Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Kimber of Oregon VS Kimber of Yonkers

Is one of these better or worse than the other? I have been really looking at the Kimbers but it seems people love them or hate them. Any help would would be appreciated.

I've never seen a "bad" one in any flavor,but would default to the S/S offerings due to locale and a penchant to dish abuse.

Thanks for the response, do you think the bad press of some shooting very bad is people not used to shooting light rifles?

Not many folks can shoot and even fewer know how to load. Bedding escapes most and it's downhill from there.

As per always,consider the source.

Is the pillar and glass bedding on Kimbers typically quality work

It's MUCH bang for the buck,assuming we are talking S/S Montucky.

Capture the lug and rock on.

I new a gent in West Texas that collected and shot many of the early Kimbers from Oregon and he commented that it was not all that uncomoon to experience improperly cut chambers, all too long. Not sure if true or not but he was a pretty avid collector and shooter.

I've never seen a Kimber headspace woe,though my Cooper 21 is generous there.

Thanks for all the help.

SLM,

A to Z, production rifles can be had from a couple of hundred to a couple of thousand. Semi custom and custom rifles go up from there. If you call shooting one hole groups off a bench at 100 yds. accuracy and thats your holy grail. Buy a savage. Kimbers just like any other a to z production rifle are going to be hit and miss. A two inch rifle will kill any deer or hog you need to kill at 100 yds. I could be wrong but the older Kimber of Oregon (not the 96 mausers) are more scarce and probably more expensive. I don't know how many rifles you own or what type of shooting you do. I would suggest deciding what you do most of the time and buy rifles to suit those purposes if you are on a limited budget. If not then you can afford to lose a hundred bucks if you make a mistake. Make up your mind, buy something, if it doesn't work blow it out and go on to your second choice. Hopefully you reload. Makes tweaking so much easier.
GWB

My 7WSM Montana will stay easily under .5MOA at the 700yd line.

For conversation.

geedubya, tryme, thanks again for the input. I have 1 custom on a 700 action and a accurized 243 by Hill Country and more not worth bringing up. I do reload but only for about 3 years, still behind on the learning curve. I totally understand what you are saying about hit or miss I was just nervous about hearing a few horror stories about Kimbers. With both of these rifles the best "I" can do is 1/2" on my good days but usually 3/4". I do alot more practical shooting than from a bench. Thanks again

I've some pretty good footage of me gunning my 7WSM Montucky at a shade over 1000yds.

I'll upload a bunch more stuff one of these nights...for the naysayers.(grin)

Is that 7 WSM bedded all along the barrel or just lug?

Never done a full length bedding myself but am considering.

I just put a dab to the lug and ran her in conjunction with the existing forearm pressure,which was ever so slight.

No secret that I'm a FL fan.

Kimber of Oregon was pre-84's. They were more of a semi-custom back then. Nice quality, pricey, and generally shoot.

All the press that Kimber rifles have gotten lately pretty much refers to the 84M and 8400 actions. Those are a factory rifle, just like all the rest. Some are stellar, some need work. Still a [bleep] of rifle for the money. I have two 84 Montanas and LOVE them (even though one needed 250 bucks of smithing work to feed off the LH side, and the other ones at the smith right now getting a getting a barrel screwed on it)

I'd have to blow 2K to get a comparable rifle (NULA) but then it'd be a toy action like the 700 remington, with a push feed action, and a retarded safety, and crappy trigger. Plungers are for toilets. Real hunting rifles are CRF, and have a firing pin block safety.

Oh great...all we need is another [bleep] idiot walking around with one in the pipe and soothed by a "safety".

Is the only differance between the Montanas and the 84M classic S/S Syn. VS wood/ Blue.

Roger that.

SLM,
I tell people I'm a mile wide and an inch deep. When I was younger I remained in an extended period of financial embarrassment for years. I swore to myself if I ever had any money I was going to have some long guns. I guess you could say that I have gone off the deep end. I started thinning out my collection a couple of months ago when I stopped counting at 56 centerfire long guns. That is not counting rimfires, shotguns, pistols, black powder or guns of mine at my sons house. I reload for at least 45 different chamberings and have been reloading for 15 yrs. plus.
Almost all my rifles are production rifles the likes of Browning, Cooper,CZ, Remington,Ruger, Sako, TC, Weatherby, Winchester. I used to be much more anal about small groups. I'm a hunter much more than a paper puncher. Most of the paper punching I do is with a chrono set up and shooting for load development. Ninety percent of the game I take is shot under two hundred yards.

Anyway, the point of the rant is that I've had cheap rifles that shot one ragged hole and more expensive rifles that wouldn't group under 2" at 100 yds. It has been my experience that in my old age, many rifles shoot better than I do. Many factory guns will shoot 1" groups or better. A lot of people will post a fantastic group, the rifle achieved one time. I know, because I've been guilty of that (at least once). What I like to see is whether my rifle will shoot consecutive 1" groups. Another thing to try is to shoot the same target, 1 shot out of a cold barrel, on three consecutive days, or at least let enough time lapse between shots so that the barrel is completely cooled to ambient temperature. Then check the group. This would more closely resemble a hunting situation, one shot out of a cold barrel. Remember this is for fun. Enjoy your rifles, if they don't shoot get rid of them and try a new one. I love beatiful rifles, especially when they're shooters.

Here is an example of what I'm talking about. Sometimes you win, sometimes you loose. These are consecutive groups shot at the Pearland shooters club, five minutes apart or so. They were shot off the bench at 100 yds, out of a sporter weight Sako A-II in 220 swift topped with a 2.5 x 8 Leupold vari-X III scope. I picked the rifle up used. Cleaned the barrel real good, and tightened the action screws. All four groups groups are 52 gr Hornady A-Max, same oal (2.685") Two different powders, four different load densities. You can see 1. either I got lucky, or
2. The rifle likes H 380 better than varget.


35 gr Varget


37 gr. varget


41 gr. H-380

43 gr. H-380

Ps.
I like hill country rifle's work. They accurized a rem 700 SF Sendero (one of the original ones)for me that was chambered in 338 ultra-mag, and added a Vais brake. Shoots pretty good.