257 Roberts Build

[Scrumbag]

Hello folks,

Am wondering about a .257 Roberts build.

Why:

Where I hunt .243 is the effective minimum for deer
I like using heavier bullets so the Bob handles them better (Thinking 105-120gr)
Seems to have a nice flat trajectory
Not everyone has one...

So, my proposed battery would be:

.22lr - Bunny Gun
.223 Rem - Target and fox (small deer - Muntjac & CWD)
.257 Roberts - Fox and all deer (Also as my build no iron sights so could moderate it)
7x64 - general deer rifle (Think .270W with 7mm pills or 280 Rem)
9.3x62 - my iron sighted piggy rifle

My question is: is the Bob too close to the 7x64?

KR,

Scrummy

 

[HOOfan_1]

Nah, 7x64 sounds about like a .280 Remington...maybe a tiny bit more powerful. I would say that is a good desl more powerful than the. 257 Roberts. Sure their usefulness overlaps, but that never stopped me from buying what suits my fancy.

 

[HexHead]

Step up to a .257 Weatherby Magnum.

 

[beatledog7]

Build the Bob.

 

[mgmorden]

.257 Roberts should work well for your needs. I will say that it is pretty close to the 7x64, but that's just because IMHO there's not a whole lot of room for an "in between" cartridge between that an a .223. The .257 Roberts does fit that narrow in-between role though.

And the reality is that if you want more power than a .243 there's not a whole lot else to look at between the two.

 

[headoftheholler]

Excellent old school rounds, but you need a 6.5x55 bad.

 

[j1]

If I knew about the Roberts earlier I might never have bought my 06.

 

[greyling22]

there are still schools of thought that say the 257 roberts is the closes thing to the elusive "all round caliber" ever made. I like mine fine, though I find the 223 gets shot a lot more since I mostly just plink around at the range. Brass is getting hard to find though. I'd be more tempted to build a 7mm-08 just for the better availability of brass.

 

[longknife12]

Every Roberts I have ever shot was nice. With out a doubt, go for it!
Dan

 

[Scrumbag]

Excellent old school rounds, but you need a 6.5x55 bad.

Brass is the one thing that slightly bugs me. How easy is it to neck down 7x57?

Please don't tell me I need a Swede... am seriously umming a loaner rifle in the chambering...

 

[1948CJ2A]

The 257 Roberts is a great round, as is the 7x57 & 6.5x55. Several years ago I built a 250-3000 Savage. It's slightly smaller than the Bob in terms of cartridge capacity but really is an over-achiever. It's certainly worth considering as well.

 

[morcey2]

Brass is the one thing that slightly bugs me. How easy is it to neck down 7x57?

Please don't tell me I need a Swede... am seriously umming a loaner rifle in the chambering...

I've got a 257 Roberts and I really like it. As for forming brass, it's as simple as running the 7x57 through a 257 FL die. You may have to trim to length and there's a possibility that the necks may be a little thick and need to be turned, but probably not. It should work great.

On top of that, I'm building a 6.5x55 on a pre-butchered Gew 98 donor rifle. It's another one that I 'gotta have'.

Matt

 

[headoftheholler]

I agree with the consensus, have deer hunted with the bob for a couple years now, as I have also with a 6.5x55 & the 7x57, all 3 are classic cartridges that hit hard for their size and are also light on recoil.
My Bob, built off a KAR 88 receiver:

 

[Swampman]

@ Scrumbag
Go for the Bob, it'll give you considerably less recoil than the 7x64 while providing very good killing power on small to medium deer.

I don't know what availability is like on your side of the pond, but you might want to think about using 6mm Remington cases rather than 7x57 to form cases. Just FL size in a .257 die and you're GTG, they don't normally need trimming and the case necks don't thicken, doing away with the need to turn or ream them.

Check out the Ackley Improved version of the Bob. Case life is better, accuracy is at least equal and you can add a couple of hundred fps if you ever feel the need.

It's no 9.3x62, but loaded with Nosler 115 grain Partitions, my .257 Bob Improved has no trouble on pigs. You've got to place the bullets well and watch your angles, but my understanding of European boar hunting is that its not generally conducted with high capacity semi autos and a "kill 'em all" attitude, since they're a native game animal there.

 

[Arizona_Mike]

I have a .257 Roberts Ackley Improved and it is great. 26" #5B (by memory) semi-varminter profile. I built it in the .90s to cover the range from varmint to whitetail.

I was a grad poor student at the time and wanted one rifle. Now I would prefer a dedicated varminter in 5.56 or 6mm (I use 5.56 now) and would have gone with a 6.5x55 for light and medium game largely due to bullet selection.

Mike

 

[Slamfire]

If I were to start from scratch, I would find an action and magazine long enough to handle a 3.00” round (about 308 Win length). The current OAL is 2.775”, and for most rifles, that is magazine length as all the short actions I own are made to feed a 308 Win.

My pre 64 had a deep throat but a short magazine. The previous owner bought the parts for a long action conversion (all pre 64’s have the same receiver length, cartridge length was managed with part changes) and this allowed me to seat my bullets just off the lands, and to 2.930”. I think this was critical for the good accuracy I got because I was able to seat the bullet 0.030” off the lands instead of having the bullet jump about a quarter inch. Adding 0.2” allowed me to seat the bullets out and I think that would have allowed more powder, more velocity, at the same pressure, all things being equal.

My 257 Roberts liked the 4350 powders and shot very well with a 100 grain Sierra. Given that my loads pushed a 100 grain bullet just at 2800-2850 fps and maximum loads in my Nosler reloading manual show 3000 fps is possible, (with the 0.2 shorter round) I really wonder why the 243 was created. The Roberts can do it all!


The previous owner shot a number of deer with the 257 Roberts and said :"It works". Arguments over lethality can be pointless: just how much more than dead can you make a deer?

[SIZE="3"][B]Pre 64 M70 Featherweight  257 Roberts [/B]			
					
100 grain Sierra SP 44.0 grs IMR 4350 wtd, Lot RB 15 (60's) Fed 210S W-W brass 
OAL 2.930", 2.950" touched lands.			
					
19-Aug-13	T = 85 °F				
					
Ave Vel =	2849	 			 
Std Dev =	27				 
ES =	90	 			 
Low =	2795				 
High =	2885				 
N =	10			 	 
					
Normal looking primers, good group except for one flyer	
					
					
100 grain Sierra SP 45.0 grs H4350 wtd, Lot 22685 Fed 210S W-W brass 
OAL 2.930", 2.950" touched lands.			
					
19-Aug-13	T = 85 °F				
					
Ave Vel =	2822	 		 	 
Std Dev =	14			 	 
ES =	36	 		 	 
Low =	2802			 	 
High =	2838			 	 
N =	5			 	 
					
Excellent group, under 1 MOA			
					
100 grain Sierra SP 38.0 grs Varget wtd,  Lot 4292 Fed 210S W-W brass 
OAL 2.930", 2.950" touched lands.			
					
19-Aug-13	T = 85 °F				
					
Ave Vel =	2809	 		 	 
Std Dev =	12			 	 
ES =	28	 		 	 
Low =	2789			 	 
High =	2817			 	 
N =	5			 	 
					
About 3 MOA					[/SIZE]

 

[LAGS]

The perfect action to build the "Bob" on that is cheap and availabe is the surplus Yugo 24/47's or M-48's
I have two barrels in .257 Roberts and rifles to do just that when I get around to it, After I build another .308 Win, or a 7mm-08 on the same kind of action.
But one of the .257 barrels will be taken out to the Improved version, just for comparrison.

 

[Scrumbag]

That's very nice slamfire!

Now I just need to find a spare pre-64 Winchester kicking around...

 

[Scrumbag]

The perfect action to build the "Bob" on that is cheap and availabe is the surplus Yugo 24/47's or M-48's
I have two barrels in .257 Roberts and rifles to do just that when I get around to it, After I build another .308 Win, or a 7mm-08 on the same kind of action.
But one of the .257 barrels will be taken out to the Improved version, just for comparrison.

By the same token what about a Brazilian 7x57 by DWM (apparently 1908)?

 

[LAGS]

@ Scrumbag
The Brazilian will make a fine rifle in many different calibers.
But I mentioned the Yugo's because they are a Mid length action, and can not be properly taken out to a longer caliber like a 30-06 or .270.
But if I am correct, the Brazilian is the Longer action.
I pushed the limit with the 25-06 length in a 24/47, but it can not take the 25-06 Improved with the longer bullets without some modification, but for the shorter calibers like 243, 308 and 7mm08 the Yugo is perfect length.

 

[GooseGestapo]

Build the Roberts.

I've got one I had built on a Spanish (LaCarouna) M98 action). It's killed over 100 deer including my wife's and oldest daughters first.
I've owned many more rifles including those mentioned above (7mm08, .260Rem, .243wcf)) ect. Add in too, a Weatherby Vanguard in .257wby.
I still say build the Roberts. It will do essentially everything the 6.5's and 7mm's will. I can't tell that much difference, especially with 120gr bullets in the 6.5 and 140's in the 7mm's. It's definitely as good a varmint rifle as the .243 and a better deer rifle by a good margin.

My .257 is amazingly accurate even though is was built as a "ultra light Mountain Rifle" before they were called such. It' weighs 7lbs exactly loaded with 5rds. With a 2lb trigger pull (courtesy of a Timney trigger) it's a joy to hunt with. Kills deer all out of proportion to recoil/muzzleblast/ ect.

p.s. It was built with the so-called 3" chamber. Vastly over-stated. I've shot/owned/loaded for "regular" Roberts chambered rifles. For one, If I build another Roberts, it'll be in Remington Mod-7 action hence SAAMI or "short throat".

 

[Scrumbag]

Cheers GG!

I think I will go for it

 

[Arizona_Mike]

I have a pre-'98 '95 Mauser converted to cock on opening in .257 Roberts AI. 26" semi-Varminter (5A profile) Douglas barrel. Accurate as all hell.

You get bonus brownie points for keeping the Bob alive. I just wish the bullet selection was as good as .243 and .264.

Mike

 

[Txhillbilly]

Nothing wrong with the 257 Roberts,but if I was going to build a new rifle off a 243,it would be either a 6.5 Creedmoor or 260 Remington.
The bullet selection in .257 caliber is pretty far behind anything in the .264 caliber.

 

[Lloyd Smale]

ive got probably 30 bolt action rifles for hunting game. when it comes to deer hunting during normal hunting season when shots are rarely past 200 yards the 257 roberts has allways been my first choise. Ive had a number of 257 roberts rifles through the years. A model 70 257 was my second bolt action gun i owned and i dont remember a time since then when i didnt have one. Sure it isnt the greatest 400 yard cartrige but used like it was intended it kills well and has no recoil. Ive allways considered it a step above the 6mm guns and a step down from guns like the 280 so it fits nicely right in the middle. I try not to have two guns in the same caliber as i like some varity but the 06 and 257 allways have been an exception to that rule for me.