After reading and re reading what info I can find on the 257 kimber I THINK but I'm not shure that one is in my future.
For me it fits as a superlight rifle cartrige that is just fine for vermin,small game and the smaller deer (no elk) that you can fit in a smaller bolt action rifle wich is most of my rifle shooting around here. Then enters the 6.8spc ! A similar round in .270 diameter. plus for the 257 is that 25-20 bullets are available and 87 and 100 gr bullets on deer are a known quantity (250 sav ballistics). on the down side it will take some smithing to fit it into current actions and I'll have to form cases. Plus with 6.8 is (hopefully) factory ammo and I think it will fit a a mini mauser action with less tinkering,but you have fewer bullets to choose from for my tasks.

P.S. I left out 6x47 because I'm not big on the 6mm family but I'll consider other mini mauser compatable cartriges

Look at the 6.5 Grendl; its basically a 7.62x39 necked down and improved, or a 6.5 PPC. Factory brass is available from Alexander Arms and the case was designed as a target round for the AR. It will fit in the same actions as the 7.62x39, and 7.62x39 or PPC parent brass is easy to come by if you do not want to buy factory.

i just barreled a daly left handed mini mauser for the 6.8 so my son(10) has something to shoot. just started on the stock. just the act of polishing and smoothing the action created a situation that caused no feeding problems. i also thought of the 257 kimber but didn't want to go through the custom die and case making operations. there are more empty cases out there for the 6.8 than there is loaded ammo.

yall should definitely check out the 6.5 Grendel...

http://www.65grendel.com

I have one, a CZ527 that was rebarrelled from a 7.62x39, done by Brockman's with a 19 inch Lothar Walther barrel. I haven't had a chance to shoot it yet, but reports by others with the same rifle indicate superb accuracy potential...

Why not the 6.5 TCU? 223 brass is a dime a dozen.

On what case do you build a .257 Kimber ?

The 257 Kimber is based on the 222 Rem Mag case. I shoot the very similar 257 TCU. Nice little rounds and make very lite weight rifles on the contender format.
shortgun

I looked at the tcu cartriges but there not quite enough juice for me. I may go with 6.5 grenel but I'd have to dig up a good squirrel bullet, in the 25 cal you can use a 25-20 bullet either jacketed or cast.I'm thinking for my needs something like John Whooter's 25 cal rifle but with just a little more pep.

John Wooters 25 copperhead was the 222 rem case necked up to 25 and is the least powerful of the lot being discussed here. Small case 25's are just neat and there are a good bunch of them. If you like rimmed cases there are the 30-30 based cats and the 225 win based cats. The 257 X308 (aka 25 souper) or the plain old 250 Savage improved are nice as well if you want to step up a bit.

My 25TCU will do 2700+ with 100 grain bullets and works well on small southern deer. The 75 and 85 gr X bullets are sure killers on varmints and deer. The 257 JDJ is about 100 fps faster with all bullets weights. The 25-35 improved is about the equal of the 250 savage.

Lots of choices out there for small 25 calibers.

shortgun

If you are serious about the 6.8 at least wait until you can buy ammo or cases. roger

I wish someone would do a 25 BR or a 25 PPC as these would most likely duplicate the 250 Savage with only a 30 to 33 gr case capacity.

I've got a Rem 700 in 6.8 SPC and is a joy to shoot.

[url="http://www.hunt101.com/?p=335296&c=500&z=1"] [/url]

I'm getting 2,700 fps with the 110 V-max.

I've been thinking of getting a light weight 22" Encore barrel for the old .25 Remington.

It should have a little more case capacity than the .223 based cartridges.
The 6.8 spc 's parent cartridge is the .30 & .25 Remington so the case should hold up to a little more pressure than the older auto rifle chambered for the .25 Remington.

6.8 I want one myself!!
TSX for deer and V-MAX for the varmints