Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Why did the .243 outsell and eventually almost obsolete the 257 Roberts?

If I wanted a 257 Roberts I would build it on a long action and seat the 120's out as far as possible to make room for more powder and put a 26" barrel on it like the original .243 had.

Then it would level the playing field against the .243.
My niece killed a spike buck opening day with one shot from her 6mm Remington so I guess they do kill deer.

Instead I bought a 25-06!
whelennut

whelenut: WAY too logical and makes FAR too much sense

...there is just no room for that kind of rational thought when it comes to "pet" calibers

When it came time to part with guns in order to make room for some new ones, the 243 and the 25/06 left. The BYOB stayed.

As a reloader and hunter, the 257 bests both of them IMO.

If it came down to paper shooting, the 243 has the advantages.

Lets see -

a x57 case and a .257" bullet - Roberts
a x51 case and a .243" bullet - .243 Win.
a x57 case and a .243" bullet - 6mm Rem.
a x51 case and a .257" bullet - ?

did we find a whole in the line up?

Closesest I see is the .260 Win, but is that close enough?

Warren Page and John Lachuk were better 6mm salesmen than Ned Roberts?

JW

Pretty much.

The 243 didn't outsell the 257 Roberts at my house... I've shot a few 243s, but I much prefer the Roberts.

JW: I think you are right! Poor old Ned just wanted to shoot woodchucks in New England.....I have always forgiven Warren Page for the 243,because he gave us 7mm magnums,too,which made up for it.....

I have had a couple of the .243's, cannot say why I did not like them...the 257 is more interesting for some reason. The .260 Remington would have "made it" if it had been a 25 calibre..

My 257 Rob at the range last Sunday. As you can see, clearly "cooler" than the 243 :

the .243 did too outsell the .257 at your house for a generation... if you were around to see it....
not a single production gunmaker chambered for it(the .257)... it was dropped from most loading manuals, or listed in the back of the book as an "obsolete cartridge"... factory ammunition was a pretty scarce find in most locations...

i'd lay odds that throughout the U.S. the .243 still outsells the BOB by a wide margin... and that in ammo and firearms.....

Always....!

Ever since it's introduction the 243 has been available in less expensive rifles than the 257. If one claims that the 243 is "better" because it has sold more, than they would accept that the 30-30 is "better" yet. And McD's hamburgers must be better than steak sandwiches. Markters are fantastic manipulaters of the easily swayed public. I'm sure that we are all "handled" in many ways that we don't even realize. The good thing is that we do have lots of choices and the freedom to try different things and decide what works best for us. I wound up voting for the various quarter-bores. I have several. I have just one 6MM Rem. I had one 243 until I gave it to a nephew. This wasn't a deliberate process. My own experiences just subconciously led me to this result. Possibly because I had a 250 Savage and a 257 Robts before I had my first 243. The 243 just never did anything better and had trouble meeting expectations on the chronograph. Your mileage may vary...

CMG,

it is a "wildcat" called the '25 Souper' in the States, or sometime 25-08.

Sycamore

You're right John.Once the 6mm's got cranked up the 257 became another cult rifleman's cartridge,kinda like the 280 Rem. Limited chamberings,and best results with handloads.

The 243 knocked its' socks off in sales,and I bet still does,easily.

They obviously were men of great intellect, and foresight...

I'm with Bob, Keep everything but the .243, the rest is first class
MC

the only logical reason I can think of is that God is great, beer is good, and people are crazy!!

The .243, 458 Win. and the fabled 45-70 are three cartridges that I personally have little use for, but that's just for me, not anyone else..What other folks choose to shoot is their business. I am sure we all have our prejudices, right or wrong.

Dang, I knew it couldn have been.

Thanks, Syc.

Interesting thread.I think the 243 was in the right place at the right time , the Bob predates it by quite a bit. About the time the 243 came out the baby boomers were enjoying a good economy and had extra money to spend. They got the idea they could afford to have more than 1 rifle in the gun cabinet and reading OL,SA and F&S as well as straight gun mags gave them ideas about combination purpose guns. People like new things whether they are any better or not than existing ones. You gotta remember a lot of writers back then didn't allways deliver the criticsms they could have.
I don't particularily like "samples of one" when listening to someone tout or disparage different cartridges. I like the facts and because my memory isn't really any better than anyone elses I have kept a journal from my 1st deer to the latest. I have shot 56 antelope of which 43 were killed with the 243,6mm,257, and 25-06. Can't say that any of these cartridges stands head and shoulders above the others. The most have been shot with a 243, mostly 1 shot kills too. The 25-06 shoots flatter from 300-400 yds and has a little more energy when it gets there. Dead is dead and energy factor counts for little compared to putting the bullet in the right place. I realize that my own handloads gave me an edge over what you could buy for the 243. Not so anymore, that Hornady Light Mag load was great when I tried it, but then my own loads with 100 Nosler PT's and 100 gr Hornady Spire points worked very well also.The Bob works well with 100 gr Horn spire points for me too,but I sure remember some less than effective 100 gr + P WW Silvertips in it also. I am not a fan of the short magazine Bob period, especially when the the gun is chambered for a longer than magazine length OAL as was my M70 FW 257 and Rem M700 Mtn rifle were. I shoot an M77 Mk2 RL in the BOB now and it works. I used to think only gunwriters couldn't kill anything with the 243 Win ,but stand corrected now as I see a few others can't either. I use it for antelope and have shot some deer also, no problems for me, but I usually use a bigger cartridge deer hunting. Confidence in what you are shooting means more than a few ft #'s one way or another. Why don't one of you guys trade in your barely used Kimber M84 in 243 and tell me where it's at... been wanting one of those... Magnum_Man