243 vs 257 Roberts

[egnash]

Help me out here.

I'm looking for a medium weight varmit rifle with an occasional deer thrown in.

The 243 and the 257 Roberts have been bantered about and I need some more input from all the good people on this forum who have had experience with either, or both, of these fine cartridges.

I'm already aware that I would most likely be able to find factory ammo for the 243 at almost any little gas station/convenience store out in the country whereas the 257 Roberts is primarily a 'shoot what you brung' proposition so we can leave that out of the mix.

Thanks for your help.

 

[mattw]

My primary deer rifle for mississippi white tail is a remington model 700 ADL in .243. I am thinking about using my Springfield armory M1A for this season, but I would have to use iron sights as I do not have a scope mount for it. Maybe I'll stick with the .243 until I can get more practice in with the M1A.

On topic: I used a .243 to take a 275lb 7 point a few years go. One shot directly through the heart at about 125 meters from a tree stand overlooking a small stream in the middle of a thicket.

I like the .243, very light recoil in a bolt action, probably next to nothing in a semi-auto rifle, good ballistics for short-range small to medium game. I've shot a turkey with that same model 700 in .243. I wouldn't recommend doing that if you want to eat the turkey unless you're a really good shot. I hit it just a few inches below my POA and it made a big mess.

I've never even heard of the .257 roberts until now but I like .243

 

[Oshiverdecker]

.243 East coast, .257 West Coast

I like them both, but the .257 is very much a loaders gun. If you ever hunt Mulies or bigger I'd go with the .257. If not you will save yourself a lot of hassel with the .243. Or even better get a 22-250 and a 300 mag. I'd make room in my safe for them both.

 

[capnrik]

You can't go wrong, either way, especially if you are a hand loader. I have a very old Rem 700 in 6mm Remington, which is really just a necked down .257 Roberts. In truth, I think both the 6mm and the Roberts were necked down from the 7mm Mauser.

Great rounds all.

 

[cmb3366]

To put it bluntly, Same Schit, Different Name . Either will throw 100GR bullets 3000 FPS, and there is only .014" of diameter difference between them. Get whichever seems more exciting to you.

 

[egnash]

To put it bluntly, Same Schit, Different Name . Either will throw 100GR bullets 3000 FPS, and there is only .014" of diameter difference between them. Get whichever seems more exciting to you.

When you put it that way, it makes a lot of sense...

 

[SwampWolf]

I've had real good success with my Ruger 77 Roberts for whitetail using 117 gr. Rem CoreLocs. I would imagine the .243 would be almost as effective. Personal opinion based on personal experience only.

 

[osteodoc08]

I've used my .243 that I got as my first hunting rifle, I've shot a few deers to know that it does well. My longest shot was a little over 200 yards and tbullet mushroomed perfectly. I reloaded and I really liked the heavy Nosler BT and the lighter Barnes X bullets in this caliber. Good gun. My wife shot her first 2 deer with it on her first day out hunting within 20 minutes of eachother! Dropped them both in thier tracks.

 

[MachIVshooter]

Get the best of both worlds; 6mm rem. The 6mm will achieve higher velocities with 55 or 60 grain varmint bullets than the .243, and will equal the performance of the .257 Roberts with heavier projectiles. The 6mm is based on the .257 Roberts case (which was based on the 7x57). So it has both a larger case capacity than the 243 as well as a longer neck, which is advantageous for handloading. And it offers a flatter trajectory than the .257 Roberts. Downside is, the 6mm has about the same commercial availability as the .257. The .243 is much more popular than either. Also, AFAIK Remington and Ruger are the only domestic manufacturers that chamber 6mm rem.

Or you could go .25-06. I use mine on everything from praire rats to bull elk. It will achieve over 3700 FPS with 75 gr. HP's and my hunting load is either a 117 gr. Sierra GK at 3194 FPS or a 100 gr. Barnes TSX at 3565 FPS. Of course, there is more recoil than with the aformentioned. It is still quite mild, but it kinda wears on you when you're out blasting dozens of praire rats in a short time. When I go rat shootin', my principle guns are my .17 rem and my .223. I use the .25-06 for really long or high wind shots. Also, many ammunition manufacturers load the .25-06, and with a wide variety of bullets. All major rifle manufacturers chamber it. It is difficult to argue that any other smallbore rifle cartridge is as versatile. Power-wise it is really a midbore, nearly .270 class. Heck, same case.

Happy hunting!

 

[Byron]

I have killed deer with both but my favorite is the 257 Roberts. I reload the Hornady 117 BTSP and it works. The same loading is available from Hornady in factory ammo. Yes, the Roberts can be handloaded hotter but the factory Hornady ammo will do all you want it to. The Remington 117 has a good reputation. It is a round nose and loaded at lower velocity than the Hornady.
Byron

 

[Sam]

Folks will tell you that teh 243/6mm will equal the 257 with equal weight bullets. true as far as it goes. Where you gonna get a 243/6mm using 120/125 gr bullets.

If your primary shooting will be groundhogs, get the 243.
If you are gonna kill deer, get a 257.

Sam

 

[scubie02]

I can pretty much guarantee that the deer will never know the difference

 

[mustanger98]

I've seen what a .243Winchester stoked with 100gr Winchester PowerPoint launched from a Model 70 will do to a deer at 147yds. It was my Daddy's deer. One shot, one kill. Get the .243 and go for it.

FWIW, I recall a couple of guys talking about .257 vs. .243 while discussing a custom rifle project. IIRC, .243 won based on a wider variety of component bullets available as opposed to only two or three .257 component bullets.

 

[MarineTech]

I own a Ruger M77Mk2 in .257 and love it and the caliber. With that said though, unless you load your own ammo, go for the .243. Factory offerings for the .257 Roberts are slim and you're not going to find ammo anyplace you go. The .243 is much more widely available.

 

[Bigfoot]

What rifle do you prefer? I believe only Ruger chambers the Roberts. While your rifle shopping throw the 260 into the mix also, the .243 is all you need for these little Blacktail but you might want to go on a Muly hunt on the east side and the 257/264 bullet diameter will help you there.

 

[WHITEY338]

Having owned both rifles, one a Ruger MKll in the .243 and the .257 on a Mauser action. Having hunted both coastal blacktails and SE Oregon mulies with both I would lean towards the .257. I handload the 100 gr. Nosler Ballistic Tips for it and on the first of this month , for the 3rd year in a row, killed the hell out of a fat little mulie buck. The .243 with 95 grain Ballistic Tips never demonstrated the kind of effectiveness that I have witnessed. It could be that I never had the same angles with it at the same distances, but end result is I think the 257 works better. The biggest drawback to the 257 is the horrible factory ammo availible, with the exception of the 120 grain nosler loaded by Federal which one of my other hunting partners shoots with moderate accuracy and results. But therein is the problem, the 257 ,I believe, is at its best with 100 grain bullets. But if you don't handload then you're kinda hosed. I keep hoping that someone is going to load the new 110 grain Accu-bond for my hunting partner, probably Federal. As far as varmints go, I never had much with the 243 but I have seen the 257 absolutely plant a lot of coyotes.