Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles kimber rifle lost favor on the fire?

haha! All the sophisticated hunters hunt with Echols..


Kimber ain't perfect, and you might have to monkey with it when you get one, but they are a pretty good rifle. I'd rather spend a little more and get the same stock those "sophisticated" hunters use, and a barrel of equal quality those "sophisticated" hunters use.

What might have to be done to get it to perform? Bedding? Recrown?

Bed it, tweak trigger, load and shoot.

Just go buy one. You would bed all your other rifles and adjust their triggers and do tweaks here and there, the Montana is no different IMO. One heck of a rifle for 1k and sometimes less. The trigger is one of the best factory triggers evah!

Perfect truck guns....grin

I'd like to pick up a 243 or a 257.

Nice light there. You're doing some good work w/ that G15!

Ted ,lucky rifle, waiting for the bipod comments....grin

Mount scope, sight it in, and proceed to kill lots of critters, but only if you are into that type of thing.

Can't believe you guys are getting them for a grand. I can find only one place to buy them here, and they are $1600. I was a bit excited when I saw Cabela's selling them for just over a grand, but I was too late and only some 300 Win's and the like were left, which is not what I would want. I think they are distributed by Korth up here, which would explain why they are so expensive, as these guys also distribute Leupold here and we pay way more for those too. I'll keep looking though, there's a 7-08 out there somewhere with my name on it.

People make it sound like you need to be a gunsmith to make one shoot. A little epoxy for bedding, a hex wrench to adjust the trigger and in my case some Tubbs Final Finish. Instant shooter. Then again, it may not have needed that, I just do that to all the rifles regardless. But the design, action weight/size, carbon-kevlar stock, three position safety, excellent trigger, controlled feed are a bonus. That and the fact that it weighs little, which matters in the big mountains,and points like a dream at the moment of truth.

For me, the Kimbers are the best handling rifles I have ever held. They just feel right to me.

I currently have:
A Kimber of Oregon 22.
A Kimber (Yonkers) Classic Select 22.
A Kimber 84M Varmint 22-250 (barrel shortened to 24", Cerakoted and pillar bedded in Wildcat fiberglass stock).
A Kimber 8400 Montana 300WSM.

I will buy more. Would love a 25-06 in a 84L Montana, or maybe a 84M 308 Montana.

The Montana is so much nicer than any Remington out there and way cheaper than a Sako 85 Finnlight which I would want to put a real stock on. But that is just my opinion. If I didn't go with a Montana, I would just as likely skip the Finnlight and jump up to NULA, or maybe a HS Precision PHL. If I was really flush, I'd love to try a Blaser Professional, but somehow I don't think they'd be as lively in the hands. While I like some of the features, I haven't found a Cooper model that turns my crank.

The only common alternatives to the Kimber I'd consider is maybe a Winchester M70 EW, but as good as they feel, they aren't a close second to the Montana. As for the Rugers, I like them, but I feel I'd want to restock them and they are heavy. Love the mounting system (part of why they're heavy though).

Was at a LGS that had a well used Kimber 8400 Montana in 270WSM wearing what looked to be a newer Leupold scope for $900. Very tempting. I could see a 257WSM in my future, but then the stock could use a paint job and then that darn trip to Africa in May is screwing up a good gun deal by causing me to penny pinch.

AB2506
You got pic of that varmint?

Oh yea save extra for your African trip. Everything costed me more than expected and good luck

One of our club members had a kimber 7mm-08. Not many members have rifles that catch my attention. I asked him how he liked it. He told me that it wouldn't shoot worth a damn and after dealing with Kimber CS he was told that there had been a bad batch of 7mm barrels. He sent it back and they re barreled it. Still couldn't get it group and he sent it down the road eventually.

I have one Montana in .280 AI. I did bed it and relieve the barrel channel a bit; as was pointed out though, I do that to ALL my rifles. It took quite a bit of experimentation (and denial) for me to figure out that it was never going to shoot tiny little groups with 140 grain bullets. Once I switched to heavier pills, it started stacking them.

IMHO, the combination of weight and a super-narrow, round forearm makes it more challenging to shoot from the bench than others, particularly when you top it with a 2.5-8x36 like many of us do. However, when I go to the woods, I ALWAYS grab it. It has made most of my other rifles irrelevant, as it feels so damn good in the hand and in a pack. It's a winning combination in the woods for sure.

Campfire observation:

Often mentioned that the lightweight Kimbers are fussy regarding ones technique. Yet with lightweight Nulas it is mentioned little.

Lightweight Kimbers tend to be load specific and lightweight Nulas shoot most any load well.

Seems like with the introduction of the Forbes rifle, we are hearing about less problems with Kimber accuracy. Coincidence?

I do have a borescope, and mine is pretty ragged inside. I tried fire lapping & bedding, and that helped some. The funky thing about this barrel is, once it warms up it shoots very nicely, sub-MOA - so I don't think it's me. Try it from a cold barrel, though - fire one shot, let it cool completely, repeat, and it is still 2-2.5 MOA. Mule Deer suggested it was just improperly stressed relieved, or made with worn tools, no lube, etc. That's no good for a hunting rifle, so a barrel it gets - and a good one.

Or Kimber thinking..."we need better barrels"

You'll hear more about the Forbes rifles in short order. Especially the 20B.

1. Melvin's actions are stronger.
2. The Forbes rifles utilize a #2 barrel contour.
3. Each action is individually bedded to the stock.
4. Melvin's stock is stiffer.
5. The 24B and 20B cost more than a Kimber, a true NULA is much more.

I'm a Kimber fan, but you'll see a bunch of Kimber Montana's for sale once the Forbes rifles are readily available in all stainless.

If you are looking for peer approval around this place you need to move on. Finicky bunch of girls around here that only like what they have in their model and caliber.

I guess I left High school years ago and do not care what others think.