Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Why so few guns in .257 Roberts?

With so many seemingly so fond of the .257 Roberts, why have so few of them been sold?

I'm not sure where you are getting your information, but I bought 3 this year. A pre-64 Model 70, a Ruger 77 UL, and a Kimber Montana that I am very fond of.

Selling them is no problemo...getting companies to make them for sale is the issue..I can sell every one I can get my hands on...

IMHO it's a very vocal few that love the 257. Not that it's a bad round at all but for the masses it's nothing special and it does nothing, and not even as much or as good, as a 7/08 or 308 in a short action or a 270 in a long action.

If it would really be a good seller the companies would be making more of them. There is a reason that 257 Featherweight M70's are hard to find and command a premium over other calibers amd that's because when they were available very few were ordered.

I thought that relatively few guns have been sold in .257 Roberts.

For example. I do not think that many of the model 70's or the Remington 700 series were in .257 Roberts.

Lots of factory rifles chambered over the years and several currently. The Roberts is my favorite for a lot of reasons. Any smith can cut the chamber if you can't find a factory offering that you like.

Its only on forums like this that rifle aficionados go on about less popular rounds like the 257 R or for that matter the 7X57.

They are ok cartridges however none of the 57 mm rounds caught on. They just don't fill or fit the regular actions. The 270 wiped out the 7X57 here and the 06 did in the 8-57. Of course you know the 243 erased the 257 from the map.

I suppose it would more popular if the .243 Win had not existed. I like mine and shot a deer with it recently. It does not do much that a .243 won't do.

Was it Winchester's marketing of the .243 that made it more popular than the .257?

Did Winchester have a patent monopoly on the .243?

I don't think Winchester was the only maker chambering for the .243 Win.

I think that there were probably several factors that gave the .243 Win a market advantage over such chamberings as the 6mm Rem and the .257 Roberts. Winchester marketing certainly did not hurt.

I don't have the answer to the question but my long action savage was rebarrelled in 257 this year and is a very accurate piece. I love the rifle but I would have bought a 6.5 barrel and made it a 6.5 x 284 except for my compadre/smith giving me the 257 barrel after we abandoned the 7 Mag idea. That said I have no regrets. My son has shot a hog and a deer with it in the last 2 weeks.

The 257 Roberts tends to be a favorite among the loonies and those who have class which is why it is popular here. But the the average "Joe Hunter" who wipes off the dust the day before deer season and hunts a day or to, it hold little popularity.


ddj

75 Gr. VMAX for varmints and coyotes. 100 Gr. TSX for deer and critters larger than varmints. And 115 Gr. Partitions, etc. for bigger stuff. Ain't that hard to understand. Load it to 2.825" COAL in the Remington SA or 3+" in the ULA and Winchester's. Step down to a 250 Savage or up to a 25-06 or 25-284 or 257 Roy and kill stuff with those, too.....if that's your particular quarterbore preference.

I'm not exclusive to the Roberts by any means...but it gets it done easily for me.

Shoot whatever you want and I'll do the same. If it ain't the Roberts.....then so be it. Some prefer to do it with a Roberts and some prefer to do it with a plain ole' 270 or 30-06. Nobody's wrong and the deer don't know the difference no matter how death is delivered.

Now if you don't mind, I've got to go finish my Santa duties and that includes eating a brownie whilst leaving a few crumbs and drinking some 2% milk. Merry Christmas.

Here is my theory or thoughts on the subject and question. It (the 257R) requires the same action length as a 25/06 or a 257 Weatherby, but is considerably weaker than either so is thusly inferior. I know it has a following, but I don't know why anyone would build one today with the other two rounds avaialble. In a short action, where the 257R could be made to work, although a tough 'shoehorn' kinda deal, the 25/284 beats it up badly. Short action 25 cal build = 25/284 and a medium action 25 cal build = 257WBY in my world.

I don't believe a 3" mag box is long enough for the 25-06 or 257 Bee.

I have 25-284's and like them. I have 257AI's and like them. I have 25-06's and like them. I have 257 Rbts and like them. I don't yet have a 257 Roy, but have the components and just haven't sent them off to the smith yet. I'm a quarterbore loonie. If I were limited to only one quarterbore, it would probably be the Roberts. It ain't hard to kill whitetail and we have mostly smaller ones in west Texas. But with the right bullet, I wouldn't feel limited on a Mule Deer or speed goat or elk hunt. Would I rather have a 257 Roy for elk? Hell yea. Have I ever hunted elk? Hell no.

I like the Rbts in a SA Remington loaded to 2.825". I also have a ULA in 257AI that shines with the 3" mag box.

Maybe I'm doing it the hard way and everybody else knows the easy way....but I'm having fun doing it!

Having fun is what it is all about! I do things the hard or odd man out way from time to time as well. Example is my affinity for the 222 Remington and a few wildcats.

My 257WBY runs great in my pre-64 Model 70 aka standard length action. Don't recall the exact magazine box length but it is the normal i.e standard aka 30/06 length action size as most of us refer to them.

Yeah, I have seen short action Bob's inlcuding even one on a Remington Model 788 and thought they were all a swell idea. I am not yet a convert to the loooonnnnggggg super high BC bullets that some seem to dote on. Still rockin with light for caliber stuff at mega velocities, happily. Only when one is stuck on bullets that look like needles or pencils and gets heartburn over seating bullets past the break at the sholder / case body joint do we see whining about such cartridges in short actions. In most situations it is not that important, as I see it. If Boxer/Big Stick/Palewhitecracker pops in I will get a little greif over this view, but that is OK. His experience and opinion are his to hold to and keep or share as well.

PS, I hope you get to hunt Elk someday. If you do a good 25 cal bullet like your 100gr TTSX (My favorite as well by a wide margin) from your 257Roberts will do just fine at the ranges 99% of elk are killed within.

so few guns were made due to so little demand. lots of reasons why demand for the 257 was (and remains) low, as have been previously mentioned. nothing wrong with the 257 at all, it has simple been surpassed by many other cartridges, and has thus been relegated to the "nostalgia" bin. folks like some on this board who own and enjoy the 257 (and 7x57) are what keeps it alive. find you a 257, reload, and enjoy!

Then everybody would have one; shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

I like your attitude