.257 Roberts

[MarkinND]

I currently shoot a 1909 Argintine Mauser chambered in .308win. I have always thought that the .257 Roberts would be a really good all around deer/varmit rifle. What are your comments, both good and bad. I have not decided what brand of rifle I want or I might build another Mauser to meet my needs. I have 2 brother-in-law's and my father-in-law all shoot .257 Roberts so they are a little partial to this caliber and I would like some unbiased opinions that might make my decision easier. Hopefully there will be some good deals at the gun show in Fargo this weekend.

Mark

[seattlesetters]

You would be hard-pressed to find a better cartridge for deer out to 300 yards or varmints to past bragging range. The .257 Roberts is a classic and one of the finest dual-purpose calibers we have.

Good Dogwork and Good Hunting

Edited by - seattlesetters on 12/30/2002 16:45:56

[diyj98]

At the risk of starting a flame war, Clay Harvey's book Rifle Cartridges doesn't list the Roberts with a whole lot of favor. He speaks of the cartridge as not being as accurate as many other choices. Those are his words, not mine. I'm sure someone else will chime with claims of 1/2" groups at 300 yards. We've all got our opinions.

I only have extended experience with one .257 Roberts. It's a Ruger 77 that we've never been able to coax much better than 2" groups at 100 yards out of. As far as performance on whitetails, it's taken 8 or 10 deer so far though. My cousin hunts with it and he's more than happy with the performance.

[dodgeram400]

I don't know if this is true but a friend of mine had one back in the 60's and he said he used to pick the heads off of grouse and quail out to 75 yards , i don't know alot but seams to me if you want somthing like that why not go with either a .243 or a .25-06 ,i also think ammo would be cheaper.

[RonM]

A few years back there was a person who has since passed away that was a notorious poacher, and used a .257 Roberts, it was said that he told people he couldnt wound them because he couldnt go around all night chasing them, they had to drop in their tracks. When I was a young Trooper on the road I almost caught him one night , but it wasnt in the cards for him I guess. I would have seized that infamous .257 ......

[thndrchiken]

I asked this very same question just about 2 months ago. I bought a Remington 700 ADL in 257 Roberts. Out of the box with 120 gr corlokts put up about 2.5 " inch groups with Hornady Custom 117 gr Interloks, reset zero and has been putting up sub moa groups. Real, real, let me say that again REAL mild recoil making it a great gun to shoot. You'll love it.

[aunsaber]

A friend has one build on a 98 mauser action. It's not benchrest material by no means but I would take it hunting any day. It is a very nice shooting rifle. Ammo is easy to find around here too.

[Vapodog]

The .257 Roberts is a better choice than the .243 because you can use up to 120 grain bullets and still be the equal as a varmint gun!! Mine is a model-70 featherweight and I dearly love it. I have two .25-06 rifles that I use too, but that little featherweight fits me so well.....

If you're into building guns, the .257 is a good choice. One of the real problems with that cartridge is that it's so often chambered in a short action gun. The magazines are real cramped and if you wish to load the 120 grain bullets, they have to be seated so deeply that you lose a lot of valuable powder capacity. The '98 mauser is good for that cartridge.

I see the .260 Remington as the equal of the .257....the .264 bullet being only .007 larger than the .257. And you can shoot much larger bullets in the .260.

The .257 Roberts is a helluva good round.....I'm sorry that it seemed to be "taken out" by the .243/6MM class of cartridges.

[nulle]

I have and do shoot the 257R and my kids grew up shooting it. This gun was made from and old ***. rifle and will put the eye out of a fox as well as drop deer and antelope where they stand.

February 2003 = tired and Re-tired cop