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Can a Deer Tell the Difference?
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Can a deer tell the difference between a 243Win and a 257Roberts? Me thinks not.

How about a 223 in the one direction or a 260 in the other, can the deer tell the difference?

I think the answer is yes against the 223, though it will kill deer. We shot a number of small antelope in Africa with a 222. It worked fine on oribi and tommy, but just barely at the impala level. No question that a 7x57, 7-08, or 270 was significantly better.


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"A well-rounded hunting battery might include:
500 AccRel Nyati, 416 Rigby or 416 Ruger, 375Ruger or 338WM, 308 or 270, 243, 223" --
Conserving creation, hunting the harvest.
 
Posts: 4253 | Registered: 10 June 2009Reply With Quote
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Can a deer tell the difference between a 243Win and a 257Roberts? Me thinks not.


Most definitely.....and as a matter of fact, I've asked many dead deer if they could tell the difference and they have all replied that the .257 Roberts is most definitely the more feared cartridge.

Learn the language of dead deer and just ask them yourself!


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Posts: 28849 | Location: western Nebraska | Registered: 27 May 2003Reply With Quote
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Mike

What I have learned on AR:
1. The proper answer to: Where is the best place to get a steak dinner? is…you really want pork chops.
2. Big game animals can tell the difference between .015 of an inch in diameter, 15 grains of bullet weight, and 150 fps.
3. The laws of physics do not apply to firearms in that there is a difference in the performance of two identical projectiles launched at the same velocity if they came from different cartridges and some cartridges are so powerful their kinetic energy can knock big game off its feet but not knock the shooter who fired it off their feet.

4. While a double rifle is the perfect DGR, every 375HH bolt gun needs to be modified so it can carry at least 5 down.
5. While a floor plate and a detachable box magazine both use a mechanical latch, only the floor plate latch is reliable. Disregard the fact that almost every modern military rifle uses a detachable box magazine including those chambered in 50 BMG.
6. The Remington 700 is unreliable regardless of the fact it is the basis of the USMC M40 sniper rifle for 40+ years with no changes to the receiver or extractor and is the choice of more military and law enforcement sniper units than any other rifle.
7. PF actions are not suitable for a DGR and it is irrelevant that the M1, M14, M16, & AK47 which were designed for hunting men that can shoot back are all PF actions.
8. 95 deg F in Africa is different than 95 deg F in TX or CA and that is why you must worry about ammunition temperature in Africa (regardless that most safaris take place in winter) but not in TX or in CA.
9. The size of the ding in the gun's finish doesn't matter, what matters is whether the ding occurred in the safe or in the field because safe dings are ok but field dings are worse.
10. One in a row is a trend, two in a row is statistically significant, and three similar occurrences in a row is an irrefutable fact.
11. The AR Posting Quotient: the total number of posts divided by the number of days as a member: if greater than 2.5, recommend therapy.
12. Never buy a WSM or RCM cartridge for a safari rifle because if they lose your ammo you can't find replacement ammo but don't worry, 280 Rem, 338-06, 35 Whelen, and all Weatherby cartridges abound in Africa.
13. Never buy a WSM or RCM cartridge for your go to rifle in the USA because if they lose your ammo you can't find replacement ammo but don't worry, 280 Rem, 338-06, 35 Whelen, 9,3x62 and all Weatherby cartridges abound in back country stores.
 
Posts: 1102 | Location: Denmark | Registered: 15 October 2001Reply With Quote
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Two funny posts!

I do think the 257R, when loaded with 120gr Partitions, opens up shot angle opportunities a bit. Even compared to the 243 with 85gr TSX's. [I currently use both the 257R with 120gr Partitions and the 243 with 85gr TSX's for Maryland's sika deer, my son uses a 243 loaded with TSX's.] I also think the 243 needs premium bullets, where the 257R, especially in it's original (non +P) loadings, does not. But we often have very close range encounters in addition to longer range opportunities where we hunt sika. The premium bullets are needed to keep the bullet together for the close shots, not the longer ones.

JPK


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Posts: 4900 | Location: Chevy Chase, Md. | Registered: 16 November 2004Reply With Quote
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It depends on the accuracy and the bullet choice.


Frank



"I don't know what there is about buffalo that frightens me so.....He looks like he hates you personally. He looks like you owe him money."
- Robert Ruark, Horn of the Hunter, 1953

NRA Life, SAF Life, CRPA Life, DRSS lite

 
Posts: 12740 | Location: Kentucky, USA | Registered: 30 December 2002Reply With Quote
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It seems we are talking two different cartridges with very similar characteristics.
One is a 24 cal the other 25 and both use very similar weight ranges in bullets.

Not a whit of difference outside of the bullet dia. on game.

I do think tho that a decent quality bullet is best used in both either a bonded or NPT or Barnes.
I only tried cup n draw bullets twice when it was new on deer and that cured me of that idea and l switched to Noslers.
I settled on the 95gr NPT for my 243 win and rarely recovered bullets but the deer died drt or damn close to it most of the time.

I was careful bout my shots and bullet placement and the result was game in the bag.

Rick Jamieson IIRC once wrote an article about testing early Barnes 243 cal bullets of 75 gr weight that fully penned mule deer does stem to stern.

I have a friend who has used a 6mm Rem for ages and taken a truckload of deer with it and no issues. His fave bullet?..Nosler 87 gr.

I suppose if you can get a 257R to stabilize the heaviest bullets then that might give it a slight edge.
But really if thats the route your going then their are cartridges better suited to that range of bullet in 26, 27, caliber etc.
 
Posts: 434 | Location: Wetcoast | Registered: 31 October 2004Reply With Quote
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Deer have always confided in me that 7 mm Rem. is their preferred caliber of choice. Wink

Grizz


Indeed, no human being has yet lived under conditions which, considering the prevailing climates of the past, can be regarded as normal. John E Pfeiffer, The Emergence of Man

Those who can't skin, can hold a leg. Abraham Lincoln

Only one war at a time. Abe Again.
 
Posts: 4211 | Location: Alta. Canada | Registered: 06 November 2002Reply With Quote
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I have seen a lot of deer, and antelope shot with the 243, 6mm Remington, 25/06, and the 257 WBY Mag.

I have personally shot several deer with the 243, and several with a 257 WBY Mag.

Out to 400 yards I have not seen any difference between any of these cartridges. I used Sierra 100gr and Nolser 95 gr Partitions in the 243, and 100gr Hornady, 100gr Nosler Partition, and 120gr Nosler Partition, all Weatherby factory loads in the 257 WBY Mag.

I would put the 250 Savage and the 257 Roberts in this same group.

After all you can only kill a deer so dead.


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Posts: 16134 | Location: Texas | Registered: 06 April 2002Reply With Quote
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quote:
Originally posted by N E 450 No2:
I have seen a lot of deer, and antelope shot with the 243, 6mm Remington, 25/06, and the 257 WBY Mag.

I have personally shot several deer with the 243, and several with a 257 WBY Mag.

Out to 400 yards I have not seen any difference between any of these cartridges. I used Sierra 100gr and Nolser 95 gr Partitions in the 243, and 100gr Hornady, 100gr Nosler Partition, and 120gr Nosler Partition, all Weatherby factory loads in the 257 WBY Mag.

I would put the 250 Savage and the 257 Roberts in this same group.

After all you can only kill a deer so dead.


very well said.....hitting the nail on the head and hard.


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Posts: 28849 | Location: western Nebraska | Registered: 27 May 2003Reply With Quote
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quote:
Originally posted by vapodog:

Most definitely.....and as a matter of fact, I've asked many dead deer if they could tell the difference and they have all replied that the .257 Roberts is most definitely the more feared cartridge.

Learn the language of dead deer and just ask them yourself!


Good post. The 257 Roberts is a favorite of mine.



 
Posts: 1941 | Location: Texas | Registered: 19 July 2009Reply With Quote
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I tried a 257 R and didn't like it. Funny thing is that now my favorite is the 6.5 Grendel, which I estimate to be almost identical in performance.

So, I figure it has to do with the rifle as much as the cartridge. For one thing the 257 rifle I had was not accurate, and I had one deer get away wounded, which was my fault not the rifle or cartridge.

But anyway, I just like the 6.5 Grendel. I have two AR15s and one Ruger custom bolt action chambered in the cartridge. It's deadly on deer and hogs.

KB


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Posts: 12818 | Registered: 16 February 2006Reply With Quote
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So, I figure it has to do with the rifle as much as the cartridge. For one thing the 257 rifle I had was not accurate, and I had one deer get away wounded, which was my fault not the rifle or cartridge.


Pure BS of the smelliest kind KB. You just simply Did Not place the bullet where it should have went, end of story.

If you knew or believed the rifle was not all that accurate, why the hell did you take it out hunting?

My wife shoots a .257 Roberts and has done so for about 15 years or so and between her and me we have never lost a deer that we shot at with that little rifle.

You muffed the shot and find/found it easier to blame the gun, than to admit to your foul up.


Even the rocks don't last forever.



 
Posts: 31014 | Location: Olney, Texas | Registered: 27 March 2006Reply With Quote
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Badmouthing the 257 Roberts as deer cartridge is pretty much blasphemy.



 
Posts: 1941 | Location: Texas | Registered: 19 July 2009Reply With Quote
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If the 257 R would fit into an AR15, there wouldn't be a problem. Roll Eyes

OTOH, I wouldn't use a 223 for deer or hogs in any rifle.

As I said, the 6.5 Grendel cartridge is about the same in performance as the 257R, so if liking the 6.5 Grendel is blasphemous towards the 257R, in your view, so be it.

KB


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Posts: 12818 | Registered: 16 February 2006Reply With Quote
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quote:
Originally posted by Kabluewy:
So, I figure it has to do with the rifle as much as the cartridge. For one thing the 257 rifle I had was not accurate, and I had one deer get away wounded, which was my fault not the rifle or cartridge.


quote:
Originally posted by Crazyhorseconsulting:
Pure BS of the smelliest kind KB. You just simply Did Not place the bullet where it should have went, end of story.

You muffed the shot and find/found it easier to blame the gun, than to admit to your foul up.


You are just blowing smoke as usual. Where in my post did I not blame myself?

Even an inaccurate rifle is accurate enough at 25 to 50 yds, but still not accurate enough to call accurate or to keep.

KB


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Posts: 12818 | Registered: 16 February 2006Reply With Quote
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quote:
Originally posted by Kabluewy:
If the 257 R would fit into an AR15, there wouldn't be a problem. Roll Eyes

OTOH, I wouldn't use a 223 for deer or hogs in any rifle.

As I said, the 6.5 Grendel cartridge is about the same in performance as the 257R, so if liking the 6.5 Grendel is blasphemous towards the 257R, in your view, so be it.

KB


Liking the Grendel is not blasphemous towards the 257R. You stated you didn't like the 257R which is blasphemous. Cool



 
Posts: 1941 | Location: Texas | Registered: 19 July 2009Reply With Quote
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It could be interpreted that what I said was in the right rifle I would have liked the 257 R. In the one rifle I did try it in, I didn't like the combo, got rid of the rifle and didn't go back. Instead, I migrated to the 6.5 Grendel in the AR and a bolt rifle.

To have a 257 R and a 6.5 Grendel would be redundant IMO. Instead it's better to have three or four 6.5 Grendels. Roll Eyes

KB


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Posts: 12818 | Registered: 16 February 2006Reply With Quote
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Picking a Grendel over a 257R? That is certainly blasphemous! The history, the tradition... Roberts himself is probably rolling over in his grave! (Though, iirc, it wasn't Roberts who actually came up with the 257R...)

And, OMG, lets hope that Grendel is in a blued and walnut format!!!

JPK


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Posts: 4900 | Location: Chevy Chase, Md. | Registered: 16 November 2004Reply With Quote
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Naw, the bolt action is bead blasted stainless with a brown laminate stock.

The AR wears green.

Smiler

Pretty is what pretty does.

BTW, I've got a Grendel in progress that is blued and walnut, on the mini-mauser action. Perhaps it will be finished one day.

KB


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Posts: 12818 | Registered: 16 February 2006Reply With Quote
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Run your head all you want to, fact is you messed up, not the gun or the cartridge, YOU were the weak link, PERIOD!


Even the rocks don't last forever.



 
Posts: 31014 | Location: Olney, Texas | Registered: 27 March 2006Reply With Quote
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...and I had one deer get away wounded, which was my fault not the rifle or cartridge.


And he fessed up to it...

We are not perfect.

(And neither is his Grendel! Though the mini mauser version might get close.)

JPK


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Posts: 4900 | Location: Chevy Chase, Md. | Registered: 16 November 2004Reply With Quote
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Since I retired I've been too busy to get back into reloading. Plus it's just not as interesting as it used to be. With the 257 R, factory ammo was not satisfactory in that which I could find and tried. With the Grendel, the miracle is that Hornady makes ammo that is excellent, and shoots as well as any of the reloads I used to make. It's a new game to have one load for everything and able to buy it from several sources.

Since discovering the Grendel, reloading might be history for me.

I'm still selling off stuff, and a bay boat is looking rather appealing. Smiler

I would simply rather be out catching speckled trout and red drum, or even channel catfish than sitting behind a reloading bench.

KB


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Posts: 12818 | Registered: 16 February 2006Reply With Quote
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I reload for some cartridges, but really only for those for which I can't find a good factory load suitable for the purpose and that shoots well in my rifle, which pretty much means only for my Africa DG rifles.

I have been very happy with Federal's one and only 257R load, which is a +P load with the 120gr Partition at 2800fps nominal.

A mini Mauser with the 6.5 Grendel's performance sounds like a really nice rifle to hunt with.

JPK


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Posts: 4900 | Location: Chevy Chase, Md. | Registered: 16 November 2004Reply With Quote
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Sounds like you have a gun and load you are happy with, Congratulations.

We have been very happy with factory Remington Core-Loct 117 grain Round Nose loads out of Lora's rifle, but it also does a good job with 115 grain Barnes TSX.

The Remington factory loads are the only factory ammunition I/we use in any of our rifles.

It seemed like you were laying all the blame on the rifle/ammunition, not the operator of the equipment.


Even the rocks don't last forever.



 
Posts: 31014 | Location: Olney, Texas | Registered: 27 March 2006Reply With Quote
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CHC, all rifles that I've used have a "feel" to them. That "feel" translates to confidence level. With the poor accuracy, and the one phuckup on my part, that rifle combo just never did feel right. With the Grendel all my experiences have been good, thus my attitude towards it is confidence.

I'm sure that the right combo in 257 R would achieve the same level of confidence. I just don't need more rifles. Instead I need to sell most of those I have.

KB


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Posts: 12818 | Registered: 16 February 2006Reply With Quote
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Still, the problem was with YOU, not the gun.

I understand what you are saying. Over the years I have owned 5 or 6 .45/70's of various configurations, and while I killed game with each of them, I have just not been able to keep hooked up with that caliber.

Same with Ruger No.1's. I have had two, both were good rifles and accurate, I just never could "Get In To Them".

I like the .22 Hornet and have owned three, I just find their actual usage limited.

Some guns/calibers to me just feel "Right" while some, even though good guns/calibers never do.


Even the rocks don't last forever.



 
Posts: 31014 | Location: Olney, Texas | Registered: 27 March 2006Reply With Quote
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quote:
Originally posted by 416Tanzan:
Can a deer tell the difference between a 243Win and a 257Roberts? Me thinks not.

How about a 223 in the one direction or a 260 in the other, can the deer tell the difference?

I think the answer is yes against the 223, though it will kill deer. We shot a number of small antelope in Africa with a 222. It worked fine on oribi and tommy, but just barely at the impala level. No question that a 7x57, 7-08, or 270 was significantly better.



Using a 223 on deer is about like shooting a brown bear with an 06 . It can be done successfully but if a small thing goes wrong you just created a problem.
I get a kick out of the yayhoos that say. The 30/06 is fine for a bear but a 270 is too small. Same for people that would say, a 25 cal is fine for deer but a 22 is too small.
Use a tough bullet. Keep the range reasonable. You will have meat in the freezer.


Phil Shoemaker : "I went to a .30-06 on a fine old Mauser action. That worked successfully for a few years until a wounded, vindictive brown bear taught me that precise bullet placement is not always possible in thick alders, at spitting distances and when time is measured in split seconds. Lucky to come out of that lesson alive, I decided to look for a more suitable rifle."
 
Posts: 1934 | Location: Eastern Central Alaska | Registered: 15 July 2014Reply With Quote
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Cold Trigger-

I take your response as agreement. beer

Everything is a sliding scale and the hunter needs to find the most accurate, reliable, pentrating combination that a person can carry up and down hills and shoot ACCURATELY.

Usually that means a cartridge that is more powerful than whatever might work under ideal circumstances. And if a less powerful cartridge is chosen for a particular hunt the hunter must be prepared to wait for a more ideal presentation and possibly pass on a few opportunities. Those are life's choices.


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"A well-rounded hunting battery might include:
500 AccRel Nyati, 416 Rigby or 416 Ruger, 375Ruger or 338WM, 308 or 270, 243, 223" --
Conserving creation, hunting the harvest.
 
Posts: 4253 | Registered: 10 June 2009Reply With Quote
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PS:

Early on I learned that any calibre in the spine meant PRT (paralyzed right there) or DRT. However, calibre, bullet speed and bullet integrity entered the picture in terms of anchoring or tracking an animal. A bigger hole and wound channel in the lungs meant easier recovery. (We once did a six mile recovery on a cob--a 222 in the lungs--not to be repeated or recommended. Was the 150yards too far, the bullet placement unlucky, or too far back or too high? I don't remember or have accurate data on the event from over 30years ago. The animal died and was recovered, but a lot of time and distance was covered.)


+-+-+-+-+-+-+

"A well-rounded hunting battery might include:
500 AccRel Nyati, 416 Rigby or 416 Ruger, 375Ruger or 338WM, 308 or 270, 243, 223" --
Conserving creation, hunting the harvest.
 
Posts: 4253 | Registered: 10 June 2009Reply With Quote
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