Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Reloading for 257 Roberts

Anything one should be aware of? Have some older brass, noticed some of it is labeled +P. Also noticed several of my reloading manuals have +P sections. I would assume that +P data has to be used in +P cases? Some of this brass is old enough I didn't know the label.. Super Speed, had to look that up. Winchester before Super X.. I did notice that the +P brass is about 14g heavier than the NON +P brass. Again I assume the cases are thicker? Both were Winchester Super X cases.

No you don't need to use +P data in +P cases. Just work up loads for the brass you have.
As with any reloading, if the cases vary much in internal volume I separate cases and work up the loads separately for each batch. I do it for consistency, round to round.
I necked up ~100 or so 6 mm Remington cases I reserve for 75 grain Sierras. My hunting loads with 100 grain NPT and 90 grain Sierra HPBT go in Nosler +P brass. I don't use +P data, just the regular 257 Roberts data at Hodgdon's website. I'm loading them for a small ring Mauser though and 46k C.U.P works just fine. The 6 mm Remington cases weigh less, but not much.

John Barsness wrote an excellent article on reloading the 257 Roberts some years back. I believe it was in an issue of Handloader. If you can find a copy of it you would be well off.

I put about 46 grains of H4350 under a 100 grain and about 44 grains under a 117, both shoot well in my Kimber select classic, I am hunting with 117 grain cup and core bullets now there is no need for a TSX in a Roberts to kill WT deer.

Agree with previous post about brass.

Here's a link to .257R loads.

http://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/10163944/6

DF

In mine I used H4350 and 100gr Sierras and never looked back. Good accuracy, around 2900fps, and 2 antelope, 2 mulies, and 2 whitetails one shot each.

I have been using 47.0 gr IMR 4350 with 100 gr Sierra Gameking for years. I think I have more in the track kills with that combo than any other rig I own.
GreggH

I load 45 grains of H4350 and 117 Sierra flat base, and get 2840 fps for it from a 24 inch barrel in a Mauser VZ33 action. I have loaded as high as 46.5 grains and got 2970fps, but accuracy was not good, so I dropped back again. I also loaded up to 49.0 grains of H4831 and got 2960fps, but same result, accuracy was not great. I dont think this bullet / rifle likes the velocity.
But at 2800 fps they kill red deer just fine, so they will deal with whitetails surely.

I would like to load some 100 grain bullets in this cartridge though, and try them. If I could get near 3100 fps with a 100g BT I think I would change.

In my opinion the Roberts is easy to load for. Or maybe most .257R users are easy to please. It's one of my all time favorites for deer and such. My current .257 is a custom job on a Montana 1999 medium length action which allows for a 3" OAL and I like that. The various 4350's and the newer equivalents are your friend. My rifle seems to prefer 100gr bullets over the 115-120's, through not by much. The bullets that I have the most experience with are: Nosler's 100 and 115gr BT, and the Hornady 117gr BTSP. My rifle has a 22" Pac Nor barrel and I can count on 3000FPS with the 100gr Nosler and just under 2900 FPS with the heaver stuff without torturing my cases or the rifle.

I will of course segregate the brass by head stamp. I always do. Have plenty of powders, 4350 looks like a good starting point have the RL's 19 22 etc as well. The Rifle is a pre64 Model 70 so not really worried that it can't take a +P round. First time I have seen a rifle round with a +P section.. Was wondering if for some reason the older NON +P brass would be suspect.

The really old brass may be suspect from an embrittlement standpoint.

CarlsenHighway:

If you want 3100 fps with a 100-grain bullet, you should try Hodgdon's Hybrid 100V. My 22" Ruger .257 gets 3250 fps with a 100-grain Sierra with fantastic accuracy with data from Hodgdon's website.

H100V is the speed champ. See my link posted earlier.

100 gr. TTSX is a killer at 3,250 fps.

Accurate, too.

DF

Nosler does sell "+P" brass for the Bob. Not cheap but very nice stuff. I have a newer Kimber which is a fairly light rifle, so I've never pushed the loads much.

Dirtfarmer, I certainly agree--it made my .257 think it was a .25-06. I'll have to try the Barnes TTSX sometime.

We have an amazing powder selection now, much better then when I started reloading in the late '60's.

With the right powder, older rounds can really shine and without having to push them.

DF

Yep, even my ancient .30-06 thinks it's a .300 H&H, due to modern chemistry, not to mention modern bullets.

Thanks for all the info, The rifle,in question perhaps should not be shot at all. About 98%, However that is what it was made for. so I will shoot it. Not going to hotrod it, but a decent deer round. I had to pull the blanking screws to mount a scope. Doubt it ever had one since '54.

That old '54 deserves to be shot, agree with that decision.

Is the rear action bridge drilled and tapped?

DF

Not a gunwriter but H4831 and 117 SBT Sierras have served well for forty years or so, probably good for another.

Yes it was drilled and tapped on the rear of the receiver. It was some of the Magnum models that didn't. I believe.

I like to minimize variables, start with a clean slate so to speak, so I prefer to start loading for a new rifle with new/virgin brass from the same lot, 100 rounds for hunting rifles and either 200 or 300 rounds for varmint rifles.

That is what I do myself and what I recommend to anyone who solicits advice.

Used to load for my buddies 257 "Bob" and he liked one load that involved IMR-4895 and 100 gr. Sierras. I'd have to dig out the 3 ring binder for the details. He shot up a bunch of factory ammo and gave me the brass. Had lots of +P cases and regular cases. Just kept them segregated and didn't think much of it because we weren't running any real hot loads. Now I wish I had weighed some cases to get an idea (?) of the difference between +P and non +P cases. He sold the gun a few years ago but now I'm gonna start loading 257 again. He just told me he picked up a Mod, 700 Classic in 257 Roberts from 1980-something when they chambered a different cartridge annually in the classic. Was 1982 the year they featured the Roberts?. I found the cartridge to respond well to handloading and from what I've seen of it I like it. Even though I prefer my .25-06, but that's just me. P.S. I think the Roberts is the only rifle round I can recall where they get into +P rated stuff.

RL19 and RL22 would be the place to start if you already have those powders.

My 257R lives on RL19 and either Hornady 117 btsp, or Nosler 115 bt. No complaints or reasons to change.
I shot a pound of H100V trying to get consistant accuracy but didn't get it compared to RL19 in my Ruger 77.

47gr RL19 and the 100gr NBT or Hornady do very nicely on our whitetails and deliver 1.5" and under in three different .257s.

The slower powders work better with heavy bullets for me in the 257 Roberts.. 48gr of RL26 with WLRM primers and win cases gets about 3120fps for 5 shots using 115gr Nosler partitions.
RL23 with 48.2gr with 110gr Accubonds CCI250 mag primers win cases 3157 fps. All in a model 70 Winchester. MRP,and RL22 gave similar performance. My rifle like 115gr Partitions
so that's what I shoot most of the time.

I have been messing around with 100 v with pretty good results..

Just worked up to your RL26 load in my new Kimber Montana. Interesting that in my rifle only got average velocity of 2890fps using Remington Brass and CCI 200 primers. Wonder if your Winchester brass is +P?

On the other hand, Mule Deer's load of 100gr. BT and 48 grs. H4350 yielded 3200fps. This from his "Gun Gack" book.

I,ll get out the other 257 Roberts in my safe and try them in the Remington 760. Loads do seem kind of high.

Will be looking forward to your results in another rifle.
Wonder if Mule Deer or anyone else has tried AL 26 in the Bob?

What kind of velocity are y'all getting with the 110 grain accubonds? I'm getting around 2840 fps with reloader 19, not very fast
But very accurate. Just curious to see what others have experienced with this bullet.

I hope to get to the range on Saturday. Checked old records from 2015 using old chronograph I got 3049fps using RL22 at 48.5gr
and 115gr Partitions. Another load with 49.0gr of MRP with and 110gr Accubonds gave 3138fps. My new chronograph is a
Magnospeed I purchased in 2016. The slower powders all gave the best speeds using heavier bullets. Such as MRP, RL22,RL23,
RL26 and RL17 I,m sure their are others.

QL Load lists the 49gr of MRP and 110gr Accubonds as 3136fps and 56,507psi. Those were three shoot averages. The first loads I gave you were 5 shoot averages
All loads used Winchester cases. Most were +P cases some may not be. That first batch I gave you used CCI250 primers. Not sure what I used in 2015.
The 115gr partition have always been the most accurate in my rifle. And I used it on my antelope hunts of many years ago, but with IMR4350 using 43.5gr
at 2925fps. That at least 20 years ago. Same rifle.

The first centerfire game rifle I bought was a Ruger M77 (200th Anniversary of American Liberty) 257 Roberts. That one liked Nosler 100gr Solid Base bullets (pre Ballistic Tip hunting) and a moderate charge of IMR4320 powder. It also shot a 75gr Sierra fairly well. Many years later, I bought a Ruger M77 MKII Ultralight that only wants to be fed 120gr Speer BTSP bullets and a stiff charge of Hodgdon Hybrid 100V powder. Others comment about how easy it is to find an accurate load for the Roberts, but my limited experience is completely different.

Probably due to the rifles. Many early 77's were picky, due to barrel quality, throat length or both. I have also found Ruger Ultralight's to be pretty picky as well.

Just came back from range test of my Magnetospeed compared to my old Pro-Tach . For 15 shoots with 5 different loads the Difference was 33 FPS.
the Pro-Tach was 15 feet from the muzzle. Magnetospeed got 3023fps and the pro-tach got 2990fps. from 15 shoots with 5 different loads in a 270 Winchester
That's close enough for me. I shoot a similar load in the 257 roberts model 70 and the 760 Remington, it was 48.5gr of RL26 115gr Nosler partition win case and CCI250 primers
I got 3133fps with the model 70 and 3008 fps with the model 760 Remington. . Model 70 has a 24 inch barrel and the 760 Remington has a 22 inch barrel.

My 257 Roberts is a MK-2 ultralight. I bought it to be a woods and climbing stand rifle. Easy to tote with a stand on my back and the trimmer dimensions make it slightly less prone to banging into stuff. I haven't really worked it over good, but I am pretty sure it's never going to be what most people would consider accurate. With charges of 40-42 grains of I4350 and 115 NBT or NPT it's an inch and 3/4 gun. The NPT tends to anchor deer, sailing clean through even with shoulder bone involved. Since the gun is accurate enough for its intended use, I haven't really strayed too far in my load development. I finally got around to buying the chrono you suggested and was going to try it and a 100 grain TTSX load today, but mother nature has other plans.

I'm using 4350 and the 110gr Accubond in a Pre64 M70 and a custom Roberts built on a 1909 Argentine Mauser action. There is a slight difference in powder charges between the two rifles but it's not much, a grain or a grain and a half IIRC. The M70 will consistently shoot one MOA the custom gun a little better. I get similar results with the 117gr sierra and the 100gr NPT using IMR 4350.

PaulBarnard,

An inch and 3/4 will work fine for most deer hunting. In fact I took a very accurate .30-06 on a caribou hunt about 15 years ago--but had to use factory ammo that averaged only 1-1/2 inches for 3-shot groups at 100 yards. The caribou were spooky due to being hunted pretty hard by locals, and I ended up killing both my bulls at over 400 yards, with no problem. Now, caribou are bigger than deer, but in that area not much bigger than mule deer or big whitetails. Their "vital zone" was at least a foot wide, which isn't too tough to hit at 400+ yards even with such "mediocre" accuracy.

I'm using one of MuleDeer's loads with Ramshot Hunter and 100 gr TTSX and it groups better than anything else I have tried. Still working on some loads for 120 Partitions but the TTSX can't be improved given my shooting :-) Happy Trails

I may have already posted this, I forget sometimes. I've had 5, I think, .257s. A couple loads seem to pop out at the top of the list more often than not. WW +P brass, Fed 210M primers, 48 grains of H4831, and 100 grain ballistic tips. (One rifle like the same load with 100 grain partitions as well.) Remington brass, Fed 210M or 215 primers, 44 grains of IMR 4064, and 75 grain Sierra HPs. WW or Nosler +P brass, Fed 215 primers, 43 grains of H414, and 120 grain partitions. (If you have any leftover Hornady 120 grain hollow points, they've shot well in 1 gun with otherwise the same load.)

Most of my .257s have been light rifles. Kind of finicky. These loads seem to work though.

Tom

Welcome to the forum!

Thanks! I've been reading for quite a while and just signed up.

I use h414 or ww760 and hornady 117s and 100s in mine. Deer die quickly never had one go over probably 25-30 yds. most drt.