Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters I’m confused 250/3000 vs 257 Roberts

I tried the 120 gr Speer Grand Slam and couldn't get a grouping I liked in my M99. I found the now discontinued 100gr Sierra Pro Hunter worked best for me. Happy I have about 500 bullets left......

"The major point, however, is that if somebody did rebarrel a bunch of 93's for the factory .257, it would have had to happen AFTER the .257 Roberts became a SAAMI-approved factory round--which means the low pressure limit was NOT due to rebarreled 93 Mausers,"

I'll buy that. I've also alway thought those small ring Mausers just may have been stronger than credit was given regarding their strength. I never had one of those in a .25 caliber anything but I did have a neat 7x57 that to this day I'm still kicking myself for selling.

I do have two rifles in .257 Roberts, a Ruger #1B and a Winchester M70 Featherweight. The Ruger is very accurate with the only ammo I've run through it, a 100 gr. load by Norma. I don't think Norma even make that ammo anymore. Pity. I never got around to running any hand loads in that rifle.
The M70 on the other hand is driving me sane. My sun in law bought one in .257 and wanted me to work up a load for his with the 100 gr. TSX. He buys the components, leaves me with the rifle and I have fun. IIRC, I worked with IMR 4350 and worked up to the max load in the Barnes #4 manual without any problems and the load was MOA. Velocity was within a few FPS of the Manual. So, when the chance to buy an NIB M70 FWT at a good price showed up I started with the IMR4350/TSX combo and worked up to the max with nothing to show for my trouble but dismal accuracy Most groups were larger than 3". Tried some with the 100 gr. Sierras, Game Kings and Pro-hunters but again lousy accuracy. Guess I'll get back to the drawing board sometime in the next year. Too many other projects in the way.I will say that FWT is a pleasure to shoot regarding recoil. I must be getting old. Ya think?
Paul B.

PJ, make sure the barrel is well floated and the bedding good, then try IMR4320 or RL15 with NBTs or 100gr Hornadys. My 700 Classic and Dakota 76 dote on them, and the M70 fwt @50AI also does quite well with RL15.

Factory ballistics for 100 grain 250 Savage is 2820 fps.

I suspect that you're somehow comparing apples to oranges; your handloads compared to JOC's guess or something similar. The 257 Roberts case is bigger than a 250 Savage case, so all else being equal, it will give higher velocities.

My four reloading manuals all list the same velocity for 100 trainers. The 250 uses 4 grains less powder to do it. Your results may vary. Ed k

ERK,

Would love to hear what your sources are. Here are the top velocities for 100-grain bullets from the most recent pressure-tested data, with 100-grain bullets:

Source--.250/.257

Barnes--2832/3152
Hodgdon--2936/3205
Hornady--2850/3200
Lyman--3012/2985
Norma--2836/3045
Nosler--2952/3120
Ramshot--2864/3051
Speer--3026/3113

The only source that lists .250 velocities as high as the .257 is Lyman. Their load is 33.0 grains of IMR3031 for 3012 fps--while Hodgdon lists 34.5 grains of 3031 as max, for 2875 fps. Somebody must have been asleep at Lyman's chronograph.

The .257 has more than 15% more powder room than the .250. There is no way the .250 can match .257 velocities at the same pressure. That is not how rifle cartridge physics works.

Solution.... one or more of each.

Looking at those pair makes me speechless.

My books are older ones but Lyman lee and an old Sierra show this. Sorry if this offends anybody. Ed k

Naw, doesn't offend me--but that's what I suspected.

A lot of older manuals have faulty info, for various technical reasons, which is why handloaders are encouraged to use the latest available information.

I have never owned a 250 savage but I have used the Roberts a lot...
I have never herd anyone that uses the 250 complain....they all rave about how great it is...and I don't doubt it a bit..

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Only thing I can think of is about 25+ years ago Kimber of Oregon brought out a line of inexpensive rifles on surplus 96 and 98 actions (don't remember 93 actions being used). The actions were matte blued, had fluted stainless barrels, and came in Gentry-designed "Rough Rider" stocks by Butler Creek. They came in a variety of cartridges including 257 Roberts... I had one on a 98 action that didn't shoot worth a crap.[/quote]

Fred Meyer up here in Eagle River AK had several of those rebarreled model 98,s that were reworked by Kimber of Oregon various calibers.
Was told that Kimber and Fred Meyer both in Oregon had close connections. Now Fred Meyers quit selling guns.

Kimber "Salvation Rifles" (as I call them because as I understand it, they were a stop-gap measure toward financial trouble) were indeed on 96 or 38 Swede actions about the same time SARCO flooded the market with complete guns. Some (maybe the majority?) of those were sold with serviceable original 6.5x55 barrels that were turned down to smooth contour and shortened toward a sporting appearance, indicating that Kimber was sourcing entire guns (from SARCO or elsewhere).

Finish and components were varied.

Rebarreled guns were indeed in Roberts, .243, and .308. They were sold with an economical Bushnell 3x-9x scope, mounted with Weaver rings and bases and the purchase included a plastic hard case. All for $299!

The example I hold is a brushed nickel finish action and barrel, (non-fluted), with a Ramline stock, in .308 Winchester. It shot VERY WELL right off the bat. With a Dayton-Traister cock-on-opening/trigger conversion and a Leupold 3x-9x it will run with the best for accuracy.

It is also a bullet-proof workhorse that looks pretty and shoots prettier.

The Cabela's in LaVista, NE, had one of the 6.5x55 Swedish Mausers that Kimber sporterized in their used gun rack last week priced at $370. This rifle has a blued finish, not the brushed nickel finish that some folks mistake for stainless. I was a little tempted, but since I already have 4 sporterized Swedish Muasers chambered in 6.5x55 I passed. Instead, I bought a used RAR-P in 6mm Creedmoor to fool around with.