Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Kimber Mountain Ascent - LA magnum weight

Still chewing on how to arrive at a fast twist 7mm. Scotty had an idea of rebarreling a Kimber MA. I've rebarreled a couple of kimbers to arrive at a solution. I like the Kimber platform alot and they fit me well. I'm trying to arrive at a rifle + scope weight of 8 lbs. The scopes/rings I have in mind weigh 24 to 30 oz which means the bare rifle can't weigh more than 6 lbs. I'll not sweat a couple oz either way.

Which leads me to the real world weight of a Kimber Mtn Ascent 8400 in the magnum cartridges. I beleive they made them in 300 WM and 7 RM, and maybe 338 WM.

What does a Kimber MA 8400 in one of the magnum cartridges weigh?

Thanks.

Bill, the action and extra stock size should be about 4 oz's heavier than the WSM 8400, and another 2oz's for 26" v. 24" bbl.

Sounds like a great project. That would be a badass hunting rifle. Here's some pics with the weight etc. from a 2019/2020 catalogue:

A little more looking and it looks like the weight listed on the page I posted was the Talkeetna weight. This page shows the Mountain Ascent as 6lbs 7oz. That should work!

So according to Kimber, Talkeetna - 7lbs 12 oz, Montana(26in) - 6lbs 13oz, Mountain ascent(26in) - 6lbs 7oz.

Excellent- exactly what I was looking for! Thank you!

I've seen Kimber Ascent weights listed from 5.5 lbs to 7 lbs. I'm not sure why mfrs don't list the exact weight on every firearm /cartridge combo, or at least a representative LA and SA to give a guy some idea what they end up with for final rilfle weight in whatever configuration they are developing.

I'm thinking a 22-23", 8 twist, 7RM or 7PRC. I don't want training wheels on it so 8lbs max is my target. I'd shade a bit less if possible. I also want a bit of weight because I don't want a brake. I've shot my share of 7-7.5 lb 7 mags and recoil is a bit much for my woosified self.

If I go a new barrel, I'll get it throated for the 175 ABLR. I've been studying penetration, gel test tests, and anecdotal acounts of both bullets and think the ABLR is better for my elk hunting, mainly because I've shot more elk at less than 100 yards than over. Plus, this rifle will spend alot of time and miles being treated as a hunting rifle. It won't be a safe queen. My current crop of hunting rifles are all "well loved".....

Silly thought but why not just grab a Seekins Element in 7 PRC?

Or better yet, grab one in 6.5 PRC and shoot the 156 EOLs, which act basically like a bonded bullet.....

Sorry, changing the goal posts...

All ideas welcome. I can't say I'm a fan of the Seekins stock. I've not shot one, and maybe that would change my mind, but handling one didn't leave me warm and fuzzy. I defaulted to the Kimber because I'm very familiar with the Kimber platform and know what works and doesn't work with them. Before I decide, I should prob find a Seekins to shoot. They are the easy button on this.

Pretty cool project Bill. I’ll be watching this.

I will say, the stocks do grow on you.

I'll also be interested to see how this turns out.

No sweat! Good luck with the project. Definitely a sweet spot rifle in my opinion.

Bill, in your shoes I'd build it at 18" and put a can on it.

Hey Brad! I'm not a fan of brakes or cans but wouldn't rule either out. I generally tend to look for powders on the faster side of my target goals and keep powder weights to a minimum to help reduce recoil a bit. Plus keeping this gun around 8lbs should keep recoil around 25-26 ft/lbs, and 14.5 ft/sec. Those are about my max recoil numbers that I'm comfortable with - anything more and I really need to concentrate on mechanics to keep from anticipating recoil. I don't flinch but tend to start gripping the gun harder, lean into the gun more, all of which leads to inconsistent shot to shot consistency. At the end of the day, if I find recoil objectionable, someone will get a good deal on a good rifle

Dibs! Just kidding, my new big seven should keep me occupied for a few years anyway. Mine is 7.06 lbs scoped and I definitely need to focus on shot process from the bench or I anticipate the recoil. I'm guessing another pound and you'll have a pretty light kicker. My duck gun is a Benelli pump and I've got one of those mercury tubes you can put in the stock, I think, it's about a pound. Makes a HUGE difference with 3 1/2 inch shells.

Bill, I'd never brake anything, but going forward I'd never build something without the idea of suppressing it. Especially something with as much powder capacity as the 7PRC. It's about db reduction and my hearing as much or more than recoil, although recoil reduction is a good benefit too. And of course shot follow up/staying on target, and the fact game don't tend to spook as much around suppressed shots.

Kimbers with Lilja duplicate factory contours have been my "easy button" of late. Barrels arrive in 10-14wks then you're down to whatever time it takes your smith to get the metal work done. I haven't had to do any stock work to them.

I was considering the same with a Kimber, but went with the Tikka superlite in 300wm for half the price. 6.25#. And they are shooters.