Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles 250 Savage vs. 257 Roberts

Ok, .250 Savage for moose...........just kidding. Too much coffee already.

I've used both and have had a much better time finding accurate loads for the .250 than for the Bob. When I would find accurate loads for the Bob, they tended to be a couple hundred fps below potential velocity for the round. That said, the deer never complained about the velocity issues. I loaded for a M70 FWT and a Ruger tang safety for the Bob, and 3 Savage 99's and a Ruger RSI for the .250. The two Bob's gave me the above issues, whereas only one of the 99's was cranky, and I fell back on Mule Deers 'Loads that Work' load for that one and it calmed right down (100 gr. Speer, 33.0 gr. 4895. Were I to build or buy another .25, it would probably be the .250.

The 250AI works for dinks.....

I have had a couple of 257's over the past 20 years and have one currently. I in the past had a 250in a Ruger RSI and my buddy had a 250 in a 700 for several years. I have a couple of comments based on my experience.

We were never able to get the velocities I see claimed in some posts. 100grs were commonly running at about 2700-2750fps and my little 18" barrel was about 100-150 fps behind that and these were our fastest/max loads. My Roberts can easily best these by 200 -250 fps. Never able to get 3000fps in the 250 even using an 87 gr. bullet

I never really noted much recoil with either.

I do not find that there is an accuracy or ease of loading advantage of one over the other except the ease of getting more fps.

Have killed a several deer with the 257 primarily with the 120 gr bullet. Have only killed woodchucks with the 250 though it would work I'm sure, just never crossed paths.

There is the action length issue on most factory rifles.

To sum up my thoughts: I still have a 257 and it one of my 2 go to rifles and I could easily hunt the rest of my life with only that rifle. I now have a RSI in 243 and don't really miss the 250 though it had a certain coolness factor.

In 1980 I received my first "big game" rifle, a Ruger M77 in 250 Sav. I killed 14-15 deer with it up to 205 pounds dressed and 3 black bear (250ish dressed). All with 100 gr. Core-Lokts. Everything died quickly and I don't recall any drama.

I need to start carrying it again.

I've never owned a .250 Savage as I'm more of a Bob fan. That said, I don't find them to be "ornery" in the least bit. My current Bob AI is anything but fussy and was easy to cook up loads for. Mine is a tang safety Ruger that was punched.

Never played with a .250 but my .257 Ruger M77 is my favorite rifle.

Don't know about any inherent accuracy differences but my Bob has a propensity to shoot the centers out of clay pigeons at 200 yards, leaving the outer parts unscathed. (Not every time, but often enough.)

My preferred bullets are 75g V-MAX for prairie rats and coyotes, 100g TTSX, 110g AccuBond and 120g A-Frame.

The Ruger is a long action which lets me seat bullets no deeper than the bottom of the case neck, for a COL too long for a Remmy short action magazine. With +P brass and loads it runs fast enough I haven't seen any need for a .25-06.

I do have to say that these days I would look for a .260 instead of a .25 for most applications. Love those high BC 130-140g bullets.

Old70, What rate of twist was that cranky 99?

Thanks - Wayne

I have an old 1-14 twist 250-3000. The 100 Speer and the 100 Hornady flat base bullets both shoot well in it, especially the speer. 2900 fps doesn't seem hot at all. Brass life is doing much better than a lot of my other rifles.

A very fun rifle that's a favorite to take on a walk about.

From a handloader's point of view the .250 AI is the way to go.

You get the same velocity as a Bob +P and OAL is such that you can hit lands with any bullet out there (that I know of so far) and stay well within magazine constraints.

The Savage and Roberts both have a good bit of taper to their cases so they lengthen pretty fast and require trimming. The AI doesn't.

Nit picky little things, for sure, and in a hunting rifle used mostly for deer or that isn't shot too much not a big deal, but there they are.

Dies do cost more, that's a fact, but it's a one time expense over a possible lifetime of ownership and the difference is about what a box of Ballistic Tips will run you.

And as has been said and shown over and over, fireforming loads will shoot just as fast and just as good as they do in fully formed cases, so the "wasted effort" argument really doesn't hold much water.

I've had a 257 Roberts in a 700 Classic long action and a pair of Kimber 84M short actions. What is the "action length issue"?

Roundoak, it was a 14 twist. I used mainly the Sierra 90 gr and the speer 100gr, no other bullets came close to accurate. I tried about 7-8 powders with each of the above bullets, and H-4895 was the only one that gave any accuracy at all. Both bullets worked well on deer.

One of my 99s is a 1-14" ROT and will shoot bullets 90 grain or under with respectable accuracy. 87 grain Speer HotCor over 35 grains H4895 @ 2985fps has killed a lot of whitetails. When I first started loading for the gun several years(30)ago, I tried 100 grain and heavier bullets with various powders. Poor accuracy. My records indicate I did not shoot the 100 grain Speers, so if you and Mule Deer got good results with the 100 grain Speer, it is worth taking a look.

Wayne

The Speer 100 spitzers worked well in a '49 vintage 99 I had. I got about 100 fps more than factory because it shot so well when loaded hot.

I'm simply stating that there is a lot of bandwidth used discussing that many factory 257s are built on a long action for instance your classic. It's a non issue for me but seems to be a topic of discussion for many and I often hear 250 savage fans beat the short action drum .

Never considered able magazine length to play with a downside to any cartridge, course I'm not prone to running tight shoes either.

I have had both and prefer the Roberts....just real easy to get over 3000 with a 100 gr without a sweat.And in some when I got tricky with a 3"+ OAL,3150-3200 has been accomplished;the reason I never went 257AI,which does the same in a short action, I guess.

2900+ is doable with 120's and we have seen over 3k with the 115.

Recoil? Never noticed it,as IMO it is trifling with cartridges in that power range.

Thousands of dead woodchucks and other varmints to 500 yards will attest that the Roberts is not cranky accuracy-wise.Likewise mule deer and antelope to 400 or so...

Trajectory with 100's tracks 130's from a 270;ditto 115's-120 and 150's in the 270,making the two companion cartridges in a way.

In the woodlots of the East I doubt there is much difference between the two, but in the open country of the west, I like the Roberts better.