257 Roberts Help

[Slamfire]

Accuracy was better with better bullets seated closer to the lands, but claims of great increases in velocity are suspect. The gain in working volume is small, what they were doing to get higher velocity was loading to higher pressure.

It has been medically proven that long seating of 257 Roberts will lower your cholesterol!

Or not.

In Jan 2023 there was an industry roll out of the 7mm PRC cartridge. Did you not hear the Archangel's trumpet announcing this to the world? And the whole reason for this introduction of a new cartridge and gun, infinitesimally different from from an earlier 7mm cartridge, is "the cartridge keeps the bullet's bearing surface above the neck/shoulder junction".

If that is reason enough to introduce a new cartridge, than seating a bullet out on a 257 Roberts has to be an earth shaking event!

I can't quantify pressure versus velocity. But, given the claims of the supernatural qualities of Ackley Improved cartridges, where the air space increases are probably less, surely something miraculous will happen by long seating a 257 Roberts bullet. Won't hurt.

 

[codytrucker]

It's always seemed crazy to me that the same basic case , with a 6MM bullet has the highest pressure of any on a .473 casehead , and with a .257 bullet has the lowest . I always wanted to section some cases and see if there is actually any difference . If you can find 6MM brass you could load .257 Roberts up to +++p++ ( about 65,000 psi) and with 3.3 inch loads be very close to 25-05 . Of course if one wants a 25-06 , well , they make 'em .I've got both , and I'm not getting rid of either .

 

[rabid wombat]

Better brass availability….

.257 Roberts Brass

In-stock best prices for 257 Roberts Brass | Bulk 257 Roberts Brass - AmmoSeek.com

ammoseek.com

limited ammo, still…

.257 Roberts Ammo

In-stock best prices for 257 Roberts Ammo | Cheap 257 Roberts Ammunition - AmmoSeek.com

ammoseek.com

 

[Trey Veston]

My first hunting rifle was a Winchester in .257 Robert's.

I still have it, but not the original scope. I searched for a new one, but couldn't find any. I will probably pay the high price for a nice used Leopold on ebay.

 

[tmd16556]

The cartridge can take some more power than the SAAMI standard (the question is whether your gun can). I have my great grandfather’s rifle and loading notes from the 1930s when it was the 6.5 Creedmoor of the day. I put some old loads into GRT (IMR 3031 has been around a while, DuPont HiVel, not so much) and found he was running full 30-06 pressures. The rifle is built on a Springfield action, so it has a long magazine too. He never loaded too long since light and fast was the mantra of the era.

The hardest part was losing a lot of old brass to powder deterioration. If I were a bad person, I’d clean it and sell it, but it got sent to the “art project“ brass bucket. They make lovely little de-zincified wind chimes. I still have enough 1x fired Peters from 1955 and some early 2000s factory REM loads to work with. I also got lucky looking in a pile of “stuff” at a gun shop that was going out of business a few years back. I wound up with about 50 pieces of Hornady brass in decent condition.

It’s out there, but takes a bit of luck finding it.

 

[Jim Watson]

The cartridge can take some more power than the SAAMI standard (the question is whether your gun can).

If a Model 54, Model 70, or Model 30 can take the .270, I doubt a souped up .257 will put much of a load on it.
If you have reamed out your Spanish Mauser .25 Roberts wildcat to take .257 Remington Roberts, why does that require the ammo companies to load it down to suit the weaker action? But they did.

 

[Weflyfast]

Hornady does limited runs on their .257 75 grain Vmax bullets- .....turns the Bob into quite a varmint rifle-

I have an older Rem and like many others have said 117 gr bullets are about as heavy as I can go- the 85gr-100gr shoot exellent, with groups well under an inch -

Nice to keep the old calibers going-

 

[IWAC]

Don’t buy the $$$ Nosler brass.

Buy the PPU 6mm Remington brass.
Simply run it thru a .257Roberts sizer die and VOILA’ , you have a .257Roberts case!
I’ve been shooting/loading/hunting a .257 for 40yrs!
Nothing better!
My wife and both daughters killed there deer with it.

https://www.grafs.com/catalog/product/productId/168
https://www.grafs.com/catalog/product/productId/75153

Here are your bullets, too!
I use a 10cent pencil sharpener to uniform the bullet meplats.
But they shoot fine anyhow.

For a gloss scope, a used Leupold may be your best bet.
They have a lifetime warranty!

https://www.ebay.com/itm/394453893793

This is what mine wears
https://www.ebay.com/itm/144940937951

Good choice of caliber! The parent brass for the 257 Roberts is the 7 X57 mm Mauser, and the 6mm Remington is the same case. Their brass is readily available, and Starline is likely a good source, probably less expen$ive, too. The 257 Roberts brass can be made from either of the two easily...the 6mm easier....running it through a 257 die to expand the neck... .244 to .257. If they are still avaailable, get one of the expanding spindles with a Carbide expander ball. It makes things easier, and lube the case interior before expanding the neck. Good Luck!

 

[IWAC]

The .257 Roberts was, and probably still is, a very popular round in Texas. My Remington 722 probably killed a semi-truckload of Kerr and Bandera county white tails over the decades, and other ranchers in that area also used the .257 and .250-3000 to great effect for their hunting. Light recoil and plenty of juice for the native game and much of the smaller exotics like fallow/axis deer, mouflon, aoudad, blackbuck, etc.

One observation; many standard-twist .257 Roberts rifles do not like long 120 grain bullets or the really long, boat tail all-copper offerings, as they don’t stabilize well without a faster twist rate. The happy zone is 100 grains or so for the twist rate of most .257 Roberts rifles, so if you find accuracy so-so with heavier bullets, like I did with my 722, try some 100 grain loads before quitting on the gun.

Good luck, you have bought a great caliber and rifle for your wife… and you, too.

Stay safe.

My experience with two 257s is that 100 gr bullets do very well, but the 120s are not far behind. I could not get 115 gr. SSTs to shoot well at all, but 117 was very good. That can probably be credited to differences in the individual rifles...although IMO.1 1/2 in. accuracy at 100 yards is plenty.
A fellow, John Barsness did an article in either the Handloader or Rifle magazines called "Loads that work". Good information for many calibers, including the 257.
John made a statement concerning the 257 that should be of help, because reloading components now are expen$ive, and may require some $$ in ga$ to pick up. He said "I generally stick to H4350 or IMR 4350 in the Bob, about 46-47 gr. with 100-grain bullets and 43-44 with 115-120s. Have generally found that if the 4350s will not shoot with .25 caliber big game bullets, there is either something wrong with the bullets or the rifle."

 

[Riomouse911]

My experience with two 257s is that 100 gr bullets do very well, but the 120s are not far behind. I could not get 115 gr. SSTs to shoot well at all, but 117 was very good. That can probably be credited to differences in the individual rifles...although IMO.1 1/2 in. accuracy at 100 yards is plenty.

Yeah, every gun is an individual. For whatever reason the Hornady 117 gr BT bullets were like a shotgun in my 722, as are the Rem 117 RN loads. I found Nosler Partition 120’s were better, but still not great. This rifle has a happy place with a 100 gr bullet, as does a friend’s Ruger .257 Roberts. Too bad Winchester discontinued the 100 gr silvertip, it was this guns favorite.

And you are right, 1 1/2” @ 100 yds is plenty good to put meat in the freezer.

Stay safe.

 

[rabid wombat]

I think 257 Roberts cases are derived from 7x57… if so, a bargain here… https://www.thehighroad.org/index.p...s-7mm-6-5x55-nos-10-box.920892/#post-12709719