Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters .257 Roberts

I have a Ruger M77 .257 Roberts that I am tinkering with. I used it to kill a few deer with the Federal 120 grain Nosler Partition factory loads. This gun has a 20" barrel. I have attempted to load up some 115 grain bullets and found great groups, but when I chronographed them, I was only getting 2400 fps even with 1 grain below max load. I have experimented with 100 grain bullets and I can't get them to shoot above 2700 fps. I chronographed the factory loads and all I am getting with them is 2550 fps. I bought a box of Nosler factory loads that list the 100 grain bullet at 3,000 and when I chronographed them, I was getting just a tad over 2900 fps with them. Am I getting slower than normal speeds because of the short barrel? Is there any way that I can get the speed up a bit higher? I am satisfied with the 2700 fps for a 100 grain bullet, but I would like to get the heavier bullets up to at least 2600 fps if possible.

257 Roberts data is pretty mild, so if you're one grain below listed max you're definitely on the mild side.

What load did you use to get 2700 with a 100 grain bullet?

Good Morning, 7MM-08,

I used to have a featherweight in .257 Roberts. I used load data from a 1951 NRA hand loaders guide. It was safe then. It was safe in my rifle. Hand loaders using load data of recent printing would consider the loads I used to be dangerous. They can consider anything they want. I know what I loaded, and all loads were 100% safe. It they were safe in 1951, they were probably more safe when used in modern rifle built with better steel and computer aided manufacturing.

The two powders I used were H-4831 & IMR-4350. If I were still loading for it, I'd try R-19 & R-22.

The result was the .257 Roberts was extremely close to the .25-06.

What I'd do is know your 100% safe baseline load. Increase in moderate increments. Stop when you discover your first sign of excessive pressure. With 100 grain bullets, you ought to exceed 3000 FPS w/o difficulty. With 120 grain bullets, you ought to achieve 2900 FPS. If not, have your barrel checked.

The barrel on my Featherweight was 22".

When my then young nephew wanted to take up hunting, I gave it to him.

7mm-08,

There are actually two official SAAMI pressure levels for the .257 Roberts, standard and +P. Many loading manuals still use the standard level, which is indeed pretty wimpy, and for no real reason except when the cartridge was introduced in 1934 Remington and its inventor, Ned Roberts, found it shot most accurately with milder loads. This was probably because of the bullets of the day, but there was no safety reason to load it that mildly even then.

This is the reason for the newer +P rating, where the maximum average pressure is the same as for the .30-06. In fact most of the .257 Roberts factory ammo now produced is loaded to +P levels, the only exception Remington's 117-grain round-nose Core-Lokt load.

Many loading manuals still stick to the standard, wimpy level, again for no real reason. But some do not, notably Ramshot, and Hunter is excellent with 100-grain bullets and Magnum with 115-120 grain bullets. Unforetunately, both are hard to find right, as is H4350, an excellent Hodgdon powder for both bullet weights.

I usually use either Ramshot load data with their powders, or use Hodgdon data (which is the wimpy kind) and START with Hodgdon's maximum loads for H4350. In fact with 100-grain bullets I usually start with 46 grains of H4350, which is a grain over Hodgdon's maximum, and that's my normal accuracy-test load for new-to-me .257's. If a .257 won't shoot well with that load, there's something wrong with the rifle, and I try to fix it before doing further load development.

Your 20" barrel will normally result in about 100 fps less velocity than listed in manuals with the standard SAAMI 24" test barrel. The 46-grain H4350 load with 100-grain bullets will usually get 3000 fps or a little more in 22-24 inch barrels, so might only get only 2900 in yours. That's still enough to kill deer neatly, but another 1-2 grains of powder, or the maximum load of Hunter listed by Ramshot, 46.5 grains, will normally get over 3100 fps in 22-24" barrels, and should get over 3000 in your rifle.

I usually end up using around 44 grains of H4350 or around 50 grains of Ramshot Magnum with 115-120 grain bullets, for 2900+ fps in 22-24" barrels. In your rifle 2800+ should be possible, especially with 115-grain bullets.

I built a 257 Roberts AI rimmed and thought I would get 3250 fps with 115 gr Nos Bal Tips and H4895. But the soft as butter 7x57mm rimmed Norma brass was only good to 3050 fps with H4350 and a safety margin for 4% from the threshold of loose primer pockets.

A man has got to know his limitations... and in handloading deer rifles, it is usually loose primer pockets.

I am using 39 grains of IMR4350 behind a 115 grain Nosler Partition and getting 2400 fps and using 42.5 grains of IMR4350 behind a 100 grain Nosler Partition.

Mule Deer,
I will try the H4350, I have a pound of it in my cabinet. Is there any manuals out there that has the +P data? In your book, "Obsessions of a Rifle Looney", you mentioned that you have come to prefer the 100 grain bullets in the .257. Do you think I would be better off to just use 100 grain bullets?

You can warm those up a good bit. Check Hodgdon's online data for 100 and 115 grain bullets with IMR4350.

Read M.D.'s post carefully then do what he suggests and I'm betting your troubles will be over. I have a .257R with a 22" barrel and my loading experience is the same as MD's.

I too have a ruger 77 tang safety in 257. Mine is the 22" std weight version. I use H414 or W760 in mine and have standardized on the loads yielding speeds listed below for the various bullet weights. These are accurate in my rifle and show no signs of pressure and brass life is good but as in everything ymmv. I see some folks touting faster speeds but I haven't seen the need and the heavier bullet load has done well on deer for me. The best part for me is all of these loads seem to shoot to the same poi so I don't have to fiddle with my scope. As with any load data start low ad work up. Also be careful using old manuals. I bought a rifle and used an old load I had used years ago and it generated some pressure issues. I found later that the powder formulation was a bit different in current batches of the same powder.

117 gr Hornady BTSP 2810fps
100 gr Hornady SP 2920 fps
90 gr Speer HP 3000 fps

note: I have loaded the rem 120g CL to about 2750-2800 fps too with good results in the pas but these are no longer available as components hence I have switched to the hornady 117 gr.

39 grains of IMR-4350 ain't even listed in the 1951 NRA hand loading manual. It was a lot higher. And I've fired them through my Featherweight with not a single indication of pressure.

7mm08,

I would happy to hunt deer for the rest of my life with a .257 Roberts loaded with just about any 100-grain bullet available today, having had excellent luck with the 100-grain Barnes Tipped TSX, Hornady Interlock, Nosler Ballistic Tip and Partition and Speer Hot-Cor. If hunting bigger deer, say bucks that might weigh over 200 pounds field-dressed, however, I'd probably opt for the Partition of Tipped TSX. (The reason I specify the Tipped TSX is I've seen a couple of hollow-point TSX's fail to open.)

But heavier bullets work too. In particular I've had great results from the 115-grain Nosler Partition, which not only penetrates very well but kills quickly. The 115-grain Berger Hunting VLD is also excellent, especially for longer-range shooting.

An 80gr TTSX at 3400+ ain't gonna bounce off a deer either.

I use IMR-4064 with 100gr NBTs. Rick.

My Bob loved 100grn TSX's ahead of 47.5 grn of H-4350. I'd shoot anything a Bob was appropriate for with that load.

Howdy,

Don't be afraid to try Hodgdon Hybrid 100v. I use a non maximum load for over 3200 fps (with 24" barrel). This is NOT with +p brass either. Under 1.5" 5 shot group at 200 yards nearly every time. Good shooting

Coach

John,

I'm awash with IMR 4350. Could you suggest some loads for that powder for both 100gr and 115-120s?

Thanks
L2S

Bruce,

The same loads I suggested for H4350 work. Start with 46.0 grains with 100's and 42.0 with 115-120's--or if you're nervous, a grain or so less. But my bet is you'll get the best results with 46-47 and 100's or 42-43 with 115-120's, unless the throat of your rifle is very different than SAAMI dimensions.

I got around to trying Mule Deer's load of 46 grains of H4350 with a 100 grain bullet. It shot five shots into about 1 1/4" at 100 yards and chronographed at 2855 in my gun. I am going to tweak the load to see if I can squeeze a little more accuracy out of it. I am also going to try the 100 grain TSX to see if it does any better. Thanks for the help. I am a lot more satisfied now that I have my speed up with decent accuracy.

Sounds like it is doing what it's supposed to be doing now.