Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles Roberts brass

What brass do you like in the .257 (assuming I can find some in stock)? I notice some brass is advertised as plus P and some is not. Is there a difference?

6mm or 7x57 work fine if you can't find 257.

i don't worry about the plus p stuff, just find brass and shoot them. roberts has always been loaded light, so any brass can take the pressures every other round creates.

The plus P cases are a little thicker, and are tight to chamber in some rifles. Like mjbgalt said, stick with what you find..

I use remington bulk. It works.

I use WW in one 257 and Rem in the other. Both work fine; just use what you can find.

I have Remington and WW in the +P version. Both work fine in my Improved version of the Bob but do not mix them due to the chance of pressure differences. I work up loads for each brand separate.

My Hornady manual shows only the +P loads. I take it that's for any/all current rifles. I don't know what you'd do if that was the only manual you had and owned a 1956 Model 70...cut back maybe 10% I reckon. They should have shown data for all. They do it for the 45-70.

I wouldn't worry about published +p loads in any Model 70.

I use Nosler brass. A bit pricey, but very good quality.

This.

One would think this would be the case (no pun intended) but from what I've read all modern Bob brass is made to roughly the same specs. There is no significant difference between +P & "non-+P".

I've been using RP in my AI for 7+ firings and it's likely good for at least that many more! even in loads yielding 3450 fps from 90s & 3330 from 100s.

I've been using 7x57 brass cause 257 roberts brass seems nonexistent

I ended up buying some Norma factory loads to harvest the brass. A little expensive at $40 / box, but better than nothing.

I'm still fairly new to reloading, but keen to sort out how to neck down the 7x57 brass for 257 Rob. A few of you have alluded to it on this thread, but is anyone willing to go into a little more detail on the most effective way to do this? Nosler 257 cases are out of stock everywhere I've looked, but I can find the 7x57 right now -

Remove the expander ball from your full length size die.

Raise the press ram to the top, thread the die in to touch the shell holder.

Thread the die back out a couple of turns.

Size a piece of 7x57 brass. You'll see a ring of unsized neck at the bottom of the neck near the shoulder.

Carefully try to chamber the brass in your 257. At this point it shouldn't fit, but do the check.

Turn the die into the press a small increment. Size the case again. Test the chambering.

Repeat the process until the bolt will close on the sized case with just a little resistance. When you're at this point, size another case and give it a trial fit to make sure the die is set to do the job in one pass.

Put the expander back in the die and go to town.

Oh yeah, don't forget to re-lube the case you're repeatedly sizing.

I've been running the 100 gr TTSX's with Hybrid 100V powder to 3250 fps with no ills in my Roberts using the standard R-P Roberts brass.

Gunner