OT 243 or 257 ?

[m.wun]

I always thought the roberts was a better round and wonderd why the 243 helped
put it to rest,other than being based off the 308 case.The numbers favor the 257
by a slight margin and you can go a little heavier on the bullets.

[JerryB]

I am not much on bolt guns but an old model 70 in .257 Roberts would be mighty fine to own.

[rangerider7]

I have a 257 Weatherby Magnum Mark IV that I like. It's a flat shooting son-of -a-gun. It has a lot more recoil than my 243 but it will shoot farther too.

[AJMD429]

Maybe it is silly, but I think part of it was the round-nose bullets usually loaded from the factory; around that time everyone wanted pointy ones, and the longer the cartridge OAL, the better. (Better yet, put a 'belt' on it! )

I always thought that the .257 Roberts would make an excellent all-around cartridge. Never owned one, though...

[mescalero1]

I have both, I look at them in a long, and longer type of utility.

[Old Savage]

I have had both but think the 6mm Rem is the better of the three.

[mescalero1]

Go drink some Merlot.

[CEMENTHEAD]

Definately 257 Roberts.....100 grain bullet @ 3-3100 fps without trying hard. Can't do that with a 243 Winchester. Then 120 grain bullets @ 2750-2800. If I didn't have a 25-06 Remington, I'd own a "Bob". Thanks, Tom

[dbateman]

dont own a roberts do own a 303-25 though and believe that these to rounds to be very simlar in
performance i like my 303-25 a lot shot alot of pigs donkeys and camels with it

dont own a 243 but have worked for a few company's and that is what thay used seems to perform ok

but i do like my 303-25 much more

[cshold]

Never owned a .257 Roberts.
I'm very happy with this model 70 in .243 though.
I free floated the barrel, and it is topped with a 3 to 9 Leopold scope.

[SFRanger7GP]

I owned both and recently traded a Rem M721 in .257 Roberts for another M99. My wife shoots a .243. I bought the 257 for her to try but she liked the .243 more. It was the platform, not the cartridge. In these 2 rifles the .243 is a heck of a lot easier to reload for. I have found the .25's to be a little bit more finicky on the loads they like than most other cartridges.

[dkmlever]

I own a 257 Roberts and my brother has the 243, up to 200 yards they are the same on small white tails and antelopes. Past that and on heavier mule deer I much prefer my Roberts. Better bullet construction and I can go up to 120 grains. I load a 115 gr Nosler ballistic point and a 120 Nosler partition and it has never failed me. I do own a 25-06 and it does shoot faster BUT, the 100 gr Ballistic tip is not supposed to be shot over 3000 fps, so the Roberts wins again.

[TedH]

I've got both. A Ruger 77 in 243, and this 95 Mauser that I built from an old beater 7mm. Installed a 257 Roberts barrel from Midway, new bolt handle, saftey, stock, etc. Thought I have killed deer with the 243, I consider it more of a varmint rifle. The 257 with it's ability to handle slightly heavier bullets is a superior deer gun.

[Don McDowell]

Tastes great/ less filling Take your pick, from practical experience with both cartridges, what one will do so will the other.

[86er]

This is a little off-topic, but I have a lot of data on the 243 used by our clients on hunts - 88 animals. I have some data on the 257 Roberts - just 9 animals. Over the years I have come to dread seeing a 243 pulled from the guncase by a client. I don't know exactly what it is but in combination, it is a misunderstanding or disrespect for exotic animals + unrealistic expectations of the cartridge + bad advice, etc.,etc. This is not inherently the cartridge but the totality of the cartridges capability and the hunters mindset. In contrast, the few 257 Roberts that have shown up were toted by people that told me they wanted to get close, make a perfect shot, asked me if I thought the round would be enough and so on. I know 243 has taken big animals like elk but from my observations it is best used on animals less than 200 lbs and from a stand or blind with a perfectly aimed broadside shot. Of course it works well in culling with head shots from a very accurate rifle. Here's the scoop: 243 - Dead Right There, 8/88: One shot kill, 21/88: recovered in less than 50 yards, 30/88: recovered in less than 100 yards, 54/88: Lost animal, 4/88.
257 Roberts - Dead Right There, 3/9: One shot kill, 6/9: recovered in less than 50 yards, 7/9: recovered in less than 100 yards, 9/9: Lost animal, 0/9. This is just a snapshot of what we've seen and clearly there is not enough data to compare the two fairly. However, if you want to play statistician you can extrapolate and determine that the 257 Roberts is 35% more effective overall. Is it really? - I don't know. But given a choice of the two I personally would grab the 257 every time. BTW - the 257 Weatherby is a whole different animal with data that rivals the 30-06. To answer the POST QUESTION directly, I think the fact that Winchester put their name on the 243 cartridge and the popular writers of the day were tasked with evaluating and printing fresh material on the 243 caused it to overshadow the 257 and change the tastebuds of American shooters.

[Bullard4075]

I have both and while I tend to favor the 257 I think the 243 got a bad rap early on with bad bullets. All my 257 kills have been one shot, I cannot say that about my 243. Probably another can say the reverse but because of my experience the 243 is my coyote and smaller gun. That said I also think that the super-premium bullets (Barnes X, etc) sheds a whole new light on the smaller calibures. YMMV.

[HEAD0001]

I do not think the 243 cartridge itself put the 257 Roberts cartridge to bed. I think the fact that Winchester and Remington both brought out proprietary cartridges in the 243 caliber is what done it. The two mfrs. put their muscle, advertising, and bullet technology to work on the 243 caliber.

I consider both cartridges to be varmint cartridges. For deer they are marginal at best(slight advantage to the Bob), and you need to buy ridiculously expensive bullets to achieve the marginal rating.

I hear a lot of shooters and hunters cry about the recoil of the larger cartridges. I am not recoil sensitive, however if a person is recoil sensitive then they should go to a heavier slower bullet and limit the distance they shot. Instead of trying to compensate with bullet construction. Just my opinion. Tom.

[piller]

I have never shot a .257, but my Daughter owns a .243. If someone wants to loan me a .257, I'll try to be objective and test both rounds on something. Any takers. If I take a long time and shoot a bunch, well, it is just for scientific accuracy.

[deerwhacker444]

I've got a little bit of experience with the .243. My experience with Barnes TSX bullets has been nothing short of amazing. See the lower portion of my post.

http://www.levergunscommunity.com/viewt ... =1&t=12358

Unfortunately, my dad made a terrible shot on his last deer. The bullet traveled thru the ham and out the ribs, doing lots of damage. After a short search we recovered the deer about 100 yards away. With good bullets, I think .243 is a great deer rifle under normal shots.

[Old Savage]

243s and 6mms work fine for smallish deer and antelope with over 100 killed among friends here - of course they are all good shots and know where they should shoot.

[Sixgun]

86er said it all. If you decide with the .257 (better choice ) the only thing I can add is to get a long action .257 (I have a Rem. Classic with the long action) so you can seat the bullets out and add a few more grains of powder and you can come close to the 25-06 without the overbore and severe muzzle blast.--------------Sixgun

[2ndovc]

Go drink some Merlot.

Snort!


Big fan of the .257 and 250-3000 as well. Between my Dad and I we have two custom 257s and Model 70
in 250-3000. Both are very accurate rounds and have been wicked varmint rifles. I know
Grandpa took several antelope with his Model 70 with a single shot at very long ranges along with my
Dad with his .257R.
So far I haven't connected with anything bigger than a woodchuck with my 257 but hoping that
will change soon.

To me ( and it's just me) I've never had the slightest interest in the .243. The only
one I've ever fired was a Ruger #1 and it "patterned" at 50 yds.
I'm sure that there had to be an issue with the rifle but kinda soured me on the round.


jb

[Nath]

I have owned two 243 rifles and good they were but hmmm no never again.
Yes I have allways admired the Roberts though and the Savage.

Nath.

[awp101]

This is a very interesting thread for me. Within the past month or so I've picked up a 98 Mauser (Gew 98) in .243 and a Kar88 (carbine version of the 88 Commission Rifle) in .257 Roberts.

I've only put three rounds through the Kar88 so far since all I have is +P ammo and I REALLY don't want to push that receiver very hard. The three rounds I did fire were very pleasant though. I liked it well enough that I'm giving serious though to building my own on either a Gew 98 or Arisaka action.

The .243 has the potential to be a real tack driver. It put 3 rounds of Fed Power-Shok into 1.5" at 100yds several times off an iffy rest, with an iffy scope and a seriously loose trigger nut. Let's face it, any rifle that will do almost 1MOA in my hands will be sub-MOA in anyone elses...

Having put 7-8 times the number of .243 downrange vs .257 Roberts (21 or 24 rounds of .243 vs 3 rounds of .257), I don't have anything other than gut feel. And right now my gut tells me the Bob will be the preferred choice for me but .243 will be in almost any mega-mart that sells ammo so both will stay in the safe.

[stew71]

I just picked up a nifty little Ruger M77RSI in .243 with an older Redfield 2-7 scope last week. Took it to the range and the first 3 shots of every string were always inside at least 1.5" at 100 yards when using the Winchester and Federal 100gr loads. After that, the short 18" barrel heated up quickly and spit the remaining rounds all over the place. But since this will be my under-200-yards brush/treestand rifle for the small blacktails and pigs we have in the area, I don't care where shots #4, & 5 go. It's that 1st shot that always counts.

I can't wait to take this little beauty hunting in a few weeks.

[shdwlkr]

Why the 243 beat out the 257 roberts was the 257 was put in short actions which limited the oal of the round, the loadings were lower for the 257 then the 243 and round nose bullets of the 257. The bob is a better cartridge based on bullet weights and higher velocities can be had with hand loads and spizter bullets and if in a long action you can get more powder in the case because the bullet doesn't have to be seated as far.
You can get heavier bullets for 257 then for the 243 which makes it better for bigger game.
I never did like the 243 but if it works for you then I guess it is a good caliber for you and I would use it. If I really wanted the bob I would get one that is based on a long action so that you can make 3.00 oal rounds and take full advantage of the caliber and maybe even go to the +P cases to really max the capacity of the round.

[AJMD429]

Tastes great/ less filling Take your pick, from practical experience with both cartridges, what one will do so will the other.

...kind of like .30-06 vs .308, or .44 Mag vs. .45 Colt, or 7mm Rem Mag vs. 300 Win Mag, or .30-30 vs. .35 Rem, or 45-70 vs. .444, or . . .

It sure is FUN to debate, and I actually think I learned a few things on this thread, but the reality is that whatever gun you can attain proper SHOT PLACEMENT with will always win the game.

[Kansas Ed]

I had a French Walnut stocked pre-64 Mod 70 Roberts once, but gave it to my brother for Christmas one year, before I'd even mounted a scope on it. He wanted the "all around rifle" and I think the Roberts pretty much covered that. It's his "go to" rifle, and if it's inside 300 we're boning meat within the hour. Thinking that I needed to get in on the 25 caliber gig, I traded into a 70 Supergrade 25-06. Very accurate, but that little bullet running that fast didn't have the same wallop that my 38 and 40 calibers did, so I never used it past one season. I keep thinking that I'd like to shoot coyotes with it. It runs a 75gr bullet scary fast...but it's so much more fun to shoot my 25-20 or 22 Hornet, that I'll probably not use it much anyway. But it sure is pretty when I pull it out of the safe

If I were to choose another one though...it would be the Roberts over the 243 or the 25-06. I think its just a better balanced cartridge.

Ed

[m.wun]

Good opinions.I guess it all depends if you reload or not.The roberts sounds good
to me cause its a little differant.I LOVE THIS STUFF!!!!

[Old Savage]

If you are going to shoot a 120 gr bullet get a 270 which is another whole class. We are realistically talking about shooting a 100 gr bullet and there the 6mm is the champ.

[arjunky]

Here in North Dakota deer average from 120-160 pounds. I've never had one get away with the .243 and have shot over a dozen with it. Most have been shot under 200 yards and all were shot with Hornady 100 grain BTSP bullets. That bullet does a lot of damage and still holds together fairly well.
Maybe I've been lucky, but I don't remember any of them going more than 20 yards after the shot.
The only 2 deer that I've had run more than 200 yards were shot with premium bullets through the lungs. 25-06 with 100 grain partitions and .220 Swift with 53 grain Barnes-X.
Both acted like they weren't even hit. I did hit one in the spine with the Swift load, that deer dropped faster than if you would have dropped a truck on it.

Byron

[Don McDowell]

[, but the reality is that whatever gun you can attain proper SHOT PLACEMENT with will always win the game.

Abolute truth spoke right there.!

But sometimes even with proper shot placement things don't die like they might should of done. I'll never forget that hapless cow elk that took a 270 gr bullet from a 375 ouchnouch at 219 yds, just shrug and walked off, another couple hundred yards. Had she not of stayed in the open she might very well have been lost , as there was bullet hole on both sides, but not a drop of blood on the outside. Same year saw a monster 6x6 take 2 rounds from a 243 at 210 yds, the third shot missed cuz he fell dead. Total travel about 20 yds, the blood coming out his nose left a trail a blind double amputie could of followed in the dark. Watched in awe last fall as the 550 gr paper patch out of the 45/2.3 jerked the ground out from under a 2 year old elk,204 yds, so fast he dang neart beat his shadow to the ground and was dead when he landed.
The last big year of my paid professional hunter herding, 270's ruled the deer hunt, both hunters on the last hunt with the 270's one shot one kill nice 4x muleys. The other two shooters with the 300 belted whizzwunder flinchmasters, one had 3 shots , one had 4, and the one with 4 we head shot the deer when we got to him, none of the deer shot were over 200 yds.
Go figure

[a357lever]

I would have to say 257 for the ability to use 120gr bullets but personally i would buy a 308win and load it down or buy reduced recoil loads, or shoot 130gr you can't beat the versatility of the 308.

[2ndovc]

Tastes great/ less filling Take your pick, from practical experience with both cartridges, what one will do so will the other.

...kind of like .30-06 vs .308, or .44 Mag vs. .45 Colt, or 7mm Rem Mag vs. 300 Win Mag, or .30-30 vs. .35 Rem, or 45-70 vs. .444, or . . .

It sure is FUN to debate, and I actually think I learned a few things on this thread, but the reality is that whatever gun you can attain proper SHOT PLACEMENT with will always win the game.

That seems simple to me. 30-06, 45 Colt, 300 Win., 35 Rem. and 45-70!

jb

[awp101]

Tastes great/ less filling Take your pick, from practical experience with both cartridges, what one will do so will the other.

...kind of like .30-06 vs .308, or .44 Mag vs. .45 Colt, or 7mm Rem Mag vs. 300 Win Mag, or .30-30 vs. .35 Rem, or 45-70 vs. .444, or . . .

It sure is FUN to debate, and I actually think I learned a few things on this thread, but the reality is that whatever gun you can attain proper SHOT PLACEMENT with will always win the game.

That seems simple to me. 30-06, 45 Colt, 300 Win., 35 Rem. and 45-70!

jb

Even simpler: .308, .45 Colt, 7x57, .30-30, .45-70...