Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters 7mm 08 Tikka superlite vs Kimber Hunter

What do you know especially if you have shot both.

In general I've found the Tikka SLs group tighter, but the Kimbers can also do well. Essentially there's an overlap.

I also tend to prefer the triggers and balance of the Tikkas, but the wood-stocked Kimbers are prettier....

Thanks Mule Deer

I have both and both are nice and shoot great. Now, I can only speak for the two I have.
Kimbe Classic 308 Winchester.
Tikka T3X something like that. This rifle is a 7-08 I'm amazed how well this gun shoots.

I like them both greatly. I would buy another without question.

Tikkas feed like they have eyes. The Kimber does not.

Had both in 308. Sold the Kimber, still have the Tikka. IMO the Kimber is the nicer rifle as far as aesthetics go and if you really need to shave every possible ounce of weight are the way to go. But I found the Kimber too light and the Tikka just right. I think the mechanical accuracy is pretty close, but I shoot the Tikka better.

Tikka...hands down. Kimber ain't even close.

+1 for the Tikka.

Right on Tom.

Same As the above comments. 7 tikkas and 2 kimbers. Kimber are my choice for a blued/wood rifle, tikka for synthetic/stainless. When hunting colorado I grab the tikka 95% of the time as they just shoot better for me.

Tikka ,if you want a rifle that shoots good out of the box . Kimber ,if you want to take a crap shoot and hope it is a shooter.

I never once picked up a Tikka rifle and thought to myself, "wow this is a rifle I could like." They feel cheap and plasticky to me. YMMV but I'm Kimber every day and 2X Sundays.

I've owned five Tikkas, one was a Super Lite that you mentioned, and three Kimbers. Out of those eight, I am down to just one Kimber Hunter but have not fired it yet.

Both have pluses and minuses to me. Much preferred the Kimber Montana over the Super Lite for hunting the coastal rainforest here where you go through a lot of brush. Lot of crawling over and under stuff where you can't have the rifle slung all the time. Just a sweet little rifle for that. The Tikka magazine stuck out at the balance point, and safety moved on me.

As much as I liked the Montana stock, I really prefer a detachable magazine. Preferably flush!

ETA - not a gunwriter but you can ask specific questions about either if you want

+1

Tikka

This is like Ford vs Chevy where it's personal preference more than anything else.

Consider adding the Howa Carbon Stalker to your list. I’ve had maybe a half-dozen 1500 variants and nary an issue with any of them.

I could be happy with any of the three, but would have to replace the plastic guard on a Tikka or I wouldn’t be able to sleep nights….

Since they are both plastic I'd go with the tikka. Never owned a superlite though, just some of their others. Have shot the kimber hunters, was not too impressed. Don't know if you are a suppressor person or maybe down the road but the superlite barrels are too thin to thread, that's why I passed on one recently. You hear about folks doing it but my research says its iffy. Don't think you'd have that problem with the Hunter.

^^^THIS^^^


I agree that some may like the look and feel of the Kimber. The Kimber is a very nice rifle. But the Tikka wins where it counts, in the accuracy dept. I have never shot one that was not extremely accurate. I own five of them. I have set up and zeroed many more for family and friends. Imo they are the most consistently accurate (Out of the box hunting rifle) on the market.

Just handled a Tikka at Scheels. I was impressed by it. Now I want one.