Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Predators and Varmints 257 "Bob" for varmints

I am going to do some varmint hunting; predators most likely will be the targets. I plan to use my .257 Bob and I would like to know who has used their "Bob" and what bullet would you recommend?

75 grain Hornady Vmax run about 3500. Slaps yotes hard.

You wanting to save pelts? If so I would pass on the V-max. Like Planemech said, it'll slap'em hard. I like the 87 grain Speer Hot-Cor out of my 250 Sav when the pelts are good.

It was a .257 Roberts that got me into varmint shooting in the first place. That gun lived on 44 grains of IMR 4064 and the 75 grain Sierra HP.

I haven't had much luck finding accuracy with the other 75 grain options nor with the 85 grain ballistic tip. That first gun shot the 90 grain Sierra pretty well, also with 4064 ... 41 grains, I think.

My current .257 was set up with a long throat for heavy bullets. It doesn't shoot anything under 100 grains very well. It does pretty well with 48 grains of H4831 to launch a 100 grain ballistic tip at a 2.95" OAL. That might be too hot for a standard throat. I've shot up a couple hundred of these so far on digger squirrels and, while not explosive like the .204 and .22-250, the squirrel definitely comes unzipped. I'm planning to use them for my coyote shooting this winter.

Tom

I may keep one if the hide looks good but keeping the pelts is not the object. I may just use a std. 100 gr. hunting bullet like a Sierra I have some of those on hand.

I also started varmint hunting with my Roberts - 42 years ago. The Hornady 75 gr. hp worked well in my rifle. The damage to woodchucks was spectacular, the only chance for a coyote pelt would be when the bullet didn't exit. The Berger 78 MEF is the bullet I currently have loaded, they shoot better in my rifle than the Hornady and are equally explosive.

75's are good, so are 100's. Heck, six weeks ago I was slinging 110 grain AB's at Montana pdogs

It's all good....

Has anybody tried Speer 100 gr HPs?

What about Sierra 87 grainers; those are rated for predators and not for deer I think?

Is there much difference between the 75 gr Hornady VMax and their HP in the same weight performance-wise? Is the HP easier on pelts?

I was going to use the Vmax, but I'd really like to tan the pelts and make a blanket or something.

I've just finished a 257 AI on VZ24 action that really shoots the Vmax well, but I'm sure I can find another that'll go equally well once I have a BR seater and a variety of bullets.

Thanks again all,

EFWakeman

I have never shot a coyote with either one, but I've shot other animals with them and I doubt that either one would be fir friendly. I have heard that a Nosler partition will just punch a small hole through them, but I have no experience to back this up. I would say that if you want to save pelts the Bob and explosive boolits is not an option.

MTBDGR-

Makes sense. I'll save the "varmint bullets" for the 'chucks and use up some of the hundreds of 100 gr Interlocks I have on the 'yotes.

Whatever I decide bullet-wise I'll be sure to post results on this site. I'm really looking forward to this new opportunity to spend quality time in the outdoors with a fine rifle!

Don't bother any 100 tears yotes up too from the Bob. Maybe you'd like to back the 75 v-max down to around 3100. The yotes here have been mangy for the last 4 or 5 years so I haven't cared much. They look pretty good this year so maybe I'll go back a .223 and 50 v-maxes over H335.

There is a Barnes 90 grain solid that looks wicked and should roll out there around 3300 from a Bob best case.

I shot bucket fulls of 100 grain Speers thru my Bob, but don't use 'em if you're gathering pelts.

I've shot a lot of 75 Sierra hps through two different Ruger 257s and gotten well under MOA with 44 gr. of H4895. I get 3400 or so with this load, but haven't tried it on coyotes yet. For some reason I keep pulling one of the 22 centerfires our to the safe when going calling.

Hey, I posted this on the wrong thread yesterday!!! Dang it....257 Roberts with 100gr Hornady SP's. About a hundred yards each.

Do those foxes have exit wounds on the other side? What kind of bullet performance did you get? Are the pelts saveable?

I know a guy in PA who has a Ruger 77 with a custom bull
barrel in 257 Roberts, and uses it mostly for crows and
groundhogs. He has killed a couple of foxes with it but
he says it ruins them, and sticks with a 222 for fur bearers.

I don't know how a .257 bob compares to a .270 win, but my dad shot a small female coyote with a 150 gr Nosler Partition out of a .270 at 60 yds and it looked like a baseball had come out the off side. I don't know if this is the norm with the NP but that is my limited experience with them.

Brett (Mac)

The first fox was broadside and the bullet entered the shoulder and exited through a 1/2" hole....not bad. The second (bottom in the photo) was shot head on and the fox was looking up....the exit through the neck is considerable. They're gonna make a fine pair in full body mount.

This same load killed an 80# hog Friday afternoon.

I have had good luck with Hornady 100 gr SP in my .257 Bob, but have not shot anything smaller than a couple of antelope with that load. I would think that if you don't get them in too close, the .257/100 gr. combo would be fine, but whack one at 75 yards or less, it might get kind of messy!

I've killed 3 or 4 middlin' deer with the 100 Hornady Interlock at about 2750 from a .250 Savage, and they died quickly with good bullet penetration. It just might be fur-friendly enough to work on coyotes without shredding the pelt. I've never shot one, though.