I am looking at a new caliber for hunting deer and antelope. Shots would range in the 200-300 yard range. Which caliber would be the better choice?

Ed[&:][img]

BOth good cartridges for your purpose..I would concentrate on getting the right platform to launch one of them.

I like them both, but since you mentioned antelope around 200-300yds,
I would have pick the 25-06 IMO.

The 25-06 offers a bit more powder capcity. Where I live there are more available loads for the 25-06. I have used the 257 Roberts and 250 Savage as well as the 25-06 The 25-06 is the most versitile. I love all three of these quarter bores.

specialed43,
I have no experience with a 257 Bob, but I have used a 25-06 for years and would highly recommend it for what you want to use the rifle for. I routinely shoot whitetail deer at those ranges and they never go very far, most just drop. I use 90-100 gr HPBT's and the results are wonderful.

I have a 257 AI ( Roberts with a 40 degree shoulder) that gets close to 25-06 speed .
I built it out of a FN action
23" E R Shaw barrel

I shoots sub inch with about any load with me shooting ,others have sub 1/2" groups with it .

I would recomend the AI over the standard 257 Roberts .
You can shoot factory 257 Roberts ammo in a pinch or to fire form ,I varmit hunt with Hornady 75 gr V max to fire form new cases.
You get all but about 100 fps of the 25-06 but with about 6 grains less powder.

I hate to admit it but if you don"t reload the 25-06 would be a better choice

Either will work great when you find a good shooting load.

Johnch

Ok, I don't mean to ruffle folks feathers here, but why a 25caliber? The 257Roberts is nice, but the newer 260Rem. seems to me would be a lot better choice, or if recoil is a consideration there's the 6.5x55 too.
As for the 25-06, I had one once. It turned rockchucks inside-out, and shoots flat enough for any pronghorn hunting, and hits hard enough for mule deer. Okay so far.
But, it recoils just as much as any 270Win. I ever used (with 130gr. bullets), so why go with the smaller bullets? I'll stick with a 270Win. A more versatile cartridge, I think.

I find that the 25-06 has less recoil than the 270 by a fair bit. However I shoot mostly 100 grain bullets in the 25-06. I feel that all the 25's except for maybe the 257 Weatherby are at their best with 100 grain bullets. My 6.5x55 However has little recoil even with 140 grain bullets because its a converted mauser and is fairly heavy. One 6.5x55 still has the military wood on it and its really heavy. When I am in the mood for a fast scraemer deer gun, I drag out the 25-06 with 100 grain Ballistic tips. When I want them dead in their tracks I take the 6.5x55 out.( Or the 308 ) I quess the 25-06 usually drops them in their tracks but he 6.5x55 has never required a second shot over many years of hunting.

if you handload the 257 rob. if not then the 25-06 will be much better round for your needs. but like virginia i would rather a 270 in my hands then a 25-06 any day for deer, and antelope

Agreed. You will find a lot more factory offerings for the 25-06 than the 257 and it shoots much flatter. If you handload then either is fine.

This hasn't been my experience at all. All the 25-06's I've shot including the one I own now (which is a pretty light weight rifle) have been pretty mild on recoil. Noticably less than a 270. Not that a 270 is that bad but still noticably less.

If you go with a 25-06 I'd recommend a rifle with a 24 inch barrel for optimum performance.