257 Roberts and Barnes Bullets

B

Bucksnort1

New member
A friend has begun to collect necessary equipment and components to load 257 Roberts. He has no experience so I am teaching him what I know. The problem is, I have no experience with Barnes bullets so I need a thumbnail sketch of loading (please keep responses short). Some members are very wordy. I know Barnes bullets are lead free and are mostly copper.

His rifle is a short action Remington 722.

He has a box of 50 each Barnes 100 grain bullets. Because of the short action, he is concerned about cycling rounds.

I have no printed data on loading Barnes bullets.

My questions are.

1. I assume some of the same powders used in lead free bullets are same as Barnes types. Is this correct?

2. I have a collection of rifle powders I will not likely ever use so I want to donate to his cause if I have the proper powder. Will someone recommend several powders. He says he wants to achieve about 2,900 fps.

3. Tell me about seating bullets and the three cannelures.

4. Recommendation for good printed or on line information.

5. Do S.A.A.M.I. specifications, i.e., C.O.A.L. etc, apply to Barnes bullets?

4. Should we crimp in the proper cannelure?
 
might consider going directly to horses mouth. Depending on what specific bullet is being used, those probably are not really cannelures for crimping, but grooves to reduce friction. Usually Barnes bullets are longer for weight and like seated further off the lands than regular non all copper bullets. Am using H-4350 for 257 roberts plus p, but do not have extensive experience loading for it. As always, might consider loading a dummy round for function (loading) test.

https://www.barnesbullets.com/load-data/
 
Go to Barnes for load data. Barnes all copper bullets are longer than lead core bullets and have a longer bearing surface,

The same powders are used but the amounts are DIFFERENT due to the greater bearing surface creating a different level of friction in the bore, and also their longer length means that to keep within the standard max length (to work through the magazine) they will need to be seated deeper in the case, and that changes how much powder you can use.

hope that's not too wordy..:D
 
Only use load data specific to Copper Bullets

https://www.barnesbullets.com/load-data/
https://www.accuratepowder.com/load-data/
The second link includes data for Barnes Bullets in 257 Roberts (+p even).
Barnes is the source of truth, and I like to use their powder recommendations.
Ramshot/Accurate was acquired by Hodgdon/IMR/Win, and the Reloading data center also includes some data for Barnes bullets even before the acquisition. Ramshot data is not yet integrated into Hodgdon data.
http://www.hodgdonreloading.com/
Edit: Heed Barnes COAL. IGNORE THOSE GROVES. They are driving bands, not cannelures. You do not need to crimp into those driving bands.
In selecting Barnes Bullets the counter intuitive recommendation is Use Lightest for Caliber. Copper is tough and the fast light bullets expand and transfers energy better than a long copper cylinder of a heavier bullet.
 
Last edited:
For comparison, I am loading these 100 gr TTSX for a rebarrelled Mauser. Running IMR-4350 (you can work up your own charge) with a COL of 2.775, mine are running 2,981/14 Std. Accuracy inside 1 1/2".
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top