Just picked up a nice older M77 .257 Roberts. What's everyone's thoughts on this caliber? I plan on using the Hornady 117 grain SST bullets.

I love 25 calibers.

I hate SST's


YMMV

+1

DF

+2

My brother and I both often hunt with a .257 and have taken whitetails, Axis and pigs with the 110 gr Accubond with a 2900 fps load. It's worked well.

Shot a few deer with the one I had. Only ever fed it one load, 90 grain Sierra Gameking HP over a max load of IMR-4064. 1/2-3/4" groups were the norm.

Bullet was pretty tough, shot through every deer I ever shot with it and none were over 75 yards or so.

Out of about 10 deer or so only 1 ever moved from where she stood and then went maybe 20 yards.

Wish I had that one back.

Great cartridge. Better if you handload. Do you?

Sweet little rifles. I've been eyeballing one at the LGS for a while now. Good luck with yours.

I shoot, mostly 100 grain Partitions and 110 grain ABs in my mid-capacity .257" bore rifles. A little faster/flatter and none have bounced off (yet). I have some 80 grain TTSX, but have not yet tried them, too many irons in the fire.

Thanks guy's for all your input!

I have his 'n hers or twin 77 "tangers" and they have been used on Whitetail, Mule deer and pronghorns with good results. Have not tried the SST bullets you listed and probably won't, because of all the good bullets out there.

One "tanger" is absolutely stupid accurate with 115 grain Nosler Partitions and has accounted for the largest Whitetail to date.

Beauties right there..

Glad to hear that the bullet worked out for you.

.25 CALIBER (.257) 90 GR. HPBT
The 90 grain #1615 Hollow Point Boat Tail bullet was designed originally as a varmint bullet, but it has taken on an expanded role. This bullet is extremely accurate at all velocity levels, making it suitable for the entire range of 25 caliber cartridges. It will perform as a varmint bullet at high velocities, but it may also be used on medium game from smaller-capacity cartridges, such as the 250-3000 Savage and 257 Roberts.
IMHO
Sierra's statement and your experience on killing deer with this bullet does not match mine and several others who have used it. In the early 1970s we started using it on deer and found it not to be reliable. However, we use it on varmints and pests for which it was designed. The redeeming characteristic is if it doesn't show good accuracy in a 25 caliber, most likely there is something wrong with the rifle.

My "Bob" is a 77 UL. A very good shooter and will kill about anything in the deer / pronghorn size range at sensible range with good bullet placement. My rifle seems to prefer the 115/117/120 weights but I rarely choose it for varmints as I have more dedicated rifles available.
One thing about experience, it leaves us old geezers hung up on what WAS factual 20, 30 or 40 years ago. Bullets and powders in 2016 are just not what was offered in the 70's, 80's or 90's so it's best to keep an open mind and see what your rifle likes that fits you requirements for taking big game.

Mine isn't a Ruger but a custom M-700, Brux.

My best two loads so far:

100 gr. TTSX over 47 gr. H100V, .03" jump at >3,200 fps with < 1/2" groups.

115 gr. NBT over 44 gr. H-4350, .02" jump at around 2,900 fps with < 1/2" groups.

Both loads proven killers of WT's and hogs.

DF

Beautiful rifles! Thanks for sharing!

When I loaded those I did so because I had called Sierra and asked what bullet to run in the Bob, the 90 was their recommendation.

Worked slicker than a gut for me. Which I must be in the minority because all of the Sierra bullets I have run in everything from 223s up to 300 Winchesters kill game rather quickly.

I've got 3-257 Rob in my cabinet; my son's custom Mauser and his first center fire rifle, my first custom a .257 Ackley Improved, and a Kimber 84M Classic Select. The Ruger is a good one I've always liked em.

I love the cartridge and have had great success w/ the 90 gr GMX, 100 gr Hornady, and 110 Accubond.

I am not a fan of the SST either but I highly doubt they'd give you issues on deer.

I did the same thing (calling Sierra for reccomendation) but I asked about a bullet for 243. Without hesitation the tech said 85gr. HPBT Gameking. Said he had been using it on deer for over 25 years. Told me that federal loaded that bullet in their premimum line if I wanted to try it. I did. It worked! I liked it!!

90 gt HPBT works great in a 250/3000 shoots well in my 25-06 but I have been reluctant to hunt deer with them in the -06. I think the SST would hold together well in the Roberts

Try out the 117 RN...amazing how well it works on deer

I have a 1989 M77 tang safety that I bought used but in immaculate condition in January of 2004. It quickly became my favorite rifle and has remained so. I immediately floated the barrel and tuned up the trigger.

Mine has a long throat so I seat the bullets out to mag length or top of the shoulder, depending on the bullet.

Using WW +P brass and CCI 200 primers:

75g V-MAX / H4895 @ 3609fps
100g TTSX / H4350 @ 3233fps
110g AB / H4350 @ 3163fps
120g Aframe / H4831SC @ 2947fps

Best group I've ever shot was with the V-MAX, three into .232" center-to-center @ 100 yds.

This rifle had killed a lot of coyotes, some prairie dogs and quite a few antelope. Daughter #3 will be using it for antelope this year.

Congrats on picking one up.

I used the 85 grain .243" and 90 grain .257" Sierra GK HPBT and probably had 50+ clean kills with them. Then I had 4 failures, where the bullets came apart on impact and only made a shallow, surface, wound. I stopped using them on medium game, still use them for coyotes, and went with Partitions in both my .243" and .257" bore rifles.

They are very accurate bullets and when they work, they work very well, but after having bad experiences with them, I don't trust them to work well 100% of the time, so I've moved on to use bullets that I have 100% confidence in.

However, as with many things, YMMV.

This basically where I am at with this bullet.

In the past I have spoke to two different Sierra technicians about the construction of this bullet and they advised the bullet was designed as a "cross-over" bullet for varmints and deer. Varmints - would be fox and coyote. When pinned down on its use on deer they suggest qualifiers, limit velocity, stay away from shoulders.

The question for me is would you feel confident in shooting deer with a "cross-over" bullet?

When I shoot varmints and deer with my 25 calibers I select a bullet for varmints and select a separate bullet for deer.

Seems to me it's prudent to use a bullet that you can count on to work at any angle you might take a shot at, especially with smaller calibers. For me, that calls for Partitions, assuming they shoot okay. My second choice would be x-bullets, but I haven't tried those as yet.

You never know when you'll get a shot at a really nice deer, or maybe a bear. Why mess around with a marginal slug?

Short answer is "NO".

Especially after such a rousing endorsement by the Sierra tech......which to me means..."stay away".

I've shot piles of Sierras at animals, mostly wood chucks and other varmints but some antelope and deer and the accumulated experience taught me to just use a Partition, with which I have never had a complaint.

I have never understood the mind set of using marginal or inferior(meaning fragile constructed) bullets at BG animals. I simply do not see the point nor the advantage to it.

I currently have a Ruger Hawkeye 257 Roberts.

Sierra includes good info about the construction and recommended use for their various bullets on their website. Some of their C&C bullets are pretty stout, for C&C, some not so much. A perfect example is the difference between the Gameking .308 165 BTSP and the 165 GK HP. The HP is tougher.

Why folks persist in ignoring the skinny from the folks who are make the dang things is beyond me.

With Partitions, the only thing you need to read is the word "Partition" on the box.

Pappy I agree with you on the Partitions.

Which Sierras are good and which are bad means nothing to me.

But Partitions are so predictable and boring.

round oak: The more you hunt, the more you value "boring and predictable".

More important things to worry about on a hunt than whether your bullet is up to a worst case situation,as you know. I'm not here to serve as a guinea pig for bullet manufacturers,who frequently make claims for products that don't hold water.

"Keep the velocity down and keep them in the lungs" is a hint from the manufacturer to find something more suitable. I can read sign.

I'd generally much sooner use the harder bullets for everything, than a "crossover " bullet.

A hard bullet will kill a fox or rabbit as well as a 25g Vmax.

Steelhead recommends this bullet, he shoots it in his 250AI. Damn accurate bullet.

Doc

Yes.

Mine shot Win PP's lights out with 117gr RN out of a Ruger 77, Mark II

+1! If you're not shooting at "long" range, the 117gr Hornady RN is a wonderful bullet.

I ve had one for several years. Someone had slimmed down the stock and re checked it and refinished it . It is a nice looking rifle and has become my favorite. I found loads for the 117 Hornady the 100 gr hornady and the 90 gr Serbiahp at 2800, 2900, & 3000 fps respectively . The nice thing is they all shoot to the same poi. the 117 gr does a nice job on deer for me and I haven't had one go over about 25 yds .

Negative, I shoot it in a 250. The 250AI's get fed 85gr Barnes X bullets and 110gr Accubonds.


If one ain't into slinging 80gr Barnes TTSX's in the 257 Roberts, I'd just load up a bushel with 100gr Hornady and 1/2 a bushel with 100gr Partition and call it a day.

Scott,

Thanks for the correction, did not realize you had both the 250 sav and a 250AI. As you recommended ,I did try the 117 RN in my 250/3000 shooting itty bitty groups using H4831sc as you do.

Doc

Though I dont own/shoot a Roberts anymore, The ones Ive had really liked the Nosler 100 BT, it really knocked the snot out of the limited deer I used it on.

100 TSX was also very accurate but never killed anything with it. 100 Hornady wasnt bad either in the accuracy department.

It's what any normal 25 caliber slut would own...

I have 2 Ruger 257 Roberts in UL. One is a tanger and the other is an MK2. I have used the 115 Partition extensively. It flat out anchors deer when involving one of the shoulders. I have also used the 115 Nosler Ballistic Tip to a lesser extent. It gets the job done. I recently loaded some 100 grain Barnes TTSX, but have yet to put one into a deer. I don't know why I have even tried anything other than the Partition. I don't get great accuracy out of them in the pencil barrel UL's, but the accuracy is more than good enough for the ranges I hunt deer. My standard load of 4350 gives me 1 3/4" three shot groups.