350

Most shots will probably be 50-200 yards.

Get some bullets that work, and they'll do just fine. The listed ones aren't them. And you really need powder more like Reloder 15 than 19.

They're nice rounds and work well; just get good bullets.

Dennis

Agree with Dennis, some of those powders you have might work, but Im a fan of other bullets..
In the more budget oriented cup-n-core I find it almost impossible to go wrong with Hornady...we use 100 grainers in my wife's Bob...

OK

I will go find me some Hornady bullets.
Any other bullet recomendations?
I figure the H4350 ougt to work. Is there another powder you prefer?

I've used H4350 powder in 257 Roberts, John Barsness in his "Handloads that Work" article suggests 4350 with both 100 grain and 115 grain bullets.

I shot a couple of antelope with 100 g. Nosler BT and they worked fine; (recovered one bullet, it weighed 61 grains and looks like a a textbook example of a mushroom -- shot was about 200 yards in the front of one shoulder and found just under the skin on the far side near the paunch) so there shouldn't be any reason why a 115g. BT would not work.

I've settled on H100V Hybrid powder in my 257s as it gives more velocity than 4350, accuracy is about the same. YMMV

i run 39.5 g of h4350 and a 100 g hornady spirepoint or sierra prohunter flatbase in the 250 savage. hodgdon data says you can go to 40 g but thats a flat primer load in my rifle.

OP, you have H4350, buy, beg, borrow or steal 115 grain Nosler Partitions. This combo is stellar in Roberts twin tang safety Ruger M77s and in another tang safety 77 LT (long throat). These rifles and ammo get passed around alot in my family. Daughters, nieces and nephews. No matter what size deer and distance out to 300 yards I know they will be successful if they provide good shot placement.

Roundoak,

That sounds like an experienced recommendation. I need to order some stuff from Midway anyhow. I'll get a box of partitions for the Roberts and see what happens.

Have had very good luck with H4350 and 100gr. Hornady or 115 Partitions in the Roberts.
My old Tang Safe Ruger 250 is kind of picky but does pretty well with Varget or H4895 and the 100 Hornady.
Haven't had a deer complain yet with either one.

I bet you could brew up a nice deer load for the 250 pretty easy with the 100 grain Sierras and Varget you already have.

I've had pretty good luck with both game kings and ballistic tips on deer, so I wouldn't necessarily run out and change if they shot well. I've never shot a whitetail, which I presume you are hunting in Alabama, but I have killed both Antelope and Mule deer with both bullets and haven't had any issues.

Thunderball, H4350 is an excellent powder for the 257R and OK in the .250. Your bullet selection is fine too. My .257R likes 43grs, of H4350 and the 115gr NBT, which is one great deer bullet. Actually all the bullets you listed will work just fine on deer. But if you want to buy some Hornady's, that would be good too. However, if you can't kill the deer in your area with any of the bullets listed you'll need a better excuse than you used the wrong bullet.

Varget or H4350 and the 100 Sierra should get you where you want to go in the 250 Sav. If all your hunting is deer the 100gr would also be a good choice in the Roberts, paired with H4350. The 115 and 117gr bullets will work well with H4350 in the Roberts, I don't think I would run them in the 250. But if you want to try them in the 250 H4350 will work and RL22 will give some surprising velocity. In my trials with the 250 RL22 pushed the 117 Sierra fast but accuracy was lacking, H4831 was just as fast and accuracy very good. Never used H380 in the Roberts except with with the 75gr Hornady very fast and accurate with that bullet. Given H414's excellent performance in the 250 I would'nt be surprised to see H380 perform well in the 250, I may try it someday just to see. Everyone has their favorite bullets and powder and for deer mine is the 100 Nosler Partition in both with either H4350 or IMR 4350 in the Roberts, with H414 taking the honers in the 250. Should mention that the most accurete load ever out of my Ruger #1B 257 is the 120 Nosler Part. and H4831, it seems to dislike 100gr bullets of any make. You just never know.

I've killed two deer with the sierra 100 gr. bullet out of the .250. Bullet performance was excellent. I used .33 gr. of H4895 for that load. Had a blowup with an early 115 gr. B-tip in the Roberts. Not a fan of that bullet at all.

My Hawkeye shoots nickel size groups at 100 yds using 100 grain TSX and Ramshot Hunter.

My experience is that all the bullets you list will work fine on deer, even at close range--except maybe the 100 Sierra pushed hard from the .257.

In the .250 around 33.0 grains of any medium-burning-rate (Varget is perfect) will give 100-grain bullets around 2700-2800 fps, the "magic" velocity Charles Newton wanted for the .250. This kills deer neatly, even at close range with cup-and-core bullets.

In the .257 you can drive 117-120 cup-and-cores to the same 2800 fps velocity with 42 grains of H4350. Or you can use 46 grains of H4350 with 100-grain bullets for around 3000 fps. Either load works fine.

As an example, this fall I shot a big Montana whitetail doe with a 100-grain Ballistic Tip at less than 50 yards with one of my .257's and 46.0 H4350. She was quartering toward me and the bullet broke her shoulder, ending up in the rear of the ribs on the far side. She went about 25-30 yards and keeled over, pretty typical performance.

Sorry Dennis but I have to disagree with your comments about those bullets. I've hunted with various 257 Roberts for over 40 years now, and have shot somewhere around 30-40 deer and antelope with that cartridge.

Most of those have been killed with the 100 grainers in either the Nosler BTs, Nosler SBs, or Sierra GameKing/ProHunters (same bullet in boattail or flat base). I have never lost an animal and none of those bullets has ever failed.

All of the loads had muzzle velocities between ~2900 to ~3100 fps. Bullet impacts have come as close as <50 yards to around 400 yards. Put one of those bullets in the right place (heart/lungs) and the critters die within 50-100 yards every time.

My favorite powder has been one of the various 4350s with charge weights in the 45-47 grain range. If forced to pick a fav combo it would now be a 100 grain NBT over 46-47 grains of H34350. That load just flat works in the Bob.

You don't need *premium* bullets in the Bob, although another fav bullet of mine in the grand old 257 is the 100 grain Nosler Partition.

+ about 100 Gozillion on the bullet choice. Sell everything you have and buy a couple boxes of Barnes bullets. 100 Gr. TSX or TTSX for the Roberts and 80 Gr. TTSX for the Savage.

H4350 will be a good choice for the 257 Roberts. You should get 3100-3200 fps out of a 22" barrel with 100 Gr.

So a search here and you'll find lots of good advice.

Another vote for H4350 in a .257..... It sure has worked really well for me with bullet weights from 100-117 in a variety of different Bobs.

I like the Hornady bullets for the Roberts and 4350 and 100 gr. Hornadys makes a great load for those rifles. I would not be afraid of the Sierras or BT with the .250 as it will be a bit slower and those bullets should function fine.