Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles kimber sporterised m96 6.5x55 feedback

Anybody used a Kimber M96? Results/dislikes/weight/stock opt......whatcha got?

Thanks

Greg

The one on VAGT is a decent buy if that's what your looking at.

Pretty damn primitive. Stocks are ramline or something similar. Its transition era Kimber, between KoO and KoA. I had an 82c from that time period, the checkering was the most crooked sloppy mess ive ever seen on a gun.

Dont let the Kimber name on it sway your decision, its a roughly sporterized military mauser. With that said,for $400.00 its still a good deal if you're wanting one.

The stocks are Ramlines, which aren't great, but are exponentially better than the Choates.

I would consider the Kimber Sweds to be minimally sporterized and not particularly well done. Some have a brushed nickel finish that I have seen advertised as being stainless.

Given that there are good, reasonably priced, commercial options, the Marlin X guns and the Ruger American Rifles, that will cost less than a properly reworked military Mauser, I would give the Kimber Sweds a thumbs down.

However, as with many things, YMMV.

Jeff

When KOA was on the verge of bankruptcy it was an attempt by them to try to generate some money by selling something with the once well thought of Kimber name it.

Actions were ex-military Mausers, stocks were Ramline injection moulded POS's, and barrels were from God knows who. IIRC correctly they could be had for well less than $200 full retail, Kimber probably had $50 in them.

drover

The Kimber Sweds in 6.5x55 that I have seen have all had shortened military barrels. I have seen them with shortened and recrowned 1896 barrels and standard length M38 barrels.

My impression of these rifles is that there was little, if any, effort made to weed out the poorer quality barreled action. I've built several rifles on Swedish military Mauser actions, but always on 1942/43 vintage Husqvarnas, the best of the best pre-1898 SR military Mausers.

Jeff

Thanks for the info

[quoteand barrels were from God knows who][/quote]

Wilson barrels, same barrels they have always used.

Same with Cooper Firearms.

I have one of the Kimber Swede's. The stock is ugly, the finish on the metal is poor, the trigger was hideous, but I put a timney in it and it will flat out shoot. It just makes a ragged hole at 100 yards.

That time period they were putting out quality comparable to century's ak builds

I have one that I put a Timney trigger in. It is a lightweight hunting rifle that has extremely low recoil. With 129 Horns or 125 Partitions it is extremely accurate. It has felt recoil that is less than my .243 and has been used allot as a youth hunting rifle by multiple kids. It ain't pretty but it is an extremely practical hunting tool. I would not pay a whole lot for one but would jump all over another one if I thought it was a decent deal.

A friend of mine picked up a Kimber Mauser in 280 REM a couple of years ago.

Don't forget that, except for the 6.5x55s, the rest of the Kimber Mausers were built on 98 actions and, as noted, have aftermarket barrels.

All of the Kimber Mausers in 6.5x55 that I've seen were sporterized with the least amount of effort and expense to get them out the door.

Jeff

Cheap rilfes for sure but got Greg Warne and Les Edleman (sp)?
enough cash to get KOA going with their 1911's. The rest is history.

This is my experience as well. I still regret that I sold it. Yes, they are a basic Swede sporter. They are what they are and those I know of are/were very good shooters. The trigger on mine was fine, two stage but good. Consistently accurate and trouble free.

Mohawk pretty well summed it up.I bought mine when Kimber was selling them and still have it. I like it very much.

I guess if your too young to grow up in a time when most people had some kind of "sporterized" military rifle as their first gun you wouldn't see reason for owning one. My first was a 95 Mauser 7x57.

I still like going to the gun shop to search the used gun rack for something interesting. Some of those modified surplus guns where actually not too bad. The machining quality that went into some of those old rifles are far better then any of todays commercial guns. You just have to have an open mind and keep looking until you find what you like. I still drool over a friends .35 Whelen Springfield.

Yes the 96 Mauser has a two stage trigger that takes some getting used to but it isn't that bad and yes it's cock on closing which bothers some folks but I find mine very accurate, super reliable and fairly light. It's was after all designed to shoot after getting drug through the mud and if all fails bludgeon the bad guys to death with. All my nice factory guns will likely be broken and useless before this gun ever dies. It makes a perfect truck gun that only needs cleaning once in a while to keep it going.