New to website after missing many years of HHI. Love this.

Planning a mule deer hunt for 2019, and to this point all my varmints/antelope have been taken with 85 gr. Noslers in my 257 at 2800. Will the 100gr BT expand properly out to 200 if started at 2400fps? Any experience out there? Thx.

I've shot several deer with my .250 Sav. AI (close to your JDJ) with 100 gr. BTs. They did fair, not always exiting, especially on angled shots. Deer usually ran a ways.
I had better luck with 100 gr. ABs and 100 gr. Xs- better penetration, similar damage to the BT. Mulies are a little bigger in body and bones. You might want to think about these and see if your gun likes them.
I'm usually willing to give up a little in damage favoring penetration, 'cause you never know will happen. Those 2 bullets will way out penetrate a BT.

I get excellent results with the 120 gr. BT in my 25/06 Encore.

2400fps is a little slow. What is your barrel length? I get 2600fps + easily from my 14" barrel.

2400fps is a little slow. What is your barrel length? I get 2600fps + from my 14" barrel.

HUNTRICK: I TOO AM A REFUGEE FROM HHI. YOU WILL LIKE IT HERE.

I am using a 14" barrel on a contender frame (SSK Bbl). Not sure I can get the velocity up much over 2400, but have not loaded the 100 gr yet and put on chronological. The old 85gr Nosler game bullet did very well on several antelope. I have shot a number of mulies before, not hard to kill, but have not taken one with the 257. I am drawing a great permit area in Colorado, so I am likely to be shooting at a large buck. Have already taken one with a 358jdj. Just love the 257, and it is the most accurate arm I own, period! Thanks for the responses and suggestions. If anyone can chime in with a favorite load for 100gr bullet, I would be grateful.

While I have a 257JDJ Contender barrel, I do not have a favorite or pet load for 100 grain bullets. I purchased the barrel several years ago along with some .225 Win brass when it was a little more available. I loaded up 200 rounds for fire forming the brass using Hornady 117gr RN bullets that I had purchased for a 25-35 Win. I still haven't exhausted my supply of the fire form loads, and since they worked well enough to take two deer, I figured there wasn't any rush. When I purchased the barrel I combed through old Sixgunner issues to find what people were successfully using, and I will post what I found concerning 100 grain bullets.
June 1991
Nosler B-T 38.0gr RE15 2712fps
Nosler B-T 35.5gr AA2520 2650fps

Aug 1994
Nosler Part 33.0gr AA2520 2530fps

Feb 1995
Horn SP 33.5gr AA2520 2493fps CCI250

Oct 1996
Sierra GameKing 36.0gr AA2520 2700fps

Aug 1998
Hornady SP 36.0gr AA2520 ?fps

These loads were presented in members stories, so of course you should decrease by 10 percent and work up. You know the drill, their barrels may be different than yours. I think the Partition would work well, or the Accubond. AA2520 was hard to find for awhile, but I think RE15 or Varget would be pretty good substitutes. Good luck!

Thank you!!

I agree that 2400 fps is slow for this cartridge and bullet. I have used both the 100 gr. Horn SpirePoint @ 2600 fps and the 100 gr. Nosler BT @ 2620 fps, driven by 34.4 gr. AA 2520 and CCI BR 2 primers. MY gun (pre G-2 Contender with 14" SSK .257 JDJ barrel) and my chronograph. Expansion, accuracy, trajectory and lethality are excellent. My all- time favorite deer cartridge

Thanks 500WE! Same gun as mine. Trip with the Chronograph coming up soon to get ready for next fall.

I have used the 100 grain Sierra SP successfully on game past 200 yards. This bullet was recovered from a whitetail taken with a 14" Contender chambered in 257 Raptor. This is a 204 Ruger necked up to 25 caliber. The deer was standing broadside at a lasered and witnessed 269 yards. The bullet entered just below the heart and was recovered in the offside shoulder. The deer traveled 30 yards and expired. Velocity was 2574 fps at the muzzle.

At the non +P 257 Roberts velocities, these classic cup and core bullets perform very well. My son hunts with a rechambered small ring Mauser shooting the Speer 120 grain Hot Cor at around 2550 FPS. The terminal performance on whitetail has been superb.