Ive got the urge to buy another rifle. Don't need it, I've got a safe full already. Just have the itch and when possible I try and buy my rifles on my trip to Montana while deer hunting (this will be for use NEXT year).
Anyway, looking over some potential candidates,
Kimber rifles came to the top of my short list and just wondering what some of you might think of them. Quality? Accuracy? Price (to much I think, but then not bad compared to some others big names). Caliber considerations are something medium like .257 Roberts or the 7mm-08. Will see what I can find next week when in MT.

Cheers,
Willi

I like the Kimber rifles for hunting. I wanted a lighter rifle and the Kimber is lighter than the M70's, mausers and 99F's that I have.

Then they came out with the SS/Syn Montana and I got a few of them as well. I find that they shoot just fine and in fact their safeties and actions are smoother than a M70.

I have five of them now.

I have a love/hate relationship with Kimbers.
I love the ones that are accurate. I hate the ones that are not.
I've owned seven. Four classics, three montanas.
325 wsm,300 wsm (2), 270 wsm(2), 308, 260 rem.

At present I have one montana in 260 rem.

Kimbers are a crap shoot.

GWB

Do alot of research before you buy one. My experience has been pretty similar to Geedubya. Out of the seven I have had only one is a keeper. Some were real turds. When you buy a kimber its a gamble.

I am surprised that the Kimber does not shoot well for some of our members.

Mine is a Montana 7mm08 & is a tack driver. I have a few friends with Kimbers and they all shoot well. Let us say 5 out of 5 rifles.

I found the rifle very light at 5 lbs 2 oz plus scope - but easy to carry & handle. Here are a few points I would make.

* The light weight makes it point high for quick shooting & so I have to consciously pull the rifle down to point on target for quick shots
* The light weight means the felt recoil is lively & the scope goes off sight picture quickly. My 11 year old boy got a scope cut on his eyebrow when he shot a feral goat.
* The trigger needed a bit of fiddling as the sear engagement from the factory was a bit high and had some creep as well as a heavy pull
* Load development taught me that it was common to get 2 to 3 inch groups for 3 shots until I learned to hold the light rifle really tight at the bench. Fine tuning loads then gave we 0.75" groups with 3 different bullets.
* The mag holds only 4 rounds and not 5 as indicated in the manual
* The front sling swivel stud is threaded into an aluminium nut which is epoxied into the fore end. This thread stripped within a month & the rear stud thread stripped in 2 years. I know at least one other person who had this problem of the sling swivel thread stripping. I just drilled a few 2mm holes in the aluminium nut & epoxied it in for a permanent fix.

I really like the rifle. It is a joy to carry on the steep mountains when hunting tahr or deer. This is my Go To rifle for normal hunting (deer etc.) I have shot wallabies at 330 meters ranged with 1 shot.

Will I buy another one? No I would want a heavier rifle in a larger caliber.

Mine was a Montana in 270 WSM. It was terrible accuracy wise, before and after I returned it to the factory.
I'll never own another one.

If you want a Kimber. Try a Oregon made model 89. Not as light as the New York models but are closer to a "custom rifle". I own 4 (7MM mag, 338 WM, 375 H&H and a 416 Rigby). All will shoot 1" or under at 100'. CRF, actions smooth as glass and nice wood to metal fit. Personally, I think they are the equivilent to a Dakota at 1/2 the price.
Check guns international.

EZ

Kimber is famous for inletting their high dollar stocks with a pocket knife. Some of them are just plain awful. I've never owned one but I always pick them up when I'm at the gunstore. I would put my money elsewhere. MHO.

Have had a couple of them.
Found a couple loads that will hold under 1/2" @ 100 with both rifles.
Have shot a couple others in .300 WM for the shop. Both did about 1-1/2" @ 100, until we contacted Kimber and they told us that their rifles must have the floor plate screws torqued to 60 lbs, using a wrench made for rifles. We did this and one shoot's 3/4", the other 1/2", so this seems to work well.

The earlier rifles had some barrel and feeding problems that seem to have been ironed out.

DB Cooper sent his 84M back to Kimber for accuracy problems; they replaced the barrel and now it shoots great. So they will take care of any problems.

I would highly recommend the Kimber rifles. We have sold lot's of them to client's, and all the reports coming back to the shop are top rate.

I myself will be picking up one of the fairly new 84Ls chambered in .30-06 in the near future. I will then have it re-barreled by Pac-Nor, and chambered to .338-06, and topped with a Leupold 1.5-5 scope. They feed smoother then most rifles out there today, as that particular model was made around the .30-06 case only. They come in .25-05, .270. and the .30-06.

They are my first choice in a lightweight hunting rifle today!

I like um!

I think the overall is that there are more hate than love experiences with Kimbers. There is no way they are smoother than an M-70, maybe sometimes they are AS smooth. I have had, or had friends with at least 12 Kimbers ( 5 of em mine). There is only one left in the batch, and that is one of mine, a 308, which frankly I made a great trade for, or I wouldn't have ever gotten it.

Those that have 'good' ones seem to love them, they are often lighter than comparable models from other MFG's. For similar or slightly more money you will be WAY better off with a Cooper, if you are enamored with CRF, I'd buy a Ruger Hawkeye firts, or one of the 'new' Winchester FW models.

Good luck on your choice.

I have 2 kimbers. One is my wifes in a .260 that is a great shooting little rifle. My other one is a select grade 300 WSM. It is a pooch. It doesn't shoot very good..2" three shot groups was the best I could get out of it. It also feeds terribly. I finally got tired of fighting it, and found a real nice super grade on gunbroker in the same caliber, and put the scope on it. Shame to, as it is a real nice looking and handling rifle. I probably won't own any more kimbers after owning this rifle.

i like kimbers, guess thats good since i have a dozen or so. kimbers inletting coming from new york has been problematic. for those that wouldn't shoot right bedding has always cured the problem for me.

I wanted a lightweight rifle too for some time. I purchased two of the Weatherby UltraLightweights, one in 30-06 and one in 338-06 and am quite happy with them. Considering they have 24" barrels, they are quite light and quite attractive with their fluted barrels. The 30-06 shoots very accurate and I have yet to work up a load for the 338-06. I also recently got a Rem 700 Titanium rifle in .270 Winchester which is about as light a rifle as your gonna get under $1200. I have a Colt Light rifle in .270 Winchester too that is pretty light and shoots great even with factory loads so don't overlook this one. I looked at the Kimbers too, but I hate losing money on guns and felt it is too much of a crap shoot to risk getting a piece of shit and then trying to unload it onto someone else. If you have to have a Kimber, I agree it is better to get one of the older model 89's as I have a Supergrade in 300 Winchester mag that is an awesome rifle. Well worth the small premium you pay to get one and they hold their value well. I bought mine new just before they went under for $950 but you won't get one today for that price.

The stocks are not made in the good old USA they are Mexican imports.

I got this from the Customer Service Supervisor from Kimber after I sent mine back for accuracy problems and the switched out my wood for a bedding issue.

I have two. My 84M is a 7-08 Classic and after finding the best ammo load (140 grn Accubond over 42.5 Varget WLR) I realy like it. It is a pleasure to hunt with.

My .22LR is also a Classic and is IMO the best hunting .22 there is.

A friend of mine bought a new one in 375 H&H last year. On inspection I noticed the sling band on the barrel slid up and down it!!!

quote:

Originally posted by ted thorn:
My .22LR is also a Classic and is IMO the best hunting .22 there is.

I believe your talking about the Kimber of Oregon model 82.

If so I'd go with that.

GWB





Kimber Model 82 Classic, Leupold 4x.


A clip's worth at 50 yds.

The Kimber .22's are nice...but don't compare to the Winchester 52B Sporters in feel, beauty or accuracy. They are a mans rimfire. Of course, that is just my opinion.

Thanks all for your feedback(s). Overall it seems that this might not be a good choice afterall in spite of the looks of the 84M and its associated price. I recently went thru rifle issues with a Mossberg I had bought for my daughter and after two trips to the gunsmith with that rifle I finally gave up and sold that one. I still intrigued by the 7mm-08 caliber and even tho I already own calibers on both sides of that one I still plan to do some looking this week at the gunshops I often visit when in Montana, but it probably won't be a Kimber if I get one ( more likely a Ruger Hawkeye, have always had good luck with the rUGER 77'S or the new Haweye.

Thanks again for the feedback.

Willi

I've been doing a bit of research on 1911's lately, planning on buying one eventually, and I keep hearing a good handful of bad comments about kimber 1911's... along the lines of "custom" guns never seeing a custom shop, "stainless" looking barrels actually just in-the-white, poor fit and finish for a $1k gun, bad castings... often buyers will go through a lot of work to get it to function and act like its acceptable for a high priced 1911.
just my rant on kimber.

bisonhunter, comparing a Kimber 84M to any Mossberg is apples to potatoes

quote:

Originally posted by df06:
Mine was a Montana in 270 WSM. It was terrible accuracy wise, before and after I returned it to the factory.
I'll never own another one.

My POS (aka, Kimber Montana) was exactly the same as df06's.
I spent more money on that POS than you could believe. Glass bedding AND a BRAND NEW Lilja barrel. Not to mention 2 separate trips to shops down in the Lower-48. I can tell you that it was consistant -- Consistantly inconsistant!!!!
One time I shot a 5 shot group that was lterally a 1 hole group (about 7/8" outside to outside) using Retumbo and a 150 gr. Sierra. I had every bit of load data written down & saved including distance to the ogive. I use a Forster competition bullet seater and am a fanatic for seating depth.
That efffing rifle never, ever could come close to repeating that group no matter what I tried. I tried countless powders and even went to 130 gr. bullets and it was still consistantly inconsistant. As far as I'm concerned, F@&%
Kimber & the horse they rode in on.
Look at getting yourself a Win. Extreme weather. I just got mine & it looks as if it's a real keeper. Put 4 shots into about 3/4" and 3 into about 1/2" last Fri. in the cold & snow with some Rldr-25. Velocity off the chrono corrected back to the muzle was about 3100 fps. Don't need to replace the barrel either. It's your money tho.
Bear in Fairbanks

My Kimber Montana in 260 just put Rem 140 grs and federal 120's under an inch at 100 . changed scopes so had to resight. I really like the 260 as well as my classic .22 and a custom shop carry special .45acp that is my everyday carry gun. sounds like I have just had good luck-but I'll take it.

quote:

Originally posted by Geedubya:
I have a love/hate relationship with Kimbers.
I love the ones that are accurate. I hate the ones that are not.
I've owned seven. Four classics, three montanas.
325 wsm,300 wsm (2), 270 wsm(2), 308, 260 rem.

At present I have one montana in 260 rem.

Kimbers are a crap shoot.

GWB

Exactly!!!

I have 2. One will shoot and I love it. The other is a 2" gun and I don't!

I had an early Montana .308. It shot HORRIBLY when I first got it. A trip back to Kimber and it shot WONDERFULLY (sub MOA with several loads and most to the same POI). I decided to go another direction and it went on down the road in order to get a new Winchester 70 Stainless Featherweight which has a much smoother action than my Kimber did. Sadly, it shoots about as poorly as the Kimber did and Winchester wants to check it out. I'd think it were me if that Kimber hadn't shot so well after repairs. Stuff happens with all sorts of manufacturers, Kimber just sounds like it has a higher number of incidents per rifles sold.

I have a few centerfire Kimber America rifles...all produce acceptable MOA accuracy....I have to use my best bench manners when testing them as they are very unforgiving if I do not...

I sent one back a few years ago, a .338 Federal, to Montana, where their sales facility is headquartered. Their guy recrowned it, corrected a feeding issue, bedded it properly and returned it promptly. He stuck, however, to his initial contention that its grouping problem lay with poor quality Federal ammo-something I found suspect....

Would I buy anymore? No....I don't like their whippy barrels and fifteen minute time frames needed to fire a three shot group....plus I've heard enough complaints from others to not roll the dice on rifles costing what they do....