So called "mountain rifles", like Melvin Forbes (NULA) ultralights, and Kimbers line of similar guns, are pretty cool. Being over 40, having an A.C.L. knee surgery recently behind me, and severe tendinitis in my elbows from a decade of hard labor in the oil patch, such rifles seem more and more appealing to me. Mr. Forbes builds and tunes his rifles himself, and they shoot. However, at $3500, I won't be getting one before Melvin retires. Kimber's ultralights seem to be serviceable. The Montana in 308 that I played with was certainly accurate enough for the first two shots, which is all that really matters in a big game rifle, but most reports seem to indicate that they aren't at all impressive, accuracy wise, and my experience with the Montana was that shooting technique needs to be pretty consistent, if one expects to cleanly bag an animal when the distance starts to stretch. The thin wispy barrels make for much easier carrying, but certainly don't help accuracy. Melvine's rifles are supposedly so accurate because his stocks are so stiff/stable and he beds the barrel the entire length of the stock. I've even read that he uses an oscilloscope to aid in the tuning process. Kimbers, being massed produced, are free floated with hopes for the best, which means we're left with the luck of the draw.

Kimber recently announced that they are coming out with a new, relatively lightweight, varmint rifle in 6.5 Creedmoor called the "Open Country". It has a heavy fluted SS 24" barrel and carbon fibre stock. Weight is stated to be 6lbs and 15oz. Add a good scope of moderate weight, and this meets with my idea of a mountain rifle. I could happily get by with a fixed 4x or 6x Leupold, but add a good variable that keeps overall weight Between 8 and 8.5lbs, and I would still be joyous as a fox in a hen house. I think the STREET price will be around half that of a NULA. I'm thinking about $1900. I would feel better shooting at an elk with a 308, but a 6.5mm 140 grain partition can certainly do the job, and the more precision shooting nature of this rifle adds confidence that the bullet will hit where aimed. This rifle might even be cool in 338 Federal, which is a round I've had absolutely zero interest in. Perhaps Kimber will expand caliber offerings in the future. They could offer a plain mono-colored stock. The funky camo does nothing for me, and adds a couple ounces of unnecessary weight.

Nice rifle! We have a 7 1/4 lb Rem XCR II (with Leupold 2-7x scope an Talley QR rings all CeraKoted) in 375 Weatherby. Worked great on brown bear, but a little much for varmints, nice elk gun though The rifle below it is my 40 plus year old 270 I gave to my son, still shoots great too

quote:

Originally posted by chuck375:
Nice rifle! We have a 7 1/4 lb Rem XCR II (with Leupold 2-7x scope an Talley QR rings all CeraKoted) in 375 Weatherby. Worked great on brown bear, but a little much for varmints, nice elk gun though The rifle below it is my 40 plus year old 270 I gave to my son, still shoots great too

A friend has An XCR-II in 280. He fit one of the newer Rem 700 synthetic mountain rifle stocks to it. It shoots great and is a bit lighter than it was. The stock came off one of the newer Stainless synthetic Moutain rifles, which happened to also be chambered in 280, but shot like crap. My buddy thinks it's the thin wispy barrel. Go figure. The XCR's have plenty of meat in the barre. I've handled one of the XCR-II's in 375. They are sure light for a 375!

quote:

Originally posted by ColoradoMatt:
I would feel better shooting at an elk with a 308, but a 6.5mm 140 grain partition can certainly do the job

Are you nuts?

I hope you wore Kevlar to this thread because around AR no elk that is worth his salt will fall dead from anything less than a .338 WM with premium bullets.

Ad in Plains Game and any airline ticket or guide fees and you will be burned at the AR stake for practicing witchcraft

quote:

Originally posted by ted thorn:
[QUOTE]Originally posted by ColoradoMatt:
I would feel better shooting at an elk with a 308, but a 6.5mm 140 grain partition can certainly do the job

Are you nuts?

I hope you wore Kevlar to this thread because around AR no elk that is worth his salt will fall dead from anything less than a .338 WM with premium bullets.

Ad in Plains Game and any airline ticket or guide fees and you will be burned at the AR stake for practicing witchcraft

That's OK, I can take it. Living in Colorado for the last 21 years, I've known several folks who take elk every year with some pretty small rounds. One guy I know takes an elk every year, just west of Fort Collins, wit a 50's era Model 70 featherweight in 243. I'm not a fan of that round at all, but he gets the job done year after year. Many thousands of moose have been taken in Scandinavia with the 6.5x55, mostly with heavy cup-and-core bullets. The Creedmoor is just a more efficient modern version of that grand old round. I'll have to admit that it is hard to beat a 300 or 338 magie for a dedicated all around big game rifle, but good hunting and shooting skills can make up for a lot. Folks can throw mud all they want.

All of our elk (my couple of dozen, my sons a couple each) have been taken with the 270 (they each have one), except one cow elk I took with my 500 Jeffery just because I wanted to. The 270 does great with 150g Partitons. I'm sure a 6.5mm Creedmore with 140g bullets would as well. Placement, placement, placement.

Reading the recent post on the Legendary Arms Works rifles led me to compare weights between LAW's "Capra" ("Capra" is the genus that all true goats are contained, including most of the wild goats hunted for sport) and Kimber's open country. The Kimber is listed at 6lbs/15oz, whereas the LAW is listed at between 6lbs/9.6oz and 7lbs/0.64oz. Point is, Kimber' heavy barrelled light varmint rifle weighs about the same as LAW's goat rifles. I've handled a couple LAW rifles in the shop, and they seem wonderfully balanced. The Kimber OC will likely be pretty front heavy. However, LAW just bumped the price of their goat rifles to over $3000, which I imagine is a bargain compared to many custom offerings, but it makes the Kimber even more appealing to me.

I just watched a review of the LAW Proffesional in 6.5 Creedmoor, on YouTube, conducted by Ron Spomer. His test gun weighed in at 6lbs/12oz, which makes the Kimber open country only 3 ounces heavier.

Looks like a longmaster type contour
with a fancy painted stock in 6.5 creedmore

Mine shoots great but suffers from the feel of a scaled down rifle.

quote:

Originally posted by Dead Eye:
Looks like a longmaster type contour
with a fancy painted stock in 6.5 creedmore

Mine shoots great but suffers from the feel of a scaled down rifle.

That's a beauty you've got there. I don't mind that minimalist action dimentions. The stock will be super stiff and the barrel heavy and free floated. While this rifle will be about two pounds heavier than a Mountain ascent in 308, it should carry real nice and be more accurate after the first shot. I would love to point it at some north park coyotes!