Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Rimfires Rem 541 vs Kimber 82

There are some variations obviously but overall what are your thoughts on which action/platform is better?

Are you talking about the sporter versions- 541T or 541S vs the Kimber 82 sporter- or the Target versions- 541X vs the Kimber 82G?

Others may have different experiences, but I have both the 541S and the Kimber 82 Sporter and both are excellent shooters and about equal in accuracy and handling. The Kimber I have is slightly better put together than the Remington but only by a small bit and that is picking nits IMO.... Ammo would be the defining difference between the two for accuracy- depending on which each one liked IMO. Also, the Kimber uses a Semi satin kind of finish rather than the Remington high gloss finish. Both will easily shoot 1/2" at 50 yards with good ammo...

Couldn't tell you on the Target versions... it's been quite a while since I had a 541X and I never shot any decent ammo through it, so never really got an idea of what it is capable of. I've shot a couple Kimber 82G's and they can be very accurate - on the order of 1/2" at 100 with the right ammo and rifle, but like most that would be a rare specimen. Most will shoot about 1" at 100 with good ammo and a good shooter...

Bob

How about the Winchester 320 compared to those two rifles with sporter contour barrels?

I don't have a Kimber 82 but I do have a similar Cooper 57M and a 541THB. The one thing I never liked about the 541 was that el cheapo plastic magazine. What a mistake! I did find someone who made nice metal ones in a small shop for it and so now my 541 is more to my liking. These magazines are not readily available tho. That alone would tip the scales in the Kimber's favor. My 541 has an interesting problem. The first couple shots out of a cold barrel is not to POA. It doesn't matter if it's fouled or not, if it gets cold, it'll throw the first couple shots. After that, it's a fine shooting rimfire. Some 541s have this issue, most don't. My Cooper is a much better designed, executed and better shooting than the Remington. I would expect the Kimber 82 to be much the same.

Now u are talking . My 320 is silly accurate even with a heavy trigger. It with cci standards outshoots every cz ive had, ruger precision, finfires, decked out 10/22s, etc, with match ammo out of them.

Ive sold more expensive 22s because of the 320.

That being said, i have a 541t sporter but have yet to shoot it.

I just checked the trigger pull on my 541THB (Heavy Barrel) Unadjusted by me, it's @ 2 lb 13oz. and is very crisp. My Cooper is at 3 lb and also very crisp. Both are excellent in that regard. The accuracy of any one particular rifle does not mean that it will carry over to another. The same goes for even the best hand-lapped custom match barrels. It's very difficult to consistently make an extremely accurate barrel. The gunsmith who built my benchrest rifles would go thru a batch of barrels from some of the finest custom barrel makers and would reject those that didn't pass his evaluation (mostly slugging them and doing lots of measurements. Even among those that passed his evaluation, some would shoot better than others. My point being, because one gun shoots really well doesn't mean the next one off the line will. Ya pays your money and ya takes your chances. However, overall quality (fit, finish etc) is much easier to evaluate

I have had both, Remington 541S, 541 sporter, 541 HB, and a Kimber 82G. In general the Kimber was the most accurate. It was also a target rifle. Of the 3 Remingtons the 541 sporter was the best. Triggers were pretty much even. The 541S only has one action screw. It also tended to send the first cold bore shot away from the subsequent shots. Didn't see that with the 541 sporter or 541HB. I now have a BSA Martini International MKIII and a CZ 452 silhouette. The CZ can hang with the Remington's all day, and the BSA is the most accurate 22 I have ever owned. It is not afraid of the Anschutz's.

As mentioned, 541s are notorious for throwing the first shot. You see it regularly on the silhouette line.

I have owned multiples of both including Oregon and Yonkers Kimbers. Of those my choice would be a Yonkers K22. Between the 82 and the 541 I would prefer the 82 in every way except I would expect the 541 to outshoot it.

Today and for the last decade my go-to 22 sporter is a bottom line Classic Cooper 57M.

You sir, know quality .22s. I have a first run 2 digit 57M Classic that is an excellent shooter. I won many local benchrest matches with it shooting in the sporter class and - - - it often out-shot several of the heavy unlimited rifles. I shot Lapua Master and Midas thru it.

My 541-S doesn’t throw the first cold bore shot.. I’ve had it since the late’70’s. No telling how many rabbits and squirrels I’ve taken with it.

They all don't do it, but it's a thing. I think it's more of a problem with the 541-T & THB. When I took mine to a gunsmith and told him what it does, he said, ya some of those do that, just shoot some shots before going to the target. The only fix is to re-barrel it. It sounds as if it wasn't adequately stress relieved or something. It's not a bedding problem cause it still did it after I glass bedded and free-floated the barrel. It's ok for a range gun. I then went out and bought the Cooper; problem solved.

I left it a little vague intentionally to maximize comparison and commentary. Various configurations of the rifles come up for sale quite a bit and I've seen, shot and handled a few of them. I have some ideas from my experiences, but I wanted some input from guys who've owned both for many years and maybe put them through their paces. I wanted to get a better idea of what the concensus is on the various features and functionalities of each... ergos, accuracy, quality, etc., especially in light of their respective pricing.

Appreciate the input

I haven't even heard of one of those... off to Google I go...

Post pics!

Supposedly, the Winchester 320 was designed by Greg Warne for Winchester in Australia and when he decided to start Kimber, he based the 82 action on the Winchester 320. If you look at them, they are very similar in many ways and have a reputation of being very accurate. Down side is now that people know about them, they go for about the same money these days as the Kimber of Oregon 82.... which are also going up quite quickly...

Bob

Interesting. I've owned a couple of Winchester 320s and still have one that I bought for myself as a 62nd birthday gift. $309.99 plus sales tax. I currently have an old 2-7x Redfield Tracker installed with B-Square rings and 3/8" groove adapters. I often use it to warm up at the range before I shoot centerfire rifles. If I can't shoot good groups with a .22 at 25 yards, it would probably be a waste of money to try and shoot groups with a centerfire rifle at 100 yards.

The sleeper of my .22 bolt guns is a Tradewinds 311A, an imported version of the Krico 301, Another blind hog find for me, $205 delivered from a pawn shop in MI that didn't know what it was. Man-sized and accurate, just wish that it was easier to remove the huge rear sight from the equally huge barrel dovetail.

I was at the range this morning with the Rem 541THB. @ 25 yrds, the first shot out of a cold bore was at 8 o'clock, about an inch away form the center. The second shot was at 6 o'clock about a 1/2" low and the third and subsequent shots were a jagged one hole group in the center. This is pretty typical for this rifle. In comparison, I had my old Montgomery Ward 842 (Mossberg 346K ) also at the range and the first 5 shots were in a small centered group.

One note on the 541S .....there were a lot of them that had bad barrels, I borescope 4 last year from different people, every barrel looked like a file inside, test fired 2 of those, very erratic accuracy, I am not slamming them just telling you what I seen with my own eyes. May want to have a look at the bore before you buy.

The standard way to fix a 541 is to thread the action. Even if you put the same barrel back on, yes a tenon is required, that fixes the first shot flyer. Rough barrels notwithstanding.

RickF & Cooper57M: I have never heard of this "first shot" throwing by the Remington 541-T's.
I currently own two of them and seldom ever shoot them at the range - they are dedicated Ground Squirrel and small game Rifles.
I will keep an eye out for this situation - I assume you are talking "cold barrel" or clean barrel situations?
The third Remington 541-T I owned some time ago was also mostly a Varmint gun but it also never made it known to me it wouldn't shoot the first bullet where it was supposed to go?
I'll make a point of "checking" for this phenomenon this spring when I verify sight-in for them.
And this, I only ever shoot high velocity, hollow-point, quality type, Hunting ammunition in these two Rifles - I wonder if you's guy's are talking standard velocity "match type" ammo?
Thanks for the heads up.
Hold into wind
VarmintGuy

I'm surprised to hear these reports of bad barrels in the 541S. I had always heard the 541S had a match chamber and hand lapped barrel, which is why they were supposedly so accurate. Can't remember if the 541T was the same but I guess I will find out soon as I just bought one off the Classifieds here to go with my 541S....

Bob