With all this "Bob talk" on here, who has had any field time with the 250/3000? A couple buddies prefer the 250 over the Bob as they said it is "inherently" more accurate. I asked and they said handloading was a "snap" whereas the "Bob" can be a little ornery.

Other than a little less speed, they found no reason to feel under gunned with deer sized game at sane distances.

Anyone else care to chime in? Mule Deer?

I'd like to know as well! I have a .25-06, but thinking of building a .250 on a Savage short actoin I have.

I used a 250 Savage 20 years ago on and off to take deer. I actually like it better than the Rob. Super light recoil, plenty of power for deer.

That new Lipseys K1-A in stainless is sure a cutey!

I've loaded for both cartridges for over 40 years and don't think that there is any difference in the accuracy potential or the challenge of finding a good shooting load. Load either the 75 grain Sierra HP or 75 grain VMax ahead of H4350 and it shouldn't take too long to find a combination of components that will shoot good groups from either cartridge.

The only difference is the velocity potential, because of the case capacity difference, 46 grains of H2O vs. 55 grains of H2O, a difference of 9 grains or 19.6%. Assuming all other factors being equal, the difference in velocity potential should be around 5%, assuming the 4-1 ROT.

JEff

I've had a 250 Savage for nearly 25 yrs and never felt the need for the 257 'bob. 100gr Bullets at 2900fps and 75gr Sierra HPs at 3100fps have killed anything I point them at.

Got 'em both. Would not want to be without either.

Steve

The 250 has tradition in my family for hunting whitetails and varmints. I started out with it in a Savage M99, my kids and other kids I mentored got a start with it and hoping to keep the tradition alive with some grandchildren.

The kids moved on to different headstamps, but the old man stays true to the 250. Having said all that, several Bob's have always been in the mix. When my youngest daughter moved to Texas she wanted to take a tang safety Ruger M77 257 with her. I put my foot down...looked around and bought one for her.

As far as killing deer, both cartridges do it with equal enthusiasm.

This is kinda what I'm thinking... I've got a Better Bob & a Roy, and need a standard Bob and a 'lil Savage...

I'm fallin' in love w/ quarterbores myself.

I REALLY love my Better Bob an awful lot. I wouldn't say that there is a huge difference beween the 250-3000 & the Bob; they're both awesome.

I recently did a Marlin XS-7 with an A&B 24" barrel in 257 Roberts that has shown some potential. Thinking about doing another in 25-284, using a 24" A&B 250-3000 barrel, but doubt that there were be enough difference to justify the shelf space required to store another redundant rifle.

JEff

Between my son and I, we have four Bobs. Caught the disease from my father. I've been killing central Texas deer with one since I was eight. Enjoyed other chamberings thru the years, but at the end of the day, the Bob is as good as anything else for hunting in central Texas.

Been using both for several years. The Roberts is definately faster, but not enough to put it into another class of game in my opinion. That said, they are both favorites and it's sometimes a struggle deciding which to hunt with.

I have both. One is just as easy to load for as the other. I would guess most of these wives tales come from older guns with too slow rate of twist or maybe a roberts chamber thats different specs than the dies.

I like the 250 in an 18in barrel and the roberts in a 22in barrel. You could just go 250AI and have the best of both.

Both work quite well.

When loaded to a safe maximum velocity, the .250 kicks noticeably less and the .257 shoots noticeably flatter beyond about 250 yards.

The .257 can be loaded down to .250 levels, but the .250 can't be loaded up. The recent .250 brass kind of sucks, but cases can be easily (and cheaply) made from .22-250's.

While I've used heavier bullets in both cartridges, there's really no reason to use anything heavier than 100 grains for deer hunting.

Engrave that on a stone tablet

250AI is one I'll not be without.

Hard to believe no one here hasn't used either on Grizzlies

I've been loading for a 257R for about 10yrs. Not one bit of "ornery" as of yet. Straight forward with no quirks.

If not for this favoured 257R, I'd have a 250AI. Best of both the 257R and 250/3000.

.

no problems loading for the short action bob I own, its a great cartridge, very accurate, easy to load for.

I have shot a number of Bobs over the years and all have shot very well with a variety of loads with many different bullets. Mule Deer is right about bullet weights in a Bob.

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.