Pennsylvania Game News - March 2012 - 63

Throughout the years, I used that load to harvest whitetails, mule deer and pronghorns, and then my friend Joe used it to take 10 deer, all 1-shot kills. The ranges varied from 50 to about 300 yards (crosshair hold over at 300 yards was just over the back). Joe and I both have the same opinion about that cartridge, and that is that for such a light recoiling round, it really has a lethal reach, and that it is a great cartridge for beginners and veteran hunters. The .257 Roberts cartridge was the brainchild of famed sporting/firearms writer Ned Roberts during the 1920s. He was looking to develop a flat shooting cartridge in the quarter bore (25-caliber) and finally settled on using a necked down version of the 7x57 case as it gave him the powder volume efficiency that he wanted. This wildcat became popular enough to where Remington standardized it (with a 1-in 10-inch twist and minor dimension changes) in 1934. With the Savage .250-3000 cartridge already very popular, this new .257 Roberts could push the same bullets 100 fps faster, plus the 1-in-10 twist (the .250-3000 rifles used a 1-in-14-inch twist) would also stabilize the longer, heavier, 115- to 125-grain bullets accurately. It wasn’t long before every rifle manufacturer chambered it in their line of rifles (mainly bolt guns). Original advertised factory velocities had the 87-grain spitzers at 3,200 fps, 100-grain spitzers at 3,000 fps, and 117-grain round nose bullets at 2,700 fps. In trying some of those old loads through a chronograph not that many years ago, I found the velocities to fall quite short of their advertisements, but it was still an effective cartridge. Handloaders were the experimenters who were able to reach and exceed those published velocities, and they abandoned Fun Game answers: ARBUTUS, BLOODROOT, BLUETS.
MARCH  2012 

that 117-grain round nose for spitzer shaped bullets from 115 to 125 grains because of their flatter trajectory, which increased the round’s range and power when reaching out after deer-size game. As slower burning powders were developed, bullets were pushed a little faster, and later (1980s) the ammo manufacturers brought out their “+ P” loads that would do the same. With the .257 Roberts rifles I have owned (Ruger M77, Ruger Number 1, Winchester M70 Featherweight and the Springfield 03) my loads have driven 75- to 87-grain slugs around 3,200 fps, 100-grain slugs about 3,100 fps, and the 120-grain bullet around the 2,800 fps mark, with good accuracy and no signs of excessive pressure. When the .243 Winchester cartridge came out in 1955, its marketing advertisements took the wind out of the sail of the Roberts and its popularity declined. But those who own and handload the .257 Roberts know that as good as the .243 Winchester is, the claimed superiority is just not true. Even when the .25-06 was introduced in 1969, with more velocity (along with increased muzzle blast and recoil) and stole more of the Roberts’ popularity, it still didn’t kill it. Today, even though the .257 Roberts is not as popular as it used to be, it has a strong following and several rifle manufacturers still chamber their rifles in it. There is always factory ammunition available, as well as plenty of reloading components and information in all reloading manuals to develop the best loads for any particular rifle. Whenever Joe and I go to the range and he lets people shoot that Springfield, it’s like they just discovered something new. Even though Joe has several hunting rifles chambered in more powerful cartridges, he always grabs the Roberts whenever he goes deer hunting, because, as he puts it, “It’s easy to carry, has tolerable recoil, it’s accurate, lethal and an easy cartridge to reload. What’s not to like about it?” Come to think of it, what better compliment is there for a cartridge than that? 
63



Pennsylvania Game News - March 2012

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Pennsylvania Game News - March 2012

Pennsylvania Game News - March 2012
History of the Whitetail
Contents
Slow Down
Unconventional Calling Bags Bedford County Longbeard
Cabling with Grandsons
Dumpster Bears
Two for a Turkey
Operation Talon
Passing It On
Hunting Small Woods Turkeys
Gene Nelson — Man Who Didn’t Quit
How Young is that Forest?
Field Notes
Conservation News
Off the Wire
Another View
The Naturalist’s Eye
Straight from the Bowstring
Fun Game
Lock, Stock & Barrel
Crossings
Pennsylvania Game News - March 2012 - Pennsylvania Game News - March 2012
Pennsylvania Game News - March 2012 - Cover2
Pennsylvania Game News - March 2012 - History of the Whitetail
Pennsylvania Game News - March 2012 - Contents
Pennsylvania Game News - March 2012 - Slow Down
Pennsylvania Game News - March 2012 - 4
Pennsylvania Game News - March 2012 - 5
Pennsylvania Game News - March 2012 - 6
Pennsylvania Game News - March 2012 - Unconventional Calling Bags Bedford County Longbeard
Pennsylvania Game News - March 2012 - 8
Pennsylvania Game News - March 2012 - Cabling with Grandsons
Pennsylvania Game News - March 2012 - 10
Pennsylvania Game News - March 2012 - 11
Pennsylvania Game News - March 2012 - Dumpster Bears
Pennsylvania Game News - March 2012 - 13
Pennsylvania Game News - March 2012 - 14
Pennsylvania Game News - March 2012 - 15
Pennsylvania Game News - March 2012 - 16
Pennsylvania Game News - March 2012 - Two for a Turkey
Pennsylvania Game News - March 2012 - 18
Pennsylvania Game News - March 2012 - 19
Pennsylvania Game News - March 2012 - Operation Talon
Pennsylvania Game News - March 2012 - 21
Pennsylvania Game News - March 2012 - Passing It On
Pennsylvania Game News - March 2012 - 23
Pennsylvania Game News - March 2012 - 24
Pennsylvania Game News - March 2012 - Hunting Small Woods Turkeys
Pennsylvania Game News - March 2012 - 26
Pennsylvania Game News - March 2012 - 27
Pennsylvania Game News - March 2012 - 28
Pennsylvania Game News - March 2012 - Gene Nelson — Man Who Didn’t Quit
Pennsylvania Game News - March 2012 - 30
Pennsylvania Game News - March 2012 - 31
Pennsylvania Game News - March 2012 - How Young is that Forest?
Pennsylvania Game News - March 2012 - 33
Pennsylvania Game News - March 2012 - 34
Pennsylvania Game News - March 2012 - Field Notes
Pennsylvania Game News - March 2012 - 36
Pennsylvania Game News - March 2012 - 37
Pennsylvania Game News - March 2012 - 38
Pennsylvania Game News - March 2012 - 39
Pennsylvania Game News - March 2012 - Conservation News
Pennsylvania Game News - March 2012 - 41
Pennsylvania Game News - March 2012 - 42
Pennsylvania Game News - March 2012 - 43
Pennsylvania Game News - March 2012 - 44
Pennsylvania Game News - March 2012 - 45
Pennsylvania Game News - March 2012 - 46
Pennsylvania Game News - March 2012 - 47
Pennsylvania Game News - March 2012 - 48
Pennsylvania Game News - March 2012 - Off the Wire
Pennsylvania Game News - March 2012 - Another View
Pennsylvania Game News - March 2012 - 51
Pennsylvania Game News - March 2012 - 52
Pennsylvania Game News - March 2012 - The Naturalist’s Eye
Pennsylvania Game News - March 2012 - 54
Pennsylvania Game News - March 2012 - 55
Pennsylvania Game News - March 2012 - 56
Pennsylvania Game News - March 2012 - Straight from the Bowstring
Pennsylvania Game News - March 2012 - 58
Pennsylvania Game News - March 2012 - 59
Pennsylvania Game News - March 2012 - Fun Game
Pennsylvania Game News - March 2012 - Lock, Stock & Barrel
Pennsylvania Game News - March 2012 - 62
Pennsylvania Game News - March 2012 - 63
Pennsylvania Game News - March 2012 - Crossings
Pennsylvania Game News - March 2012 - 64a
Pennsylvania Game News - March 2012 - 64b
Pennsylvania Game News - March 2012 - Cover3
Pennsylvania Game News - March 2012 - Cover4
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