I lucked up on a Ruger No 1 in 257 Roberts that I convinced my wife would be a great rifle for her to deer hunt with. I had a Browning BLR in 257 about ten years ago but no longer have my load info for it. Anyone have any idea what I should expect out of this Ruger/257 combo?
I will probably try 100 gr Nosler Partitions and Sierra 90 gr HPBT bullets first. I've had good results from both on smallish Louisiana deer from my 25-06 in the past.

Goat,

I haven't owned a .257 Roberts in years, but when I did I used almost exclusively surplus 4831 under everything from 90 to 117 grains. That fine old powder was hard to beat. I would think that the current H4831, although a tad faster, would do pretty well.

About those Sierra 90 grain HPBT's: I know that Sierra lists them as a game bullet, but I've never had occasion to try them on live game. I have some loaded to about 2900 fps in a .25 Remington (the non-deforming noses do well in the tube magazine of a model 14). What kind of performance should I expect on smallish whitetails?

Goat: with the 100gr Partition, I'd start with IMR 4350. Should be easy to get 3000+ fps...a great deer load.

With repsect to the 90 gr Sierra, actually Sierra lists it as a varmit bullet. I'd suggest something a little heavier for deer.

[ 09-12-2003, 03:06: Message edited by: olarmy ]

Like Ken Waters has said for years, 100gr with 46gr 4350 takes care of everything. Use Hornady or Partitions for deer and Ballistic Tips for varmints.

I like the Speer 120 w/ Re19.

VV N160 and a 120 grs Rem PSPCL, Rem cases, can't remember primer brand off hand. Max in my Mauser was about 48.0 grs, approach from below.
- mike

Stonecreek,
I used the Sierra 90gr HPBT for about six seasons on whitetail deer here in Louisiana with good results ...most of the time. Sierra used to list it as a "Gameking" bullet and I found it to do very well as long as you stay away from strong quartering shots . At 3400 fps it would always exit on broadside shots. If you hit the ball socket in the shoulder it would sometimes fragment but I never lost an animal. I took about 25-30 deer with it before switching to the 100gr Nosler Partition . The reason I switched was because of a shot at a deer quartering towards me that struck the shoulder ball joint. The deer was down in 35 yards but with NO blood trail. I have an uncle that has used this bullet exclusively for years and has taken in the neighborhood of 140 head of deer with it. Will it work for smallish deer ? I know it will.

Goat,

Thanks for the run-down on the 90 Sierra HPBT. It sounds like it should be fine at .25 Remington velocities. I may just take the old rifle out this year to kill my annual doe.

No question that 4350 is an acceptable powder in the Roberts. But whatever it will do with a 100 grain bullet, H4831 will do better. If you don't mind sorting out which lot you have to figure out its particular burning rate, the excellent RL 22 would do well also.

I forgot to mention that I always treated the Roberts as a "grown-up" cartridge and loaded it to the same relative pressures as a .270 or any other "modern" rimless cartridge in a bolt rifle. Even the +P factory loadings in the Roberts are some bit short of the cartridge's potential.

Goat,
I have a Ruger #1 in 257 Roberts I bought back in 1982. I uses 120gr Hornady bullets over 45gr of IMR 4350. I've killed mule deer up to 300 yd with this load. Work up to this load as it is on the hot side. My rifle is long throated and has a 26'' barrel.