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Tinkering a bit this week and would like to use my .257 Rob in a 70 FWT for woods whitetail this coming season. How would you build a woods load?
Parameters: Mixed hardwood forest, hilly terrain, visibility under 100yds except rare occasions, deer averaging 175lb+, lots of sitting in a tree & tracking when snow shows up, like to practice shoot lots during the Summer (why I want to start loading now), most/all components for hand loading in stock.
Help me think this through.
Last edited by PintsofCraft; 03/24/21.
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Joined: Jun 2001
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Well, speak of the devil... this showed up in my inbox today... The best deer cartridge you've probably never shot
It's you and the bullet, and all the rest is secondary.
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Joined: Aug 2010
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Get yourself a couple bags of the SPS 25 cal Partitions in each weight (115/120), load them up and see which shoots the best. Good luck and have fun! Tom
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i really like Reloader 17 powder ,115 Berger Bullets in my 257 Roberts all seem to shoot well with this combo ,but if you have a 1-10 twist barrel 100 grain bullets may shot better but some 10 twist 25 caliber barrels do shoot 115 gr. bullets fine. good luck,Pete53
LIFE NRA , we vote Red up here, Norseman
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Only deer I ever shot with a .257 was with a Federal factory 120gr NP. Saw no difference between its performance and similar hits with .270s, ‘06s etc. Doubt a TTSX would suck either. Main thing IMO is to use a bullet that won’t come apart up close, or load it down a bit.
What fresh Hell is this?
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Joined: Apr 2006
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The only thing I'd add is since this is a woods rifle I would pick a bullet that would penetrate to the vitals at more angles than just broadside.
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Joined: Apr 2006
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The only thing I'd add is since this is a woods rifle I would pick a bullet that would penetrate to the vitals at more angles than just broadside.
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I'll be odd man out on bullet suggestion.....give the Hornady 117 gr round nose a try.
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I'll be odd man out on bullet suggestion.....give the Hornady 117 gr round nose a try. That is a really good bullet.
There are 2 rules to success:
1. Never tell everything that you know.
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I'll be odd man out on bullet suggestion.....give the Hornady 117 gr round nose a try. That is a really good bullet. yup
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Joined: Jan 2007
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I'll be odd man out on bullet suggestion.....give the Hornady 117 gr round nose a try. That is a really good bullet. yup SouthTexas, Have you used this bullet in the .250 savage at about 2,650 FPS??
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Hornady 117gr RN and superformance works for me.
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Joined: May 2005
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I'll be odd man out on bullet suggestion.....give the Hornady 117 gr round nose a try. That is a really good bullet. Is Hornady still making this bullet? I thought they dropped several RN offerings to keep up with demand. JD338
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The only thing I'd add is since this is a woods rifle I would pick a bullet that would penetrate to the vitals at more angles than just broadside. A good point, often overlooked! Assuming the rifle shot it decently I'd look no further than a 115 partition (as an alternate a 100 TTSX).
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The "woods" part of this makes me think I want as little recoil as possible so I can watch the deer; hopefully at bullet impact. This way I can maybe see the deer drop in it's tracks......see how the reacts to the shot.......watch the deer depart on it's death run to give a better chance of recovery. I'm thinking lighter weight; Barnes 80 or 100 gr TTSX. The new 101 gr LRX, by Barnes. Nosler 100 gr BT or PT. Just my opinion.
Alan
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I'll be odd man out on bullet suggestion.....give the Hornady 117 gr round nose a try. That is a really good bullet. yup SouthTexas, Have you used this bullet in the .250 savage at about 2,650 FPS?? Not in a 250. Works great in a Roberts at 2850ish. If I were building a load for a Roberts assuming a max of 200 yards, that's the bullet I'd start with, FWIW.
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I hunted for years with the 117 btsp interlock and had no complaints sending them at about 2,800fps. I switched to a 115 Ballistic Tip when I was going to be setting up for longer hunting shots and was looking for a softer bullet, but to be honest I can't tell them apart in performance regarding penetration or toughness. Both have been excellent and accurate.
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I'll be odd man out on bullet suggestion.....give the Hornady 117 gr round nose a try. Agree. One of the best, most predictable expanding, .257" bullets. Moreover, shoots well even in 1:14" Savages. Believe it or not, they still make it.
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