Kimber Hunter

[Brian in Montana]

I've got it into my head that I need a .270 win. I've gone back and forth on which rifle to buy - mostly hovering between another Tikka or a Weatherby Vanguard Wilderness. Both have features I like. Anyway I've notice Cabelas has Kimber Hunter on sale they seems to have pretty much everything I'm looking for and in the same price range. The big things I'm after are a light-weight rifle with a 24" barrel and a single stage trigger. The Kimber has those things. I've never owned a Kimber anything, but I've heard some mixed reviews on their rifles.

What do you guys think? Any Kimber Hunter owners among us?

 

[Deleted member 38069]

Buy it! They've always felt good while shouldering it.

 

[jryoung]

I have one in 7-08 and it keeps getting grabbed out of the safe. A pleasure to carry and shoot.

 

[JLS]

Kimber Hunter

After a lot of debate, I finally sprung for a new rifle. I threw my money down for a Kimber Hunter. Things have been super busy, but I finally got it scoped up. After mindless waffling on a caliber, I decided I was picking fly shit out of chili and went with the 6.5 Hipster over the 7mm Hunt...

www.hunttalk.com

 

[golfer]

I have one in a 6.5 for as finicky as it was developing loads and kimber telling me its sub moa if it shoots one bullet. Which blew my mind cause I’d guess if it’s advertised as a sub moa rifle it should shoot everything sub moa. I’d go the tikka route. Not much heavier and I’ve never seen a Tikka that doesn’t shoot.

 

[----]

I'm a Kimber guy, but couldn't warm up to the Hunter stock. I looked at both the Hunter and Montana over the winter, and ended up paying extra for the Montana.

 

[JLS]

I'm a Kimber guy, but couldn't warm up to the Hunter stock. I looked at both the Hunter and Montana over the winter, and ended up paying extra for the Montana.

The Montana certainly has nicer aesthetics.

 

[----]

The Montana certainly has nicer aesthetics.

They're awful proud of that stock though. When I was shopping it was about a $400 upgrade.

 

[MThuntr]

I acquired a 280ai Kimber hunter pro last week at about the same price as the Hunter. Feels good in the hands haven't shot it yet. The trigger needs lightening but there is zero creep. I hope they're done with Kimber Roulette. I agree with the others that the Montana has a better stock

 

[tzone]

I love em. Buy it

 

[Brian in Montana]

Well... I think I'm not going to go with the Kimber. I've done a lot of google searches and just seems like too many negative reviews out there. Seems the just of all the research can be summed up like this - if you get a good one, you'll love it; if you get a bad one, you're kinda sunk. I also talked with a guy at work who got a factory defect and had a lot of trouble with their CS.

I'm in Bozeman today and went into Bob Ward's. They happened to have a Kimber Hunter, a Weatherby Vanguard Wilderness, and a T3X (like my .308). I was able to put them all side-by-side, handle them, and see how they felt. I'm definitely going with a Wilderness. Still not a fan of the 2-stage trigger, but I figure I can replace it with a Timeny if I just can't deal.

I will concede the trigger on the Kimber is exceptional for a factory gun. I know one of the selling points is the Mauser-type action; but wow, I was not impressed with how it felt and how it ran. Not smooth. Maybe some of that would clear up with some work and oil?

 

[Deleted member 38069]

Hard to go wrong with a weatherby. Plus, they have a great warranty. I'm glad they moved to Wyoming!

 

[Brian in Montana]

My .300 WM is a Vanguard. Its a very accurate gun, but darn it's heavy. The Wilderness model seems to have all their good points in a much lighter weight rifle.

 

[.270]

I just picked up a kimber hunter in .280ai from gunbroker. Paid 580 to my door. Haven't gotten a chance to head out to the range with it yet though. I did have lube up the action and now cycles smooth. You can shave around 8 oz from a hunter by removing the gel in the stock. Mine comes in at 6lb 2 oz with a swaro Z3 and talley rings.