Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Kimber Classic Select?

I don’t see a lot of these, either in person or talked about much here. Who owns one and how do you like it? Any issues to look for? Thinking of a 30-06 or 270 and a Z3 3-9x36

I love the one I have

I’ve got one in .257 Roberts, and don’t have a single complaint. Light, accurate, looks good. What’s not to love!?

I’d like one in .270 Win. Thinking of selling/trading my .308 84M or my .260 84M for one.

My .257 Roberts is about a perfect deer/antelope rifle I think.



My .30-06 with a piglet. It is more finicky than the Roberts, but we found a load around an inch that works. Will carry it on horseback elk hunt in a month.


Both bought used off of gunbroker.

Cheesy ,

Nice wood on those

For the most part they are great. Unfortunately the more recent “Select” wood is only slightly a step up from a pine 2x4. If you want one with great wood, you’ll likely have to look around quite a bit and see pics of the exact rifle you’re buying. If buying new and unseen, your chances of winning the wood lottery are pretty slim based on quite a few newer examples I’ve seen both advertised and in person, especially the “French” walnut. There have been some really nice ones which have come up for sale here pre-loved, which also benefit from the knowledge of being proven shooters, if you want to go that way.

That being said, Kimber has reduced production of some of their models since their move to AL, and said at one point that they were no longer going to produce wood stocked rifles. Strangely they came out with the limited run of 6.5 Creed Classics not long after that announcement, so who really knows.

Good luck with your search.

Kimber rifles not talked about much on this site? Really? They are one if the most popular rifles on the campfire and desrvedly so, These are fantastic rifles! If you buy one I bet you love it like no other....Good luck.....Hb

Same here...

Well it will be sight unseen so I know I’m rolling the dice on wood appearances. I got a 12 month zero interest deal from the Base exchange with a star card. Lol haven’t used the star card in years but going to now. I just have to get them to find one at their distributors and gave it shipped.

I have one in 257 Roberts, one in 280 AI, and a third in 30-06.....love them all. I agree on the current handles looking just a bit better than a pine 2x4, but if you search long enough, you can find a nice one.

Sight unseen, odds are this is the wood you’re going to get.

that walnut?

I have one in 7 08 and love it. My wood is not as nice as Cheesy's , but its not real plain looking either.

A Grade French Walnut. They say so themselves...

Some good looking wood here. I've seen a few Classics (non-Select) with good wood and darker color, while Select's I've noticed tend to be lighter color. Can anyone verify this, or is it just differences in cameras / lighting ?

Thanks
CD

Classics were Claro Walnut versus the Classic Selects French Walnut. A couple I no longer have A 308 surrounded by a couple of 257s

K22,

Nice!

Honestly I haven’t seen a Classic or Classic Select with wood I would consider ugly, but I’m not as picky as some are.

Thank you 257Deland, that explains it.
Nice rifles, wood on those two are exceptional. I couldn’t have let that 308 out of the stable...

I have a very high level of butthurt with Kimber for absolutely ignoring the LH (albeit small) market. Gorgeous rifles. My butthurt carries on.

Thanks BobBrown.

All 4 of my Classics have had great wood. Not AAA of course but I like to tell folks that if they were any nicer I wouldn’t want to hunt with them and any uglier I wouldn’t want to own them. When I bought my first Classic in .308 I was looking for a 7-08 and found both together in a little gun shop. The 7-08 had less pretty figure so I went with the.308 that was much better. At the time I figured I’d found my perfect mountain rifle. I still think it’s my perfect mountain rifle.

As do I. A true featherweight.

I've been looking for a Select in 7-08, with a nice hunk of wood for awhile now. The search continues.

Or a 280AI that I would shorten to 22"

I have a Montana in 7-08 and 257 Roberts. Very happy with both.

Same here, but in .270

I spent 2+ years looking for my Roberts. Paying the wood premium hurt at the time. Doesn’t bother me now.

I have a 280 AI. I looked a long time for one with nice wood, and hunted with it for a year. Then I sold it to Nyrifleman. I immediately regretted selling it, and he was kind enough to sell it back to me a year or two later. I love it.

Mines a 25/06. Love it. Shoots less than an inch with Barnes ttsx and tsx, nice and trim in the grip. Carries well, handles great.

Initially, Kimber offered a choice of either AA French with ebony forend tip or AAA Claro with no forend tip in the Classic Select. Apparently, a lower grade of French with added forend tip vs a higher grade of Claro had similar cost. Eventually, Kimber discontinued the AAA Claro Selects in favor of the French walnut versions, obviously to simplify production variations and supply chain. Then, they later reduced the French walnut grade to A. The view there, whether right or wrong, was that French walnut of any grade is considered a "step up" from black or Claro walnut. Really nice walnut in general is in much shorter supply today than it used to be a couple decades ago, and few factory rifles of any brand come stocked with pretty wood anymore, unless you're willing to pay a premium to get it. It's a shame, but the reality of the market.

That is a beautiful rifle!

Had one in .270 Win. MOA or better with Nosler factory 130gr AB cartridges and Leupold 6x on top. Wood was a bit plain for my tastes. Gave it to a grandson for graduation present. He was pleased...

That is nice.

Sorry for resurrecting an old post but had a question about the 84M Classic Select Grades I’ve seen some old posts from other sites talking about Kimber 84M issues like light firing pin strikes, feeding, extraction issues. Is this something Kimber fixed years ago and the Classic Select Grades have better quality control or we are still seeing these issues with the Select Grades?

AAA French 257Rob & 308...both departed.

Why are they "departed", did you have issues with them? Thank you.

Just made way for other thing's.

How many years were the 84M Classic Select Grades in production?
When were they discontinued or are they still being made?

Only part of that I can answer is that kimber is not currently producing any wood stock rifles, I wanted a classic select in 257 Roberts and have been checking for any production for the last year, checked for the last time about 30 days ago with no change and then found the exact one I was looking for in near perfect condition with excellent wood at the Tulsa show. Quickly becoming one of my favorite rifles. Already owned a hunter model in 257 and in 280ai, very happy with all my kimber’s!

I’m not an expert, just have the 2 Classic Selects pictured above as well as a Classic in .308 I bought used off the classifieds here in 2007.

My .30-06 required some tweaking to get consistent ejection. No other issues on the 3.

The issues you mention seem to all be tweaks that can be fixed based on the Kimber “tweaking” tutorial floating around here. Maybe somebody will link to it or I might when sitting at a computer.

There seem to be two camps of Kimber owners. Those of us that absolutely love them. And those that think they’re a steaming pile of crap.

I have a Classic Select in 30-06 very nice rifles. No problems with mine what so ever. Mine shoots 1/2MOA with q68 TTSX and 64 grains of Ramshot Hunter in RP cases and chronographs at 2950 FPS

Own three Kimbers: a 270 WSM Mountain Ascent, a 257 Bob in a 84M Hunter and a 7mm-08 Classic Select in French Walnut.

All shoot around 1/2" or better with the Classic easily shooting better. Though YMMV I've had no issues with any of them.

Pictures don't do the Classic Select justice:





If someone were to post the Kimber Tweaks thread that would be appreciated

I have just one Kimber, It's an 84-M in 308 Winchester. I'm blessed, it has nice wood and shoots great too.

I have a Classic with Claro wood in 338 WM. I haven't shot it yet but I think it's going to be a boomer since it's so light.

Classic Select 30-06, 168 TTSX, 64 grains Ramshot Hunter.

200 yard group




Shooting platform

You missed the quarter ;-)

No quarters were injured in the making of these pictures. We surrounded and cut the quarters escape route off. The quarter was taken into custody without anyone being injured

My main big game/ western rifle is an 84L Classic in .30-06. Love the rifle and have taken elk, antelope and deer with it but I have noticed that over the years of carrying it the finish on the stock has dulled considerably especially around the action (balance point) when hand carrying. This is the darker, apparently Claro walnut. Mine has a nice piece of wood but certainly not exhibition grade.

I would like to spruce up the finish again, not looking for high gloss just back to newer looking. Anyone done this without a full restore? Tips on products to use? I'm debating between a wax or Tru-oil rub. The bottom metal and trigger guard have also faded around the edges to a sort of grey patina that I think looks great, no desire to change that as it looks like what it is, a well loved and hard hunted classic American hunting rifle. Mine loves 150 ttsx's and is doing well with Hornady's 180 CX Outfitter line.

Thx Cheesy!