Would the 308 with 130gr.bullets be about equal to the 257 roberts on deer size game?I have never heard anything negative about the 257 roberts,is it just a great allround caliber?

I'd not hunt deer with the .308 with less than 150 grain bullets as the lighter ones are primarily aimed at varminting and can be a little thin jacketed.

As to the .257 Roberts.....it's one of the finest deer/varmint combo cartridges of all time. It'll send off a 75 grain V-max at 3,500'/sec and a 120 grain hollow point at 2,800'/sec and that's some statement for anwthing from pronghorns to deer to prairie dogs and woodchucks. I use 100 grain bullets for deer but others have their own views.

I too wouldn't use 130's in the .308 unless you were attempting some sort of reduced load perhaps fpr a kid. Even then, I'd likely use a bullet designed for the .30-30 at similar velocities.

I never liked the .308, but the over the last year and a half, I acquired four and built three more. I took my first two hogs with a .308 I built myself, Couldn't ask for a better performer. I've become wuite impressed with its abilities.

I have a .257 also and have used 100's for deer but will be working out a 115 grain partition load in the near future.

I just wish I could get my Ruger Bob to shoot the 100's, or the 87's. Oh well, it really likes the 75's and 115's, so I've got both ends bracketed.
As for the 130 out of the 308, you might be ok if you load down a bit. Like Vapodog said, the lighter weights in most calibers are considered varmint bullets and designed to open up on light, thin animals.

Do you fellows recomend the 150 or 165 in 308 for a all round bullet?I have been looking at the speer manual and had just ran into the 130gr. and wondered about it.Also is the 150gr. a good allrounder for the 270 instead of the 130gr.?Thanks for the help!

i wouldn't hessitate using a light barnes X in 308....

the bob is an amazing round...

the issue your are asking about, btw, is sectional density

jeffe

Blackbear

I have used both 150 and 165 in my 308 but keep on coming back to the 150gn Remington Corelokt which I find to be excellent on Red Deer in my area also wild dogs and Dingoes. Have also used 150gn hornady SST which are extemely accurate in my rifle but I have found they have a tendancy not to open up on deer - particularly smaller bodied ones - I keep coming back to core lokts.

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Originally posted by blackbearhunter:
Do you fellows recomend the 150 or 165 in 308 for a all round bullet?I have been looking at the speer manual and had just ran into the 130gr. and wondered about it.Also is the 150gr. a good allrounder for the 270 instead of the 130gr.?Thanks for the help!

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.308********150 grain
.270********130 grain

quote:

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Originally posted by blackbearhunter:
Do you fellows recomend the 150 or 165 in 308 for a all round bullet? ... Also is the 150gr. a good allrounder for the 270 instead of the 130gr.?

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Ask your .308 its opinion.

I favor 130 in the .270.

quote:

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Originally posted by blackbearhunter:
Do you fellows recomend the 150 or 165 in 308 for a all round bullet?I have been looking at the speer manual and had just ran into the 130gr. and wondered about it. ...

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Hey BBH, It depends on which 150gr and which 165gr bullets you are talking about. And it also depends on what you will be hunting with them.

If it is to be Black Bears(as your name would suggest), I've been in on a lot of Black Bear dragging created by 165gr Hornady Interlocks. They were fired from M14s with Pulled Down 7.62NATO cartridges reloaded for those Hornadys.

That doesn't mean the Speer bullets shouldn't be used. But as well as I can remember, I believe they make 4 or 5 165gr bullets all with a slightly different Design Envelope.

Nothing wrong with 180gr bullets in the 308Win for Black Bears either.

What distance do you anticipate the shots?

Is it Black Bears you are indeed after?

Whitetails and/or Hogs in the mix?

I've had(or had access to) 308Wins since the late 1950s and it is an outstanding cartridge.

Where i hunt there areBig bear,Big hogs and big bucks.Most are average size but the chance at a super Big one is all ways there.My 308 shoots great with the 150gr.& 165gr.hornady and rem.core loks.I thought about playing with some varmint rounds this summer for kicks and wondered if the 130gr.speer would put the 308 in the 257 robert class?Just kinda wondered what everyone else was shooting in there 308.The 165gr.btsp hornady is hard to beat for accuracy.Iam going to have to expermint with the 180gr.grandslam and nosler too.
Thanks for the help.

Most of my shots are with in 150yrds..Layne simpson in shooting times magizine did a article years ago on the 308 and he said the 165gr. was the best of all for the 308 and i think he said it would work on moose?Craig bottington had a article on bear and said the 180gr.in a 308 was the minumum he would recommend?My new speer manual even has a load for 200gr.grandslam!Speer says that there is no differance in the 165gr.bullet from the 30-06 and 308win.The differance in the two start at 180gr.and up with the 30-06 the better cartridge.I have shot several deer and hogs with the 165gr.btsp hornady in the 30-06 and it was fantastic.The last 2 bigbucks i shot with the 308 were hit perfect but ran straight down the mountain-STEEP-before they gave up ghost.The drag uphill getting them out was very hard!Both ran 100yrds. at least!Insides looked like jello!Seems like a bear could tear you up before giving up the ghost or hog too by the time it took those bucks to run 100yrds?Would a 180gr. do better?Maybe the 308 just doesnt give instant kills?I have had heavy bullets for caliber not open up and pencil thru and just dont want that to happen anymore.Iam afraid the 200gr. might/would....on deer.

The .257 R is a good all-round cartridge for anything up to deer-sized game, and maybe even caribou. The .308, on the other hand, is OK for the same range of game, perhaps a little much for varmint shooting, but is better for larger stuff like elk and moose than the .257 is!

In the .308, I would not use 150 grain bullets for anything bigger than a caribou. For elk and moose, I'd prefer a 200-grainer, unless it was a Barnes X, in which case even the 165 might be OK. BTW, I've used 220-grain round noses in a .308, loaded to 2300 FPS with 48 grains of N205 (no longer available!!). That's 100 FPS faster than the grand old .30/40 Krag 220!! This load was a real killer on deer in close-range situations. It'd be a helluva mooser, too! Don't let ayone tell you that the 220 grain round-nose is too heavy for a .308!

Hey eldeguello,Sounds like the 200gr.&220gr.bullets make the 308 a REAL thumpper for close range work!I have to try those now!Plenty stand sites i have around funnels and acorn ridge tops allow for 75yrds.or under shots.Would the 220gr.bullets in the 308&30-06 make them on par with the great 35whelen?Sounds like the heavy bullets might be what iam looking for!Should I just stick with premiums in the heavies or will i be better off with standard bullets in the hornady,sierra,speer?Thinking they will open up faster?Will it really matter much at 308 speeds?

I have taken 2 northern whitetails, with 130 gr Barnes X
boattails. One was the classic broadside, and one was
quartering towards me. The broadside shot deer went
maybe 40 yards, and the quartering towards shot deer
flipped over, and died on the spot. I have a .25-06 Rem,
that I load 100 gr. Barnes Triple Shocks for, and find
the damage from 130 gr. .308 Win, and 100 gr .25-06 Rem,
bullets to be very similar. Given potential shots over
200 yards, I'd opt for the .25-06 Rem, with the 100 gr.
TSX bullets, but the 130 gr. Barnes XBT, in the .308 Win,
is a very potent combination, that would be an excellent
choice for any non-dangerous game in North America.
I'd probably step up to the 168 gr. Triple Shock, if I
was hunting Bear, or Moose(I see moose as dangerous
game, having run from one a time or two).

I would say that the .308 Win, is the best all around
caliber, given these two choices, but being a big fan
of the quarterbore, the .257 Bob, would not get kicked
off my gun rack either.

Squeeze

The 130 grain Speer is a dandy bullet if you decide on a 308. It is designed for the likes of the 30/30 but also the 307 Winchester.

It is a good bullet for a 30/06 on down. Of course their is also the 125 grain ballistic tip .

I don't own a 257 Roberts, basically because the 6.5 x 57 in my gun rack. I look at that caliber as a 257 that will take bullet weights up to 160 grains.

I just prefer the combo of a long action and a 57 mm case, over the 308 length on a short action.
However I'd never feel naked with a 308 if that is what I had to carry to hunt, even on Elk.
I am a lower 48 hunter.

Too many guys are hung up on trajectory for max range and foot pounds energy for killing potential. Since most deer are taken at less than 100 yds, for everyone killed at that range with a 7 Mag or bigger, a lowly 30/30 still could have done just as good of a job.

Cheers and good shooting
seafire

If you load the .257 Roberts up to it's potential you can kill anything up to and including Elk. Providing you are are a rifleman and limit your shots to 250yds. or less, which covers most situations. 100 gr. bullets are over looked by most, but believe me, they kill very well. 100gr. Sierra's have been my go to bullet in .25 caliber and yes I Have killed Elk with this same bullet!

Hello,
It would seem to me that to compare the two cartridges is somewhat unfair for the 257 and the 308 is kind of like comparing apples to oranges. Both are excellent cartridges in all respects, but I would lean toward the 308 for it's overall versatility. I have routinely shot the 190 grain Sierra's at very long ranges (targets only, not game) and done extremely well with them and then as mentioned earlier, the Remington Core Lock bullet is an excellent performer on game. Other good bullet is the Seirra 165 Game King for it does a very fine job. Have always like the 257 for deer and smaller game,varmints, etc. so certainly would not criticize it in any respects. Will say that the 308 is one of the most accurate cartridges ever developed and that is a big plus factor for any selection of cartridges. You can't kill it if you can't hit it!
Favor Center!!
dsiteman

Well, I talked to a old timer that own a very nice rifle shop and he could shoot any rifle he wanted,he told me the 257 roberts is one of the best deer calibers around and that he had hunted with the 257 for years and it was his favorite of all the rounds.He highly recommened it and said that it was a best kept secret.I had another hunter tell me the same thing and said that the 257 was built on a 7x57 case and that it was nothing but a 7x57 with 25 caliber bullet.It seem to me that the 243 has about been king in those light weight rounds and i never could figure why anyone would choose a 243 over a 257?Iwas thinking about reloading some 308win.rounds in the 130-125gr.speer&Hornady just for fun and wondered what those rounds would be close to in power and bullet weight?You here how gret the 270 is with the 130gr,but never the 308 130gr.?Also the old timer was pushing how great the 257 was a deer slayer but i never heard a 125gr.308 was a slayer.And folks swear by the 25-06 for flat shooting-best for big mule deer out west or texas deer.Seems to me like a 308 130gr. would be a pretty flat shooter?Iam going to expermint with the 130gr.308-but will not hunt deer with them,i will only hunt deer with a 308 in 165gr.Hornady spire point,180gr.anything & 150gr.core-loks.If you ask me the 308 is the greatest little round and is king over all we have compared and is the best kept secret,But everybody gotta like something and thats what makes the picking and chooseing fun.I do want a 257 roberts though --in a ruger 77.............Cheers

Blackbearhunter,
Trust me, the old .257 Roberts is a performer, the factory ammo for the most part sucks, but any reloader can get remarkable performance out of one. No, it's not a .257 Weatherby or even a 25/06, but it kills game and it kills better than any .243/6m/m that i've seen. And I own several of both.
About the light bullet/308 thing. I once used 130gr Speer HP, 30/06 loaded to the MAX on a Wyoming trip and I killed an antelope and a 4pt mule deer, both dropped where they were standing. I presently use 55gr. Sierra spitzers out of a 22/250 Ackley for deer and they don't seem to know the difference.
Stepchild

Back when I was omniscient I thought I could improve the 7.62x39 round by loading the 130 grain nosler ballistic tip for deer. Was like hitting the deer with high-vel light bulbs. Awful mess. Go with 150 grain core-locts out of the 308 for bargain basement price to get the job done. Lots of folks here in VA use 257, but those are mostly serious ground hog hunters. Supposed to be a great round. For deer, I would stick with the 257.

On paper, the 130 gr in a .308 is more along the lines of a .270.

I'd not hesitate to hunt all NA game, minus the big bears, with a 165 gr premium bullet launched from the .308, within 300 yds. I might have to get closer on occasion, and might pass up the occasional quartering shot, but for everything else, it'll work at least as well as most, and better than many.