Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles 25.06 Rem. vs .257 Roberts...

My Ruger .257 roberts is my favorite rifle. with Winchester +P brass and laods it isn't far behind its bigger brother, the .25-06.

Just got some 100g TTSX to play with...

Shot a series of 25-06's for awhile figured it was overkill for deer. Went with a couple of 257 and tought it was more efficient and killed as well. Went down to a pair of bolt action 250's and thought it was about the perfect deer cartridge. Although the 250 is about maxed out with the 100 grain bullet it and the roberts seemed to get the job done just fine.

Original question included a why component.
For me the Bob had the nastalgia going for it. As well I had developed an awful flinch, and needed a quiet quarter inch gentleman to help me get back in the game. By accident I discovered a Ruger Bob on sale, and the decision was made over a coffee at Tim's with big brother The_Shootist. I fell in love with rifles again, and old Bob taught me trigger squeeze and follow through again. To date an honest .75" is my expectation from my old friend Bob. I have moved up again to 30-06 and 338 winmag without incident, but still love my Bob. I am not talking anti anything here, but have not found the Bob to be short on anything, including ease of loading, good speeds or accuracy. I love old cartridges, and the odder the better. For the rest of you Canuck's out there I have thought of taking the 303 brit and necking down to 22 or 25 calibre. Not because of any reason other than to use a rebarreled SMLE and it's original round wildcatted.

Randy the wacko

I can see why the Roberts is being re-introduced by manufacturers. Definitely has a following.

Re: finicky 25.06s

Article in latest Rifle Shooter on barrels may add light to this.

Most Roberts, when they were made, were limited to 100 gr. bullets at the time. The much later introduction of the 25.06 brought about the advent of 100 to 120 gr. bullets in .257 cal.

According to chart supplied by Shilen, ideal barrel twist rate for .257 cal. up to 100 gr. is 1:10. Indeed, the chart says up to 90 gr use 1:12 rate, up to 80 gr use 1:13, and up to 70 gr use 1:14.

From 100 gr. to 120 gr., the ideal rate is 1:9, which I suspect most 25.06s are rifled for.

IOW, the 25.06 perhaps is not as ideally suited to bullets lighter than 100 gr as is the Roberts, and judging from the chart, the lighter the bullet, the more problematic becomes accuracy in the 25.06.

Could account for disappointing results in handloading light bullets for the 25.06.

FWIW.

in my opinion the only advantage that the 25 calibers have over the .243 diameter calibers is that most of them are loaded faster than 243's and they can be loaded with heavier hunting bullets. Now if you load the 25's and 24's with hundred grain bullets you must load the 25 up faster than the .243 becuase the .243 has a better ballistic coefficient. Because of this I think that the 25-06 is a better round because it can be loaded faster than the bob which will offset the ballistic coefficent difference between the two calibers.

I loved 25-06s since i was a kid and have always been impressed with its performance but I picked up a 257 Roberts here a few years back that shoots like a full blown varmint rig and ive been sold on Bob ever since,I know a handfull of hunters here in the midwest that think the 257 Roberts is the best damn deer rifle they ever used.................

Most .25-06's are 1 in 10" twist from the factory, I couldn't find a 1 in 9" factory .25-06, there may be one but I don't know who makes it. I have a Vanguard 1 in 10" that shoots 75 and 85/87 grainers reasonably as well as 120's and 100's. My 1 in 10" .257 Roberts also shoots 75's and 100's just fine. I've also not found .25-06's to be "finicky" to reload not the Bob. Love my .25's.

Build a 25-06AI. It'll run the gammit from the Roberts to the Roy, depending what you feed it.

who is making rifles in .257 roberts?

Kimber and Remington both are coming out with 'em.

Ruger Hawkeye is available in 257 Bob, I have the model 77 Mark II and love it

Now that Kimber makes their 84M Montana in 257 Roberts, they made the 25 caliber choice VERY easy!

How long can the bullets be seated in the KimberBob?

I think I'm going to trademark that name...grin.

DJ

This sounds good in theory,but in the real world does not work out that way.I would call higher velocity AND heavier bullets an advantage.....Even the Roberts can be loaded faster with a 100 gr bullet than a 243 in the same barrel length,off-setting any advantage the slightly higher BC may provide to the 6mm.

Not sure, but will know in a few days when mine arrives! Thank you Santa! Someone here must know. A few here have one already.

If I could safely load 110gr Accubonds to SAAMI specs and get 3000 fps via the Kimber's 22" barrel, I would be very pleased! Pleased +P in fact!!

My Kimber 257 will take bullets seated to 2.820.

The 25-06 is more popular but I'm a traditionalist. my favorite round is the 6.5x55. I will do my part to revive the Bob by buying one of the new Kimbers.

I have three .250s, two Bobs, and two .25/06s. All have their places and uses, all are fun, and I may need another one or two.

DJ,
Without checking, I think my KimberBobs are similar to boatammo's - OAL up to 2.820 to 2.825.