Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Alaska Kimber 84M/.308 for Dahl Sheep?

Gents - I am considering buying a lightweight rifle for my upcoming dahl hunt. I was looking at the Kimber 84M Montana in 308 win. I know this will kill a sheep easily...

Would you guys recommend this as a ltwght sheep rifle that I could use on deer and elk?

The other I was considering was the original Rem 700 Ti in 30-06...

thoughts?

The Montana will be my next rifle for mountain hunting except I will be getting one in 7mm-08 but the 308 works just as well if not better.

Nothing wrong with the Ti either. Have you considered building your own mountain rifle out of a model 7 and piecing it together yourself?

I've hiked and hunted a lot with both (mostly in the mountains), and taken a Dall sheep with the latter (haven't hunted Dall sheep with a Kimber); either is a great choice. The Kimber will be about 6oz ligter, but it's pretty easy to cut a few ounces off the Ti(e.g. alum. trigger guard, bolt shroud, follower and Rifle Basix trigger will cut about 4 oz).

Either will do very well for what you're planning; your personal preference is probably the biggest factor with these two choices.

The Kimber Montana is far superior to the Rem Ti, both old, new or hybrid versions.

bigwhoop - pls give me your reasons...I know little of each gun.

I bought the Rem 700 Ti in 280 for this Aug. Sheep hunt in the Brooks. Really like it, shoots 140 grain Barnes under 1/4inch @100 yrds.
Remington discontuined the Ti at the end of last year so they are very limited.
I was looking for it in 300 win but had to settle for it in 280.

Sorry I just saw you said orginal TI.

I have a Kimber 84M montana .308. It's not extremely accurate, but it's certainly ok. It doesn't give its best accuracy at top velocity so it's more like a .300 savage if I want decent groups.

They vary a lot. I know one guy, a very competitive high power shooter so he knows which end the bullet comes out, who fought with one for a friend's wife and collectively they never could get it to reliably go under 6 MOA. I've talked to other people who reported theirs pretty accurate. I guess mine is an unusual one in the middle somewhere.

Someone else mentioned 7mm-08. .260 has been discontinued and I believe I was told 7mm-08 was dropped as well. Don't know that for sure, but if you want one you might want to check up on that.

Tom

The stock is superior... other than that, I won't be trading my TI for a Montana. And I'm a huge fan of the Montana.

The .308 would certainly be fine for sheep and deer and it would have to work on elk under appropriate conditions. Have never shot an elk tho, just judging by their size.
As far as the Kimber is concerned, I'll never own another one nor take one if it's given to me. My .270 WSM POS has given me fits for a number of years regarding consistancy of accuracy. It's consistantly inaccurate!!!!
I like the Kimber platform but I think I'd pick a Win. all weather and be done with it. Better yet, I think I'd prefer a lighter weight Cooper. Never heard of a problem w/ Coopers.
Just don't care for his donating to Osama Obama.
Kimbers are just too "iffy" in my book.
Just my thoughts. Bear in Fairbanks

Jdogg,

I don't know what bigwhoop's reasons are, but here's my take:

Accuracy - IME, the Ti has a slight edge.

Safety - I like Kimber's Winchester based bolt mounted safety a little better than Remington's trigger mounted safety. It's less likely to get caught on a hand or clothing while working the bolt. I know this is pretty unlikely, but it has happened to me while using a NULA, which is more-or-less a scaled down 700.

Ejection - I prefer the Kimber's ejection system as it's probably a little more reliable when working the bolt quickly.

Feeding - The Remington probably has the edge here, but the current Kimbers may be just as good.

Stock - The Kimber stock is stiffer and the finish is more durable that the B&C stocks - also a little less felt recoil with the Kimber (given the cartridge is the same).

Aftermarket options - Remington has a lot more options (so a 308 Ti can actually be a bit lighter than a 308 Montana if that matters)

Trigger - I prefer Kimber's trigger.

I give the Kimber the nod on most of these points but I think the differences are so minor it's more subjective than objective. The next guy may have had different experiences with the two than I have. Bottom line: If were going to be using the rifle in stock condtion, I'd take the Kimber. If I were planning on doing a lot of modifying I'd lean toward the Ti.

I'd go with a 308 montana if I had to choose. I have one I bought used from bigwhoop a couple years ago. It will shoot 3/4" to 1.25" groups all day long. I wouldn't hesitate to shoot it at something out to 400 yards if I had the scope to do it.

I always thought it was spelled DALL..??
but a .308 will kill it anyway

I'll clarify my quick statement. As for the Rem Ti's first.
The original Rem. Titanium was a better idea although accuracy could be an issue - as in ALL OTC BRANDS. This model is hard to find and the weight IIRC was around 5 1/2 lbs.. It did not come in .308 as is the case with the Alaskan Ti - no .308 listed. The new Ti weighs 6# 4 oz. in long actions and 6#'s for a 7-08. They are priced from $1500 on up depending on the motivation of the seller. I have seen a few at $1400.
I had one old version Ti that had major galling issues with the bolt. I have not owned the new Alaskan version becuase is weighs about 14 ounces more and cost an additional $550 more.

On the other hand the Kimber Montana in a .308 comes in at 5# 2 oz. and is priced around $1050. You also get the "desireable" benefits of CRF and a 3 position safety.
The accuracy CAN be an issue here but the three .308 rifles I had were very good at MOA quality. Lightweight rifles are a little harder to shoot well in my experience.

In my view a "sheep rifle" is a specialized tool. Lightweight and weatherproof are the key aspects. The caliber is of little importance as any sheep is easy to bring down. With that in mind the Kimnber Montana .308 beats Rem. Alaskan Ti 30-06 (you posted). You are getting more bang for your buck with Kimber. I wish the Kimber 84L Montana was out!! That in a .270Win. is to me, the best of the best!! But that is maybe a year out, I am hearing. But the best thing you can do is to find one of each in the same shop and see how each feels to you. I have used a .270Win. on three sheep (2 Dall, 1 Stone) and one Mt. Goat. I grew up reading JOC so what can I say.
Now I will say that the "master list" of rifles on the Remington website does NOT list the Alaskan Ti. However in the caliber availability section, the Alaskan Ti IS listed. Don't know what that means.

Lasly, your thought on an original Ti in 30-06 is a sound choice. Good luck and let us know what you decide.

It is just my opinion but I think the Sako 85 Finnlight in 308 Win or 300 Wsm is a viable option to either the Kimbers or Remington T.I.'s. I purchased mine in 300 Wsm, mounted a Swarovski 3-10x42mm and with four down and one up it tips the scale at 7.2 pounds. Wonderfully light & very well balanced package.

Don't overlook the Sako Finnlight.

I'm not totally sure what you mean, but the original Ti did come in 308, I have two of them in my safe. The original 308 Ti was listed at 5# 4oz, mine are both within 1/2 oz of that. An aluminum trigger guard, aluminum bolt shroud and lightweight FP will bring the original Ti a bit below the weight of the average Kimber 84M Montana, not that a couple of ounces either way would matter much.

I've had 3 Kimbers, 2 Montana's and one classic select in .300WSM. The .300 shot 3/4" with the first two loads I tried, so I stuck with them. I tinkered with the .243 and just could not get it to shoot under 1" until I got some different powder suggestions here, it shot 58 gr. v-max's into 5/8" pretty consistently. The 7-08 never shot better than 2". Two out of three was pretty good, but I don't own any of them now. Instead I am shooting Coopers. The 3 I own all easily shot to the 1/2" they are guaranteed to shoot, with very little load work. If you can handle the extra couple of pounds, and I'll bet you can, buy one in a .270 and you will have a guaranteed shooter.

I currently own a Kimber 84M in 308 caliber. It is lightweight and pretty.

I sorted through all the 30-06 Rem 700 Ti rifles I could find at every gun shop within 100 miles of me. On every one of them the bore looked more like the surface of a file than a rifle bore. I did not see the same problem on TIs in other calibers, just the 30-06. I never did find one I wanted to pay a thousand dollars for, so I never got one.

From a balance standpoint the TI 'hangs' much better than the Kimber 84M. My 84M is not particularly easy to shoot accurately because it is so muzzle light. I think it would benefit from a slightly heavier barrel contour, or two more inches of barrel of the same contour. I can't wait to try the 84L, when I can find one.

I agree. Kimber barrel's are toothpick thin which IMO makes them difficult to shoot accurate. I really like the stock and the ease of handling of the Kimber, but too skeered to buy one after my friend had to settle for 1 1/2" groups using his .308 Montana.

Settle for 1 1/2"?? Heck if could shoot 1 1/2" groups at 100 yards from sitting and standing positions I would be stoked!!

This was 1 1/2" from a bench. I would expect little better accuracy from a $1100.00 rifle IMO.