Had a great time at the range today.
Got off to a frustrating start , as my new lever action .308 was shooting rings around my semi spendy custom Roberts.
But after shooting up about half of each of my loads , I decided to run a brass brush through the barrel.
Instant fix.
Don't know why , it was very clean when I left home. I did leave some tetra gun in it after cleaning at home and mabye that was the culprit.
At the range I used outers gun oil, and things got better real fast.
Like 2, 3 shot groups with a 100 grain hornady over 45.5 grains of H-4350 comming in at .53 and the 2nd best group I ever shot with any rifle, .18. YIKES !
My good old load from my Ruger of a 100 grain tsx over 46 grains of H-414 at .55 and .50. Might be just a webit warm in this old springfield ,rifle. I,ll back off .2.
And I finaly got a good group with noslers 110 grain Acubond at reasonable speed. Using
V-N160 at 42.5 grains I got .073. But I only had 4 rounds left to shoot of that load the 4th was a called flyer , as the guy next to me squeezed on off at the wrong time.
I am happy as hell with the 2 ,100 grain loads I will need to chrony them to see how good of a mule deer loads they are.
The stinker of the day was sierra 120 Grain HP over 45.5 grains of RL-22.
Not that bad really at 1.28 but why shoot that when clearly I have some other really good loads with very good bullets.?
...tj3006

45.0 grains of H-4350 behind Nosler 100 grain Partitions is accurate in my Ruger 77 Roberts.

45.5 grains of IMR 4350 and Sierra's 100 grain BTSP has been a long time favorite of mine. 117s are also worth the effort, and no Mule deer buck I've seen yet has stood up against one.

Keep thinking of building a Roberts on my old Serb 24/47. Always had a fondness for the round. Congrats on those groups!

I think it is interesting that all these loads are with 100 grain bullets. My 257R is also most accurate with the 100 grain bullets, folowed by the 117 grain bullets. I have had limited sucess with the 120's.
Peter.

a 24,47 ?
Not a mauser I am familiar with. Is it a large or small ring ? I asume its a 98.
I have shot all sorts of bullets through my 2 rifles chamberd for the Roberts.
With verying sucsess.
I have a bunch of 120 grain partitions I am saving for my AI, and my 25,06.
I think they would work fine in the Roberts but at 2750 thats prety slow. I can get around and over 3100 With a 100 grain and where I hunt that can be a comfort...tj3006

It just seems to me that the 100 grain bullet and the 257 Roberts are a marriage made in heaven. When my step dad came home from WW II, the first rifle he had built was a 257 Roberts, and he never used any other bullet than a 100 grain one.

Don

DMB you may be right. I may be "pissing in the wind" trying to get mine to shoot 120's as well as it shoots the 100s. What is odd though, is the the 117s shoot so well!
Peter

Peter.
I am beginning to think sometimes the more I learn about guns , the less good it does me.
I am just kidding of course, but so often this crazy hobby of ours,(obsession in my case)
come up with such an unpredictable result that all I can do is laugh.
Your problems with a 120 grain bullet being an example. Why would 3 grain difference in bullet weight matter ?
Try this one unpredictable result I am very happy to have.
I bought a lever action .308 a couple weeks ago.
A winchester 88.
I have all these stony point (now Hornady) gagets to help me pick the right overall length.
And seat the bullet close to the lands , and I Can't use them for this rifle.
I have to load for the mag length anyway. I am sure I am at very close to .125 off the lands and shooting an old lever action, I figured 1.5 inches for 3 rounds at 100 yards is probably what I wolud have to settle for.
My 1st 3 shot group was .585, and it has proved to be no fuke.
Completly unpredictable , but while I am scratching my head, you can bet I am grinning ear to ear...tj3006

I used a Roberts for many years when I was in high school, shot a lot of deer and Antelope with it and even one bear that wonder onto our ranch, it was a great gun...

I think however that I prefer the little 250-3000 Savage over about any 25 caliber. Every 250-3000 that I have owned was a tack driver and they can be made very light indeed, and I have had such wonderful success in the way of killing game with them that I could hardly ask for more.....Also it comes in the neat little Savage 99s....

Cant ague with you ray !
I was looking at an old 99 take down in .250 savge on monday.
It was old , long barrel and an old lyman reciever site.
The actionwas prety darn tight and I would love to give it a new home.
But right now I need a couple of scopes.
And I have a rifle at my smiths that is going to cost me a buck or 2.
But I could certainly see my self trying my luck with that lttle cartridge and slick onl rifle.
If I could develop skill with the peep I would love to hunt does with it.
But I just like cool old guns and cartridges...tj3006

The Roberts is such a miserable joy to reload. I now have 4 loads I'm working with that all shoot 1" or better.

100gr. SGK's, 110 AB's, 117 SST, and 117 SGK - doesn't seem to matter what I throw down the tube - it all shoots well.

Oh, bullet aside I only use H4350. Superb results.

Yep, I gotta get some more H-4350,
I really think that acubond is a good bullet. A 416 BC is prety darn good fpr a .257.
When my AI Roberts is finaly in hand, with its 25 inch tube , that bullet at 3000 plus would be geat on any deer lope caribu.
Gonna shoot up the last of my H-4350 under the last 7 acubonds I had this weekend.
...tj3006

Thomas, you'll love that 257AI. I got mine in hand last year and promptly took it to Alaska on a 'Bou hunt. My partner ranged the shot at just under 250 yards, and the bull was bedded down in tall grass. I put him to sleep with one shot directly behind the head. The load was a Sierra 120 gr HPBT sitting atop 48 gr of H4831SC. Don't ask about velocities as I had just enough time to develop an accurate load last year before hunting started. I'll chronograph it in the next month or so to see just what those bullets are doing for speed. By the way, I loaded some rounds with IMR4350 as per the current Sierra manual, and I had BIG pressure problems in that AI. I used some of the load data off this site to develop my loads.

Thomas,

I'm glad you got your 257 Roberts to shoot well.
I have an FN Mauser in 257 Roberts that I bought for $200 at a gun show a few years ago. It's been a bit of a project to get it to shoot well. With jacketed bullets from Hornady or Sierra in 117 or 120 grain bullets the best groups were right at 1.8 inches, which is OK, but I thought that the gun could do better. I called Barnes for a load for their 100 grain TSX. The final story is that the little Bob will shot into less than an inch consistently with velocities near 3100 fps. A very fine Wyoming Antelope fell to that load last fall.


Cheers,

Larry

So what is your load for the 100grain TSXs? I have tried the 115s with some success. Having said that I do have other loads for the 257 and 100 grain bullets that are extremely good.It is the 120s that give me fits.
Peter.

Both of my Roberts rifles like a charge of 46 grains of H-414, under the 100 grain tsx.
My Ruger shoots it real well and so does my custom springfield.
I use fed 210 match primers and winchester brass...tj3006