25 years ago I was in love with the .257Wby. Actually all of the Weatherby cartridges. I was a bit of a speed freak and the 257 was my pinnacle. It outraced the wind and gravity out to 400 yards with a 100 grain bullet and killed deer like magic. Anyone I told about it looked at me cross-eyed, some saying there was no such thing. A few years back more rifles started to show up from big green and others and they sold well and shot well from the small sample I have owned. Lately again it seems to have been forgotten as it has become common knowledge you can't kill game or hit a piece of paper past 100 yards without a 6.5 or a 300 grain .338 bullet. is it cost? Ammo availability? Recoil or noise? Maybe it is just the fact that .257 is the ultimate tweener between varmints and elk. Even for me, while my current Mark V ULW is wickedly accurate I find myself reaching for the .243, .260, or 300 Roy almost all of the time. For a country so interested at hunting deer type stuff at distance how does the best in class get no mention?

Hi Quintus,

I'll take a stab at this one as long as you'll permit me to state my biases before I state my opinion. I don't like Roy Weatherby's philosophy (above all else, speed kills) and I really don't like his rifles (push feed) or his stocks (tilted forward to try to accomodate recoil with inverted drops at comb)

My major beef is that I have counter philosophies to Roy: 1.) "Hang time in the animal with controlled expansion kills. 2.) Heavy for caliber bullets beat the wind, have better BCs, and perform better. 3.) Accuracy trumps long range ballistics. 4.) And this one is the biggest: several studies over history have decided that the maximum recoil for reasonable shooting control is quite low. In 1909, the British Textbook of Small Arms stated that 15 ft. lbs. of free recoil energy was the maximum allowable for a military service rifle.


So in light of all of that, you can imagine my bias in general is against old Roy at nearly every turn of the page. Oddly enough, the 257 weatherby cartridge in a mauser / win 70 action might be a darn good exception to my biases against all things Weatherby. It doees indeed fall in that 15lbs of felt recoil in a typical, big optic, "hunting antelope out west" 9lb gun. It's remarkably straight shooting, and a 115gr to 120gr bullet at those distances still gives a nice flat shot, plenty of lethal energy at distance, and might be about as nice of a plains caliber as one could ask for. It also would be a wonderful coyote cartridge for managing one's property against varmints and predators.

I guess your questions and my impressions kind of gel together to present the nexus of the debate about the 257W though, don't they? It is, not unlike the milder midwestern do all 257 roberts "an in betweener". It does not attract the interests of the die-hard heavy recoil weatherby guys because its rather a gentlemanly small bore rifle that doesn't really exude the "Tim the toolman Taylor more power" opinions and grunts that say a 340W or a 378W or god forbid, a 460W would attract.

Another issue with the 257W is the question of "but what does it really buy me?". If you believe in the idea of maximum point blank range (no holdovers) of say 1.5" above or below the point of aim, a .257 Wby. Mag. shooting a 120gr Sp at 3305fps is +2.4" high at 100 yards, +2.5" high at 200 yards, and drops to 1.5" low at 317 yards. The mildest recoiling "gentlemanly" alternative, the storied 257 Roberts with its much softer 9 foot pounds of recoil gets you a maximum point blank range of -1.5" low at 271 yards with the same 120gr bullet. So you're asking me to endure nearly double the recoil to be able to "aim and shoot straight" for the additional 46 yards of maximum point blank range. That's double the pain on recoil in order to go from 271 yards effective shooting range to 317 yards of effective range. It's a rare scenario where I absolutely will need to kill an animal at 317 yards because I can only get to 271 yards.

You've got a marvelous cartridge for the American West shooter in the 257W that has a lot to like, but its still a small audience. The same audience in large part as the 25-06, its ackley, the .260 Rem, the 6.5x55, the 6.5x284, and the 257 roberts all play in. Then you've got the passionate love or hate for Weatherby rifles to contend with where you must admit, no one is lukewarm about the aesthetics of a Weatherby manufactured gun...you either love them or loathe them.

Personally, its the most interesting of the weatherby cartridges by my standards and the one I would most consider if I found a beautiful custom made mauser in that caliber.

Thanks for hearing my strong opinion on the matter and taking it with the understanding that I stated my biases before I gave you my reply.

In the early 60's my dad bought a Mark V 257 Wby. It was the German one with a 1-12" twist and a 24" very thin barrel. He would hunt on his friend's ranch in eastern Montana, but only took it one time because the one deer he shot had the "chucks" bloodshot. He gave it to my brother who was in stickershock from the price of ammunition, so he sold it to me. Wanting to shoot heavier, longer bullets and also to get a longer stiffer barrel I had CP Donnelly rebarrel it. 28" heavy taper with minimum chamber dimensions and minimum freebore. The leade is such that I can load bullets well out in the case but there is little blowby. In addition, since at the time Winchester brass was very uniform with regard to indications of pressure, I used it whenever possible. So I would get 264 Win Mag brass, neck down to 257 and fireform it. the result of the minimum internal measurements is that if factory ammo is fired in it, pressures are way over max. So it is strictly a handloading situation. However, there are benefits. basically with what manuals show as starting loads of H870 and 120 gr bullets I get pressures approaching maximum and velocities that exceed the listed maximums (3400-3600). I wrote the then editor of Rifle/Handloader magazine about this and he yelled at me(in a letter) saying that my scale was off, that I was way overloading the cartridges and any increase in velocity if loaded at reasonable pressure was due to the extra few inches of barrel length. How he came to that conclusion without even seeing the rifle, cartridges or the scale is a mystery to me.
My records show that with 73 gr H870 (1 gr more than Noslers listed starting load) I got 3519 fps @15 ft from muzzle. Per the manual 74 gr should yield 3160 with a 120 gr bullet. Increasing load to determine max was halted at 75.5 when extraction got stiff and just a hint of an ejector button. but case life at 73 is quite good. But in the interest of safety and reason, my standard load is 71 gr H870 with a Nosler Partition. the yield is 3410 fps @ 15'. this is below the starting load but exceeding the expected velocities. I am a little confused as to how this would happen and it would be nice if I had a pressure sensor attached to the action to determine the pressure, since it is what causes the bullets to move out of the barrel, so I can see the editors point that with no hands on testing, he would presume that I was being careless. But if so, would not the cases show the effects of the pressure. As is, I can load a 264 resized case with 71 gr H870 and a 120 gr bullet, resize, repeat, resize, repeat five times and the case is still good. Which to me would be a significant indicator that the pressure is well within reason.
How all of this works is that due to the velocities higher than the bullet was designed for impact, a deer or similar animal must be at least 200 yards away so that the bullet can cool abit prior to impact, 300 yards would be better. the other downside is that the rifle with 6.5-20x scope weighs over 11 pounds and is several inches longer than "handy" so it's not one to use when scaling cliffs. but for rolling hills where deer are seen on the other side of the valley it's just the thing. I don't know why the makers wouldn't look into making the 257 more efficient, as mine is. It will hold it's own against any of those beanfield and such rifles. One experiment I did try with it was loading up a 60 g flatnose bullet designed for the 25-20. I forget the powder charge, but I fired it at a 100 yard target, over a chronograph. It measure 4510 fps but halfway to the target there was a skiff of grey smoke and no hit on the target. I don't know what the pressure was, but I didn't fire any more of those.

To answer your question, my answer somewhat mirrors Rookhawks; the market is saturated with similarly performing cartridges that are available in rifles that are generally considered more pleasing to the eye and at less than premium cost. I have a trimmed FN 98 with a skinny barrel and trim stock chambered for 257AI that I find I take hunting much more- primarily because I'm more interested in hunting than I am in what approaches an artillery fire mission. Maybe that's part of the reason others are less inclined to use the 257 Wby, despite all of its performance potential.

Well as has already been said any .25 isn't a big seller right now compared to say the 6.5's but that doesn't mean it's not a great cartridge. It still is one of Weatherby's biggest sellers.

Who care what's currently the latest fad? The .257 Wby shoots flat for a long way, has very little recoil and a long proven track record. I like mine and wouldn't trade it just because somebody else came out with an equivalent version.

Besides maybe not in .25 caliber but just about every American gun manufacture has tried to bring out a similar cartridge at the same velocity as Weatherby has in just about every other caliber. So a lot of folks do in fact believe high velocity has merit.

quote:

Originally posted by Quintus:
25 years ago I was in love with the .257Wby. Actually all of the Weatherby cartridges. I was a bit of a speed freak and the 257 was my pinnacle. It outraced the wind and gravity out to 400 yards with a 100 grain bullet and killed deer like magic. Anyone I told about it looked at me cross-eyed, some saying there was no such thing. A few years back more rifles started to show up from big green and others and they sold well and shot well from the small sample I have owned. Lately again it seems to have been forgotten as it has become common knowledge you can't kill game or hit a piece of paper past 100 yards without a 6.5 or a 300 grain .338 bullet. is it cost? Ammo availability? Recoil or noise? Maybe it is just the fact that .257 is the ultimate tweener between varmints and elk. Even for me, while my current Mark V ULW is wickedly accurate I find myself reaching for the .243, .260, or 300 Roy almost all of the time. For a country so interested at hunting deer type stuff at distance how does the best in class get no mention?

I’ve got 2 .257 WBYs. One is a vanguard and the other is a custom Mauser.

It’s a genuinely nice cartridge to play with. I’m a big fan of it. That little cartridge sure is sexy!

Shoots barrels out pronto was the problem as I recall..

quote:

Originally posted by Atkinson:
Shoots barrels out pronto was the problem as I recall..

I’ve put almost a thousand rounds through my Vanguard and haven’t noticed much deterioration in accuracy. Regularly use mine to cull springbok, blesbok and varmints like Jackal.

Everyone has "strong" opinions about something or other...never could understand why all the jumping around over something you dislike, like or don't bother with.

I wasn't all that enamored with Weatherby's stock shape because I liked the "American/Euro variation", but that wouldn't have stopped me from having one IF I had the money back then. And the cartridge??? whats the beef...it just a cartridge with a unique shape.

AS for the "barrel burning"...all that has been layed to rest I should have tought….ANY high intensity cartridge, burning lots of powder will "burn" barrels. But if you get a thousand or more accurate shots that is a lifetimes worth of hunting..for basically chump change if you amortize it out over time.

I've shot out barrels in one summer of rat killing in hi-vel 22 and 6mm large cased cartridges..BUT THAT AMOUNTED TO 2500-4000 rounds...ANY hi-velo rifle would die after that mount of frying. That doesn't stop me from building/buying another "barrel burner".

I'm working with a 6.5 x 300 WBY AND a 28 Nosler AND a 25-06 with 75 gr bullets at near 3600 fs, AND a 220 S with a fast twist, 22-243, 17 Rem excetera, etc, etc and yes the barrels don't last as long as a 222 or 223 OR a 30-30, but what the hey tyhose don't have the whack factor I want.

If you DON'T like something then fine...if you DO like something then fine...this world might be a better place if we humans weren't so ……., then agin maybe not.

Good Hunting

While I have a .257 Roberts, if I were to buy another mountain rifle it would most likely be the .257 Bee.

I love that zipper of a velocity demon.

You notice I said "I recall"..The poster asked what the problem was as to why it wasn't popular..Back in the day when all this took place, that was the general problem, much of it in print by gun scribes to one degree or another..True of false, I don't know but what I can tell you if you let that barrel get hot and its running near or at 4000 FPS you can shoot any barrel out at sometimes 500 rounds, same problem with the swift at the time with light bullets...Im just reporting what the history of the gun was and why apparently it failed in the market more or less just to answer the posters question..bad press and word of mouth hurt the caliber..Some say stock design, but remember, those stocks were the cats PJs of the day..

As to my personal opine, I have non, just reporting because I was there at the time.

quote:

Originally posted by Atkinson:
You notice I said "I recall"..The poster asked what the problem was as to why it wasn't popular..Back in the day when all this took place, that was the general problem, much of it in print by gun scribes to one degree or another..True of false, I don't know but what I can tell you if you let that barrel get hot and its running near or at 4000 FPS you can shoot any barrel out at sometimes 500 rounds, same problem with the swift at the time with light bullets...Im just reporting what the history of the gun was and why apparently it failed in the market more or less just to answer the posters question..bad press and word of mouth hurt the caliber..Some say stock design, but remember, those stocks were the cats PJs of the day..

As to my personal opine, I have non, just reporting because I was there at the time.

It’s hard to really believe anything most of the writers print. Before I purchased my 257 I had read all the “experts” claims about how short barrel life was, accuracy will degrade very quickly etc. However, my personal experience with this calibre throws all that out the window. Maybe I just got lucky, who knows.

I have a custom 257wby. It’s built on a Sako action, shilen stainless barrel, and Mcmillan stock.
It’s been my go to deer and antelope rifle for about 15 years. And few coyotes that thought they were out of range, found out that they were wrong.
It’s very accurate, and seems to be highly effective at quick one shot kills.

I've got a bit of a history with the .257 Weatherby. I got the first one for my son when he was 11. Part of that was the idea of 7 STW trajectories and velocities with 270 Win recoil. The other part was a friend sold me his Mark V for a jump on it right now price.

At that time we had an abundance of both whitetail and mule deer tags, and in some areas no limit at all due to CWD. There was ample opportunity to literally shoot deer by the truck-load, and that's what we did. Early on my boy expressed some concern that he had been given a little boy's gun; and like the good father I try to be I got another one. That one was a Rem 700 LSS, which by chance turned out to be one of the most accurate factory rifles that have crossed my path. Any thoughts of it being a little boy's gun were quickly put aside. The kid pulled a string of one shot, instant or close to it kills with 100 grain Ballistic-tips that would be the envy of most adults. He still pecks away with it once in awhile, although he grew into a 300 mag.

Fast forward quite a few years. I had an opportunity for culling fallows and reds in Australia; with the promise of long range shooting and bags into the hundreds. That's about the way it turned out too. I took a .257 and several types of bullets, and a 300 Win that was set up more for long range. My friend took a 7 WSM set up with 120 NBTs at blistering speed.

To shorten the story up a bit, we took 500 animals between the two of us. Shots tended to be long with anything under 300 being a short one. The longest I tried with the .257 was almost exactly 700 yards. The .257 worked just fine, much depending on bullet choice. Softer worked better than harder.

Its a great light recoiling, flat shooting cartridge for open country hunting of deer sized game. Looking around the world a bit deer sized covers just about everything. If you skip over the part about light recoiling there's some company for it. At that recoil level there isn't much.

As far as I know, the .257BEE and the 25-06 are still super popular down in Texas. I have had two that I used down there. first was a rechambered 25-06 700 classic ( I used the 115 NP@3200) and the last was a custom Mark X, beautiful marble cake English walnut stock, Douglas 26" barrel. I used the then new Barnes 100 TSX around 3500 in it. Wicked killers, but I never shot anything over about 370yds. For what I did with them both, I could have just kept the 25-06, which is not "damming with faint praise, ha. The cost of factory ammo/brass has always been the boogerman on Weatherby rds for me and from what I gather from most guys. We "can" buy it, we just don't like "being Held Up for it".

If anything, the .257 seems to be gaining popularity up here in the north. The availability of it in the Vanguard and the occasional Remington helped get the price down to where it could a whim purchase for many, and success breeds more success. The .257, 270, 300 and now the 6.5-300 are reasonably cost effective with the spitzer bullets; esp when you consider that they come in Norma brass for little more than empty brass would cost. 257 can also be formed from easy to find 7mm Rem brass in one pass. Handloading is a great equalizer.

The 264 mag had the same rep as the 257 mag ...
by everyone except those of us that had/have one.

I’ve had three .257s and shot two of them a lot. Note that the throat is already “burned out” from the factory with normal freebore. The problem with barrel life was due to excessive firing, ditto the .264. Heat the barrel up by firing too fast and for too long - as when developing load data for a reloading manual - and you’ll melt steel. Fire 3-shot groups and let the barrel cool a bit between groups and it will last a long time.

People seem to think that 500 or 1000 rounds is somehow a short barrel life. Reality check - very very few owners will shoot a bolt action rifle more than 300 rounds over the rifle’s lifetime.


.

The 257 Roy was the first centerfire rifle my brother bought. He has used it to take several deer now and one bull Elk. Recently he built a custom 7mm Rem Mag and killed his first deer last year. His comment to me was that the 7MM didn't work any better than his Weatherby did.
I have a first generation 25-06 Sendero and have thought about picking up a lighter weight quarterbore but now that I have a 6.5x55 I don't really see the need for one. I do love my 25-06 though. It has taken several mule deer, an antelope, an Elk, and a bunch of coyote and other varmints.

Both the 257 Roy and 25-06 are great cartridges.

I just picked up another one, an HS Precision. Love the round, and it will handle most of your hunting needs.

It no doubt is a flat shooting, killing machine and I do understand the magazine guys gave it a bad rap and that shooting such a blistering velocity will wash a bore if you don't treat it kindly, and let it cool off, that is owner error, not the guns fault in case I wasn't clear. I do feel like such guns shouldn't be run at full bore every shot..back off for plinking and varmints or what not..save that full charge for specifics is not bad advise.

I also suspect the 25-06 was a stiff competitor to the WBY..A combination of things always make a new caliber a hit or miss, its always a gamble, guess and by George!

Today the 257 WBY would have a much better shot at popularity than in days gone by IMO..

It is a fantastic caliber, but a bit of a meat grinder at full bore velosity for some hunters, self included..is my personal take on the subject..

.257 Weatherby is like the .220 Swift. People who used 'em liked them. People with zero first hand experience were the detractors.

Besides barrel-burnout, what's this overrated dog have to showcase over the venerable 25-'06?

quote:

Originally posted by TX Nimrod:
I’ve had three .257s and shot two of them a lot. Note that the throat is already “burned out” from the factory with normal freebore. The problem with barrel life was due to excessive firing, ditto the .264. Heat the barrel up by firing too fast and for too long - as when developing load data for a reloading manual - and you’ll melt steel. Fire 3-shot groups and let the barrel cool a bit between groups and it will last a long time.

People seem to think that 500 or 1000 rounds is somehow a short barrel life. Reality check - very very few owners will shoot a bolt action rifle more than 300 rounds over the rifle’s lifetime.


.

If you can't comfortably tightly grip the barrel for an extended period of time (10 seconds) it's too hot to keep shooting for load development. and the faster the round, more the heat.

I was near Uvalde, Texas about twenty years ago, doing a cull hunt on Doe Axis deer. My guide lent me his .257 Weatherby (a converted Remington). It was loaded with Hornady Spire points. Instead of stalking in close, and getting meat "Blow up" damage, I put a sand bag designed for use on vehicle doors on the passenger door (with window rolled down) of the pickup truck.

Over the next few hours I plonked three deer at 300 to 350 meters (my stride length is exactly one meter). Boom Flop. On number four, I almost out smarted myself. I took a high lung shot at 340 meters to minimize meat damage. The doe ran off. My guide thought I had missed, but I differed. It took a half hour to find the deer, piled up less than a hundred yards away.

It was a real pleasure using such a flat shooting rifle. If I had one, I would use premium bullets that work at both near and far distances without blowing up the animal.

Again, bullet placement is everything. I tried to gild the Lilly with my last shot.

Recoil was not onerous, and the rifle was quite accurate, even with the free bore. I think a .257 Weatherby would make a dandy deer, antelope, caribou, sheep, and goat rifle.

With a super premium 120-grain bullet, I believe the .257 Weatherby would be okay for use on elk, if bullet placement is exact. For all around use on North American, and African plains game, the 270, or 7mm Weatherbys would be better choices.

quote:

Recoil was not onerous, and the rifle was quite accurate, even with the free bore. I think a .257 Weatherby would make a dandy deer, antelope, caribou, sheep, and goat rifle.

Just a note the supposed long Weatherby freebore is .378 inch which isn't much different than other similar cartridges.

quote:

.257 Weatherby is like the .220 Swift. People who used 'em liked them. People with zero first hand experience were the detractors.

Absolutely, Weatherby rounds especially seem to have more myths attached to them than just about any other family of cartridges. Usually by those who have never owned one. Kind of funny really since there are now several other manufacturers that have essentially copied most of them. Except of course for the .257 which in today's world isn't as popular as it once was.

A premium bullet is definitely needed in the .257 Wby if there's even a remote chance of a close range shot. But like most cartridges it's the bullet that makes it work - or not.

I own and have shot a Wby Accumark in .257 Wby for several years now. It has a 6x24 Burris Signature scope and my grandsons say you can see a flea on a squirrels balls out to a considerable distance with it. It has taken many Deer both Mule and Whitail for us. I load a 115 or 120 grain Nosler Partition or a 100 grain Nosler no lead bullet from 3450 fps to 3600 fps. A 180 pound Buck hit dead on from the front from 180 yards with the 120 gr. Partition by my grandson callopsed in his tracks. The recovered bullet had a perfect mushroom and was found in a ham protruding in the skin on its rear end but not completely exited. My rifle has been shot 3 shots then cooled at the range and has never had to be shot more then one shot at game. The barrel is still fine after approximately 500 shots and I expect many more years out of it for me and mine. Good Shooting.

The 257 did great for decades with a Hornady for deer sized game and practice; and the Partition for larger game, close range or when you just felt like having some insurance.

If you didn't know anything but that about 257 'bee bullets, you'd still know enough.

I've owned three of them but only one in a MK V.

Did 2 trips to Africa with one shooting 90gr XBT's hunting mainly in the Eastern Cape.

Killed a lot of the tiny ten with it and at ridiculous ranges....a Klipspringer at over 400 yards etc.

AND it killed 3 Cape Kudu, all with one shot. Not to mention blowing exits in broadside Zebra

But the problem with a custom rifle in 257 Wby is getting the free bore cut correctly, if it isn't a very good chambering job, they won't shoot well.


It's a great hunting calibre for small to medium game...……..

So I got out yesterday with my latest version of quarterbee. Amazingly enough, it has taken me this long to try the 110gr Accubond. I am sending along at a shade over 3400Fps with RL22 and 215 primers. My barrel only has 35 rounds through it, but I was pretty happy with the first effort and it should only get better. Almost the same POI at 100 yards as my 100gr B-Tip load and 2 five shot groups at .98" outside to outside. I did shoot one 3 shot group at 3 1/4" but was a little excited and fighting a quite a bit of mirage. I think this is the antelope set up this year if I draw. The rifle is a mark V ultra lightweight. The last year with the old stock and trigger. Seems to be a gem.

Timely thread. I just bought one from Biebs in an H-S Precision set up. I usually prefer a bigger bullet, but this sounded fun.

I will shoot 400 rounds pretty quick and report back...

I also just picked up a wildcat in 7x57 AI. Shoots one hole with 5 shots. Not sure why I have it other than I never sell an accurate rifle...

quote:

Originally posted by dogcat:
Timely thread. I just bought one from Biebs in an H-S Precision set up. I usually prefer a bigger bullet, but this sounded fun.

I will shoot 400 rounds pretty quick and report back...

I also just picked up a wildcat in 7x57 AI. Shoots one hole with 5 shots. Not sure why I have it other than I never sell an accurate rifle...

Great buy. Get some 100gr TTSX and 120gr Partitions and just go have fun!

Wheatherby has corrected the 0,3mm misstake

https://www.thefirearmblog.com...6-5-prc-and-300-prc/

quote:

Originally posted by Nordic2:
Wheatherby has corrected the 0,3mm misstake

https://www.thefirearmblog.com...6-5-prc-and-300-prc/

No correction at all. The 6.5 is made on a full length case so they could say they had the fastest. Too bad they didn't use the .257wby case length instead. It would have made it a much nicer round. But marketing to any gun manufacturer is after all most important and speed sells.

Yes its all marketing making a new .264win wouldn`t bee as flashy as a barrel burning full lenght 6,5 mag or a practical 6,5*284.

looks to be almost the6.5-300 Weatherby-Wright-Hoyer we used to shoot

also remember some guy from Washington state also had a 6.5x378 think his barrel lasted about 400 rds

I just read my last post. The 3 1/4" 3 shot group was at 300 yards. If the weather doesn't wash me out I will be back to see if I can improve this load and also working on a 100gr TSX load. Historically the TSX has been the best bullet in all my 257 bees since it came out to replace the X.

cool round, though not on my top 10...

but hey, that's why there's horse racing ... yes, a 257 bob will do just about everything a roy can .. but some folks like it, good enough for me

Not seeing how the 257WB bests the .244H&H.

The .244 Holland pushes a 100gn bullet @ 3500fps. A real 300+yd deer-slayer, that one. Especially good for cross-canyon sniping.

quote:

Originally posted by A.J. Hydell:
Not seeing how the 257WB bests the .244H&H.

The .244 Holland pushes a 100gn bullet @ 3500fps. A real 300+yd deer-slayer, that one. Especially good for cross-canyon sniping.

Well, there's the matter of heavier bullet options. Then there's the fact that 3500 isn't much of a trick for a .257 'Bee. 300 yard deer cartridges are a dime a dozen; you couldn't swing a dead cat without knocking over several.

Even if we were to agree that they are both kinda, sorta in the same ball-park it doesn't change that the .257 was here first. That sort of reverses the question to what the .244 can do that the .257 can't? Besides, there's always the old "easy way/hard way argument". For some the hard way is a goal in itself though.

The difference in the 257 and the 244 is bullet weight, that's obvious in the 250 savage and the 243 or 244 Rem..Not including my opinion just answering your question..Some would prefer a 120 gr. 25 cal. to a 105 gr. 6mm.

I have no opinion on either caliber..much prefer a 250 Savage, 257 Robts or a 25-06 to any 6mm for deer..My favorite 6mm is the 6x45. but I don't place a lot of emphasis on caliber, more on bullet construction and bullet placement