Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Kimber 84M Classic Select 257 Roberts

Mine likes a soft foam under the forend and then to be held somewhat firmly, so it can't free recoil back. My Kimber .308 is pretty much the same way.

Went back and looked at some notes, we've only shot 75's, 87's, and 100's out of it. Multiple different bullets in each range, multiple powders, all with good results. I know I haven't, and don't think dad (my custom loading shop) has, shot any of the 115's or 120's out of it.

For deer its just the 100 grain Hornady that gets loaded.

Cheesy I thought I was getting a good firm grip on the thing....but maybe not! Like I said I won't have time to get to the lighter stuff for awhile.

Thinking back to the Montana I had,I only shot a hand load with 46- gr H4350 and the 100 BT and partition and that one shot great.

Hey it's just one range session and the rifle is brand new....I will get it sorted out.

Bob, you should be able to get it sorted out. There can be quite a few pre-flight items to check-off at times. Should make for an "enjoyable" post deer season project. I'm sure you will keep us posted.

How's the locking lug engagement?

Bob, sounds like nothing that Gene S, a Krieger and a boatload of cash can't remedy!

Hope it works out bud.

math man it looks good! I checked that...seems pretty even.

Things went better today....6.5x54 was coaching via text from the sidelines and I thank him for his help and experience!

Explain later gotta take wifey to dinner.

Good luck with the Bob,Bob! I don't think their is a better mid sized white tail cartridge around. While I have killed them with from 22-44, the Roberts does a good job, is pleasant to shoot and has a modest report.

Thanks.

It's a shame that a American rifle company produces a $1200-$1500 rifle that won't shoot.

Dink

Bob,
I was going to tell you to avoid the 117gr SST's. We have shot them thru at least four Bob's that I can think of and none of them shot worth a damn with that bullet. The 120gr NPT is not the most accurate bullet I've seen in a 1:10 twist barrel. I used it for a while on elk hunts and it worked o.k. for a nice mulie buck. The 100gr Hornady IL is a great bullet and so is the Nosler BT. If you really want a heavier bullet, try the Hornady 117 SPBT. If you can find them they always seemed to shoot well. But the 100gr Hornady is really hard to beat for anything you'll hunt with the Bob. Try it and some 4350 before you make too many changes to the rifle. Best of luck!

Yeah Dink, it's kinda sad.

Yes, so sad. You can get a Tikka for half the price and a 99% guaranteed shooter too!

Johnny Dollar thanks for the advice on those bullets I think it will work out fine.

Think SamO may be onto something with the bipod to settle things down a bit.....anyway results were so....uuhhh.....bad at 100 off the bags I figured there was nothing to be lost by just taking it to 300 yards. I had rough zero so knew I'd stay on paper.

I grabbed the front rest,flopped prone at 300 yards with my left hand supporting the rifle and no rear bags,and fired a 3 shot group with the 117 SST that went about 3" ... based on what it did the day before....over bags,this caught me off guard. (I sent a picture to 6.5x54).

I am used to seeing this sort of thing from my other rifles, but fearful it was a fluke, I grabbed 3 120 NPT's and did about the same thing with the group only slightly larger.

From there I played with the scope and dialed for windage and getting POI where I wanted it...through this shooting the rifle kept doing pretty much the same thing. I then went to 200 yards and it did fine with the 120 NPT.toward the end started string vertically and it occurred to me I was at around 30-40 rounds without cleaning,so i stopped there.

I have seen this before where a rifle just sucked off bags and 100 yard groups,but did much better once you got it in your hands, but it has been awhile since I experienced it,and it caught me off guard even as I watched it happen. To be sure I wasn't crazy, I asked 6.5 who is an experienced match shooter and he said "yes" it certainly does happen and especially with light hunting rifles.


I will pop some more caps later this week. Handloading will not be done till after hunting season. But for the time being it seems if I miss a buck with this rig out to 300 yards, I bet it's my fault. I expect things will get better with the hand loads and hope I don't have to spend a bunch of money like RickF said....

For those interested,feeding/extraction/ejection and function were completely flawless,not a bauble through several magazines full and I did not baby it. The trigger is great and I have no plans to mess with it. The rifle is slick and easy to shoot.

Bob: will the no-bags-bipod-and-rear-hand technique work shooting off a bench in addition to shooting prone? I have a light 257 that is driving me nuts, but the local range requires that you shoot off the benches.

I'm thinking it will not be long before you have it shooting off the bench also.
FWIT worth I've found that a very light forend grip off the bench is what works the best for me. Just enough to control jump. Too firm and consistency goes away. Don't wrestle with it, just keep it steady is what seems to work the best for me.

southtexas/battue: It occurred to me to shoot it the same way at 100 yards in the first place, as I watched the shots scatter across the target and I am thinking it's new,the barrel has not been shot much,this thing sucks..... blah blah blah ...it isn't so much there's any magic in shooting it that way,just that for some rifles locking them onto sandbags is a hostile environment for them.


Southtexas i would just set up a front rest, use your left hand rested on the bags to hold the rifle and let it rest lightly on the rear bags and try it that way.This may be what some guys are saying about holding the rifle down on the bags with their left hand;controls jump or something who knows?


It isn't anything new to me because after I zero a rifle at 100 yards the very first thing I do is take it to 300 yards and shoot it that way...I do that from 200-400 yards and rarely use front and rear bags until distances get to 500-600 yards. I didn't hold much hope for this rifle because of the poor showing at 100 off the bags.

But we all get used to using techniques and systems for testing our rifles that take the human equation out of the system as much as possible,and never take the rifle and just shoot it because we are afraid of bouncing reticles.

Once I start hand loading for it, I think it will come around just fine.

Thanks Bob. I'll give it a try.

Inspired by the OP, I pulled my Classic Select from the safe. Decided to pull the Burris 2pc bases with windage screws off. All I could find local a the time. Decided to go through the rifle even though it shot fine off a bulls bag. Found the mag box was binding and the front action bolt was bottoming out. Fixed those 2 items and thought the factory bedding was fine.
Won't know if it makes a difference until the replacement rings and bases come in. Hope what shot well shoots better after the fact.