I bought a .257 Roberts last year new. Have only sighted it in. Haven't worked up any loads. Was not thrilled with out of the box factory loads.

Any others with Kimbers that can shed some light on your experience with the lighter calibers? or ?

I own 4 of the new Kimber rifles. All of them are above average wood and exterior finish. My .22 LR is very accurate out of the box. My .223 is very accurate, again out of the box. My .260 shoots 1-1 3/4" groups after having been sent back to the factory to address 4" "groups." My .257 Rbts shot so poorly I had it rebarreled. It still is not a consistent gun, shooting groups (with same ammo on same day, with proven scope) that range from .8-1.5."

That said, I've now had 3 Roberts-chambered rifles, and my conclusion is that unless you handload, you may have to be willing to accept 1-2" accuracy as the best reasonably attainable. It doesn't help that there is a dearth of factory ammo in this caliber (and that it is underloaded). Good luck

I bought a Kimber Select in 257R about 3 years ago. It would not hold a group. It was all over the paper at 100 yards. Looked like a shotgun pattern. I promptly sent it back to Kimber. Three weeks later I received it back with a new barrel and now it shoots lights out.

I will say Kimbers are extremely light so you really have to settle in on the bench to shoot well. Also, the barrel is very thin so it heats up fast and groups start to open up. You really can't shoot it too much at the range without it getting hot and opening groups.

quote:

Originally posted by S. Texan:
I own 4 of the new Kimber rifles. All of them are above average wood and exterior finish. My .22 LR is very accurate out of the box. My .223 is very accurate, again out of the box. My .260 shoots 1-1 3/4" groups after having been sent back to the factory to address 4" "groups." My .257 Rbts shot so poorly I had it rebarreled. It still is not a consistent gun, shooting groups (with same ammo on same day, with proven scope) that range from .8-1.5."

That said, I've now had 3 Roberts-chambered rifles, and my conclusion is that unless you handload, you may have to be willing to accept 1-2" accuracy as the best reasonably attainable. It doesn't help that there is a dearth of factory ammo in this caliber (and that it is underloaded). Good luck

Did you send your .257 back to Kimber to be rebarreled? Have you contacted them about the performance of the new barrel? Are you happy with your Kimbers overall? I've talked about trading, and would have to put a lot of money, or a couple of other guns with this Kimber to get what I've been looking at. Local shop has a Dakota Model 10 in a .257 Roberts. Sweet feeling gun, but they're high priced. Not sure I'm a big enough boy to step up to a Dakota. Don't know how accurate the Dakota would be.

Thanks for the comments and help. You know how it is when your trying to settle on something. Kid in the candy store syndrome.

quote:

Originally posted by scottfromdallas:
I bought a Kimber Select in 257R about 3 years ago. It would not hold a group. It was all over the paper at 100 yards. Looked like a shotgun pattern. I promptly sent it back to Kimber. Three weeks later I received it back with a new barrel and now it shoots lights out.

I will say Kimbers are extremely light so you really have to settle in on the bench to shoot well. Also, the barrel is very thin so it heats up fast and groups start to open up. You really can't shoot it too much at the range without it getting hot and opening groups.

Thanks for the help Scott. Would you buy another Kimber, or has this gun put a bad taste in your mouth? How were they to deal with in sending your gun back. I would love to have a great shooting .257, but it has to shoot. Any others that you are familiar with and would recommend looking at?

TC,

I would buy a NEW Kimber again. I thought Kimber handled everything well. I just wouldn't buy a used Kimber unless I knew the person selling it. I hear all the time about people bashing Kimber because they received a bad one and then sell it. Well now the next person buys the defective Kimber and bashes them.

The only bullet my Roberts didn't like was the 120 grand slam. 100 & 115 Ballistic tips and 110 accubonds are very accurate. So are the 120 Hornady Interlock Hps.

I love the Kimber. I also have 2 Rugers, 2 CZ 550 Full Stock, and a new Winchester FW. I have to say that the new Winchester FW is very impressive. The factory stock is 2nd only to the Kimber, the fit and finish is excellent and it's very accurate. You can pick them up for $700-750. I personally think it's the best value for a midrange rifle.

Thanks for all the input. I did go ahead and trade the Kimber, and a few others and got a new Dakota Model 10 / .257 Roberts. It is a honey! Will be shooting it today to get it sighted in. I put a Zeiss Conquest 3-9 X 40 on it. It's a little bigger scope than I wanted, but could not get my swarovski Z3, or a Leupold 2-8 back far enough. Had to crawl up the stock a bit to much. I will admit, that the new Zeiss scopes are my favorite anyhow. I really think they're the best bang for the buck out there.

Will let you know how it shoots. Fingers crossed that it doesn't spray em!