25 cal

B

bearhunter338-06

Regular
EE Expired
Rating - 100%
46   0   1
Location
Chilliwack
My brains at it again. I'm having a love affair with the 25 cal rifle. I currently have the Ruger tang safety in 257 Roberts. With all the time I have on hand these days I've been thinking of turning it into a 257AI or even a 25-06AI. Then I think I should keep the Roberts and just get a second rifle in 25-06AI.

What do you think, what would you do.
 
RickF said:
Stay with the one rifle, as a Roberts. And try to wear the barrel out on it.

After that, play with some other 25 if you wish.
Click to expand...
x2! ..... Several years ago Bevan King did a 257Roberts for me in a long action 700 with mountain rifle contour bbl.

The thought I had was to try it out and later rechamber it to 257AI or 25/06. I shot it a fair amount, taking a couple or three deer in the process and never found it wanting and will never change it. For deer, the 257R is perfect as is. A good 100gr bullet @ 3000-3100fps is an effective combination, easy to shoot, accurate and cheap to reload. I use 100gr Horandys exclusively as do many other 257R owners. They are easy on the pocketbook and an effective bullet.

The only other 25cal that would be of interest would be a 250AI in an ultralight rifle. It would duplicate the 257R in a smaller/lightweight package.

021.jpg


257Roberts.jpg

.
 
SuperCub said:
x2! ..... Several years ago Bevan King did a 257Roberts for me in a long action 700 with mountain rifle contour bbl.

The thought I had was to try it out and later rechamber it to 257AI or 25/06. I shot it a fair amount, taking a couple or three deer in the process and never found it wanting and will never change it. For deer, the 257R is perfect as is. A good 100gr bullet @ 3000-3100fps is an effective combination, easy to shoot, accurate and cheap to reload. I use 100gr Horandys exclusively as do many other 257R owners. They are easy on the pocketbook and an effective bullet.

The only other 25cal that would be of interest would be a 250AI in an ultralight rifle. It would duplicate the 257R in a smaller/lightweight package.

021.jpg


257Roberts.jpg

.
Click to expand...

That Robert's shoot nice, and I agree on your summary of the hornady's. Poor man's performance bullet I have called them for years. 30 years ago they were superior to most except the partition.
 
I like the advice you've got here already, if you want a different flavour, Prophet River has some gorgeous .257 'Bob No.1's in stock, and even better .250 Savage No.1 Stainless/Walnut. I like SuperCub's suggestion of a .250AI, it's the 'best' Ackley Improved cartridge ever made in terms of improvement on the original for velocity. PO Ackley considered the .250AI one of the best cartridges he ever 'Improved'.
 
I am a big .250 Savage fan. I find it...how should I put it..."wrong" to AI it. It is an outstanding little cartridge. Keep in mind that the regular .250 Savage loads are low pressure - 45,000 CUP max. and I am willing to bet that the AI loads are way over that. It is kind of like saying the .257 Roberts AI is a huge improvement over the .257 Roberts, and it is, but the improvement over the .257 Roberts +P is, obviously not that much better.

The short version is that if you load the .250 Savage and the AI version to the same pressure, then the improvement wouldnèt be worth it to me. Not to mention that it messes with a classic! YMMV. :)
 
Well Super, with this;

"For deer, the 257R is perfect as is. A good 100gr bullet @ 3000-3100fps is an effective combination, easy to shoot, accurate and cheap to reload."

you have just given an exact description of the old faithful, .243 Winchester!
Only the 243 is a tad better ballistically, because of the slightly smaller diameter bullet.
 
I read a lot of interesting info on the Roberts, most from John Barsness. He was once a devotee of the AI version and then gave it up as not enough ballistic improvement to justify the extra work of fireforming, and the attendant costs of rechambering and fireforming. The gain in powder capacity is about 12%, and given that velocity increases at one-quarter the increase in powder capacity, velocity increase is about 3%, or 100 fps with most bullet weights. Not really a huge jump.
He had much to say as well about shooters who insist that the .257 Roberts works best in long actions so one can have a full three-inch OAL. That gives a four percent increase in capacity, and therefore a massive one per cent, or 30 fps, velocity increase.

Yeah, you need the new rifle. Go for something a bit less common....8mm Mauser?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom