The 257 Roberts is one of those quarter bore cartridges that has a very small following, but should be more popular. Sadly, most hunters have never even heard of it before.
The 25 caliber cartridges like this one and 25-06 Remington are very versatile cartridges that are great for any animal from varmint up to white tail deer. Of course your application depends heavily on the ammunition you’re using.
This time around we’ll be looking more in depth at the 257 Roberts.
257 Roberts History:
It all started with a man named Ned Roberts who created the 25 Roberts in the mid 1920s. The 25 Roberts is technically a different cartridge with different measurements, but Remington wanted to standardize it.
The original cartridge was 7X57mm necked down to a caliber of 25, with a 15 degree shoulder angle.
Then in 1934, Remington introduced the .257 Roberts rifle cartridge that was just different enough that the name changed.
The changes Remington made were: The shoulder was moved forward and the shoulder angle was changed to 20 degrees.
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Remington was ready to introduce this new cartridge as the 25 Roberts except for the wisdom of Captain E. C. Crossman who stated at the time there would most likely be complications as the 25 Roberts was already being produced by custom gun makers.
The chambers of the 2 cartridges were quite different and at that, Remington renamed the cartridge to 257 Roberts.
257 Roberts Ballistics:
257 Roberts 117 grain Remington Core Lokt PSP projectiles reach 2,650 feet per second and 1,824 FT/LB of energy at the muzzle. Velocity and energy slow to 2,291 FPS and 1,363 FT/LB at 100 yards.
This first 257 Roberts Ballistics chart is for Remington Core Lokt Pointed Soft Point bullets that weigh 117 grains:
| Muzzle | 100 YDS | 200 YDS | |
| Velocity (FPS) | 2,650 | 2,291 | 1,960 |
| Energy (FT/LB) | 1,824 | 1,363 | 998 |
| Drop (Inches) | / | 0 | -5.2 |
Our next 257 Roberts ballistic table shows 117 grain Hornady SST +P Superformance:
| Muzzle | 100 YDS | 200 YDS | |
| Velocity (FPS) | 2,945 | 2,705 | 2,478 |
| Energy (FT/LB) | 2,253 | 1,901 | 1,595 |
| Drop (Inches) | / | +1.6 | 0 |
257 Roberts Uses:
The 257 Roberts is a good dual purpose hunting cartridge that can be used for varmints sending a 75 grain bullet out the muzzle at 3,400 feet per second.
It can be used as a medium game cartridge sending 117 grain bullets out the muzzle at speeds close to 3,000 feet per second. It still has sufficient power out to the 275 yard mark for deer sized game animals.
The 257 Roberts with the accuracy, power, and effectiveness it offers downrange recoils mild to moderate to the shooter’s shoulder.
It is recommended for those shooters who want more bullet frontal mass than something like the 243 Winchester, but don’t want the recoil of a 25-06.
257 Roberts Barrel Specifications.
Common Barrel Twist Rate – 1/10
Bore Groove Diameter – .257″
257 Roberts Reloading Specifications.
Bullet Diameter – .257″
Maximum Case Length – 2.233″
Trimmed Case Length – 2.223″
Primer Size – Large Rifle
For more center fire rifle ballistics, check out our in depth chart.
