Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Bad Press For Kimber Rifles?

I've been craving a Kimber in 7mm-08 for a year or so but just about everything I see here on the Forum about them is usually negative. I never see anything bad written about them in the "major" gun magazines, i.e., Shooting Times, Guns & Ammo, Rifleshooter, etc. Also, their .45 pistols seen to always take in rave reviews. I also receive Rifle Magazine (my favorite) and a few others but I'm scratching my head because I tend to believe the guys on the Forum. Are the reviews in the run of the mill gun magazines positive because of the advertising money they get? Thanks...

I like the Kimber 84M's a lot. I have said so in my posts on them. There is at least one other here, Killsoft, who has a new one and in general I read his posts as being very postitive.

If I told you that I had two new ones and might buy another how would you take it? On the other hand I might have mentioned that the sling swivel studs are countersunk into the stock too deep and the stock will get marked up unless they are backed out and spacers are put in.

Now how do you take this?

Savage 99

That sounds pretty positive to me. Are the actions on your Kimbers smooth? Thanks...

The first 84M Classic that I bought last October is very smooth. It has a s/n of 7xxx. Then I bought another one a week later as I liked the stock. The action worked smooth but to be honest I never lifted the bolt when the firing pin was down. The s/n on this one is 2xxx.

The bolt lift on this one was quite hard. When I compared the two bolts I found that the angle of the cam on the newer one is much more gradual than the older Kimber. I called Kimber and they said they would take care of it and any other concerns.

After a couple of calls by me to Kimber someone in the custom shop said that they wanted the old one back to change the firing pin spring and modify the bolt anyway.

So I drove it down there and left it and it was ready in two days. When I picked it up it had a new stock on it! It was mentioned that they might do this as one of my complaints was that my sling swivels marked up the wood because the studs are in too deep.

The angle on the bolt lift is now acceptable as they modified it to match the newer one.

These are neat little baby Mauser actions. They have crf and the diameter of the receiver rings are only 1.1" and our M 70's are 1.3". We don't need such a large ring for the 308 family.

In general I am very proud of my Kimbers. The older one seems to be shooting better than ever.

Keep in mind that a large appeal of these rifles is their looks. And some of them have plain stocks. Most of the walnut is Claro which can also have knots and green color in it. Thus one MUST see the rifle before buying it. As far as function goes it seems that Kimber will stand behind their product.

100 good rifles and you hear nothing, one bad one and the whole world knows that they are all a piece of junk.
Just like the sucks rifles. I've owned quite a few and never had a bad one, they've all functioned and shot well. I heard all the raves about the savages shooting qualities so I bought one. I've put a lot of stuff through it and the best I've come up with is groups just under 2". triggers been adjusted, rebedded, freefloated, three different scopes, seven different bullets, many different powders, ad nauseum.
Guess I got a bad one, dosen't mean they're all bad <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Particularly if the one bad one gets sold to a member of this forum <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Craig Boddington has written at least two or three articles about the Kimber 84s in the last year, and says good things about them for what its worth. I remember on recent article where he reviews an 8400 in .300 WSM that he took bear hunting. He also discussed the 84 in 7MM-08 in a recent G&A or Hunting (can't remember which) article about turning his 18 year old daughter from a non-shooter to a safari hunter in six months. He bought her theKimber 84 in 7MM-08 for antelope in Africa. It was an interesting article, and he said good things about the Kimber. I was very close to buying one in 7MM-08 for my new bride as a wedding gift, but her father beat me to it and bought her a Browning BAR in .270. Oh well...guess I might have to get the Kimber for myself. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

I have played with 3 of them. One was quite rough and the trigger was in the 8 lb. range. The fit and finish were far worse than other standard production rifles, actually, quite close to what Savage offers. The safety took 3 men and a small boy to move (what is that, a two way three position safety???). I was not impressed with that one at all. It was a first production rifle.

Two months later, I tested out another one (did not shoot it....just fondled it....a lot <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> ) I couldn't get the bolt open and thought there was a bolt lock on it. I handed it back to the dealer to open, in case he broke it, he could pay for it <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> Did I mention how stiff it was? The bolt grittily came open after some effort. The cocking piece, raceways, bolt body and recoil lugs looked like they had been cast out of gravel. No wonder it wouldn't come open! The trigger was FULL of creep and really hard to pull. The finish TOTALLY sucked and the action was cockeyed in the stock. I was disturbed that such an abomination left the factory. The dealer was pretty pissed as well. Somebody HAD to of worked that action before it left the factory....or at least tried....right??? It was the stiffest bolt by FAR I have ever worked. It would take several hours to smooth things up to a functional state.

After listening to Savage99 rant about how great and smooth they are. I looked at another one last week at the local dealer. It was indeed pretty smooth and functioned well. The stock was better and the fit and finish were nice. The flimsy extractor REALLY turned me off, especially for being a CFR. You could EASILY flick it and bend it away from the bolt body with your pinky. The extractor body is VERY thin and would do little in the way of pulling out a stuck case. The Kimbers are getting better, but still have a ways to go IMHO. I like them, so this isn't a flame, just purely what I experienced. Their hand guns are 10 steps above the rifles. I don't know what is going on there. They must have two totally different division QC managers. Flinch

FWIW, I've looked at and held two of them at the local shop and they both appeared fine, though I had not thought to look at the sturdiness of the extractor - I will next time. Both were nicely finished and sat well in the stock, with no apparent uneven gaps. The stocks were both nice or better, with no knots. The action was smooth, but not more so than my M70 Classic LT, but that's really smooth. I agree it's worth seeing before ordering.

I'd have bought the 7mm-08, but the dealer also had an M77 MkII 6.5X55 that's discontinued, so I went for that, instead.

I did notice one thing I haven't seen referenced here, and it isn't necessarily a fault. The barrel just seems to point (angle) up a bit. At least when I shoulder it, I'm looking at a lot of barrel, rather than down along the barrel, if you follow me. Maybe the comb line is higher than on my other rifles. Again, I don't cite this as a fault, just an observation.

Jaywalker

The flimsy extractor REALLY turned me off, especially for being a CFR. You could EASILY flick it and bend it away from the bolt body with your pinky. The extractor body is VERY thin and would do little in the way of pulling out a stuck case. Flinch [/quote]


I just compared the extractor on a 84M to an old FN Mauser. Flinch is right that the extractor on the Kimber is flexible and the Mauser extractor is much thicker and stiffer. Also the Mauser extractor is much wider and also fit's the case rim tighter.

What counts is of course what a person likes as long as it works. So far I have only owned a Kimber rifle for three months out of my half century of experiance with handloading for guns.

So far the only extactor that failed on me was a push feed M 70 when it broke on a stuck case.

In general the extractors on the Remington rifles are a joke and even on my favorite game rifle the 99 Savage the Kimber extractor seems far larger.

So what matter to me is what works and what I like. I don't like the extractors on Remingtons due to the design but they do work. So far the Kimbers work and I like them. To each his own.

As I shoot these little Kimbers more I will post more about them. So far the extraction is outstanding but that may be due to the match chambers. There are no conventional pressure signs with either of these 84M's yet.

Savage99, exactly how many Remington extractors have you personally had break or fail? Not heresay or "read" but actually experienced. I am not talking about a Remington 721 or 722 that has had 10,000 rounds through it either. I have seen them wear out and fail, but few actions wouldn't. I would like to hear the details. I am very interested in this phenominon. Flinch

Flinch,

I shoot and hunt beause I want to. I shoot the guns that I like. When I see what I know is a sloppy gun or gun part I try to avoid it. The Remington 722-700-710 extractors look like junk to me. They look cheap and weak as well.

Back when I got my new 722 as a gift in 1953 I was proud of it. It was my first new gun and it shot quite well. But my late dad had an extensive machinery background as he owned and ran a large tool and die shop. I worked in that shop part time and my dad did aircraft quality work. The kind of work that goes into military aircraft.

At home in the workshop we were also always working on guns. By the time I was in high school I had seen a M 70 Winchester and wanted one for hunting so I saved up and bought one. This is a fine piece if machinery and it still serves me well.

The Remington extractors are functional. I used that 722 for maybe 8000 shots and sold it as the barrel was worn. I still have one in a 40X. That one has quite a few shots thru it and its still working ok.

But if it looks like junk I don't want it on a fine rifle. That's all. Most people don't know the difference and would not appreciate it if the saw it. Others think guns with pink swirles attractive so we leave that to a matter of taste which is personal.

So I reject the Remington extractor as it does not please me. My machinery background tells me that it's not Starret nor Jorgenson nor even South Bend or a Bridgeport.

In order to condense my opinion of them I stand by the statement that they are junk.

Seems as though the "junk" Remington extractors have served you well. Junk doesn't work....PERIOD. They may appear to be weak and disfunctional, but alas, they are not. I hear what you are saying, but I have 10,000 rounds through the Remington extractors and they have never failed me. In fact, I have ripped cases in half that were stuck. NO Winchester or Mauser would ever do that. Most of it is because the case head is encased in the bolt nose. The extractor cannot be forced out of the extraction groove. The Remington extractors do look weak, but I still can't make one fail. Flinch