Stop readin right now if you love this load and velocity .

Rifle is a pre-64 M70 257 Roberts with a 24" barrel. 3 shot group was just at an 1"

Three shot average was...2,740 fps.

Not a lot of speed there.


Perry

FWIW, velocity of that factory load was 2915 in my 24" pre 64 70.

How old are your rounds? Mine are the white box Super X from the 70's.

Perry

I will bet that if you shoot any South Texas deer with that load it will just die deader than a door nail with not a single complaint that the bullet was to slow

Everyones rifle is going to give a different velocity even with the same ammo, some will have high velocity some slow.
It's not uncommon.

quote:

Originally posted by perry:
Stop readin right now if you love this load and velocity .

Rifle is a pre-64 M70 257 Roberts with a 24" barrel. 3 shot group was just at an 1"

Three shot average was...2,740 fps.

Not a lot of speed there.


Perry

The best way to ruin a kill every thing and your best rifle and load is to Chrono it.

In my younger yrs it would have bothered me but I've seen and heard enough about this round to let experience guide the thought process.

Perry

Perry: Like many, for years I had to have the most velocity possible. Well, a couple years ago, my wife finally was interested in deer hunting. So I put some loads together for her little .257 Roberts. My goal was not the highest velocity, but the least recoil using 100 gr. bullets so as to make it comfortable for her to shoot. Well, as others have said, the deer don't seem to notice. I have no idea of the velocity out of her little 21" barrel, but I would bet its quite a bit less than yours. The deer don't seem to notice: its one shot and the venison is on the ground. Its called good shot placement.

I, too, drank the more-is-better Kool-aid for a long time.

A few years back, I ran into a situation where I had to use a low recoil rifle to avoid scope damage and that rifle would only shoot well with an anemic load, a (.243 wssm) 105 grain Speer @ 2575 fps. Much to my surprise, I discovered that wild hogs don't read gun magazines, and promptly fell over dead when shot. We live and we learn.

When my pet 338/06 loads, that shoot under 3/4" and kill everything deader than dead, weren't chrono'ing at what the book said they should be chrono'ing, I promptly shot my chronograph with said load for lying to me. Deceptive POS needed to be taught a lesson!!

I fired an old 270 Win 130 gr HP (yellow & red box from late 50s) in late 80s, so the cartridge was about 30 years old at the time. there was some problem with it- I forget what. I contacted Winchester about it and the woman came unglued, saying I had no business shooting such old ammo, that it was unsafe and that I should properly dispose of any that I still had. they considered that a warning and noted it as such in the event that I fired any more of them and anyone was injured.

2680 fps is what my old Ruger likes, I will look up the load when I return home. At the time I had the mentality that I should be moving this a couple of hundred feet faster but the grouping was under 3/4 of an inch & the deer were no wiser

Just to clarify , my above post was with hand loaded 100 grain silvertips

quote:

Originally posted by perry:
How old are your rounds? Mine are the white box Super X from the 70's.

Perry

bought in the 80s, IIRC that was before the brought the +P ammo.

2700 fps is the perfect speed for a cup and core bullet.
2850 is fine too.
so is 2600.
the speed allows the bullet to do it's job.

seems about right for the not-plus-P loads --- kills deer dead

Higher velocity doesn't kill deer any deader. Higher velocity just produces more bloodshot meat. Ranges are seldom long enough to need high velocity in South or Central Texas.

Not a lot of speed? who sez, its killed a million deer, plenty of elk, sometimes slowing a bullet down makes it perform properly and it kills better...Ive had great luck with the same bullet in my 250-3000s at about the same chronographed speed. Killed Mule deer, whitetail, galore and half a dozen elk in my misspent cowboy youth cuz I didn't know better?? well maybe but it worked every time. Used the 257 Robts on deer and antelope early on in a Rem 722, killed one elk and lots of deer back in the time...Still use both on deer, antelope and varmints.

I still have a dozen boxes of original 250 Savage factory ammo loaded with the 100 gr. Silvertip. mid or early 1950s ammo,and 9 boxes of Rem Corelokt 100 gr. factory, about the same years, they work fine at 2669 FPS average.

I can get 2800 to 2900 FPS with handloads in both calibers with 100 gr. bullets, but can't tell any difference in the results on game..

The 250s were THE GUN in So. Texas in my day for Mule deer and whitetail and in the Savavge 99..well almost as well liked as the Win 94 in 30-30..Everone had at least one of those, self included. Kids first deer rifle in cowboy families was a 25-35..still got mine.

I think your in good shape if you give them a try..no recoil, shoot flat and kill very well indeed.

Why the glorifying in being so slow in these modern times? Mine is going 3100 fps with a 100 grain bullet.
Even if they are cup and core bullets, these are still the same ones they shoot out of a .25/06 or a .257 Weatherby.

Velocity may not kill any deader, but it will kill them right now, and where they are, which I prefer.
If you shoot a deer with a 117 grain Hornady round nose with one of those anemic minimum book loads, I can guarantee the result will be just like you shot it with an FMJ. Ive seen it.

Speed is not king, but its necessary. These are my thoughts on this matter.

quote:

If you shoot a deer with a 117 grain Hornady round nose with one of those anemic minimum book loads, I can guarantee the result will be just like you shot it with an FMJ. Ive seen it.

That hasn't been my experience. That bullet has worked
like a charm, even at 25/35 velocities.

quote:

Originally posted by Carlsen Highway:

If you shoot a deer with a 117 grain Hornady round nose with one of those anemic minimum book loads, I can guarantee the result will be just like you shot it with an FMJ. Ive seen it.

Speed is not king, but its necessary. These are my thoughts on this matter.

I would have to disagree with that statement.

Perry

Don't get me wrong, I have killed several deer this year with a .44/40 and pure lead.

But a moderate .257 Roberts by the book is a greatly diminished creature.
I have never seen so little damage in a deer using a 'high powered' rifle than from a low powered .257 Roberts and a 117 grain round nose Hornady bullet. Literally like an FMJ.

I reckon load that sucker up till it at least can do what a .243 does.

folks act like 2700fps is slow. truth be told, thats about what a factory load for a .243 was getting. (this was before every kid on the block got a chrony and found out the factory listed velocities was BS.
Wonder how many deer have been killed with a 30-30 at 2000fps?

Well, yeah I feel 2700 is slow.
my .243 with 95 - 100g bullets will go just over 3000 fps. That's just normal isn't it?

Are you guys recommending I load my .257 Roberts slower?

History ?
the 257 was built into many earlier than 98 actions, and the engineer wisdom says to limit to pretty mild pressures - and if the loads aren't +p, you aren't going to get top loads out of it.

i THINK the +p is loaded around 55k psi

100gr pills from a 257 will have great results at roughly 2750 ----


on the hornady 117 RN -- i've had different results from almost all RN hornady -- in that they are soft and over expand - but, hey, i have also seen them have weird results too

Carlson highway~ I have taken many different brands of 100 grain rounds in different shapes up to 3000 fps. It's just that this particular round nose (Winchester silver tip) does very well at slightly under 2700 fps in my rifle. Shots are usually under 200 yards.

I have had great results with the 100 gr. bullets in Horn. silvertip, GS Customs, Speer and Corelokts in the 25 calibers.

Ive had great results with the 117 gr. Hornady in my 25-35 and Ive shot lots of deer with that bullet as its been all one could get for quite some time. Ive had good penetration and expansion both the 25-35 at 2200 FPS and the 250-3000 at 2600 FPS, Its been a good bullet in the .257 and 25-06 that's a good velocity spread and its worked well for me on deer and a few elk..Im surprised at some of the posts about failures with this bullet.

Many years ago I had a .257 Roberts from Herters on a short German-made Mauser action with a 23.5" barrel. I also had an original Oehler Model 10 chronograph. Knowing the reputation of the Roberts factory rounds as "underloaded" I was very surprised to find that the 117 grain Silvertips crossed the screens at 2925 FPS. There can be lots of difference in the velocity yielded by different barrels and different loads.

I have a red box of "Super Speed" ST's from the 1950's. Ran them over the chrono this morning and got a whoppin 2,604 average. BUT...they do kill

Perry

quote:

Originally posted by Stonecreek:
Many years ago I had a .257 Roberts from Herters on a short German-made Mauser action with a 23.5" barrel. I also had an original Oehler Model 10 chronograph. Knowing the reputation of the Roberts factory rounds as "underloaded" I was very surprised to find that the 117 grain Silvertips crossed the screens at 2925 FPS. There can be lots of difference in the velocity yielded by different barrels and different loads.

Winchester loaded 117gr Silvertips for the 257?? Do you recall how long ago that was? The only ones I recall seeing were 117gr RN Power Points and 100gr Silvertips.

quote:

Originally posted by olarmy:

quote:

Originally posted by Stonecreek:
Many years ago I had a .257 Roberts from Herters on a short German-made Mauser action with a 23.5" barrel. I also had an original Oehler Model 10 chronograph. Knowing the reputation of the Roberts factory rounds as "underloaded" I was very surprised to find that the 117 grain Silvertips crossed the screens at 2925 FPS. There can be lots of difference in the velocity yielded by different barrels and different loads.

Winchester loaded 117gr Silvertips for the 257?? Do you recall how long ago that was? The only ones I recall seeing were 117gr RN Power Points and 100gr Silvertips.

They were relatively recent loading, last 20 yrs for sure. Silver box. +p I believe.

Perry

quote:

Originally posted by olarmy:
Winchester loaded 117gr Silvertips for the 257?? Do you recall how long ago that was? The only ones I recall seeing were 117gr RN Power Points and 100gr Silvertips.

The best I recall they were Silvertips. I know that they were spitzers and they were 117 grains from WW. This was (uhhh, cough, cough) about 45 years ago. My college roommate and I pooled our money and bought an Oehler Model 10 directly from Ken Oehler at his home/workshop, which was then in Pflugerville, Texas. We each had a .257 which was a Herter's barreled action ($45), which we fitted in a Herter's "semi-finished" stock. The stocks more resembled a fence post than a stock and were a bitch to whittle down into a gun handle. But the rifles were accurate, and my friend still has his nearly a half-century later.

you guys are stressing me out..I been shooting the 250 and 257 since the 1950 and I don't recall that 117 gr. Silvertips?? Not questioning it, just don't remember such..All I ever shot were the 100 gr. Silvertips WW, and the 117g. Rem. Corelokts, both great bullets and I still have a lot of loaded factory ammo of that old stuff..Both worked well on elk and deer back then, that's all we used, just didn't know better!

Im leaving for Texas tomarrow to hunt on family ranches..I will get two bucks and three does on my non resident tag, but I will also cull about 20 or more does and the meat goes to an orphans home..10 neighboring ranches fromed an organization that kills off their excess does and the local butchers cut the meat up free of charge, and its all donated to a worthy cause..

This is in Mills county and they have tons of deer...I will be using my 25-35 with the now available 117 gr. Hornady RN. at 2200 FPS and the 97 gr. GS Customs HP at 2550 FPS. and my 250 Sav TD with the 100 gr. Rem SP factor round..

Good luck and report back!

Got back today. Had a good hunt, Allowed 2 bucks and 3 does on a non resident license, and the ranch has a 167 doe kill allowed by the state of Texas..We culled about half that..Don't like culling does, but its necessary and no meat goes to waste, its donated to good causes..

I use my 25-35 Win with both GS Customs 97 gr. HPs and 117 gr. Hornadys..My 250 Savage with 100 gr. rem factory ammo and 100 gr. WW silvertips..All worked to perfection. The Rem and WW Silvertips,showed lots of blood shot sholder, but the deer are very small and a good shoulder gave up 2 lbs. of meat, backstraps weighed 4 to 5 lbs..Beautiful deer however...To some who judge these hill country deer to Northern whitetail or mule deer, they are showing ignorance...Deer and all species should be compared to each other of the species. The Hill country deer and the coues are beautiful deer in their own right.

The big surprise came with the 30-06 and 200 gr. Accubond elk loads. They killed like a lightening strike, and didn't ruin much meat.Exit holes were small..just a great small whitetail load..lots of internal damage..goes against all that's holy..

It was a great trip