Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting .257 Cal Bullets?

Yes, modern correctly designed cases with the right twist barrel and right throat and hopefully shooting .257 bullets with a good bc. It would be great. But you would still get some "Neanderthals" complaining that it is no better than their old....whatever.

And the 6mm has less recoil than the 257,
And the 6.5 has greater frontal area than the 257.

Minutiae! And you could hunt for a lifetime and never tell the difference in the field.

But if it turns your crank, carry on!

There does seem to be quite a few people that believe the .257 has advantages over other bore sizes, or at the very least, is different enough to justify owning one.

https://www.grafs.com/catalog/product/productId/85066

Brass is already around and apparently in enough demand for someone to make it.

Don't tell the "Flat Earth Society" that...they will never believe it!

Ha. I like them all. While it’d be cool to see 7 twist 25-06’s im okay with making one if I really wanted one.

To me it’s fun messing with them all.

That`s kinda neat..been sizing the 6.5 Creed brass for my 250 AI. Works fine.
Do not disagree that the .25 cal. has been neglected for years when it comes to bullet developement, but having hunted, shot and reloaded the 250 for more years than I care to count, the .25 cal. just has not been a popular number. Hell, when I rebarreled my AI some 18 yrs ago, I don`t believe any barrel maker offered a faster twist than 10. Plus, no bullets to take advantage of the twist rate either. So up to this point, no interest in the .25.

BTB, there are a few bullets made currently that have decent BC`s, one of which I`ve used with good results on WT deer. Hornadys 110 ELDX at an advertized G1 of .465, pushed to 2975 and the Berger 115, advertized BC of .483, pushed to 2810. Have not killed anything with the Bergers, except milk jugs at 6.

My son is currently building a 257AI, 7 twist PAC-NOR. We`ll see how that works.

And I am one of those quarter bore nuts. Been shooting a25/06 since the early 60s when it was still a wildcat. For the last 30 years, my favorite deer rifles have been the 257R, 257AI, and the 25/06.

The point is, for me and 99% of hunters, improving the BC from .4 to .57 would make no significant difference . If you want to shoot deer at long range or targets at long range, go for it.

And since we have stooped to name calling, l guess we Neanderthals do giggle at you boys who have to have the latest and greatest. :-)

I think because of the substantial difference between the shape of most current .257 bullets and any future high bc bullets, the throating would have to change on all the old SAAMI specs, otherwise the loaded cartridges will be running out of magazine length or alternatively running out of neck grip on the bullets because of the more radical boat-tails and pointy tips. So newly designed cartridge cases would be the way to get around this problem. This is the problem I faced, I couldn't get the throat right for both future .257 bullets and the current ones...so had to reluctantly go to 6mm.

Don't be concerned one little bit about name calling on internet forums. And in any case, it's very mild name calling. It's not like you've been called the holiest of holies. And one more thing that is a law: It is always better to have a more efficient bullet, ceterus parabus. Please understand this one point.

I think the throat on the current guns might work fine. The higher BC deals have a longer nose and an ogive further back. Wouldn’t be surprised to see the standard throat work reasonably well. But it’d take some measuring with them. I don’t have any of the current ones on my shelf.

On the heavier high bc bullets, like the Hornady 134 grain, it would work if you currently have plenty of magazine length. My comment was more in relation to say a hypothetical high bc 100 grain bullet which would be much shorter than a 134 grain bullet and you would probably run out of grip, if needing to seat close to the lands to get good accuracy.

Could be. All depends on the nose design.

That sounds so much like the new shooters that thought the 243 was so much better than the 257 and the 250. It was the trend, you know. The old guys didn't know anything. Then there are those that think the 6.5 Creedmoor is so much better than the 6.5x55. It was the new thing you know. The old guys that liked the Swde just are not in tune with what the trend is. In silhouette shooting in the 70's the new 7 mm International was the best Silhouette cartridge and so many just had to have it. Of course, we see 7mm International chambered guns everywhere now. When the 7mm RM came out, it was the best cartridge that ever hit the streets, it was the trend and those that were stuck with their measly 270's just were not cutting the mustard. They were old geezers that just didn't know about the trend.

There's always the question of whether you change things to incorporate new technology or improvements, or whether you always keep things the same. Where do you draw the line? Should we all be still driving Model T Fords or more efficient modern cars?

False analogy. There is obviously a huge between the vehicles produced 100 years ago and the current models. While the difference in bullet performance when comparing a BC of .4 and a BC of .57 at normal hunting ranges is imperceptible. At longer ranges, yes it would be a step forward.

Please explain why I should invest money in a new rifle or new fast twist barrel on an existing rifle when it would have absolutely no impact on performance in my deer hunting?

Gee, my new Corvette will leave my ‘56 keep in the dust on the freeway. But would not be an improvement over the jeep driving on the ranch.

Then there was a writer that wrote that cartridges for him would have a belt.
Synthetic stocks and actions that have so much steel around the ejection port to improve accuracy is a trend evidently. You "wet behind the ears" crowd can call your frenzy an improvement if you like, just don't expect everyone to stand up and yell, OH BOY!
Most of us that have been around a while have seen this frenzy over and over. Don't expect us to jump on everything new that comes down the pike, just because it is the trend and a so-called improvement.

Come on young Bugger and Southtexas, it doesn't help any of those guys who want the more efficient high bc bullets in .257, if you two don't help ensure there's sufficient demand for the bullet companies to make them!

I’d be all over ‘em if they offered any improvement

Go hammer on the guys that are raving about round nose Bullets and how wonderful their terminal performance is. With their BCs it’s a wonder they don’t hit the ground before reaching the 🦌

Or look at the thread comparing the 6.5 CM to the 7-08. You’d think the CM would be the runaway winner what with all the high BC Bullets and fast twist rifles available

I know! It’s a wonder people didn’t starve to death without all these bullets we have today.

GreggH