I know I will get chastised for even thinking this but with a 120 gr. Nosler Partition and keeping shots under 200 yds. I feel confident with the Roberts.

I have a 338-06 that I have been trying to develop a load for going on about a year now and I have one load that is OK but I have yet to find "the load" yet. I recently purchased a .338 Win Mag and all I have done is shot 20 fire forming loads.

I have a lot of trigger time with my Roberts, I'm extremely confident with it. Two weeks ago I took a nice wild hog with it. One shot at 150 yds. right behind the ear with a 115 gr. Nosler BT. The boar dropped instantly and I had some of the sausage this morning, man is that stuff delicious!

My hunt is not until the middle of January '03 but my range time will be limited with our third child due the middle of October and it is deer season as well. The Roberts has shot everything well from the 100 gr. bullets to the 117 gr. So I'm sure the 120 gr. Partitions will shot just fine.

OK, so what do you think? Should I go with my Number One "Go To Rifle", the Roberts and develop a 120 gr. load or spend more time developing a load for the .338-06?

Thanks.

C-ROY

When I was on a bow elk hunt in Montana 12 years ago, the guide was coming from the Yellowstone valley the week before my hunt. He had a client that drew a Rut Rifle tag and his daughter drew a moose tag. She was using a 243. The roberts will be fine for a quality broadside shot at the range you describe with a partition. The 338 would be fun but with the little one on the way time is too valuable right now to be spending it developing and testing loads.

I'm not sure why you would need to develope a load for a target as big as a cow elk if you are ging to limit your shots to 200 yards (always a good idea as far as I'm concerned). Even if one of your bigger rifles was shooting 3" groups at 100 yards....that's 6" more or less at 200 yards and I would rather use that than a .257 Roberts that would shoot 2" groups at 200 yards anytime.

Buy two boxes of premium factory 338WM in 210 or 225's grain bullets and your ready for elk. What are you going to do if she's a 300 yard cow. I have had problems in the past having them sit still at that 150 - 200 yd marker!!! 257Rob will work some of the time but the 338 will work all of the time.

Hmmm...... I think you might have a hard time getting within 200 yards of a cow in January, if this is a typical Western hunt.

I'd take the Roberts and the accuracy. Simply all the late cow hunts my wife and I have done have been 300 yarders, and that's included going around the hill to get closer, a couple of times.

As long as you put it into the boiler room (none of this silly head shooting), tracking should be a gimme in the snow. Even if she goes a couple hundred yards, you won't have a hard time finding her. I see young'ns with 243's after cows here regularly, and as long as you realize what you are doing (deflating lungs), it should work just fine. JMO, Dutch.

Take the .257 and nosler's. They will do the job very well if you hold up your end and hit them well. I would not turn down a 300 yd. shot with this bullet. Good luck

Roy,

OK, sanity check here on my part...

Lemmie see if I have this right? You have a 257 Roberts, 338-06, and a 338 Win Mag. You just got the 338 Win Mag, haven't found "The Load" for the 338-06, but the Roberts shoots straight. Right?

You are passing over 2 of the most ideal elk calibers availible to use one that is, shall we say "less than ideal". My initial reaction is, shame on you. Let me explain.

Now I have a 257 Roberts, and I love that little caliber. It is an ideal deer cartridge for me and I prefer carrying it with 115 BT's or 120 Part's for antellope, whitetail, or smallish mule deer. See the thread on the 257 Roberts, I give it the thumbs up, so it's not that I don't like the caliber, OK?

You say the 338-06 needs more load work. Well what's the accuracy like with what you have? 1-2", 2"-3", or a shotgun pattern at 100 yards? I think too many times we get caught up in "itty-bitty" groups on our targets, and not realizing that for a 200 yard elk target, even 2-3" inch groups at 100 yards will work. They may not be pretty, or "perfect", or give us bragging rights around the campfire, but they are adequate and will do the job.

You say the 338 Win Mag is "new", but don't elaborate as to the problem with using it. Load developement? No scope? What? Talk about an ideal elk cartridge!

My 2 cents is use the 338-06 if the groups are 2"-2.5" at 100 yards, or use the 338 Win Mag and buy a couple of boxes of factory ammo to sight it in and use on the hunt, do the load developement in the off-season on both of those for next year. Leave the Roberts at home.

Now before my fellow Roberts fans start thrashing me...

If he had said, "All I have to hunt with is a 257 Roberts, can I kill an elk under 200 yards with it?" I would have said, "Yes, use premium bullets, pick your shots, stay out of the shoulders, and keep your range under 200 yards."

He has the proper tool already, no excuse not to use it.

I've seen similar loads - using Nosler Partitions - reliably shoot through the near shoulder on lots of elk class stuff. At 200 yds, or less, I'd expect it to take out the off side shoulder. Neither shot will shoot through, but a straight lung shot will every time.
I, too, wouldn't pass up a clear chest shot at 300 yds. I've seen them work too many times.
I also agree that one doesn't need more than 2.5 MOA accuracy for anything like that under 300 yds.
It's your call. E

My choice would be the Roberts but if you have a 338 that shoots 2-3 inch groups at 100 yds. I don't understand why you would hesitate to use it if that is your preference. 3 inches at 100 yds. is "minute of elk" and thats all thats required. Use what you have the most confidence with.
Jim

For cow elk, I think you could do OK w/ a well placed 120gr NP from your Roberts. I have to agree w/ the other guys though, if your .338-06 is shooting 2" or better groups, you are good to go for elk out to 250yds or so. I hunt w/ my .338-06 as much as I can & feel really comfortable w/ it. It is an honest 1 1/4MOA rifle & I while I have shaved that to under 1MOA on good days, it is fine for elk out to 300yds or so.
As far as your own .338-06, what are you feeding it & what kind of groups/vel. are you getting? My hunt everything load is a 210grNP over 53.5gr RL15 in FC 06 cases. I get 2700-2750fps from the 22 1/2" bbl. I haven't been able to get a 225gr anything to shoot out of it but have had good results w/ the 250grNP & RL19.

No reason at all to be afraid of a cow elk when you are packing a 257 Roberts. Over the years I have seen lots of cows harvested with rounds lesser than or equal to the Roberts. Within the parameters of your scenario(and perhaps a bit beyond) the Roberts is all the gun one needs to humanely needs to harvest girl elk. Just hit them where you are supposed to.

DEDA

fredj338,
I have gotten consistent 1.1" to 1.25" groups at 100 yds with 59.0 grs. of Varget and 180 gr. Nosler BT's (I can't seem to get to the 1" or under mark yet). I am going to the range in the morning to try the 210 Partitions with IMR 4320. I'll let you know how that goes.

The 338-06 in no doubt shooting "minute of cow elk" but the Roberts has me spoiled. I want those tiny little groups. I think more trigger time to get fully acquainted with the 338-06 will help to instill that confidence like I have with the Roberts.

C-ROY

I was talking to a guide at a Boise gun show last year and he got around to telling about another guide he was with. I don't know all the facts but apparently native Americans can kill a fair amount of game in a year for subsistence reasons. Anywho, this other guide apparently had this privilege.

As the story goes, the two of them saw a line of cow elk on a hill a ways away. This other guide raised a Ruger Mini-14 and proceeded to shoot 4 cow elk in a row just like that, one shot each with that .223 semi-auto notorious for 4" groups. "Blam, blam, blam, blam, four elk on the ground" was how this guide told it. Pissed him off as the guy who shot the four elk only took the backstraps and hams which was perfectly legal in this case.

Not relating this story to rant about inequities in Idaho game laws, just showing that if one shot each from an inaccurate .223 will work on four cows, a .257 Roberts with a 120 grain bullet should work quite nicely. Shot placement is the key.

c-roy,

Your 1"+ groups are really quite good for a .338 bore. The Roberts is just flat going to be easier to shoot. I have also had good results w/ IMR 4320/210grNP before I settled on RL15.

Well hell, I've saw an elephant killed w/ a 5.56(one shot), so I'd say Use what you're comfy with. They're all 'enough gun'.