What id the difference between the different Kimber companies? I hear people say Kimber of Oregon is the best? What are the other Kimber's and how do you distinguish between them?

Kimber of oregon went out of buisness. High prices poor quality from what I understand. Someone bought the tooling,moved it and started making rifles. Now called Kimber of America. They do make nice rifles and they shoot good(I know because I own one). This is the story I've pieced together anyway so correct me if I'm wrong. But Ive yet to see an Kimber of Oregon rifle,so I cannot tell you how they are diff. I hope this helps.

The original Kimber company was located in Clackamas, Oregon and run by Greg Warne (later made Warne mounts/rings). Kimber of Oregon made some excellent rifles, especially their Model 82 (rimfires and small centerfires) and their Model 84 (.222 family). These "Kimber of Oregons" are quality guns that are highly sought-after by enthusiasts and rarely had quality control problems.

K of O brought out their Model 89 Big Game Rifle in the late eighties and immediatly ran into problems with costs, quality control, and sales. The company closed down not long after, presumably not being financially sustainable.

A group bought the Kimber name and is producing rifles in NY that are mechanically different from the Oregons, but still very reminiscent of the original designs. (The company's financial bread and butter, however, has been their M1911's.) I haven't owned or fired any of the "Kimber of America" rifles like the new 8400, but they are said to be of high quality.

Sorta like the "pre-Garcia" Sakos, collectors are much more fond of the previous "Kimber of Oregon", but again like Sakos, the current production is typically more expensive than even mint examples of the previous production.

Most of the problem was around the fact that during recessionary times its hard to market $1500-$3000 semi-custom guns, no matter who the manufacturer is. Then you couple limited production numbers and the cost of recent new tooling/methods for building the model 89's and you have a very good recipe for bank forclosure. The new owner of the Kimber name was a grandson to the original owner. I have a few 89 Supergrades and one of the rare 89 Hunter models, which is a Supergrade barreled action in their own laminated stock(and a very pretty one at that) and I will tell you first hand that I have seen absolutely no quality issues at all and they all shoot very well. Yes, they are commanding some very good prices these days and are very collectible, as K.O.O. made a lot of out of the ordinary calibers, which is also one of the reasons they are no longer in business.

Woody