I ended up going with the EW in 30-06 over the Kimber and no regrets. In all fariness, I have never owned a Kimber but did check them out.
First range session with the EW was today and I think I'll like this rifle just fine. Shot 1.5" 3 shot groups at 100 yards with Remington Core-Lokt 165 gr. I'll put another box of these down it before I go to premium ammo. It wears a VXIII 1.75-6x in dual dovetail rings. Heck, at 6x, I might not be able to do better than 1.5" groups regardless of the ammo, so I'm satisified that the accuracy claim of under 1 MOA with premium ammo is realistic. And given that the barrel is "wispy" by design, I'm not complaining. The barrel does heat up quick, and groups started walking the longer I shot.
"Fit & finish" I'd have to give a 7 out of 10. Some of the acion metal work is a touch sloppy and has a few dings in it that I didn't catch when looking it over at the gun shop. Had to clean out the stock's rear action screw hole due to some factory applied bedding compound buggering up the screw hole. The fluted barrel is just plain cool and the barrel work is flawless.
Stock design/recoil reduction I'd give 10/10. I was wearing a t-shirt, shot 14 rounds, and no pain or redness..amazing! If I cant get to sub MOA with premium ammo I'll have my gunsmith accurize the rifle before I drop the coin for a more expensive stock. The B&C stock with the aluminum bedding block is much more rigid than the Kimber stock IMHO.
Bolt design 10/10. The bolt take-down is crazy simple.
Adjustable trigger 10/10.
Overall 9 out of 10. Best & most rugged SS lightwieght all weather rifle under $1,000 that I could find...but that's just me:-)
