Looking to gather some info about the .257 Bob. Hunting experiences, animals taken, +P loads, etc. From what I've been reading, the original velocities of the caliber are low compared to what the guns these days can handle.

The reason I ask about this caliber is there is a .257 Roberts in an m77 Tang Safety that has been in a store on my mind for a few weeks. The people at one of the stores I frequent told me that I'd be better off with a .243 if I was going to get the 257 Roberts.

Also there is always the Wilson barrel vs Ruger barrel vs Douglas vs 1/2" accuracy vs 4" accuracy talk. You don't get to try the gun out before buying so it's a gamble.

If anything, this will kick up a good discussion for me to check on while deer hunting over the next 5 days.

Ok, I have intimate familiarity with that same rifle; I got one 30 years ago just like it.
The guy at the shop is dead wrong; no 243 can do what a 257 can, ever. He said that because he doesn't know what a 257 is. Mine does have the old barrel, but still shoots 1.25 moa with anything. And it has a super long throat, so I seat bullets out so that only .1 inch of bullet is in the case; and I use 25-06 load data and get velocities you wouldn't believe, safely. Many Rugers of the period had long throats. And Rugers are on long actions, which is what the 257 should have been from the start; Remington killed it's own baby by making short ammo and rifles, and low pressure ammo; there was no reason for any of that. No weak rifles were ever factory built for it.
Later, I put it into a boat paddle stock; yes a tang safety model. I just think they are cool.
All I shot with it was deer and wild hogs, but you can use a 120 grain bullet that will be better than any 6mm bullet.
Anyway, buy it. The barrel will probably be ok. Most are; 20% are crap.
And you can always rebarrel it.
Everything is a gamble but this one is worth one.

Owned a couple, killed one antelope with it bang flop.

Doesn't kick, good bullets available.

I am looking for one as well.

One of my favorite smaller calibers. Only ever shot deer and antelope with it but it’s always done great. I shoot 110 grain Accubonds out of mine and so does my dad. One of the antelope we shot was a frontal shot. Entered into the front of the chest, traveled the whole way through her and we recovered the bullet just under the skin behind the hind quarter. Everything else has always been a pass through and usually the gun went bang and they went flop. Only a couple have ran a short distance. Like DPCD said, the guy that told you you’d be better off with the 243 doesn’t know what he’s talking about.

I also own the rifle you described, purchased in 1979 and is the only rifle that I will not get rid of. As Dcp stated, the throat is very generous and bullets can be seated father out than you would imagine. If accuracy is paramount, I’ve found 100 grain Sierras loaded around 2700 FPS to be the most accurate. For factory loads, the old Winchester 100 grain Silvertips could not be beat. Grab that rifle & don’t look back.

I will say that the difference between a 6mm anything and a 257 Roberts is minimal.

The 25-06 and 257 Weatherby are in another lane of power, and the bang flop with those is much more apparent.

Big fan of the Roberts and the AI. Currently have a Roberts for daughter's deer rifle, and an AI for mine. Load the 100 gr Nosler ballistic tips in daughter's standard Roberts. I load the 115 gr Nosler ballistic tip in my AI. I've found that for me, IMR 4064 and IMR 4350 have given exceptional accuracy in my guns.

If I was building a varmint rifle, I'd probably go with a 243 (I have one). But for deer or antelope, it would be the Roberts or AI hands down over the 243. It's just better in every way on medium game.

25 caliber varmint bullet selection is piss poor compared to 243 caliber varmint bullet selection. That would be the main reason I'd look to the 243 for varmints. But for deer, the Roberts wins hands down, not even a contest.

bugle,

The 257 Roberts with the 120 Nosler Partition is a slick low recoil and deadly cartridge. I shot several antelope with mine including one with a Texas heart shot that was a bang flop. Biggest animal I took with mine was a caribou that I shot 3 times as it didn't realize the first bullet through its heart has killed it.

Mark

they're boring.
you shoot stuff and it dies.
it doesn't need plus p'd or more zoomed up, it works just fine all mundane like.

then again I've only tested it on stuff up to around 275 lbs. so what do I know.

Remington M7MS in .257 Bob here. It’s killed a dozen deer, half a dozen hogs. I load a 117 gr. SGK over 43.0gr. Of H4350 for 2800fps.

Lovely, lovely cartridge. Low recoil, easy to load, friendly round.

It a rifle that I intend to be the last hunting rifle with me when I finally hang it up.

Two notes; the 257 is not for varmints. it is a big game cartridge. That notion was a big flaw from the start.
You can easily get 25-06 velocities out of Rugers with the long throat because you gain a lot of powder space. .

Ive owned and hunted with the 257 Robts with both handloads and factory ammo, mostly in my younger days and it was always a favorite along with the 250-3000..I hunt deer and elk with both and used within its range of about 250 yards on elk it worked...same for the 250 Savage, and use a good partition or monolithic bullet..I always liked the 120 gr.Nosler partition on elk and I would compare it to a .270 as far as I could tell..If I intended to trophy hunt big bulls only then Id opt for a 300 or .338, at least a 30-06..I speak only for myself..I also preferred the WW power point and the rem corelokt in the 250 and 257 as well as the 120 gr partitions, maybe better as the partitions penetrate great but do not do the internal damage of the ww and Rem..bullet. Rates in the top 10 deer rifles..

I prefer the 250-3000 by a landslide...

Great rifle; excellent cartridge. According to my notes, the one I had shot ~MOA with handloads using the 75 gr Sierra HP and 90 Winchester PEP-HP. Its preferred loads with 100 gr bullets and the 120 gr Hornady HP were acceptable, averaging ~1.5 MOA for 5-shot groups. It did not like boattails though.

WARNING: not all tang safety Rugers are long throated. This particular one, made in the late '80s, wasn't. I found this out when I got a deal on several boxes of W-W SUPER factory ammo loaded with the old 117 gr RNSP. This ammo typically put 3 shots in one "group" and the other two in another "group" an inch or so to the left or right. A bit of measuring indicated that about half of the rounds were seating into the lands. A trip to the 'smith for a lengthened throat corrected that issue.

Cheers, Al

My experience with the older Ruger 77s in .257 Roberts is the same as dpcd, long throat and about 1 to 1.5 moa accuracy. I have given Roberts' to my son and daughter and they have killed deer and antelope with them using 100-grain and 120-grain partitions. As another member said, no drama, the animals just die. Based on my limited observation, they kill game noticeably quicker than the .243 or 6mm Creedmore. I have a 1903 Springfield action that is scheduled to become a .257 Roberts as soon as I get a barrel.

I bought my Ruger RS round top in 1972. Mine prefers 100 grain over 115/120's. For groundhogs, the 75 grain Vmax is one hole accurate at 100, and makes pink smoke to 300 yards. The only problem I've had with it was with a box of the old lathe turned Nolser partitions that did not expand. With broadside shots with standard cup and core bullets, impressive. When we used to do the big drives in PA woods, where texas heart shots at distances measured in feet were the norm, not the right cartridge, but neither were the 243/6mm's. I don't know if there is much real difference between the 257 and 243. Ammo is easier to find for the 243. I like both for stand hunting when you can pick your shot. For still hunting where shots are often at less than perfect angles, I prefer more bullet weight and diameter.
Bfly

Huge difference in 257 and 243.
The 120 grain bullet. And other benefits.
And you definitely have to hand load to get the most from one.
It is a rule that all AR members have to hand load. I think I saw that somewhere.

Be aware that there were a few .257 Roberts Ruger 77's made on the short action. As I recall, it was a limited edition produced prior to offering the Roberts as a regular chambering.

Many people had very poor luck with the early Model 77 barrels, which came from a contractor. Also, there were two very different contours in the early M77 sporter barrels, one of them being oppressively heavy near the action.

As to the cartridge itself, it is well-balanced and usually easy to create good-performing loads with. There is NO difference between +P brass and "regular" brass, so disregard that marking. It is unclear just why Remington set its SAAMI pressure specs lower than other cartridges on the same basic case. Load it to the same pressures as you would a .243 or .308 and you'll be fine.

The one I owned years ago was built on a German-made short Mauser (magazine length about 2.9"). It worked splendidly with 117 Nosler semi-spitzers for game, as well as Sierra 90 grain hollow points for coyotes -- both loads propelled by a stiff charge of original surplus 4831.

Thank you everyone for the responses!

Tomorrow i'll hunt the morning (cold front finally here), then i'll go have the store put it aside for me.

I too have an older tang safety Ruger in 257. Mine does not like Horn bullets, but with sierras shoots very well. I think the long throat just likes the sierra profile better then the long ogive of the Horn.

If it is made on a short action I would not buy it. I never saw one though in 257. Bad idea.
Ruger bought barrels from Wilson until 1990 when they started hammer forging their own.
Of ten, 6 would shoot ok, two would shoot sub moa and two would not shoot into 4 inches. Wilson was at the bottom of the quality barrel, so to speak.

I had one of the early M77 257 Bobs that could only deliver 2MOA 3 shoot groups. Tried every bullet I could find, and sold it when I decided it was hopeless. With thousands of 25 caliber bullets on hand, I had to find another quarter bore. I stumblled onto a M70FW 257 that shoots 100 gr. Hornady SP with sub-MOA 5 shot accuracy using H4350. Then I built a 25-06 that shoots even better and faster, and that has become my go do deer rifle.

I secured the rifle. According to the serial number it is a 1979 or early 1980. It has an old weaver fixed power scope on it and the blue-ing on the gun is 100%....which I haven't seen on a tang safety before. Must not have been shot much.

I can't wait to try it out.

I have a Ruger 77 tang in 257rob.

It is a 1.25" rifle plenty for deer out to 400 yards with 100 gr bullets

I really need to try some 117s or 120s in it.

I have a pre64 m70 that is re-barreled with a 1:9 twist. I shoot the 115gr TSX at 2,930 fps at .430" groups. I have killed 2 elk with that rifle and load. Deer hunting both times and happened upon elk, all shots where heart lung and clean pass throughs, neither elk went more than 50 yards.

Perry

I always liked the 100 gr. Silvertips in both my 250 Savage and 257 Robts, they killed well indeed.

Later I handloaded and used mostly the 100 and 117 gr.Core lokts, again both in factory and handloaded. Come to think of it the 117 gr. Rn I used was Peters, same ammo as Remington..

Congrats on the cool find.

I built my first rifle in 257 Rob and have really enjoyed it. I never will be highly popular but that also is part of its charm. Try Federal's 120gn partition loads if you want factory ammo. The 110 Accubond would be an excellent bullet if you handload. Somebody has a factory load for it but I forget who. Nosler perhaps.

The long throat and matching magazine is truly a must on any X57 case, all my 257s and 7x57 have been such and in every case the long throat jump that light bullets have to make has never effected the accuracy in any of my long throated guns,not one..I believe it to be a gunworld fable based on an incident by some gun scribe..

My high school friend's grandfather gave him a 257 Roberts for his first Big Game rifle. He used it to take a nice buck that first year. I was pretty impressed with it since I was shooting a 243 Win at the time.

Wouldn't say low velocity, you can if you wish start at 43gr of Hodgdon Hybrid 100V under 100gr TTSX's and a chronograph, I was able to reach a safe and accurate 3250 fps in a Kimber Montana, used RP brass and CCI-250 primers to get it lit, had to install a 1 inch slip on rubber recoil pad and a set of medium height Talley LW rings to get the circus hobbit of a rifle out in front of me so I could get behind the scope and shoot the damn thing, never warmed to the rifle, it went down the road.

The load however was a stone cold buzzsaw of a killer on a couple of deer and one 200+ pound black Russian boar hog, was hunting deer one cloudy misting rain day, a ray of bright light from the dark sky illuminated a very heavy 8pt buck deer standing 208 yards away in a briar patch, I shot the buck through both shoulders, he didn't move, boom! over, complete penetration, I'm a conservative, narrow minded, cursing, cigar smoking, scotch drinking, dirty joke telling foul mouth asswipe most of the time, but have to say that hunt was damn near biblical ; ]

i got my first one about 30 years ago - My sons killed their first deer with that rifle.

it's great at "factory" loads, slightly "Better" at +p - as winchester used to give away a reloading book, and they clearly listed their +p loads, it was easy to load to.

it CAN go faster, i never saw a need for that .. i liked the low recoil .. and 100fps seems to be twice as loud .... then again, even with that other 100 fps, it's still limit recoil

here's some load data
http://www.hodgdonreloading.com/

btw, this caliber cured me of liking 3031 - 748 is MUCH cleaner

I owe a Winchester model 70 Featherweight. I hunted whitetail deer, and antelope never lost a animal i load a Nosler Ballistic bullet that shoots a .78 group at a hundred. retired the 06 and the 7/08. awesome rifle and caliper.

I shoot a Winchester Feather weight in 257Roberts. excellent cartridge. hunted whitetail an antelope with no problems use Nosler Ballistic 117 gr. does the trick. All one shot kills.

The ONLY reason I don't still own a 257 Robts is I have a couple of 250-3000, that are not as fast, but close enough, they are a savage 99 and a Ruger no. 1, as good a deer caliber as their is IMO..a tad light on elk and you best use 120 gr. premium bullet, and keep the range at under 200 yards, about what I did with my 257 Robts..back in the day I use corelokts and silvertips a good deal, great bullets for deer. I wouldn.t swear to it but over the years I have found something magic with 2800 FPS in all deer and elk rifles??

I can't wait to go shoot mine now! Thanks for all of the responses..

Found 1 box of ammo (finally) along with dies and 76pc of once fired brass. Was excited about that because the gentleman was leaving a gun store I was walking in to...and the gun store didn't want his items as trade material because "257 Roberts wouldn't sell"

I would have never imagined that the ammo crisis of 2020-2021 would have affected all of the calibers it did. I can see .22lr and all of the pistol calibers/.223/762x39/etc disappearing when this happens...but it is literally everything right now.

quote:

I'm a conservative, narrow minded, cursing, cigar smoking, scotch drinking, dirty joke telling foul mouth asswipe most of the time, but have to say that hunt was damn near biblical ; ]

Jerry, perfect self-assessment! :-)

"Back in the day" on the Rem 722 and Win.mod. 70 all one had to do was swap out the magazine and use the 30-06 length follower in the 257 Roberts caliber...I don't remember if we had to ream the throat, but don't think we did as they had long throats and short magazines from the factory..correct me if Im wrong on the long throats..been 60 years, and my long term is as bad as my short term these days..

I had used a built up Roberts using mainly 75gr. Hornady bullets varmint hunting. I had been left a Number One B in 257 Roberts bu a mentor. That rifle wss useless and a varmint rifle. Using 100gr. bullets it was a totally different story. To me these long throat Ruger's were not made as dual purpose guns. My experience with an old model 77 was very positive. Those were good guns without regard to who made the barrel.

Thank you for the comment Terry! I received a batch of bullets to try in the rifle, and even have a little bit of factory ammo to test in the gun. I'm hoping this rifle likes the 100-120gr bullet weights best, as I had no intentions on using a .25cal for a varmint rifle

I have shot many whitetails with this cartridge. 100 gr Sierras and Noslers. Several DRT's. Very deadly.

I had a .243 in a Savage & .257 Bob in a Ruger. I'm no expert on killing power & it was quite a few years ago now but both did me well on deer. I liked the Savage better.