Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Anybody know what twist The Oregon Kimbers ran in 223??

Thanks ahead,Huntz

The one I had for a while was 1-12.

Thanks,how did it shoot for you?

Very well with many loads, but the magazine was too short to seat Nosler Ballistic Tips out to the lands, so to shoot their best they had to be single-loaded.

I have a SSV that's a steady 1/2" rifle with 50 &55 gr bullets, all I have tried.

I had a very lovely, quite early Mod. 84, Super America, about 20 years ago and my experience with it was much like MDs. It WAS a NICE little piece, but, had some functioning issues, had those fixed and sold it, as "fancy" doesn't work for me.

Steve Timm, "Dogzapper" has posted a lot of very interesting material here over the years concerning these rifles and all of the divers issues that beset them, I have the highest regard for Steve, and have found his commentaries very interesting.

I REALLY liked the higher grade Super Americas in the Mod. 89, especially in .338WM and .375H&H. I almost bought a "reps sample" SA, .338WM, with all the "bells and whistles" circa 1991, was offered a super deal on it in a Vancouver, BC gunstore and chose, instead, to buy the Dakota 76-.338 I still have, for about twice the price.

I love fine, CRF, big game rifles more than any other type of gun and have often wished that I had stretched the budget and bought that Kimber, as well as my Dakota.....but, who knows, it may have been one of the many that had as my Mod. 84 and Mod. 82C, both had, some issues.

Kind of the same experiences here. I still have my LH Model 84 .223 Classic - their base line grade - bought in the mid 1980's with a low three digit serial number, LH 13X. It has always had functioning issues, specifically difficulty in initial extraction no matter how mild the load. They replaced the extractor and it still has that issue.

But I have to say it is one of the most consistently accurate rifles I've ever owned. It's not a 1/4" all day long rifle, it's best 5 shot groups will go around 1/2 inch or just under. But it is not picky about what it likes and it has kept up this accuracy for almost 30 years now with a bit over 4,000 rounds down the tube. The bullets can't be seated anywhere near the lands but it still shoots great. Had it out last year to check sight in and the first two shots landed on top of each other with a third that opened it up to about .3".

Almost forgot, Redneck here checked it out and it also has excess headspace to the tune of .015" - fifteen thousands excess. I don't load hot so I'm betting it came from the factory like that. Yet it still shoots great and with neck sizing and careful shoulder bumping as needed the current batch of 250 cases are on their 11th firing and still going strong.

I understand the accuracy of the barrels was real hit or miss (no pun intended), you either got a great one or a dog. Thankfully I seem to have gotten a good one.




FWIW, I have it's twin, a LH Model 82 .22LR with the same serial number, LH13X, and it has driven almost all the other .22's out of the herd. I used it in stock form with a Leupold 4X Compact scope to win a bunch of 100 yard silhouette matches in the late 90's with Winchester Wildcat ammo. Got back into smallbore silhouette a couple years ago and put an SWFA 10X Super Sniper on it and used it to win both 100 and 200 yard smallbore matches - although I used Wolf Match Target for those.

Dewey,

Yeah, there were some other issues with my Kimber of Oregon .223 as well--one of which Steve helped explain.

I worked up a load for it on a typical spring day in the 60's, but the first time I used it in the field was on a prairie dog shoot a couple weeks later, during a cold snap in early May. There was frost on the ground the first morning and my fancy little .223 refused to go bang. Later that day it started going off again, but after getting home I took the bolt apart to see what the matter might be. Turned out the inside of the bolt was packed with heavy grease.

WTF? I removed the grease and the rifle worked even in cold weather, but it wasn't until I ran into Steve on another PD shoot that the mystery was explained. He said an old guy who worked at Kimber was absolutely convinced rifle bolts should be injected with axle grease to work right, so spent part of his time making sure they were.

Steve said Kimber of Oregon was full of guys like that, who'd never worked on rifles much less designed them, but "knew" everything about it. That same rifle also refused to work in hot weather UNLESS the camming surfaces on the bolt and action were heavily greased. The bolt wouldn't open all the way, because the camming angles were too steep. I once used a Chapstick to get the damn thing working again on a scorching day in July.

Like you, I eventually grew weary of the flaws in my beautiful rifle and sold it.

Seems we were typing at the same time.

Mine sits in a corner mostly these days since I too got tired of fighting that bolt each time. You have to dismount the rifle to get enough leverage to pop the handle up sharply with your shooting hand to get initial extraction, then release pressure and pull straight back and the case comes out okay. But I got tired of doing that, especially now that I have an absolutely trouble free LH Tikka T3 that matches it for accuracy.

But I'll never sell it and still take it out now and then since there are no other options that I know of for a left hand .223 sized dainty bolt action with a crisp trigger that breaks at about 22 oz. and is so easy to hit with. Had a LH Mini-Mauser .223 and it didn't come anywhere close to the Kimber in any respect, even with the Kimber's flaws.

I have heard stories from a former Kimber employee who noticed my Kimber logo cap at a silhouette match once and told me how the son ran things and why the rifles can be so flawed. Turns out he was the guy who replaced my extractor when I had sent it in some 10-12 years before since his name was on the repair order. He and I share the same first name. But those are tales out of school and hearsay so I'll leave it alone here.

They (Kimbers in general) were an attempt at making a beautiful rifle that was unfortunately flawed in the creation. If one wants a nice rifle that is somewhat of a descendant of the Kimber concept and lineage, done right from what I hear, the Coopers have filled that niche today.

I have the same SSV model - bought it new in '96 or'97. I shot it a lot initially but don't shoot it near as much these days. Mine does around 1/2 MOA or slightly over with most 50-55's, though I mostly shoot 50 gr. Ballistic Tips in it. I've had zero issues with it, but might just strip the bolt to see if it's packed in grease.

There was precisely one gunsmith at Kimber of Oregon. His name was Tom Novotny. Tom worked as an assembler ... for precisely one week.

kd

This is an interesting read. Thanks for those of you posting.

As the owner of 2 Kimber Montanas - one in 223 - I'm enjoying owning it and its a great shooter. Needs to be clean to shoot really tight. Opens up 12-15 rounds in. Probably need to do DynaCoat on it and its 270 Montana brother.