Its hard to beat a Roberts.

ddj

Just an opinion and my wife has a 257 Robert's that we both use from time to time.

Unless a person is going to get into handloading/reloading, I think the 7mm-08, especially if you are going to be depending on Wally World or Academy or other such places for your shell purchases, is the way to go.

well said and absolutly true! as much a i like the roberts (#2 go-to right behind the 7x57) it takes the right action/handloads to make it as versitile as it can be.
at least the 7-08 is pretty well distributed. and if i didn't have a 7x57 or two, it would be my pick as for the answer to this riddle.

The .257 Roberts with varmint type shooting planned along with sheep/deer. The 7mm-08 if mostly sheep/deer and informal varmint on ocassion.

I have both a 7mm-08 and .257 Roberts. I like shooting the .257 better, but if you are going to do a lot of shooting of game larger than 400 lbs or so, the 7mm-08 might be a bit more gun on the bigger stuff. Just my opinion. Not that you can't take on the larger stuff with a .257, but I think the added bullet weight possible with the 7mm-08 gives it a bit of an advantage.

I'd go for the 257, with the available bullets today and the fact that you handload makes this a very versatile cartridge. The factory loaded non +p ammo gives the cartridge a bad rap. Today's guns and the +p ammo are no slouch in any dept. For those that would say split the difference and go with the 260, I say this, the 260 is realistically limited to 120 gr bullets, to seat the 130 gr + bullets your having to seat the bullet so deep into the case that you lose a significant amount of powder capacity and can easily drive pressures up quickly. I would not hesitate to use the Bob with a 100-120 gr standard construction bullet on deer size game, for larger game I would imagine the Barnes Triple Shocks would put quite a hurt on elk and such.

I'll vote 7x57.Just a tad more powder capacity than the 7-08 plus you'll have brass you can resize for the Roberts should you add one down the line.Bound to happen sooner or later .

I get 3140 from a 100 grain TSX from a 20 inch ruger. I get 2850 with a 120 grain partition with my custom springfield.
The long action short action thing is nutz.
My ruger is built on a long action. If I load to the lands , the load will fit in the magazine of a ruger .243.
I would guess you could squeeze 100 FPS more from a long throated Roberts with 120s, than from say a kimber.
If you want to use a long action get a 25,06. But you will need a 24 inch tube to gain much.
To me The beauty of the Roberts is that it is totaly effective on deer at a range beyond what the vast majority of hunters should be shooting them.
And this is true even in a 6lb rifle , with a 20 to 22 inch barrel.
Anyone who shoots beyond about 300 yards I hope you are one heck of a good shot.
400 is a long long shot.
...tj3006

If you want something different, get the Bob. If you want to get what is arguably the best deer cartridge and one of the most innately accurates cartridges going, get the 7-08.
It is kinda a win-win situation.

Both .257 Roberts & 7mm-08 are fine cartridges. However I would go with the 7mm-08 as with the way the ammo & reloading supplies situation being short, it might be hard to find .257 Roberts ammo or cases. With the 7mm-08 you can simply run a .308 case in a 7mm-08 sizing die and you can 7mm-08 amo, if needed.

Both. I have a 7mm08, and like every other person I've met who owns one, I love it. It is extremely potent medicine on whitetails, without being so stout as to ruin a bunch of meat. I'd also like to have a 257 bob and a 25-06 in the not so distant future. Nothing says you can't have different rifles with similar ballistics.