Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Should I Hill Country accurize a Kimber or sell??

You infer that a new barrel is the first thing to do with a rifle that does not shoot well. That is wrong in my view.

I and others have gone over the steps for improving the accuracy of a rifle and I suggest that you go back and read them.

Just ask HC how many rifles they have had sent to them and ask them how many they couldn't get to shoot. That is the big question. If HC couldn't get a gun to shoot with their accurizing, then absolutly change the barrel. But, according to Matt, and according to what Ive seen. That is rarely the case. He told me he has seen very, very few Kimbers that they couldn't get to shoot. What I have heard is that with a good bedding job and a recrown, 99% of bad shooting Kimbers can be made to shoot extremely well (mine included). And that is what HC told me they do to most of the Kimbers. Occasionally they have to fix the pillars, but no new barrels are required. What cracks me up is when guys send their Kimbers back to Kimber to get them fixed. Ya, I know thats they way it supposed to work, but in reality, thats not the way it does. I will buy a new Kimber again, and if it doesn't shoot, It won't go to the factory, it will go straight to HC and get fixed the way it shoult have come from the factory. I will be into the gun for about $1400 with guranteed MOA, and its still well worth the price.....

I feel sure most people would look at the obvious first, crown and bedding. If that checks out then I'd get the barrel if I really wanted to keep that rifle.The barrel on mine was rough as a sewer pipe, so if I'd have kept mine the barrel replacement was the obvious choice.My buddy who replaced barrels took the obvious steps first.The reason I'd do this first is because you're going to pay Hill Country a few bucks and you might be out of pocket because you might need to buy a barrel anyway.Checking the crown and bedding first is not a costly proposition!Of course the fact that so many say they have bad crowns is a shame,it wouldn't cost Kmber much to make sure they did a good crown job on their $1000 rifles!!!

I didn't infer it, I implied it - you inferred it. For a Kimber, with its history of glitches - yes. Spending $400+ to simply end up with a factory barrel seems - misguided. Why spend the months and dollars when for a little more, a world-class barrel can be screwed onto it? There are only so many hunting seasons in a man's life - why waste them tracking down errors that should never have come out of the factory in the first place?

Friends don't let friends buy Kimbers.

About as spot on as any post I've read relating to Kimbers - most guys can't shoot such a light gun. Regardless what a few others say, at $1k they make Remington, Winchester and Rugers seem like not such a good deal in my opinion - Kimbers are that good.

I sent it back to kimber a while back. They recrowned it and sent it back with a target shot at 50 yrds that had about a 1.25-1.5" group (two close and one a bit out of the group) and said that it met all specs. So I can attest to Kimber's lack of response in terms of doing any significant work on the gun. They did however slick up the action of a 300 wsm I sent them back a couple of years ago. That one shoots great and they tweeked the action appropriately.

If I decided to rebarrel, what kind would you recommend and how much would it cost for the barrel and labor to put it on right? Also, could you get one in the Montana contour so I didn't have to cut on the stock?

Pac-Nor SS barrel and they will do the work for under $600 out the door. They can dupe the BC.

I had HCR rebarrel my Montana. They used a Benchmark barrel and if memory serves me correctly it was close to 7 bills total.

Lilja SS barrel would be high on my list if I were to go down that path again.

All of those are good. I have a hankering for a cut-rifled barrel and have been thinking about asking Dan Pederson (www.cutrifle.com) to do one for me.

Damn, I've been exposed. Somehow you were able to determine, without knowing me or seeing my rifle, that I can't shoot. Very perceptive - and I'd like to thank you for the wake-up. It will no doubt change my life for the better. I'd better deny it in a classic way...

Interesting point of view. How do you know it to be true?

what scope are you using on it? What distance is the parralex in the scope set for? If you can see your crosshairs move on the target when you set your head down differently this could be part of the problem. The other is like Emericus said, light rifles are more difficult to shoot well than heavy ones, some technique is involved, then with a pencil barrel how long are you waiting between shots?

I have nothing against Kimber...had a couple myself. There is just something wrong with buying a new rifle and having it need work right out of the box. Be-it a rifle or a pair of crocks,you should not have to fix a new purchase on your dime.
Maybe the key is to buy it from Cabelas as they have a great return policy. No doubt Kimber can make a fine product but I'd certainly expect them to fix it if something "truly" is wrong.

Most guys - doesn't necessarily mean you, perhaps I should have been more clear. I do believe that many people do struggle with bench technique with Kimbers.

Didn't mean to offend you . . .

I had a couple of problems with Kimbers years ago, but of late, have been lucky. It is frustrating to spend $1K and have a problem. It boils down to pride in what you are building, be it a rifle, car or a house. Some of the pride has left the American workers' focus with no accountability. It will be interesting to read what the new Winchester Model 70's review will be once the "presses" are running.
While the Kimber problem gets a lot of coverage here, I am sure there are plenty of other brands that don't perform either. But you don't read a lot about them because they cost less.
Just my 2 cents.

I'm using a 10year old Leupy 3-9-40 Vari X II that I've used for years successfully on a 30.06. I haven't lapped the rings or anything like that. I've also tried using a "lead slead" type product, shot with just a front rest, heald firm, heald light, heald down on top of the scope. I know I'm not the best technician when it comes to shooting ultra light rifles but I really don't think it's shooter error causing the opened up groups.

Have you called Kimber? They may be willing to accommodate you if your gun shoots 2+" groups. It's worth a call.

Have you tried a different scope?

I have a M700 Mountain Rifle in 7-08 that SHOOTS.

I want a Montana in 7mm-08. I would be selling my M700 to get the Kimber.

Threads like this one scare the crap out of me when I think of selling a shooter to buy a pig in a poke!

BUT, my take is that most rifles are a pig in a poke. What someone mentioned about a miscut crown, a bore not centered in the barrel, the stock bearing hard against the barrel... that all happened to me with a Remington rifle. And yet, I consider the M700 to be a fundamentally "sound" platform even though that rifle took so much work.

To the OP: I cast my vote with the guys saying that you should have a local smith look it over first, then send it off to HC if necessary. Bedding and cutting crowns is not rocket science. There's a guy within 25 miles of you that would do that, competantly, for $125 I bet.

For my Kimber 84M in 7mm-08 to shoot really well I had to move the front rest back to just in front of the floor plate, I use a bag on the back and instead of the traditional left hand back under the stock I work to hold it down on the front rest.

It shoots under an inch with the 120 TSX and usually a 1/2 inch with the Sierra 168 gr MK. Others are all about an inch but any rifle I can get two good bullets and others that are adequate I'm pretty happy with.

Many of us that are very satisfied with our Kimbers have given up trying to defend them against, what I feel, is a vocal minority of people that clearly have rifles with issues. Having built my first custom last year and had I to do it again, I would have bought another Kimber and rebarreled it. Now that the Montana is going to come out in .257 I would have simply bought one vice the custom route.

IIRC that scopes parallax setting is 150 yards. Set the rifle up on the lead sled aimed at a target 100 yards away center the crosshairs on the bullseye, then move your eye up and down to see if the crosshairs move on the target. To get better groups for me, I raise my head until the scope goes black, then lower until you can see thru it, then adjust poa, hold steady, pull trigger, wait 30 minutes, repeat.