Likin' my 257 Roberts!

[DrMike]

Well done, Tom. Sounds like a great test for the lil' Bob!

 

[SJB358]

Great shooting Tom! It just doesn't get any better than that! Good job..

 

[Oldtrader3]

Tom, I am just kind of curious as to what the Mauser case will really do with some of the newer powders and loading up to SAAMI +P specs for the case design involved. Just kind of curious like with the .280 Rem, 160 Partition getting 3010 fps. I haven't done anything yet, just thinking.

I have never even blown a primer or bulged a case in nearly 50 years, not going to go crazy now. The 110 AccuBond may be the projectile for this testing job? Companies make claims from their labs sometimes, I am just curious if they are real or not.

 

[Bruce Mc]

Hodgdon reloading data shows a compressed load of 46gr of 100V will yield 3049 fps with a 115gr Partition. It also shows compressed loads of 48gr of powder in a 100gr for 3200 fps. 100V maybe the powder to push a 110 to 3100 fps.

 

[Oldtrader3]

At 3100 is kind of where my head is at. This also happens to be where I was "actually" pushing 110's in my .25-06 20 years ago.

 

[tddeangelo]

Tom, I am just kind of curious as to what the Mauser case will really do with some of the newer powders and loading up to SAAMI +P specs for the case design involved. Just kind of curious like with the .280 Rem, 160 Partition getting 3010 fps. I haven't done anything yet, just thinking.

I have never even blown a primer or bulged a case in nearly 50 years, not going to go crazy now. The 110 AccuBond may be the projectile for this testing job? Companies make claims from their labs sometimes, I am just curious if they are real or not.

I may mess with it a bit in the off-season, Charlie. Now that my last tag is punched, even though the season runs till the 28th, I'm done.

I put up for sale the Leupold VariX-II that's on the rifle (figured I'd try on HuntingPA first, since they love Leupy's over there, lol) in hopes of grabbing a Minox before the open-box prices vaporize. I figured I'd start getting serious about re-scoping that rifle. It has Warne rings on weaver-style bases, so I'm ok with the mounts. I just want some more optical acuity than the old Leupold provides. When shooting that rifle alongside my '06 with a Conquest and my 300WSM with a VX7, it's just real easy to tell that I'm not seeing the target like I could be.

My current load shoots superbly, and has now twice demonstrated great on-game performance. It's a good load, and when my daughters are ready to hunt, they'll be able to shoot that load in that rifle with little concern about recoil.

But that doesn't stop me from keeping my notes on that load and now searching for some more speed. If I could run it up north of 2900 even, that'd be pretty cool. Reaching an honest 3k would be awesome, especially in that 22" barrel of the featherweight I have.

By the way, Cabela's just publicized a that they've partnered with Winchester to sell a Model 70 SuperGrade Lightweight in 257 Bob. A mere $1800 gets one! Sounds pricey till one sees pre-'64 SG's in 257 going at 2x that price.

 

[Oldtrader3]

Wow, if I have $1800, I would probably pretty seriously consider buying that Cabela's offering. However, I just sold/gave away two rifles (including a 1947 Win Mod94). Plus I have a pretty nice rifle that I traded for to Bill, for a Marlin 1895.

I just filed the cheekpiece to make it fair into the stock better and make the transition on both sides nice and smooth. I had filed and sanded the stock finish down to 600 grit. I put 10 coats of Truoil on the stock and then used an (extra fine) pumice-pad to lower gloss the entire old finish on the stock to a French luster. I did not get every beauty mark out, just the obvious ones. I am going to pillar bed the rear action screw next.

Now if this .257 Roberts will shoot nearly as well as it looks, I will have something. I have a 2.5-8x32 Conquest on it now but may put a bigger scope on, I want to see how it shoots first. Accuracy trumps velocity on the project and even though I am curious about what the cartridge will do if fully extended.

 

[tddeangelo]

Wow, if I have $1800, I would probably pretty seriously consider buying that Cabela's offering. However, I just sold/gave away two rifles (including a 1947 Win Mod94). Plus I have a pretty nice rifle that I traded for to Bill, for a Marlin 1895.

I just filed the cheekpiece to make it fair into the stock better and make the transition on both sides nice and smooth. I had filed and sanded the stock finish down to 600 grit. I put 10 coats of Truoil on the stock and then used an (extra fine) pumice-pad to lower gloss the entire old finish on the stock to a French luster. I did not get every beauty mark out, just the obvious ones. I am going to pillar bed the rear action screw next.

Now if this .257 Roberts will shoot nearly as well as it looks, I will have something. I have a 2.5-8x32 Conquest on it now but may put a bigger scope on, I want to see how it shoots first. Accuracy trumps velocity on the project and even though I am curious about what the cartridge will do if fully extended.

I was actually on the other end of the spectrum initially...I was haunting the lower range of loading data looking for a real soft kicker. My current load (45.0gr RL22, 110AB) is not much in the recoil dept. Book values put it somewhere in the neighborhood of 2800 for velocity, but I figure I need to drop at minimum 100fps for the shorter barrel. I wouldn't be totally shocked to see it chrono at 2600, to be honest, but I haven't had a chance to run it over a chrono yet.

The damage the bullet did to both deer I shot was phenomenal. The broadside shot at longer distance showed substantially more internal trauma than the hard quartering shot at half the distance, but the shorter shot piled up the deer on the spot, the longer shot yielded a 40 yard trail to the deer.

I think I can dial in the groups a tad tighter with some experimentation with seat depth, but at under 0.7" reliably, I can't argue much, other than it's always two touching, one sightly out. If I make it three touching, I'll be friggin' overjoyed. Or, if I get 3000fps and stay comfortably under an inch, I'll take that happily, too. That makes it run with a 25-06 moreso than the 243 it's often compared to.

 

[nvbroncrider]

Thanks for the heads up Tom. It is nice to have the extra length in the mag in order to push the bullets out a little further. It should almost assure that I'll find something I want. I have some 200gr PT's so if I can, I may load some of those as well.

I spent the morning resizing dented necks, trimming, chamfering, and deburring flash holes in the WW cases. They were pretty terrible compared to the Nosler brass I have become used to! I had one that was so bad in the neck, I just trashed it. Ah well, when I get a chance, I will jump on some 2nds. Scotty

Your telling me went through 102 pieces of Rem brass and after sizing measuring and clean up all the necks and the 3 hours worth of work that extra $40 for Nosler don't look so bad or $10 cheaper than Rem if you get seconds!!!

 

[SJB358]

Thanks for the heads up Tom. It is nice to have the extra length in the mag in order to push the bullets out a little further. It should almost assure that I'll find something I want. I have some 200gr PT's so if I can, I may load some of those as well.

I spent the morning resizing dented necks, trimming, chamfering, and deburring flash holes in the WW cases. They were pretty terrible compared to the Nosler brass I have become used to! I had one that was so bad in the neck, I just trashed it. Ah well, when I get a chance, I will jump on some 2nds. Scotty

Something like that. I think Nosler prices on the WSM brass is unreal though. It is too much. Norma is only about 2/3rds the cost? Don't get it. It isn't that good. I like it alot, but I have to be a little picky. WW brass is decent if you spend some time with it as well. Never had an issue with any of it really, with a little prep work.

Your telling me went through 102 pieces of Rem brass and after sizing measuring and clean up all the necks and the 3 hours worth of work that extra $40 for Nosler don't look so bad or $10 cheaper than Rem if you get seconds!!!

 

[tddeangelo]

Post-mortem on the doe I shot recently....

I donated the doe to a needy family, and they butchered it. They reported holes in the carcass (not the hide) the size of a nickel for the entrance and the size of a half-dollar for the exit.

Bloodshot meat was noted in a 5" diameter at the entrance and a 9" diameter at the exit.

Shot distance according to GoogleEarth was between 145 and 165 yards, position was broadside, and the placement was through the top of the heart (and obviously through both lungs). I do not believe either shoulder was struck (meaning bone).

I'm done hunting deer for the season, but I will hopefully get a deer or two with the Bob next year, and I want to now move on to shoulder shots with the AB's and see where that leads.

I lost a LOT of faith in it when my dad owned a 700 Classic and the bullets he chose had about a 30-40% failure rate (disintegrated before reaching into the chest cavity). Some bad experiences led him to sell it. I did, however, recently find out who owns it, and I have a standing offer to them to call me if they ever want to sell it, as I shot my first deer with that rifle.

The deer I've shot with my handloads, using the 110gr AB, have REALLY restored my faith in the cartridge. Lots of smart folks have told me that would be the case, but as with many things, I needed to experience it to really BELIEVE it. Well, I'm more a believer in that round than ever!

That rifle was my late grandfather's. He shot his last deer with it. My dad has shot a deer (maybe 2?) with it, and I have shot 3 with it (two this year, one several years ago). As soon as one of my girls kills a deer with it, that'll be 4 generations of our family who've taken game with the rifle. Now I feel really confident in my girls using it. Recoil is mild, and the terminal results have been nothing but phenomenal!

 

[JD338]

Tom,

Thanks for the post mortem report.
The 257 Roberts is under rated by some but it performs ina big way. The 110 gr AB works very well at 257 Roberts velocities, even on coyotes. Here are a couple of song dogs that met up with a 110 gr AB from my M700 Classic 257 Roberts. These are the exit wounds.

JD338

 

[DrMike]

You guys are making me feel bad. I'm dragging my 257 Bob out to do some work with it so I can carry it next fall during deer season. That's a great report, Tom. As always, those coyotes don't get any deader than that, Jim!

 

[Oldtrader3]

I shot a bunch a Prairie Dogs, several coyotes and a few mule deer with the 85 Ballistic Tip and 100 Partition respectively for the deer with the .257 Bob. For the life of me, I could not tell any difference, certainly on the varmit killing performance between the Roberts and the 6mm Ruger 77. If I remember correctly, the trajctories were even very similar between the 80 gr, .243 and 85 grain .257 bullets at the nearly same speed. This was a while ago when I still owned my .257 Super Grade, Model 70 (from the mid-1950's) during the late 1970's when many gun writer's believed that the .257 was even "unreliably small" for ground squirrels.

I guess that I must have believed this malarky and let some fellow hunter talk me out of that slick little gun. Now in my "Golden" years, I get to correct this former error and work with this caliber again. I am looking forward to working with the Roberts and trying the newer powders in it.

 

[SJB358]

You guys are making me feel bad. I'm dragging my 257 Bob out to do some work with it so I can carry it next fall during deer season. That's a great report, Tom. As always, those coyotes don't get any deader than that, Jim!

Mike, you might as well trade that old CDL for the new Super Grade 257. No sense in depriving yourself!

 

[tddeangelo]

You guys are making me feel bad. I'm dragging my 257 Bob out to do some work with it so I can carry it next fall during deer season. That's a great report, Tom. As always, those coyotes don't get any deader than that, Jim!

Mike, you might as well trade that old CDL for the new Super Grade 257. No sense in depriving yourself!

Now THAT'S a good idea!

 

[DrMike]

DrMike wrote:You guys are making me feel bad. I'm dragging my 257 Bob out to do some work with it so I can carry it next fall during deer season. That's a great report, Tom. As always, those coyotes don't get any deader than that, Jim!



Mike, you might as well trade that old CDL for the new Super Grade 257. No sense in depriving yourself!

I reckon turn-about is fair play. :lol: Don't think the thought hasn't crossed my mind.

 

[CatskillCrawler]

Again, I will gladly take anyone's unwanted Model 700 off their hands to save them the embarrassment of toting around such garbage.

I just finished loading two loads for my 257R. Going to try 75gr VMAX over 42.0 - 44.o gr of IMR-4064 and 85gr BT over 45.0 - 47.0 gr of IMR-4350. These will be my last coyote load attempts this winter, if they don't work out I'll stick with my last load using the BTs and Varget.

Can't wait to start working up a deer load this summer.

 

[FOTIS]

Man That Model 70 Featherweight is just gorgeous~!

 

[Bruce Mc]

I sure likee the super grade "Bob". And that '86 could make me want a 45-70.
The "bob" has been truly underated from the get go. Back in 81 when both Winchester and Remington made a stab at reintroducing an upgraded version it still flopped. I guess handloading being much more popular has again pulled the "Bob" from obscurity. All I know is that I've been reloading and shooting mine for 21 years now and it still is my most fun rifle.