Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game No experience with .257 Roberts.

Just so happens I was raised on sizzling Roys,
so when it comes to 257r, I'd like to know how it
performs with say premium projectiles 100-120
weight on big porkers.

Is like 100 grain A~Frame all I really need?

On big porkers? Big as in over 200 pounds? With the 100 gr. Ballistic Tips I shot 1 fat one weighing 175 pounds. Neck shot worked great. Shot an 80 pounder in the face, worked great. Beyond that no experience.

Big as in regular big, with rare (dreamy) possiblity
of freak size making a show.. 😁

I don't have personal experience with it, but met an elk hunter who had killed 17 elk with his; he had no complaints. He used partitions. I reckon it should work on pigs with a good bullet in the right place.

Works great with handloaded 120s at 2800 to 2900fps.

Last fall had a 257 loaded with 100gr Hornadys at 3000fps, when I ran across a good size hog. It worked great, too.

100 gr. Barnes at 3150 worked on this big boar. He was well over 200 lbs. Shot him in the ear about 175 yds.

I have shot several 200 lb hogs with the .257 Rbts. I used 100 grain Hornady Interlock with complete satisfaction.

I took out some pork in 2015 w/ 90 GMXs doing 3200-ish. One was a rather large boar DRT with shot to base of skull and another shot as he was running straight at me. I hit him in the skull and found the base of the bullet in ham.

Amazing.

I’d not hesitate to go with 90s, 100s, 110s, 115s, 117s, or 120s on pigs from Bob. Nice thing is it’s easy on bullets due to relatively mild velocities. As with any cartridge shot placement is key.

I have come to like the 110 grain AB for its balance of accuracy, penetration, and velocity potential in the 25 Souper, 257R, 257AI, 25 WSSM, 25-284, and 25-06.

Have crumpled "big porkers" with the 115 Partition behind the shoulder, started at 2900 fps.

But that does not happen all the time with any cartridge or bullet on pigs. But then again, it does not happen with almost any other cartridge/bullet combination either. The best way to crumple pigs (aside from a brain shot) is to put a bullet that penetrates OK in the center of the neck, just in front of the shoulders. It will either take out the spine or the mass of blood vessels alongside the spine.

Here's a link to some .257R loads and data.

Some B.S. too... But this IS the Fire....

https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/10301462/5

100 TTSX or E-Tip at 3,250 fps over H-100V, the velocity champ, is a proven killer.

115's with H-4350 work well, too.

DF

In my opinion, the 257 Roberts is an excellent, VERY under rated cartridge! It is better than the 243 Win. as a combination varmint/deer cartridge.

Too bad it is not more widely chambered and promoted.

Gun Gack load of 47.0 gr of Ramshot Hunter under a 100 gr TTSX is a great shooting load at 3,000 + fps out of my M77 with 22” barrel.

Corrected barrel length for 1976 200th year of American Liberty Ruger 77.

The Barnes manual has stories from satisfied Barnes bullets users. One of them is a woman moose guide, who killed her moose with a 257 Roberts and a 100 grain (I think) Barnes bullet. Works for her.

Damn, that's a short barrel for a BOB, LOL! I think you meant 22" not 2".

My Bob AI pushes a 115 grain Combined Technologies Ballistics Tip at 3000 FPS which makes short work of Porky. But I don't shoot boars intentionally anymore. I'd rather have a 100 pound sow any day. I eat 'em and boars are nasty. But it makes no big difference. My wife killed a big ol' boar at 50 yards with a .243. Hit 'em right, no matter how far, 50-100-200 yards, and they go down immediately if not sooner.

My daughter and both of my grand-sons have used a 257 Roberts to kill elk on several occasions. All kills were made with 120 grain Nosler Partitions and 115 grain Barnes TSX bullets and all were 1 shot kills.
None of us have ever killed pigs, but elk running from 450 up to about 800 pounds fell to the 257 Roberts just fine when hit with the right bullets. So I bet you'd have no problems at all with pigs from 200 to 400 pounds.

Anyone else notice that the old Roberts, hand-loaded with 115-120 grain bullets (which is all that’s needed for deer/pigs a “normal” hunting ranges) is a ballistic twin to the vaunted 6.5CM.

Try H-100V with the 100 gr. TTSX (or E-Tip). Velocity is into 25-06 territory without excessive pressure. And out of my 24" Brux, great accuracy. This combo is a real killer. Note COAL longer than SA 2.8". This a 700 LA, so no problem with 2.9+" COAL. The throat is also longer.

IMO, the optimal action length for the Roberts, Swede. 7x57 and similar would be 3". The 3.4" LA is a bit excessive for the Roberts, but was set up so well, I can place rounds anywhere in the box mag and they feed smooth as silk. In fact, this is one of the slickest feeding rifle I have. It's all in the skill of the smith. This rifle was put together some years ago by Ronald Lampert, MN, a master smith.

H-100V is sort of a niche powder, not the most temp stable, but very efficient and clean burning. Where I hunt, temp stability isn't critical.

DF

Here is my Roberts in it's latest and likely final stock, a McM Hunter's Edge, Flat Dark Earth with Olive specs. Conquest 3-9x40.

DF

Yep. I consider the 257Roberts, 260/6.5CM/6.5x47L, and the 7mm-08 to all be on fairly equal footing when shooting game bullets of 100-130gr. You can run the lighter mono bullets at 3,000-3,200 or the traditional stuff at 2,800-2,900, but they all kill pretty dang well without a lot of recoil. I'd certainly feel like I had enough gun for pigs with a Roberts shooting the 115/120gr Partition at 2,800 to 2,900.