Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters 257 Roberts whats the attraction

Lighten up Stanley

Harmless affections towards our stuff make some of this fun.

If the 257 Roberts is thought to be so cool why not the 250 Savage as well. Its an actual short action cartridge, mild, and has some history. It can be found in old Savage 99's and built in bolt rifles. Thats kind of cool in itself.

good ideal but probably never happen now,but that`s where the new 257 Creedmoor may come in soon ? 257 Roberts is a classic that will always be there , maybe not a big seller but will always have plenty following shooters and rifle loonies .

the 250 savage and the 257 Roberts are a joy to shoot, try one you'll be glad you did!

The 250 Sav with ball powder will beat a 257R with stick powder.



range report 10-18-2017
2) Sighted 257 Roberts Arisaka in at 200 yards.
1" 3 shot group at 200 yards
100 gr nosler ballistic tip 46 gr IMR-4451 2.963" OAL jammed into the lands
63.4 kpsi 3231 fps Quickload
2926 fps chrono
2936
2911
Pressure on primers looks very high

3) 250 Savage Savage 12
100 gr Nos Bal Tip 39 gr CFE223, 2.550" OAL
62.5 kpsi 3154 fps Quickload
3115 fps chrono
3197
3253

Ive ended up with both of these but havent used them yet.

The reason the .250 Savage isn't even as popular as the .257 today is factory ammo's even scarcer, and brass tends to suck, since it's a low-profit item and factories tend to run their brass-forming dies past when they should have been replaced. The exception is Hornady--or at least it was 2-3 years ago when I tried some of their brass. (You can neck up .22-250 brass, however, which works pretty well.) While the .250 is an actual short-action cartridge, there aren't many commercial .250 bolt-rifles available--though I have owned one Model 20 Savage. Otherwise it's a custom deal.

Clark,

What length barrel on the .250? I have owned a bunch of .250s, including a custom bolt rifle, and never been able to break 3000 fps with 100-grain bullets no matter what powder I tried, from a typical 22-24" barrel.

Started trying 4451 in the .257 when the powder first appeared, due to a shortage of H4350 (and even IMR4350) at the time. Turned out the two manufacturing lots I got were somewhat different, which isn't unusual in new powders, but with 46.0 grains they got 3052 and 3104 with the 100-grain Ballistic Tip seated a little off the lands in my somewhat worn Remington 722--wit ZERO signs of excessive pressure.

It’s “Da Bob” for my son & me.

Channeling our inner yooper, eh!

Anal retentiveness takes enjoyment from life.

25-08 ??? I think it's called the 25 Souper. Brass aplenty!

While being "the best" doesn't always lead to becoming "the most popular", being "the most popular" almost always leads to most options and wider distribution for the consumer.

I like the 250-3000 and 257 Roberts, but wouldn't recommend either of them in lieu of the 243 to the casual hunter. While the 223, 22-250, 243, 25-06, 6.5CM, 270, 7mm RM, 30-30, 308, 30-06, and 300 WM might not be the best cartridges in their respective market niches, they are close enough, good enough, to be the most popular cartridges in their respective market niches.

My response to what’s the attraction? Simply this, in my custom pre-64 Roberts I get 3050 FPS with the 115 Nosler Partition. I’d like to see the critter in the lower 48 I couldn’t harvest with that rifle and load!

You got a fast barrel there....Desertranger.

Just looked at 1980's a M70 Featherweight in .257 Roberts. Cool, but for the $1200 he is asking for it, he can keep it.

One of my hunting buds had his 25 Souper built about the same time I was having my Bob built and both by the same gunsmith. Made for endless fun hours debating long action vs short action.

The problem was both rifles were built by the same 'smith, and when you factored out the loose nuts behind the triggers the rifles were equally accurate.

However, mostly just for S&G the debate continues....

Mine is named "Little Ned", in honor of it's creator.

Mine is named "Little Ned", in honor of it's creator.


now that is unique and classy > LITTLE NED < i like that !

Having just the ‘one’ .257 Roberts I’ll say that it’s in my top 5 of all hunting rifles - which was up to quite a number before the boating accident. Such a sad day.

I believe thats pretty accurate. When i was a teen i had an experiance with a big bull elk at 25-30yds using a 25-06 and Remington Core Lokts. Horrible experiance. Before at longer distances the little 25 took some huge mule deer and cow elk no problem. At rock throwing range it was inadequate. I wish i could relive that scenerio only having Nosler Partitions or todays copper monolithics. My ammo was some my grandpa had bought back in the early 70's.

More than one of us went through that same sort of experience with various bullets!

Core--Lokts were pretty thick-jacketed bullets back then (though not today), but they weren't "unbreakable," especially close up at higher velocities. In fact John Nosler developed the Partition after having problems with a British Columbia bull moose with 180 Core-Lokts from a .300 H&H.

I started using Partitions during the last 3-4 years of the lathe-turned bullets, the mid -1970s, and they took a lot of doubt out of my hunting--especially for elk in the thick timber of the Montana mountains alongside the Idaho Panhandle. A hundred yards was a long shot, and after switching to what were then called 200-grain "semi-spitzers" in my .30-06 there were no problems.