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Doing a new build...Why not 257 Roberts?

toasty

Silver $$ Contributor
Picked up a really nice new bench stock and have a savage action laying around. Looking to do a new build. Primary use of the new build is long range paper punching 500-1000 yards and prairie doggin. Going on a rifle that will weigh 12 to 14 lbs to keep recoil low enough to see hits. Looking for something with enough accuracy and weight to easily confirm hits at 600 yards on varmints. Already shoot a 6br and several smaller chambers and have 260 Rem that is not a great shooter with varmint bullets I have tried out of it. Thinking about a 257 Roberts. Ballistics with 90gr SBK (wind drift) is better than varmint bullets I am shooting with my 6br. The other chamber I was considering is a 25br, but having a hard time finding a barrel maker that offers that in a savage prefit. Any comments or suggestions on accuracy of this cartridge, ease of finding brass, bullets, etc? Feel free to offer suggestions on another short action caliber that may work better.
 
Brass selection problem with 257. I did a 244/6mm remington 40° but I had alot of 6mm brass. If I was doing another I'd like to do a 25 creedmoor. Just neck up 6mm creed. I've been getting a quarter bore itch lately
 
Just because you can easily get top quality brass IMO the 25 Creedmoor is the easy button and a close second that would be in that same case size and also super easy would be necking down Lapua 6.5x55 to .257 making it a 25x55 Swede. Lapua 6.5x55 Swede brass at $110 per 100 is a bargain and lasts a very long time. A 25x55 Swede could be a real sleepy though.

If a person wanted to use a short action the 25 Creedmoor would be the way to go.
 
257 is a great cartridge but finding anything beyond factory ammunition likely takes more leg work. The other problem is with 25 caliber bullets, that are less frequently available when times get silly. There may be more efficient cases if you're looking for a certain magazine length.
 
I took a 270 Win on a Browning A Bolt and re barreled it to 257 Roberts, had it throated for my favorite 25 cal bullet, Speer 120 SPBT, all done up in a Bartlein 5R barrel. I use PPU 7x57 brass for my most accurate loads, and WW +P for everything else. It treads dangerously close to 25-06 velocity with that bullet, and shoots great! I think given the proper throating and a good barrel the Roberts will do anything a 25-06 will do. Of course I am only shooting deer with it, but I thoroughly enjoy my trigger time with my 257 Roberts. The throating is the key to it I think. Good luck! You can indeed make brass from 06 brass, there are several steps involved, but it's your decision. Redding form die, no lube gave me the best results, then lube and FL die, ream the necks, viola!
 
B23 said:
Just because you can easily get top quality brass IMO the 25 Creedmoor is the easy button and a close second that would be in that same case size and also super easy would be necking down Lapua 6.5x55 to .257 making it a 25x55 Swede. Lapua 6.5x55 Swede brass at $110 per 100 is a bargain and lasts a very long time. A 25x55 Swede could be a real sleepy though.

If a person wanted to use a short action the 25 Creedmoor would be the way to go.
Click to expand...
Oh greatnow your putting ideas in my head. 25 swede does sound fun.
 
Thanks for the input, had not given much thought to the 25 creed, but I think that would be the easiest way to get to a 25 cal and get an extra 100-200fps out of the cartridge. I actually have some lapua 6.5 creedmoor brass already. Can't do a WSM in a small shank action and I think the 25 prc may have a little too much recoil. Leaning towards a 25 creedmoor over a 257 roberts at this point. Anybody have experience with a 25 BR? Lower recoil, powder charge, but wonder if accuracy would be better?
 
toasty said:
Thanks for the input, had not given much thought to the 25 creed, but I think that would be the easiest way to get to a 25 cal and get an extra 100-200fps out of the cartridge. I actually have some lapua 6.5 creedmoor brass already. Can't do a WSM in a small shank action and I think the 25 prc may have a little too much recoil. Leaning towards a 25 creedmoor over a 257 roberts at this point. Anybody have experience with a 25 BR? Lower recoil, powder charge, but wonder if accuracy would be better?
Click to expand...
You can do a WSM on a small shank just fine. I did a 6.5-300WSM on a small shank and ran it till the barrel wore out.
 
Thanks guys, decided to go with the 25 Creedmoor thanks to the input from this thread and others. I think I want that extra 200fps I can get with that over a roberts or 25br. Shilen makes this chamber with a .100" freebore. If I shoot 85 or 90gr bullets, do you think the freebore will be too long or should I be looking for something with .050 or shorter?

I think a 1:10 is the right twist for those bullets. Anything over 110 would need a 1:8. Do you think shooting the 85 or 90 with a 1:8 would affect accuracy much?
 
@toasty ,

Your loss...

Not a dang thing the CM can do that the Roberts can't.

Out of a 22" barrel with Hybrid 100V a 100gr bullet at 3,150fps.
115gr Berger VLD at 3,000fps.

400 yard coyotes with the 90gr SBK no problem.

As for brass, i'm running PVRI PARTIZAN (PPU) 7X57 Mauser through a 257 Roberts FL die.
Trim, load & shoot.
Anyone looking down on PPU brass, my 7mm-08AI with PPU brass was giving me ES-6, SD-2 over 10 rounds.
 
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