Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Who has a long action Kimber rifle and likes it?

Jeff,
have you had a chance to handle a long action Kimber and if so, how did you like it?

Will, hope in no way you took my "critique" as a criticism of your (or anyones) choice, just offering my own personal reaction to them having had my mitts on more than one.

I'm still tempted by the 338 WM version and when Bigwhoop had one for $800 here recently it was hard to pass up!

Would add, I've officially graduated from the 12 step program for rifle loonyism and am trying not to care about the little nits I used to pick about rifles... which is why I recently bought another Kimber MT in 300 WSM... not a rifle loonies cartridge and the stock has a few points I don't like but it flat out works and that's good enough for me as I suspect your choice of the LA 8400 is for you!

BTW, looking at the wood stocked 8400 in the pic above (nice looking gun) the forearm certainly looks shorter than the synthetic version... anyone with a synthetic pic to compare????

OK, maybe not totally cured

BTW, would add your take on pikicing what is right for you and not caring what anyone else thinks is spot on. This stuff only has to please you, and no one else, and that should be good enough...

Previously I'd been hunting with a pre-64 Winchester Featherweight in .308 that had unfortunately been stolen from me 5 months prior. Indeed, I was looking to replace it with another .308 and I was kind of smitten by the looks of the Montana. Luckily, the shop I deal with had Kimber Montanas in .308 (84M) and in 30'06 (8400) to compare side by side, along with several others.

Now, when I picked up the little 84M it kind of felt really short to me and I had the impression that it was always pointing high. In contrast, the 8400 30'06 balanced and pointed just right. Without doubt, the right decision for me was the 30'06. So far it shoots all factory stuff at about 1 MOA. Good enough for a hunting gun! Maybe I will try working up a hunting load for her soon, till then, its killed everything I've pointed it at. Needless to say, I'm very happy with my 8400 long action.

BTW, two days after bringing home the '06, I got a call from the loacl PD that my .308 had been recovered. After this, I was really glad I'd bought the 30'06!

No, not at all Brad. Nor was I criticizing the 84. The honest truth is that I really love all the Kimber stuff I have held, including the pistols. They have all been high quality stuff. And in spite of the aesthetics being very good on all of them, they seem to be tough functional rifles. Even the fancy ones. I like them all. :p

But you have to go with what feels right. And in spite of the fact that I really love the concept of the 84, both the standard model and the montana, they just didn't balance right for me. But there are so many sizes and shapes of hunters, and techniques of shooting rifles that it takes these different models to get the job done. One size won't fit all.

I'd guess part of my problem is that I carried a Remington 700 for so long. The Classic 30-06 was a definite step down in weight but in a slightly longer package. The 84 was probably just a little too much of an adjustment being significantly lighter and shorter. I just wish I could make up my mind about the montana though. I have picked up the phone twice to order and then chickened out. I just can't decide between the 300WSM and the 30-06.

Will

Will, I wonder whether a lot of this comes down to a guys stature and build as well as what he started hunting with early on and what feels "normal"... I've got fairly large hands, long arms and torso but am only 5'10, and around 158 lbs soaking wet... not much to me, so it's probably no surprise both the 84 and 8400 SA Montana's feel good to me!

One advantage of having a longer action for the 30-06 length cartridges is that it is the same action for the 375 H&H.
Same stroke on the bolt for both cartridges. No more short stroking. Just a thought for the DGR crowd. Another idea is a
25-06, 338 winny or 300 win, and a 375 H&H or 458 lott(supposedly soon to be available}.

Could be Brad, could be. But the geometry is so complex that it is hard to generalize. I have very long arms and big hands, but I also am thick through the chest. On a good day I'll come in a tad under 260. The arms want a longer gun but the chest pushes the gun out a bit... lotsa variables.

I think the ~concept~ of a multi-purpose action really annoyed Kimber purists. I mean Kimber made its stamp on the gun world by designing a whole rifle package just for the 308 family. Then they repeated the process be building a special action and platform for the short mags.

But for the standard cartridges they just took a shortmag action and lengthened it 1" from what I have heard. And then they made it to where a 375 would fit it. How much difference does it make in dimensions? Not owning a 375 or even a standard cartridge Winchester 70, the basis for the Kimber action, I'm not sure.

But I pulled the rifle out of the safe and stuck a tape measure to it just a second ago. If anyone wants to do the same to another brand and see how it shakes out they are more than welcome:

back of bolt (fired) to front of action: 8"
break on front of bolt handle to bolt face (the extractor overhangs this a bit): 5 1/2"
break on front of bolt handle to front of action: 6 1/2"
loading opening: 3 1/2"

I'm not sure what it takes to make a 375 versus a standard cartridge. And I'm not sure whether Kimber had to build in some extra length that would have been unnecessary on a strictly 30-06 family, and if they did how much. Width wise this is a magnum action so you'd have to guess there is some extra in that respect.

So anyways that is the tale of the tape. Be interesting to see where a different standard action and a Kimber short mag come in.

Will

PS: This is kind of funny because I just asked about the action length of a Remington 700 versus a Winchester 70 on another thread. I was checking to see if my 700 I have on consignment had sold the other day and it looked a lot longer since I hadn't seen it in so long. :p

Yes, I have. I LIKE them, don't get me wrong, but they aren't in the "Holy KRAP!" category like the short and WSM action Kimbers are, to me.

They just feel kind of... long. Put it this way, if I REALLY wanted a 30-06 Kimber, I'd get a 300 WSM and download it a little! :-)

Of course as you guys have pointed out, someone else could handle them all and come to exactly the opposite conclusion... no real right or wrong here.

-jeff

Thanks for the input, Jeff.

The Montana in 338WM has me intrigued.
Not that I need one, of course...

Brad,
They're not exactly sitting at the same end line but here's a pic of the 270 and my Montana 7 WSM for comparison purposes for ya...

That picture didn't really show us the difference so I went and snapped a couple of my Kimbers.
From left to right, 8400 Classic in 270, 8400 Montana in 7 WSM, and 8400 Classic in 7 WSM.

that is a really nice trio of good looking rifles!

I wonder if anyone has a comparison photo of a long action montana? the dimension difference is obvious between the 8400 LA and the SA's, are the dimensions of the montana LA stock the same as the classic LA? I guess I really need to get hold of one and find out.

the kimber LA is 13.75 LOP and the Kimber WSM and 308 length is 13.63. I am 5'8" and weigh 175 lbs with medium length arms. The ruler from inside elbow to trigger finger says I should fit a 13 inch LOP rifle stock. That said most all rifles work for me unless it is late December and I have 7 layers of clothes on sitting in a tree stand. The darn rubber recoil pad things catch my camo suit as I try and shoulder them and then the scope is not in the right place and I have to crawl the stock! My Weatherby synthetic stock is 13.63 but is more difficult to get to my shoulder somehow in December than the Kimber 300WSM. Fit is individual! I hate the Weatherby stock and am going to replace it or the rifle, some fit the LA kimber stock better, many fit the short action Kimber stock I guess.

I have my eye on a 7mm-08 montana, just want to handle a long action first. The 84m is almost too close feeling, probably could get used to it. My 8400 270 wsm classic was the same way but I pushed the scope way up and its good now. I just like that feeling when u thro up a rifle and everything lines up just perfectly.

Kimberman, the forearm on the 8400 LA Monatana is quite a bit longer than the 8400 WSM Montana, that's what I was trying to see...

Thx.

Will, the 8400 Receiver, as you know, is a lot bigger in diameter to handle fatter Magnum rounds. Yes, the 375 H&H also requires a longer action than one specifically for the 30-06 cartridges. As you point out, I think Kimber sorta spoiled us with actions perfectly sized for a given round (308/WSM). Now more than a few of us aren't happy with the 8400 LA for 06 rounds as it seems to be absurdly large for the rounds. But, of course, all sorts of actions that can handle the 375 are chambered for 30-06 based stuff too as you point out.

Wow!
That forearm on the long action 8400 is quite a bit longer!!

I still would like to actually handle one of them at some point, just for experimental purposes, you understand.

I've had both a 300 wsm Classic and a 30-06 Classic and, while the end of the fore-end is longer, the areas where the fore-end tapers and the checkering starts are not that different. Therefore most of the difference is aesthetic, not as much functional.
Just my 2 cents,
Jed

Now that Kimber is making the 84 Montana in 257 Roberts, it really doesn't matter.

Seriously, I liked my 25-06 LA Montana. I'm a big fella and it fit me great. I would have prefered one that was built in the spirit of the 8400 in a standard length action instead of something that fit a 375H&H. I was after a light rifle and that's not what I wound-up with in the LA Montana.