Roberts' Fans

Not to divert, but I just finished rereading Ned Robert's "The Muzzle Loading Caplock Rifle"......never had a 257 but did have a 250 Savage. Not a lot of difference between the ballistics and it is too bad they have become somewhat obsolescent...but a long way from obsolete.
400 bucks would be a steal on a Savage, if it has the accutrigger and a decent stock. Never saw or had a Savage or a 700 Rem that wouldn't shooot.

I have a BLR in 257 Roberts



The Roberts has the longer range capabilities of the 308 & 30-06 (out to about 400yds anyway), the ME of a standard 303 British round, and almost no recoil. My rifle weighs in at 7lbs with all the stuff on it and you can just about hold the gun one handed while shooting it the recoil is that light. I can shoot the flapper at 100 all day long without really trying with my 257.

I have 3.

I could stand to sell off 2 of them, but I wouldn't be without at least 1.

What's not to like, mild recoil and great accuracy.

Great deer caliber. I have a Ruger Hawkeye ultralight in .257 Roberts and love it.

I have a beautiful little one custom built on a '95 Mauser (cause it's light, that's why) with a beautiful Zebrawood stock. Dang near no recoil. I wouldn't use it for Elk or Moose (unless I had to) but for Mule deer, Whitetail etc, yep. And it's going with me on my SD antelope hunt this year. (Assuming I get drawn...) There are some legendary calibers IMHO. .257 Roberts, 7x57 Mauser, 30-06, 9.2x62, .375 H&H, to name some...

257 Roberts makes a slick little deer rifle.
I have one that is a loaner for kids on their first hunt.
It has worked every time.

Be safe and have fun.
-steve

Bob's great. You'll probably NEver find range Brass though. I don't agree with "no recoil" but lighter than 308. You can always ream it out to 257ai and pretty much match 25-06.

I have loaded down a few 115gr/117gr loads that are actually a pleasure to shoot. High 2300 to high 2600 FPS seem to be the ticket. You seem to feel it more, even though it's still light, at 2850 on upward. (115 to 117gr)

Couple of targets recently shot, M700, 22" Shilen #5, 1:10 twist. I didn't chrono the RE-19 44gr/100gr Nosler that day, but with 46 gr of RE-19, I had 2783 FPS avg.



And yes, the Berger loads are seated long for the Bob. and are single loaded.

Those older M70 257s were built on long actions, lot of potential for reloaders there. Just sayin....

I have to wonder if its a missprint. I dont think savage ever chambered the roberts. I know of late theyve brought the 250-3000 back in there bolt guns and id bet thats what it is. Either way there both fine whitetail rounds and i wouldnt be without either.

If I'm not mistaken, the Roberts is pretty much just a 7X57 necked down to .25

Walt

not a parent case

I have a 1950 vintage win. mod. 70 supergrade .257 Roberts. This is a fine deer rifle and when loaded right a real woodchuck rifle. I've had a few offers and refused them all.
To day we don't hear too much about this cartridge it's still around and will be for some time. Go for it lizziedog1, you will not be disappointed

If I'm not mistaken, the Roberts is pretty much just a 7X57 necked down to .25

Click to expand...

That is correct. The 7x57 Mauser is the parent case of the 257. The case was necked down for .257 caliber bullets.

When I saw you mention the Roberts and the Cabelas flyer, I thought you'd mention the real jewel...the Model 70 Super-Grade Lightweight .257 Roberts

I love the Bob, but I'm not big on the Savage rifles, mainly based on aesthetics.

I currently have three Bobs:

Kimber 84M Classic Select
Ruger Ultralight (as pictured above)
Winchester M70 pushfeed (unscoped, unfired)

I say get it if you like Savage rifles, the Bob's a great deer cartridge!

Roberts history

Noted gun-wrriter, Ned Roberts experimented with the 7x57 cartridge necked down to .257 in the late 1920s and early 1930s. In 1934 Remington standardized this wildcat to the .257Roberts. Lyman however mentions one may encounter some brass with different rim dimentions. I have never come accross any of this.

I have one in an old Ruger 77 (tang safety). As much as I love it, Its becoming expensive to shoot if you only use factory ammo. If your a reloader though, its the near perfect cartridge.

Holy Smokes

Winchester is making the 257 Roberts in a Shot Show model. Long action to boot.

http://www.winchesterguns.com/products/catalog/detail.asp?mid=535109&family=001C

dryhumor if i had 1600 bucks laying around id love to pick one up in 257 and 264!

I hear ya.

"I even read somewhere that it was decribed as the most useful cartridge developed." - It can be if you handload.

"Lyman however mentions one may encounter some brass with different rim dimentions. I have never come accross any of this." - Only if you are playing with 80 yr old brass. There are two types of modern brass for the Roberts. "regular" & "plus P".

My only experience with .257 Roberts, is a 5 shot all touching cluster out of a Ruger 77 tang safety @ 100 yds, some twenty years ago.
That rifle (not mine) has over two dozen deer under its bolt and a bunch of Yotes as well. And yes the 7x57 mauser is its daddy!
Great cartridge and flat shooting ala .25-06

I built one last fall for my son on a Savage short action. My first Savage. I let a buddy swap me out of my last Roberts (Rem 722) a few years ago and just wanted another in the family. I got along okay with the Rem short actions and I like the shorter bolt throw, so I used a Savage .243. Barrel swap was no problem and it shoots about 3/4" after 25 round breakin, with a cheap barrel, plastic stock and a decent accutrigger. I might be concerned about ammo if I wasn't a reloader.
It's not magical, but a nice non-magnum that's plenty for our deer here and the son put down 2 and he really isn't a gun guy. He did say nobody else in deer camp had heard of the caliber and he had to go through the short history lesson I had given him about Ned and show them the headstamp so they would believe him.