I have a short 257 roberts the barrel is 17.5 inches long.The powders i have tried are H-414 and Imr 4831.Can't seem to find any load that will group less than 5 or 6 in. Any ideas?Good Luck

recrown, bedding, check scope mounts,
6 moa is huge, and points to mechanical failure, not loads

what is it built on?

who's barrel?

what stock

what weight bullets?

if you can fix it, h335 works very well with short barrels .. if you have wicked muzzle flash, h335 burns better with a good pressure, and makes a huge ball on a soft load

Thanks Jeff.It is built on a 98 Mauser,don't know who made the barrel.I have been trying 100gr, 85gr and 75gr.I will try some of that powder.Good Luck

what does the gap between the mag and the bottom metal look like? It could be that you have a loose in the stock action ..

that is... okay, do this... remove the rear screw, and see if its loose or rattlely ... and then try again with the front screw out ..

with mausers on uncertain lineage, this mis-fitting could happen.

Glad to hear it's doing it with the lighter bullets, that rules out twist being the driving force.

if its loose, either screw, bedding can probably fix it.

If not, take a business card, folded in half, and find a spot to SQUISH that business card about 1/4 of the way back from the front tip of the stock .. if you soak it in trany fluid first, you might get a better fit.

this aint bedding, but it will let you now if bedding might help!

Try some H-380, it works well in my 257 IMP. it's not the fastest powder but is very accurate, with my 87grn, and 120grn bullets.

My Roberts is a converted Stevens 200. With the set-back to re-chamber I have a barrel about 20.5". I have had great luck with Varget and Partitions and Sierra 100gr SBT.
GOOD LUCK and GOOD SHOOTING!!!

I have a 20" Mannlicher 1950.The next range session it will get the chony put to it and I'll report back....but,lik'n it so far!!

quote:

Originally posted by jeffeosso:
recrown, bedding, check scope mounts,
6 moa is huge, and points to mechanical failure, not loads

what is it built on?

bedding!

Thanks All.When I get time today i will try a few of these ideas.Good Luck

plainsman,
H414 is moderately slow and 4831 is very slow for the Bob. For a short barrel I would go with a faster powder like IMR4064 or Varget. IMR4064 is my go to powder in a Ruger M77 MkII Ultralight with a 20" bbl.

I would agree with the others that 6moa is probably a fault in the rifle.

By any chance did you buy that rifle from Kaboom????

He had a .257 Roberts and he couldn't recover any of the four deer that he shot at with the deer being 125 yards away.

Hopefully this is not the case. (Watch for flare)

On a serious note you might want to try some bullets in different weights so as to get a selection of bullet length. It might just be that your shooter is in that slower twist range for shorter bullets to stabilize them. Last recourse would be to sell the dog.

Nope didn't but it from him.I checked the barrel channel and I think it is a ramline stock.Someone thought it would be good to fill it with foam then put some kind of epoxy on that to seal it.I relived it and it floats now.I went and loaded 5 cart of each of these powders:H-380,H-335,Imr-4064,Imr-3031 and Big game.I started at the low range for each.It seem that 3 of these show promise,These are Imr-4064,Imr-3031 and Big game.I felt like i was shooting my 41 mag when i shot the H-335 that had a lot of felt pressure on my face.Thanks to all and if anything else doeswell I will let you know.Good Luck

My wife has a Ruger 77 Ultra-lite with the 20 inch barrel, and we are using 117 grain Remington factory Core-Locts out of it and have had no problem on deer or hogs out to 200 yards.

Good Luck with your rifle, the Roberts is a great cartridge if worked with in its limitations.