I’ve wanted a 257 Roberts for a pretty good while. I finally traded for a Kimber 84m yesterday and I’m pretty excited. Everything I’ve read said they don’t shoot though so I’m a little nervous. Does anybody have any experience with these? I like the Roberts cartridge and think it’ll be a great fit to my collection of quarter bores. Mounted a buried full field ii 4.5-14x42. Now to find some ammo and attempt to get it sighted in or brass and start straight with reloads. Then it’ll be a waiting game to start stacking deer and hogs.

I have only shot a few 84s and they were sub MOA shooters with factory ammo. They were 308s. The slim barrels do heatup quick though. Those were several years ago and wood stocked

i walked in to mc brides one day they had th exact gun in 6.5 creedmoor it was all but new lots of rich guys buy there,i ask one of the guys if its shoots he said no, anyway i bought it took it home glasbeded it worked up a load re16 nad barnes 127lrx guns shoots moa all the time i have goosekneck trailer balls set at 1 2 and 3 hundred yds otherr targets 3 to 6 hunderd yds that trailer ball is less than moa at 300 and absolutey the toughest target of the bunch and that cheap kimber i can hit it 4 of 5 tries so yes you can make it shoot

I have a Kimber 84 Select in 257 Roberts. Great round and rifle.

Have done load development for a couple of Kimber rifles. I was not impressed. They did alright, but didn't shoot to their price tag IMO. My money is on a Savage, Sako, and Tikka outshooting them every day. Hopefully yours does well.

That’s promising thanks for the info

Awesome, do you hand load for it or factory ammo?

That’s what my research has shown as well. If I can get it to consistently shoot an inch and a half at a hundred that would be plenty accurate enough for how I hunt 90% of the time. If it shoots better that’s great but my hopes aren’t much higher than an inch and a half honestly

It will do better than that, on a hand load, if you know what you're doing.

I have the Kimber Hunter in 30-06. I thought about bedding it, but after some research, you can't really get a replacement stock so I didn't go that route. It will shoot sub-MOA as advertised, BUT you have to do your part in that. Since it is such a lightweight rifle, I would make sure your rests are solid and don't recommend shooting off a lead sled but sandbags under the front and rear. It is intended for hunting and as kmon11 said, the barrels heat up quick and groups will spread out. I would recommend opening the bolt and let the barrel cool 3 mins between shots and wait 15 mins between groups. I usually take several rifles to shoot with me so I can rotate or have my 22 and plink in between groups. Best of luck and congrats on the new rifle!

Good advice. I have one rifle that will heat up a little on the 3rd shot. For me and my lack of patience I thought it would be really hard to get a good zero. I think the set up had everything to do with this being wrong, but the barrel heat up is real. This is a hunting rifle for you, so cold bore, first shot is what matters most, right? Make it a good one. Wait, as long as practical. Make another. Check your torque settings on your rings. Wait, shoot another. Put it away. Go drink some beer, have a steak............wait a few days, do it all over. I've done something similar on a somewhat light 7mm Rem.Mag. I now take it every time I hunt anything and take a shot or two on paper with it. If you're not happy with it after a few months, sell it to someone you don't like.

Brass will be challenge but you can also use 6mm Remington and 7x57 brass. It’s all the same case with a different neck. Just lube well and run it through your sizing die.

Nice rifle by the way, I’ve always admired the kimbers but have always been afraid of them. Not from experience just word of mouth. Don’t try to shoot 5 shot groups. Stick with 3 and you should be happy. I had a T3 Hunter that I had fits with until I accepted 3 shot groups for skinny barrels.

I like the .257 Roberts and recently got two of them from a member here. The Remington shot great and the Ruger not so much. I still liked the Ruger more and sent the Remington down the road and made the Ruger a gift to a kid who loves to hunt. Point being it’s not always about groups. The right rifle and cartridge can and will make history with you. I personally only chase accuracy but have not lost sight of the fact that that’s not the norm or required to have an excellent hunting rifle.

Great Texas deer rifle. You know, they ALL don't need to shoot half inch groups at 500 yards to hunt with. You made a GREAT choice! Look forward to range report, cool caliber. I'll keep an eye out for ammo/brass for you.

There is something about a 257 Roberts I've always liked but I've never owned one. Might need to change that some day...

Congrats...good looking rifle and I'd be shocked if it didn't meet your accuracy expectations.

That's good information to know. I am patiently looking for the right 7mm Rem Mag to come about and one of the ones that I was looking at this past weekend was a Kimber Mountain Ascent. I have a Sako Finnlight .270 and a Tikka T3x Roughtech 6.5 Creedmoor and they are two of my favorite rifles to shoot, so I had been looking to stay with one of those for 7mm.

Did a quick search for ammo, brass, etc

doesn't look good

I have two rifles in the 257 roberts, a Winchester FW model 70. The other is a ruger no. 1, both have taken quite a few whitetail’s since I have owned both since the early 80’s. The only problem with the caliber right now is the availability of ammo. I haven’t seen any 257 ammo on the shelf in a couple of years.

I bought the Roughtek in 7mm Rem Mag a couple of months ago, very happy with it. I've posted on it.

^^ Nice-- I will look for that thread.

I've never owned or shot a 257 Roberts, but have always wanted one. Have a buddy that swears by his.

6.5X57 brass is an easy neck down to 257 Roberts, only .007 inch reduction in the neck. Guessing a lot do not know that. PPU brass is available. Grafs is a good company to deal with.


Edit that is not quite right on simply necking down 6.5X57 comercial loads use a different shoulder angle and would need to benecked up to .308 then down. Creating a shoulder for head spacing so 7x57 or 6mm Remington are easier options.

https://www.grafs.com/retail/catalog/category/categoryId/705

When I was loading for a 6.5X57 I used Roberts brass necked up for it. That was for an old Jap world war II rifle chambered to just the necked down 7X57. Forgot about thr shoulder difference.

I like It a lot

I’m still fairly green when it comes to reloading, maybe this will be a good opportunity to expand my skills

No sir they don’t, if they shoot really tight groups that’s great, but it’s not the end all be all for how I hunt

Thanks for all the advise and encouragement, excited to see what it’ll do at the range.

Side note, my dad and I got a range set up on my parents place where mine and my fiancé’s house is, 150 yards from the house so that’s exciting.


I’m now concerned as any kind of decent ammo is nonexistent or costs almost as much as my 257 weatherby ammo.


I’m not sure I’m confident enough in my reloading skills to resize and trim 7x57 or 6mm brass yet so I’m not quiet ready to go down that road