anyone has one of these rifles if so whats your likes and dislikes? I'm thinking of getting one in 338 Federal or 325 WSM

check out 24hr campfire for this question. There is a huge fan following of that rifle....

but not in those chamberings.

I have one in 300 WSM.

Super light. Easy to carry for miles and miles.

Mine is plenty accurate for hunting, but I cannot get superb accuracy from factory loads. There are, however, many glowing reports from hand loaders who have worked up loads that result in extreme accuracy.

I just picked one up in 270 WSM. See what she'll do. Seems to be well-balanced and light.

Mine is a 7mm08 & I like it very much because it is light to carry all day up & down hills full of scrubs, wind falls and hidden logs or rocks. I shoot well with it and I have taken some good shots. The stainless synthetic is perfect for the NZ bush & climate.

The things I do not like about it
1. the sling swivel studs stripped the thread. the front one came off within about 20 hours in the field and the rear one stripped off in about 1 year of use. I just epoxied them back on. A friend of mine had the same problem with his rifle.

2. The rifle is so light that quick pointing & nap shooting are not easy. When i point instinctively like I do with my other rifles I tend to point at least 18" above the target. I have to consciously pull the fore end down. I guess this is because the rifle is so light - 5lbs 3 oz empty & 6 lbs even with scope.

I personally find that felt recoil is noticeably more than a normal 7.5 lbs rifle. My 12 yr old son got a scope cut over the eye when he shot it. I would not be comfortable with a larger caliber in such a light rifle.

I had one in .270 WSM and never could get it to consistantly group. I'm just about banned over on 24 hr. campfire for posting my comments there. This rifle never gave me 2 consistantly good groups regardless of what I did. Sent it to Hill Country Rifles to be worked on. I'm sure they did the voodoo that they do - still wouldn't group consistantly. Sent it to a well known smith in Montana. All he could figure out was the barrel. Replaced the barrel with a Lilja. same problem.
At some point in this long, expensive saga, I got a 5 shot group with Retumbo and a 150 Sierra that had all shots touching. Literally!!!
That rifle would NEVER,EVER come close to duplicating that group afterwards. Not even an inch & a quarter.
I finally shit canned it and now have a Win. Extreme Weather in the same chambering that gives MOA quite consistantly with 150 Sierra's. Shot 150 Partitions for the first time yesterday (Wed.), and got a 5 shot, 1 1/4" group with 4 going into 0.8" with a near max charge of Retumbo. Guess I pulled the one shot that was out.
As far as I'm concerned, other people can play "Kimber Roulette" but never again for me. It's your money and hair though.
Bear in Fairbanks

The one I got is in 308 Winchester, and it has a strong preference for 150 grn bullets.

Both Nosler PT and Woodleig PP prints lesser than an inch three shot groups, but so far the 165 and 180 grns are a disaster.
Usually two close and the third that open up quite a bit.

Seems to be a pretty picky rifle, but as this is my "light deer" rifle, I can live with it.

Another thing is that it took close to 100 shots before it started to behave, bot I guess I keep it becous it is such a dandy little rifle, and for me the 150 grn bullets are spot on.

I know where a brand new one is in .325WSM. Guy won it and traded it new in box. They want $1050 for it. PM if interested the shop is in 84 PA.

I had one in 270 wsm and it was a great rifle. I sold it when I was thinning out the herd though. I think the next rifle I buy will be a Montana in either 325wsm or 338 win mag.

Mine had bad ju ju so I sold it.
I had a problem where I would put the safty to fire, and the gun would go off. Not safe. It was returned to Kimber, and they fixed it very quickly and sent it back to me.
I could never get very good accuracy, which I belive is mostly my skills at shooting such a light rifle.
It does look good and carry very nice.
I am not a kimber hatter, just dont like them anymore.
W.

I guess I'm one of the lucky ones. I have been VERY happy with my Kimberly. She has killed everything I have pointed at with her so far; I only had to fire twice on one occasion after breaking the back of a large running boar.

As for snap shooting, I think the Montana points just fine. Not to brag, but just to illustrate, I did smoke these three pigs recently while on the run as well:



More info on mine from this old post:
http://forums.accuratereloadin...=190109118#190109118

Tom:

Do yourself a favor and just buy a Ruger in .338 Compact Magnum.

I am a big fan of the Kimber rifles and pistols. I have bolt guns in 300 win mag, 260 and 223. They all consistently shoot MOA at 100M when I do my part. The only Kimber I ever had a problem with was one of their pistols that "wouldn't even feed air" reliably. It went back to the factory 3 times and they ended up replacing everything except the frame. Their excellent customer service made me fan for life. As soon as my dealer gets a 84L in 30-06, I'll buy it.

I had one in 270 WSM. Very poor accuracy. Sent it back to the factory. Still very poor accuracy. Dumped it and would never own another.
Had a 270WSM built on a Rem 700 action and Mcmillan light stock and never looked back.
Wanted to use the Montana on a sheep hunt in NWT. Ended up shooting my Dall with the Rem.

Tom S,

I like the Kimber rifles and have five of them. Keep in mind that the 338 Fed. is chambered in the 84M model and the WSM's in the 8400. While they are very similar in design the 8400 is a larger rifle.

The Kimber has the best and smoothest M70 type safety and are light in weight. Their 'Montana' stock is state of the art.

I would get whatever chambering you like in the 84M model. That rifle is a landmark with its light weight and CRF, superior safety.

I feel sorry for Bear in Fairbanks as he has the worst luck and even worse is that he can't get over it.