Gentlemen -
It isn't my intent to strat 270 vs. 30-06 type argument, rather it is to decide which one will will make the best combination deer/varmint rig. Parented by the 7X57, bith share the same faults/virtues and use similar weight bullets.

For those who have owned and shot both, which do you prefer and why? What made you decide?
Thanx in advance.

it's all a matter of preference! i own 3 quarter-bores and have owned two 6mm and have loaded for and shot several more. all(257 & 6mm) have been excellent performers on deer and varmits. take YOUR pick!

The .25 bore is a little big for Eastern varminting where richocets are a concern and too small for deer hunting where all shots want to be taken. If one has only one gun then the .25 or 6mm would get by as long as one can compromise and pass up shots on varmints and deer.

Why pass up shots? Just own two guns. The 6mm's are outstanding long range varmint rounds and big game cartridges start with the 270 or 7X57 in my opinion.

To each his own.

If you must have only one gun (that's boring)...243 Win. or maybe a .223 if they are legal where you are for deer...either will do the job with the right bullet in the right place.

If not, .204 for varmints (they won't bounce off anything) and 6.5x55 or any number of other great rounds for deer.

I have several 257s, a couple of 6mms, and a couple of 243s. If you reload the 257 and 6mm will do their part if you can do your part. The 243 is much more common and field performance isn't different enough to matter. I'd say that you should pick the rifle, then pick the cartridge. I've got a couple of spare 257s that need a new home.

Jeff

While both are designed for dual porpose use, deer and varmints, the 6mm caliber is fine for deer as long as the deer aren't to big/the shots aren't to long. The .257 will take the largest Mule deer walking with ease as long as the shots aren't over 300 yards. If you want the best dual purpose cartridge then get a .25-06. Load it down using light weight bullets(75 gr.) and it's a great long range, small varmint caliber. Load it with a good preimum bullet in 110 - 120 gr. and it's hard to beat for critters up to 500 pounds(5 Tule Elk bulls can attest to this) out to 300 yards. Quarter Bores are the way to go. Lawdog

I'ld throw in here w/ Lawdog, 6mm are great carmint rounds but limit your shots on deer size game. For me, big game rounds start @ the 1/4 bore & go up.

Hello Guys - Great discussion.

I'm currently wrestling with this very problem in choosing a new tube for a Ruger #3 based rifle I'm gathering parts for.

I'm pretty recoil adverse, and if I go hunting with my 7x57, it takes some time and practise with the .22RF before I start getting top scores again even with something like a .222 . I don't have any trouble getting game with the 7x57, or punching paper usually but it does affect me.

Our red deer here are usually 250 lb plus animals and heaps of them get taken with the .243. Tahr on the other hand are not as big, but seem to take a lot more killing, shots can be long, and often unless you "nail" them, they drop of a ledge etc and are either lost or ruin their horns. Lots of folks like at least a 270/7mm for Tahr.

Heym make a relatively inexpensive 243 tube for the Ruger (hammer rifled, they are not tooled for any .25 calibres) or I can get a barrel from more conventional sources and have any .257 round I like. I was originally thinking .257 Roberts but my gunsmith snorts at this and reckons its silly to chamber a single-shot in a shortish round, and why not go to 25-06.

Any ideas on wether I would notice (either conciously or otherwise) the difference in recoil between a .243, 257 or 25-06

Cheers - Foster

Thanx Lawdog. That's kind of what I wanted to hear. I own both calibres and in fact have two 257s, but haven't had the time to "shoot" test all to verify which bullets each rifle prefers.

I've owned other 257s in the past, and the 117 grain Sierra is wicked on deer, however I never really used it for varminting other then on opportunity coyotes.
I've shot other 6m/ms and it's top notch varminter for sure, but have not used one for deer.
In a nut shell, I guess I just wanted to hear from those who had "been there, done that."
Thanx again, Buckshot

Since the 6mm and 257 Roberts share the same parent case and have similar case capacity, there just isn't any way to achieve a significant difference in performance when loading the same quality/weight bullet to the same pressure. Yes, you can shoot heavier bullets in a 257 Roberts, but I don't think that 20 grains of bullet weight (1/2 the weight of a typical 22 LR bullet) is going make a huge difference in downrange performance. Neither is really suitable for Texas heart shots, but both will do the job if you do your job, since the "trick" to cleanly kill a deer is to hit it in the vitals with proper projectile, even 1 that is 0.014" smaller in diameter.

Jeff

The .257 is in every way superior to the 6mm for hunting if you need to straddle the dual use fence. I would give the 6mm a nod for very long range shooting, but only because higher quality bullets are available, but that is the only reason. Having stoked the fire with all of that I will say that either will suffice for the most part, my use of the word superior utilizes a small case 's', the edge is small.

Then step up just a bit to a .260 or 6.5x55. Excellant selection of match & hunting bullets. The 85gr Sierra @ 3300-3400fps is pretty final on any varmint including yotes. If you want to go after deer size game, even better than the 1/4 bores. For Tentman, this one is very close to a .270 for Tahr & such, stil giving you a decently light bullet for NZ possums & rabbit eradication.

I have a 257 Roberts (24" Douglas on a mexican mauser) and a .25-06 (24" Shilen on a Brazilian Mauser) and a 100 or 120 grs will kill deer at 300 yards (my usual personal limit most days) just as dead as the .243 with a 85 gr HPBT or the 95 gr Nos Partition, but NOT deader!!

I do like the .25-06 better for long shots sometimes only becasue it is probably 3 lbs heavier than my .243 and neither of them recoil very much. The 257 Rob is a wonderful lite recoiling gun, but mine is not as accurate as I would like (1 1/2 - 2") so it is not my first choice, but still a great cartridge. If we were going to include elk, I would probably swing to the .25-06, but for deer of any size the 6mm will work just fine for me knowing that a gut shot deer is still a shame and I'd never shoot a Texan in his heart!!

Gidday Tentman,

I'm with Fredj38 all the way on this. Go with the 260 as it drops anything we have here including tahr with ease. It outperforms the 270 over longer ranges firing bullets with a high sectional density for penetration on tahr.

Bangflops with tahr are a result of bullet placement and breaking the shoulders or the central nervous system. Your 25-06 will work but may on occasion struggle with the shoulder thing. A mate who is a guide uses one but finds that it doesn't always drop them as cleanly as he would like. He is now having Harvey Westland make up a 338 Lapua specificlly for long range tahr.

No red ever made is too big for the 260. Recoil is a real breaze. I'm going to have another made up on a Sako to complement the model seven I have as a bush rifle.

It will be great with light bullets for those bunnies and hares in central too.

Happy Hunting

Hamish

fredj-
Good advice. I never liked the 6.5s, not until I bought a 6.5X55. I now have three of them, a model 96, a 38, and a carbine. All are in their original military configuration, so I don't really use them to hunt. I am much impressed by that Swedish round, strange tho, I just don't think of it as a varmint round.

Here is something I found on Midway's site as FYI:



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Nosler Partition Bullets 243 Caliber and 6mm (243 Diameter) 100 Grain Spitzer Box of 50

Dale Benson of Anchorage , AK
Rating:
Date Posted: 3/7/2003

Review:
I have been using Nosler 100gr partitions for Yukon moose from my custom 6mm/284 win. I us 57 grains of 7828 with 3425 fps. I have had one shot kills at 100 yards with two 1800 pound moose. Average pentration on moose is 38 inches through spine and other bones and all bullet have passed through to leave a 2" hole. One 9 foot brown bear fell dead to this same load, ome shot kill also. Same load was used for 13 Oregon coastal Elk with one shot kills to 300 yards. Out standing bullet on any game. Dale Benson Alaskan guide.

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Larry Corson of Jefferson City, MT
Rating:
Date Posted: 5/18/2004

Review:
Very accurate and extremely functional bullet. Sub 1.0 inch groups are common. Shot a medium sized Montana Black Bear in the rump going away. The bullet penetrated all the way through the bear and lodged just under the skin on a front quarter. The bullet was a classic perfect Nosler Partition Bullet. The bear was running and only went as far as his momentum carried him.

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35 found it helpful | 1 did not



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Note: The views expressed above are those of each review author. They do not necessarily reflect the position of MidwayUSA.

Lowrider I can probably fins some eskimo that has shot everything from seals to elk & polar bear w/ a .223 but I would not say it is the best tool for the job. I'll stick w/ my original statement that big game rounds start w/ the .250savage & go up. If you can handle the recoil of a .243 you can shoot a .260. Smaller bores just limit your shots to full broadside, under 200yds. I'm not willing to wait if I can get any decent shot & no, I've never taken a THS, but I have taken several frontal shots & they can be very tough on light weight, high vel. bullets. Still, 6mm are great varmint rounds.

I have both the .243Win. and the 6mm Rem and like both. Both make good dual purpose varmint and deer rounds. In spite of handling a slightly heavier bullet the .257Roberts doesn't really offer anything the other two don't. While these two, the .243Win. and the 6mm Rem. helped spell the practical end of the .257Roberts, the revival of the .25-06 didn't help the Roberts a bit. If I ask myself if I have any need for a Roberts today the answer is a simple no I don't. I might want one, but I don't really need one. Best wishes.

Cal - Montreal

Well Cal, none of this is about needs, it's about wants. Or so they say...

Guys,

I think we may be off subject a little. The 7x57 spawned both the 6mm/.244 Rem and the .257 Roberts and they are both fine rounds. My personal opinion is that a good quality 120 gr .257 bullet and a 100 gr .6mm bullet at the same velocities will pretty much do the same thing to a given animal when hit in the same spot...I'm saying nothing more than that.

The .223 with the right bullet in the right hands is a fine gun for many applications. I have 5 of them and they always do what I ask, but I never ask them to do more than they can.

We all must set our own standards on what we believe is "enough gun" for whatever we are hunting and then be able to cleanly kill our quary everytime we shoot. Fortunately, until the liberals, bunny huggers or worse take over, we will have the right to make that choice and prove that we are up to the task.

Hunt and shoot SAFE!!!

I like my 257 WBY need I say more?

This is a hard call because the difference is so slight. Had the .257 been designed to function in rifles that would handle a 140 gr. bullet it would be a contrast rather than a comparison between the two putting the .257 in a different catagory. roger

Roger,

Good point........

Unless you compare it to an equally heavy for caliber 120 gr .243. Barnes used to make a 117gr round nose 6mm bullet that was barely stablized in a 1 in 10" barrel, but it plowed thru meat just like the 160 gr round nose in a 6.5x55. they still list a 115gr RN. I have no reason to believe that the 140 grain .257 wouldn't be just as effective.

There also used to be a 195 gr .284 and a 250gr .308, but I think they have gone the way of the .257 Roberts...still very useful, but not very popular!!

The .257 or .264 bores will cap the 6mm every time. Only when you get to the .240 Weatherby or 6mm-06 Wildcats do you get really "ultimate" 6mm performance, imho, and those pricey rifles aren't you forgetting the reason you bought that 6mm in the first place?
When I discovered the 6.5s I went for them and have never turned back. (unless I just had to have something bigger) Now that I am older and suffering the arthritis pain in the neck I really appreciate the 6.5s, I love the .260 which seems to be a "do anything" cartridge on paper, although I do not like the preference that two of my .260s are showing for light weight bullets.
You might also remember the 7mm family too, starting with the 7x57 and ending in the 7x64 (a .270 clone with better bullet choices) I carried a 7x64mm as "spare rifle" for 10 years before actually using it in Africa where it did everything I asked of it. My 7x57mm M70 has accounted for several Hill Country Whitetails and the 7mm-08 has collected a couple of Axis, However my kings of the Hill are a 6.5x54 and a 6.5x55. Those long bullets just seem to do the job, and no super 95-105 grain 6mm bullets can beat the total performance of a 139-160 grain 6.5mm day in and day out.
LLS

I have a Bob that I've used on coyotes to collect pelts using 75gr Hornady HP's, and deer using Nosler BT's, Barnes X's, and Hornady Interlocks of 100gr and up. It is truely an overlooked gem!
It will shoot flat with varminting bullets, recoil is mild, and with the heavier bullets it drops deer like nobody's business.

I hve not used a 6mm so won't coment there.

To me the quarter bore is the caliber to consider for a dual purpose rifle. Smaller bullets don't do as well on deer, and the bigger bullets are way to much on pelt's. Nate