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Anybody know if Kimber will be coming out with new calibers in the Montana line.or the hunter

I wish they had consistent chamberings across all rifles made for similar basic uses - for instance across all Classic Select, Super America, Montana, Mountain Ascent, Adirondack, and hunter. I had a 7-08 Classic (not made anymore) with a cracked receiver, and would have gone for a Classic Select, but they are not chambered in 7-08, so I reluctantly settled on a Montana.

Kimber surprises me ... from the outside, some of their choices don't make a lot of sense.

I'm hoping for an open country long action in .280AI, 8400 action in .300 WSM, magnum in .300 win mag or 7mm STW. The market should be there, all they have to do is make guns and collect the money.

Tom

I have a couple of the 280 Ackley Imp in hunter and subalpine and am very pleased with them. I wish they would come out with a 6.5 Grendel or a classic 284 Winchester. Love the feel of the 84m action, fits like a glove!!!!

I think rifles are a bit of a sideline for Kimber. It's all about the 45's baby.

Could not agree with you more on the Open Country in 280AI and the others.

Bring back the 7WSM Montana too!

And some heavier contour Montana's and Ascents would probably sell well too.

So far I'm okay with my Montana, but the stock fits different than my walnut 7-08 Custom. Drop at comb and heel list the same, but the Montana may be skinnier width? I need a pad to compensate.

I just traded a buddy for a NIB hunter in 280 AI. Glad to hear you like it

I’ve heard they are hit or miss. Nice looking rifles.

Hanco,
Mine were. Had an early M84 (two-position safety) in 308 that was reliable, but a 1.5 MOA shooter at best. Also owned 3 Montanas. One of each in 308, 270 WSM and 325 WSM. All were reliable, but indifferent shooters. 1.5 to 2 MOA.
That being said, I still want to try an M84L in 280 AI some time.

I have an 84L Select in 30/06 with a Tract Toric 3X15 thst is a great shooter. I’m impressed with mine

Are you going to miss your buddy?

He has been after an 835 tactical Turkey that I had kept as a back up for about 3 years. He won this Kimber hunter at a qdma dinner and doesn't rifle hunt at all. Had it not been in 280AI I wouldn't have traded him

I believe there was a joke in there that you missed.

I have 4 Kimber rifles, 22-250 Varmint, 6.5 Creedmoor Montana, 308 Hunter, 300WSM Montana. My favorite rifles.

I speak with our Kimber distributor. Kimber has cut back on calibers. Focus is on 1911s etc. Too bad, with a little thought, and marketing, they could sell many more rifles than they do.

Gotta be more return on investment with 1911's than rifles.

Ed Brown shut down his line of rifles to concentrate on 1911's.

DF

That's interesting...I didn't know that. I've only owned 2 Kimber 1911s, both fine weapons. I want to like their rifles more than I do, but my experience with them in the past has been, well,just been so-so.
Someday I may spring for a Montana in 280 AI. Something about that caliber is intriguing.

My one Kimber rifle, a .308 Classic, was the kind you sometimes read about.

Well, it's now a tack driver thanks to a 23" Broughton 5C barrel. Went from 1 1/2" to sub MOA. I had gotten it used at a good price, so even with the new barrel, I don't think I'm under water regarding value. I like it and it's a keeper, so it really doesn't matter.

DF

That does sound like a keeper. I have had, in the past, the unfortunate habit of "kicking a gun down the road" if I didn't obtain acceptable accuracy with a minimum of load-development, bedding, trigger work, etc. Part of that reason is the lack of good gunsmiths in my area. Weird, as it is Idaho, and we supposedly have a helluva lot of guns!
Anyway, I've owned 4 Kimber rifles-one classic, a .308 and 3 Montanas in various calibers. None of them did better than 1.5 MOA and more often 2 MOA.
Regardless, I still love the aesthetics of the Kimber rifles, and I like the caliber range they offer.

EDIT: I've also owned a Kimber 22 Hunter Silhouette that was a great shooter. I put 10,000 rds through that thing in about 5 years of competting in our local winter indoor shooting league. That was a nice gun. I can't believe that Kimber quit making 22s!

I’ve never owned one but know several folks who have. Everyone of them (small sample of 5) have gone down the road for accuracy issues. Never had those issues with a Sako or Weatherby.

The reason mine didn’t go down the road was I liked the gun, everything but the way it shot.

I was in it quite a way down from retail, so I felt justified to spend what was needed to make it a champ.

DF

I've got a .308 Classic I bought in the Classifieds in 2007 and a .257 Classic Select I bought on GunBroker 6 or 7 years ago. They both shoot very well. The .257 will be the last rifle I get rid of.

Kimber’s platform is a perfect design for my purposes. However, I have had only one out of three come out of the box and perform as advertised. I gave up trying to get another one to run to my standards and the third one had to be rebarreled to put all of the grief I was having with it in the rear view mirror. I just like them better than they like me. CP.

DirtFarmer, Which contour of Broughton did you use? Were you able to match the Kimber barrel?

I have a Hunter in 6.5 Creedmoor. It's accurate but a little difficult to shoot accurately. Does not take much input from the shooter to move a 6.5# rifle off just a bit.

I have a folder full of 1/2"-3/4" 3 shot groups shot at 100 yards, even a few one holers - I would say it is (with me shooting) a solid 1" rifle. But, get sloppy or yank the trigger a bit and you'll have a 1 1/2" group.


FWIW: I will be selling this rifle soon. Replacing it with a Bergara Woodsman with the nicest wood on a production rifle I have seen in a long time. If anyone is interested in a like new Kimber Hunter 6.5 Creedmoor send me a PM

Went a tad heavier and 23", opened the barrel channel, glassed the action. I like the slightly forward feel vs. the rather whippy OEM tube. I don't remember the Broughton contour number. Can get you muzzle measurement if interested.

Here are photos. Not big on 50mm objectives, but ended up with this Conquest in a trade. Works OK, good in dim light.

I was just looking at some 2009 load data. It shot 3/8", 150 NBT's over 45 gr. H-4895 at 2,800+. Sometimes an ole Hoss whups the upstarts...

46.2 gr. RL-15 did shoot same bullet, 1/2" at 2,900, Varget was close, sub MOA with 130 TTSX. Hornady Light Magnum 150 gr. factory was MOA.

More recently, I tried Cutting Edge Bullet's 135 gr. Raptor over Varget. Check out Varget's low ES. That bullet has super terminal performance, the petals flying off at 360* after impact. Sort of the mono version of a Partition. CEB's are expensive, but how many do we actually shoot at game? Reportedly they aren't the best is thickets, hitting a twig not good. I can testify how well they work in open country.

DF

best pure no-nonsense killing rifle ive ever had was a Montana 325WSM, Barnes 200gr well under an inch at 3000fps with several loads.

How bad did it kick?

DF

Centershot,
To me, a rifle that is not so accurate and one that is accurate and hard to shoot well are one and the same. Some rifle ergonomics make it difficult for some humans to shoot it well. Happy Trails

If I may, from a non-gunwriter, my thoughts. I have owned rifles of most makes from Coopers to Kimbers, from Remington to Winchester and to Ruger,always looking for each one to be a one hole (or close to it) shooter. Included were three Kimbers; one Classic Stainless (wish I still had) and two Montanas. After the first two went down the road in search of that one holer, and after trying others including a great shooting T3x and a semi-custom M700, I have come back to a Montana in my favorite caliber, (cartridge for the purist) 7mm-08. I have come to this conclusion: 1) first of all, I have to like my rifle, and 2) if it will shoot into an inch and a half at a 100 yards, it’s good to go. I think at my age and stage in my life that I’ve outgrown my Loonyism. I’m no longer in search of one hole groups, and I now like my rifle just fine! I won’t say that I won’t have others, but my Kimber Montana will sit in the front notch in my safe. After all, it is a hunting rifle, not a competition benchrest rifle.

Dirtfarmer, that would be great if you could find the dimensions.
The last time I talked with Broughton they did not have a contour that slender.
One of my most accurate rifles has a Broughton barrel.

The Kimber action is smaller than most, best I can measure, around 1.4”. Someone may want to chime in.

So, the barrel shank is less than that, hard to measure with large objective scope.

6” from receiver, .775”

12” from receiver, .728”

Muzzle, .620”

Hope that helps. With the smaller receiver, it’s possible smith turned it down. Don’t remember.

DF

Still waiting for the 84L in 35 Whelen they promised like 7 or 8 years ago

I didn't know they were going to offer one in 35 Whelen? That would have been cool.

Quite possibly the best description for Kimber rifles I have read.

Not sure about “outgrowing” Loony status. Otherwise like the post.

DF

Agreed!

I haven't owned a 1.5" rifle in over 30 years. I guess if your standards are to high you can lower them. For $1200 I expect more

Dirtfarmer, he must have turned it down. Those dimensions sound really good.
Thanks

Light rifles with pencil contour barrels generally require a good light trigger and very consistant good form to shoot under 1 moa. They are not for everyone. I find a little heavier barrel and rifle a lot more forgiving.

I have a first gen ti in 30-06 that I've shot several sub 1/2 moa groups from, and a Montana 7 wsm and 308 that have done the same. I've let friends shoot them and they become 2 moa guns and I've had some 2 moa days myself.

I think the tikkas have a rep for shooting well in part because they have great triggers and a little heavier sporter contour for a light rifle. It seems real easy to torque a pencil barrel off course a bit with a bad trigger pull. Changing grip, bag position, or bipod loading can cause problems pretty easy with pencil barrels too.

About 18 years ago I started putting together faux ti's for a lot of friends with the barrels and stocks Christensen was pulling off of first gen ti's. I noticed a lot of my friends didn't shoot them well. When rem went to Alaskan Ti's I started putting together faux Alaskan Tis for some friends and they all loved them and shot pretty well with them.

I still prefer the gen 1's by a mile but the average guy seems to shoot at least a 6.5 plus pound rifle better.

Bb

Broughton makes a 3 and a 3.1. as their smallest contour. I think the 3.1 is smaller actually if I remember correctly.

Looked it up.

You have a good memory. 3.1 pretty close to my contour.

www.rifle-barrels.net/barrel.html

DF

The $1200 is buying you a 5 lb rifle, not a .5 MOA rifle. You can have one, or the other, but not both in the same rifle. And compared to anything else in that weight class $1200 is cheap.

One trend I've noticed over the years. There are lots of people who have owned multiple Kimbers and none of them shoot well. Others have owned multiple Kimbers and all of them shoot well. I've come to the conclusion that the problem ain't the rifles. Some people just can't shoot a 5 lb rifle, some can.

Agreed! I’ve got 8 Kimbers (4 Montana’s, 3 Classics and an Adirondack), never sold a single one - all shoot great! AND... I bought all but one as used! I was very hesitant to buy my first, only after a buddy bought one or two did I decide to give em a try.

Do they require more attention to form, etc, than a heavier rifle? Yep! But that’s the nature of a light rifle. Not gonna say all are MOA and that they don’t have some small issues, etc, but I think you get a lot for your money with Kimber myself!

Even if you have a sub MOA 5# rifle, it’s not easy to shoot those guns off a bench.

So, in many cases, how ya gonna know?

DF

John...did you get a chance to shoot it yet?

My experience with several Kimber rifles is that they have excellent barrels but their bedding method can be hit or miss. Easy fix, though. The test target for this Montana in .308 Win showed two bullets in one ragged hole and a third shot roughly an inch out. I didn't even bother shooting the rifle before bedding the recoil lug and adjusting the trigger. The results were impressive to say the least.

Ghostman,
The point I was trying to make is that if I really like the rifle and if it will consistently shoot an inch to an inch and a half at 100 yds. all is good. I have never shot at any game animal at over three hundred yards, so an inch and a half at 100 is minute of deer at the ranges I am likely to shoot. And I don’t now consider that a trade off when the feel, the ergonomics, the weight and mechanics are as good as the Kimber Montana. To me anyway, that makes it worth the $1200. I have had several rifles that I could shoot under an inch all day long, but they weren’t as pleasing to me as is the Kimber. Just me.

Woodhits,
That is a nice shooting bench.

Bet that helps with groups. I am more like last round as most of my target shooting is over the hood of the truck or off portable benches. If I get real serious I will bring sand bags.

Thanks, I had it built about five years ago and love it. The contractor who was working on my house made the form to my specs and we poured it ourselves. Despite the cows scratching themselves on it, it doesn't move.

That is solid, for sure. I like it.

I built this one for my Z-71. Not as solid as yours, but works OK. Easy to set up, faster than setting up my three legged bench with pipe legs. The Gibraltar drum throne makes a great bench rest seat. Have posted this before.

Three brackets welded like this one (bottom photo) with threaded iron pipes cut to the right length, make a great bench. I have long pipes for shooting big DG rifles. It positions the bench at chest level. The bench is two 3/4" plywood pieces glued together, shaped a lot like your bench, the three brackets bolted in place to form a triangle. The hole in the pipe is handy for screwing the pipes tightly into the bracket.

DF

Had Johnboy from here add some spiderwebbing to my Hunter. Looks pretty cool in my opinion.

Does look nice. Not his first rodeo.

DF

That looks good! Definitely better than the OEM stock sans paint. cool:

He did a nice job. Quick turn around and very reasonable. Highly recommend. That rifle is for sale if someone is looking for a very nice Kimber Hunter in 6.5 Creedmoor.

Cool setup, DF!

I have two but wish I had not sold my 300WSM classic now...