Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles question about 257 roberts

is there any good factory ammo out there for this caliber? i found a winchester model 70 im interested in possibly buying. or is this a caliber that u really need to handload to reach its full potential?

Federal and Hornady have decent loads, but you really need to handload this one. I prefer 100 gr bullets in the ones my son and I have. It seems to kill out of proportion on deer. A little pop and they just lay down. I think I have more in the track kills with the Roberts than any other round I have used.

GreggH

which 100gr bullet do u shoot

I use 100gr Hornady SPs in mine.

RipTide has been using his 257 Roberts since he first started hunting when he was 8. The picture above was from a buck he killed a few years ago when I first let him sit a stand by himself.

I had barely set him out and left when I heard him bark that little Ruger off.

We've used the 100 grain Hornady SP, 110 grain Nosler Accubond, 100 grain Nosler Ballistic Tip, and it seems like I am forgetting some other bullet. I loaded all of those myself though.

If I were confined to factory ammunition for the Roberts, I think I would go with the Hornady 117 grain BTSP or SST load.

Either one will put meat in the freezer.

Good hunting!

killindeer
My son uses the Nosler Ballistic Tip because when he started hunting at 10 thought the color was cool. I have been using the Sierra Gameking since '93
GreggH

My daughter uses a Ruger M77UL in 257 Roberts for deer hunting. It is loaded with 75 gr Hornady V-maxes.

I've not used factory ammo, though I have to believe that at normal deer ranges the Winchester 117 RN would do well enough.

Hornady & Nosler have stuff loaded to potential also.

I doubt the Bob would be as high on my list of favorites as it is is I didn't hand load. Mine favor the 100 gr Interlock and the Ballistic Tip of the same weight. Deer don't care much at all for either.

While the 100 gr do a good job on deer if you go with the Roberts use the 115-120 gr or IMHO you might as well stick with a 243. I love the 257 but I tend to use the heavier bullets on deer sized game.

Hornady custom 117 interlock worked well for me when I had to shoot factory.

Deer don't like 100 grain Ballistic Tips from the 257. It is a great balance of energy and velocity...

+1 for the Hornady Custom 117 gr. interlocks. They shoot good in my Roberts but I mostly handload 115 Nosler BT when I can find powder.

117 gr SST

All of the factory loads work fine, though the Remington 117 RN Core-Lokt isn't the flattest shooting bullet.

In handloads just about any 100-grain bullet works well at 3000 fps or so. Have used the Hornady Interlock and Nosler Ballistic Tip 100's with good results, but if loading the .257 to modern pressures (which means 3150+ fps) then the 100 Partition and TTSX work extremely well.

This goes for my 257 AI as well.

Factory Nosler 110 Accubond, but they ain't given'm away!

If you hand load, you'll be surprised at what the .257 Roberts is capable. You ought to get close to 3000 FPS with 120 grain bullets and do so very safely.

H-4831 is excellent heavy bullet .257 Roberts powder. But I'd also check out R-19 & R-22.

I have a circa 1951 NRE Hand Loaders manual that lists .257 Roberts loads you won't find in any data source today. If the NRA's loads were safe in 1951, they ought to be more so today.

BTW, years ago I gave a Featherweight .257 Roberts to my nephew. I have fired NRA loads it in. There was zero doubt in my mind that I could have increased powder charges were I so inclined, which I wasn't. It was a modern rifle that was manufactured with better quality metallurgy with the aid of computer design.

Were I to buy another quarter bore, it'd be a .257 Roberts provided I could hand load for it.

shrapnel.

That's a very nice muley. He looks close to 22" inches and very healthy.

Ask me & I'd say that the .257 Roberts is our most underrated cartridge. It will kill just as dead as a mega magnum as long as bullets stop oxygenated blood flow.

If I were given a rifle do-over, all I'd need is a good quality .280 Rem. Then I'd want a .257 Roberts.

I own a Belgian Browning .338 Win Mag. I've had it for 30 years. I have fired exactly 3 rounds through it. I've never hunted with it. If I had another .257 Roberts, I would hunt with it...a lot.

I have used both the Hornady Custom and the Federal Premium. Both are good loads but as mentioned above, I usually handload 100 grain bullets, either Hornady SP or Partitions.

Definitely a +1 on handloading for the Roberts. I have a fwt M70 (XTR era) that is a sweetheart. I can easily reach 3k for 110AB's without drama. I've killed a few deer with the same bullet and a creampuff load making about 2650fps at the muzzle (was looking for a light kicking load for my kids), and it killed very well.

I've had it up well over 3000fps for the same 110AB, and now I'm tuning in the load to get some accuracy. I have it at 2.8" at 200 yards, so I'm getting there, but not there yet.

I can't imagine a deer not having a lasting impression from the 110AB at that speed.

Recoil is not exactly "polite" at those speeds (and with that hard, red "pad" on the XTR rifle, lol), but it's not atrocious by any means. I messed with 100gr PT's a bit, didn't see anything in accuracy that I liked, but I spent very little time on it. I'm sure with a dedicated process put to it, they'd work fine.

Between my father and I (the rifle was actually his dad's rifle), I think we have killed 4 or 5 deer with the rifle with Hornady Light Magnum ammo with 117gr SST's. Not my preferred bullet, but it worked reasonably well. Light Mags aren't around anymore, and I would skip them if you find any. They didn't age well. I have no idea how the newer Superformance ammo works in the Bob, as I just went to handloading it.

If you look at the 257 and it's daddy the 7x57, both are well-served by handloading. Factory offerings are frequently modest in comparison to what the rifles/cartridges are capable of.