Gimme the Story on Kimber Rifles

[Wind Gypsy]

Please elaborate. I’ve never had issues with any other rifle in the lead sled. I even had a cheap lightweight savage that did much better than the Kimber.

It's a good way to wreck scopes and stocks because recoil energy has nowhere to go. I haven't used one for a long time but i'd be concerned about zero being a little off because it can't recoil and I know i am not as solid as with a proper bipod/rear bag setup.

 

[Alpine01]

I don’t own a Kimber at the moment but I believe a Kimber Classic topped with a capped turret Leupold Gold Ring scope is one of the finest looking production rifles a person can own.

I own two Kimbers. First is a 308 Classic purchased in 2018 with a Leupold VX-6HD (3-18x44). Not the lightest Kimber available but still on the lighter side. I have taken deer from 180 yds to 315 yds and elk at 182 and 265 yds with it (only been hunting for 5 yrs so 3 for 5 on deer and 2 for 5 on elk). Always spot on for a cold-bore shot but as others have mentioned, it is not a bench rifle unless you don't mind taking a three shot group and then waiting 5+ minutes for the barrel to cool. I went through at least 10 different factor ammo loads before finding two that it really liked (165 Trophy Bonded Tip and 180 Partitions) where I could consistently get sub 1 MOA groups out to 400 yds. At this point, I really like my 308. You have to shoot it like any other lightweight rifle which means light cheekweld; firm, but no deathgrip on the stock and trigger hand; and I always shoot it with my trigger hand (right) thumb laying the right side instead of over the grip.

The second is a recently purchased Mountain Ascent in 7mm Rem Mag. Just outfitted it with a similar VX-6HD as well. My winter/spring project is to find a load it likes. Early testing indicates a 155 Terminal Ascent or a 160 Gr TBT are good candidates but as I am also starting to acquire reloading hardware, will look to develop my own for this rifle. Really like the weight but have to treat it the same as my Classic to get consistent performance. So far, I am very happy with it but time will tell.

In both cases, a lightweight rifle really exposes shooter errors and bad habits. I spend time with an LR-308 that is a 15-lb rifle and can get away with being a bit lazy on technique. When I come back to my Classic, I pay for that laziness in the first group or two.

 

[mtmuley]

^^This.

I used almost a box of cartridges in my 6.5 pound (scoped) Remington 700 Ti, trying to “zero” it from a lead sled after a flight. I finally took it out of the lead sled and just shot off bags. Turns out zero was where it had been originally.

I had a chance to buy one of those at about half what it was worth. Ad was in the local paper. Waited too long, guy found out what he should have been asking. mtmuley

 

[BAKPAKR]

I had a chance to buy one of those at about half what it was worth. Ad was in the local paper. Waited too long, guy found out what he should have been asking. mtmuley

I will sell mine for twice what it is worth.

 

[brockel]

Please elaborate. I’ve never had issues with any other rifle in the lead sled. I even had a cheap lightweight savage that did much better than the Kimber.

That lead sled stops the recoil energy to the shooter but that energy still has to go somewhere. They are nicknamed “scope wreckers” for a reason. On a light rifle like the Montana they really hurt them because the Montana action is a smaller action and the barrel is a featherweight so they are not near as rigid as most so there is some flex to it. When that recoil has nowhere to go it causes more flex than normal. The lightweight savage does alright because savage isn’t saving weight by featherweight barrel contours and slimmed down actions. Their weight savings is in the cheap Tupperware stock.
Lilja makes a modified barrel contour for the Montanas that finishes at 0.617” at muzzle vs the factory 0.565” which really helps. I believe @Brad was the one that came up with that contour for them. He’s the real Kimber Montana guru

 

[Mitchellmountain]

I have a kimber 84L 30-06 bought used last year from a man that bought it new. It's a great gun to carry, and shoots around 1 to 1.25 MOA. It is tricky to shoot and there was a bit of a learning curve on shooting it correctly. I had a kimber hunter in 30-06 before that , couldn't get it consistently under 2-3 MOA and sold it, found out later it was probably me not the gun. Picked up my recent one for a price I couldn't walk away from and did some reading, paid off. It shoots 165 gr interbonds on an average of 3005 fps , and that's under book max of H4350. Hope I never have to deal with their CS, but otherwise I'm on the love them list.

P.S. I own a couple of those " cheap" savage lightweights that will typically outshoot my Montana and a few others I own. Simply the best value out there for a lightweight rifle when you consider the utilitarian aspect.

 

[Wallow]

I bought one over the internet years ago as it seemed to check a lot of my boxes. It was super light but I just couldn't get past the slop in the bolt when it was locked down. I swear it rattled up and down a half inch when the bolt was closed. It bugged me so much I sold it soon after buying it.

 

[appaloosa]

I have two, a Montana c. 2014 in 270 WSM and a Hunter c. 2020 in 6.5CM. They both shoot lights out, but the 270 definitely took a little more work to dial in. I have gotten it to shoot 140 grain ABs and TSXs in 1/2" groups, but it likes them super hot and the faster the better. The 6.5 might be the most forgiving gun I own. Haven't found too many loads it doesn't like, and right now I have it shooting clover leafs with 127 LRXs.
Anyway, I consider myself 2-for-2, and I would probably buy another one.

 

[Caseknife]

I have an 8400 Montana in 300WSM that I bought in 2012 or so. Shoots great, killed lots of animals with it. Reload for it with Barnes anywhere from 130-180gr, prefer the 150 or 130gr TTSX, the 180 recoil is a bit stiff. If I do my part, it will put them less than an inch at 100.
My hunting partner has a Montana in .308, about a pound lighter than my 300WSM, jealous. He bought it probably 5 years ago and has had no problem with it and has killed numerous animals with it using factory Barnes 150TTSX. I started reloading for it last year and got a load with 130TTSX that will punch the same hole at 100yds. Also lightened the trigger while I had it. He was very impressed when he shot it after getting it back. Has killed a Wyoming cow elk and a Colorado monster muley with it this year.

The other lightweight rifle for consideration is the new Howa Super Lite. Mine in .308 weighs under 5.5# scoped and ready to hunt, pretty sweet to pack and kills just fine.

Super lightweight rifles need to held firmly on the bench while shooting. Bret was up before he went to Colorado and wanted to verify his zero before his trip. Wasn't watching what he put in the chamber and when I looked at the target, it was about 5" high??? Oh that was a factory load, 150 TTSX at about 2600. The 130 TTSX were close to 3200 and hit dead center. The slower bullet had more time in the barrel and even though he held his hand over the bell of the scope when he shot, the rifle had more time to rise in recoil resulting in the higher shot.

 

[Beignet]

Despite some of the successes on here I'm going to rule a Kimber out. Too much of a crapshoot when a Tikka or Savage is likely to shoot well out of the box with no fuss.

I had no idea that a Savage Lightweight Storm could be had for a song on GB or elsewhere. Thinking that paring one with a Mesa stock might be the ticket. That combo would still be cheaper than a Kimber Montana and still a sub 6lb rifle. Not the prettiest gun (damn spiral fluting on the bolt), but I expect it’d be accurate.

 

[OMB]

I'd read all of the Kimber horror stories on various forums and still decided to pick up a Montana in 6.5 Creedmoor for a backpack sheep hunt because it checked a lot of boxes on paper. Found one at a sporting goods chain store marked down to $1000 with the green stock and threaded barrel, definitely had been on the shelf for a little while. Mine does have the "B" marked chamber to indicate a Bergara made barrel. Topped it with a Swaro Z3 3-10 with the BRH reticle.

The gun shoots 1/2" groups at 100 yards with 143 ELD-X bullets (only stuff I've tried with hit), and I've killed deer and a sheep with it. It's become my favorite rifle to tote around, and I would gladly buy another in 280 AI/270/30-06 if Kimber would ever start making Montana's again. Pretty tough to find a gun with all of its features in that price point, at that weight, and looks like that clean.

 

[OMB]

I'd read all of the Kimber horror stories on various forums and still decided to pick up a Montana in 6.5 Creedmoor for a backpack sheep hunt because it checked a lot of boxes on paper. Found one at a sporting goods chain store marked down to $1000 with the green stock and threaded barrel, definitely had been on the shelf for a little while. Mine does have the "B" marked chamber to indicate a Bergara made barrel. Topped it with a Swaro Z3 3-10 with the BRH reticle.

The gun shoots 1/2" groups at 100 yards with 143 ELD-X bullets (only stuff I've tried with hit), and I've killed deer and a sheep with it. It's become my favorite rifle to tote around, and I would gladly buy another in 280 AI/270/30-06 if Kimber would ever start making Montana's again. Pretty tough to find a gun with all of its features in that price point, at that weight, and looks like that clean.

 

[Deleted member 48080]

I have two, a Classic Select in 7-08 and a Montana in .243. I've found loads for both that shoot under an inch.

One of them came from the factory with some really bad tooling marks and never should have gotten through QC in the state it was in. Dealing with Kimber was a nightmare and I eventually paid my gunsmith to fix the rifle.

I love those two rifles, and will never get rid of either. Every animal I've killed since 2015 (other than one bear this spring) was with one of those two rifles. The 84 action design is exactly what I want in a hunting rifle, and the stock on both rifles is exceptional. Those rifles fit me and feel more natural than any other rifle I've used.

That said, I can't defend against the brand's detractors after what I went through with them.

 

[MThuntr]

I have heard about Kimber Roulette and I got lucky with on that shoots and feeds well. Cabelas had the Kimber Hunter Pro on clearance so i had to have one. Early on I had discovered the chamber had a bur. Their tech claimed it was my reloads so I bought a box of Hornady and they were even hotter showing the issue worse. Kimber had me ship it to them and they cleaned it up. I'm considering chopping the barrel down to have it threaded for a suppressor but it's so thin that I'm not sure how much they'd have to chop to make it work with a common thread pitch

 

[Dust Rider]

2010 Montana 300WSM. Shoots 165gr. Speer Grand Slams sub moa. All other bullets 1-2 MOA. Took a while to find what it liked.

2014 Talkeetna 375 HH Mag. Very accurate for a light weight thumper.

2012 84M .308. Beautiful walnut and sleek. My wife’s Pronghorn and deer gun. Shoots good and nice to carry. Prefers Nosler Ballistic tip 150gr.

I have had a good run with Kimbers, and still looking for one more specific rifle to add to collection.

 

[Doublegunner]

Despite some of the successes on here I'm going to rule a Kimber out. Too much of a crapshoot when a Tikka or Savage is likely to shoot well out of the box with no fuss.

I had no idea that a Savage Lightweight Storm could be had for a song on GB or elsewhere. Thinking that paring one with a Mesa stock might be the ticket. That combo would still be cheaper than a Kimber Montana and still a sub 6lb rifle. Not the prettiest gun (damn spiral fluting on the bolt), but I expect it’d be accurate.

My tikka superlite in 7rm was 6lbs 2oz pounds bare, so pretty light. Very slick action and decent trigger. I like my kimbers better, mostly because the montana stock is excellent and so is the factory trigger but the tikka is worth having. I will say that the stock geometry on the tikka makes it seem like it kicks more. I would say the same thing about the light weight savage. My buddy has one in 300wm and it's kinda obnoxious to shoot and I'm not particularly recoil sensitive. That one I have a hard time getting good groups because it's so obnoxious. I will also note that the kimbers pork up alot when you go to a magnum round because they go to the larger 8400 action. A mountain ascent in 300 wm weighs 6lbs 7 Oz and the montana in the same caliber weighs 6lbs 13 ozs so the tikka superlite looks pretty good from a weight perspective in magnum chamberings. I think the tikka in 7rm is just about right.

 

[Wild Bill]

Mt. Ascent
308

My dad has the same. It will shoot clover leaves with 150 berger hybrids. Not a huge fan of the feel of the rifle, but it shoots.

 

[tzone]

What’s up with Kimber rifles? Some people seem to love them, but many think they’re a horrorshow.

The Montana checks a lot of boxes for a high country rifle. Lightweight, good stock, and an all around classy looking firearm without all the twisty fluting that looks like a 9 year old designed the thing.

Do they have some serious manufacturing issues that make it a crapshoot as to whether you’ll get a shooter or a stinker? Or, are the complainers just buying 5lb big magnums and upset when they can’t handle them and the thin barrels that heat up fast.

I’m lusty for a 7mm-08 for what it’s worth. Thinking low recoil is gonna be best with that weight class of mountain rifle.

Just doing my due diligence on options before I jump on the Tikka train and pair it with one of them Canadian Wildcat stocks.

I have a few and will take all of them I can get. I love them. I think most people that have accuracy issues with them don't know how to shoot. And they'll be offended that someone told them they don't know how to shoot....

That said IMO, they're a perfect combo of weight and ergonomics.

A 7-08, while not terrible, will not be what I'd consider light recoil in that rifle. That said, the Kimber Montana and 7-08 or 7WSM are the perfect combo, if you can find them.

I'm considering a Kimber Hunter in 7-08 and getting a Montana stock and bottom metal for it.

 

[tzone]

A 5.5lb rifle will show a lot of shooting form flaws that an 8+lb rifle can hide easily. I think a lot of their bad press comes from that

Bingo!

 

[MinnesotaHunter]

I own two, and both shoot about 3/4" with a factory load they like.

1. 84L Select Grade in 30-06 w/ a Leupold VX-III 3.5-10x40 (2011)
2. Mountain Ascent in 7mm-08 w/ a Leupold Ultralight 3-9x33 (2017)

I will say that they both are a little finicky with factory loads; which I always attributed to more oscillation with the thin barrels. I also needed to up my marksmanship game when I got the Mountain Ascent, it demands a lot more out of the nutjob behind the trigger. Once, I got my act together I have been able to hit out to 600yds.

I empathize with those who chose to not go with a Kimber. I heard the stories of @Randy11 when he was going through the QC issues. I have yet to witness the real bad accuracy, but have heard enough stories.

My Mountain Ascent is sub 6lbs with scope and a magazine full of ammo, and I would argue that it is almost too light to be practical. I wish I had gone with a Montana. I almost didn't bring it on my mountain goat hunt because it is so demanding to shoot. In the end I put two 140grn E-tips within an 1.5" of each other right in the pocket, and couldn't have been happier...