Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Kimber 84M Classic

My cousin graduated highschool and has been working at our local Dicks sporting goods in their hunting/fishing department. He wants to upgrade his cheapo Savage to a nice wood/blued 308. Working at Dicks he can get pretty solid pricing from time to time on the likes of a Remington 700 CDL. I told him that he should save his money and be patient for a nice Sako Forester to show itself. Nolan is pretty adamant that he wants a new rifle. After a little research the Kimber 84M can be had for a reasonable price, pillar bedded, free floated, and beautiful classic styling stocks. Anyone have first hand experience with one?

Kimbers are very nice looking rifles. The problem is the customer service sucks. The rifles are either tack drivers or inaccurate. My brother has a kimber in 308 and it is a real accurate rifle. Do a search and make up your own mind I think that for that amount of money a rifle should not be hit or miss.

I have three Kimbers, 2 Montana's and one classic, I would gladly take three more and not lose any sleep.

You are the reason savage and the ruger americans were invented.

I have three as well, two Montanas (.223 & 280ai) and a Kimber Classic Select .257 Roberts.

The Roberts is a gorgeous rifle, chamber is a bit rough but all three are shooters and aren't picky about what they like.

The 280 you could put up against most custom rifles.

Ahhhh, that's a pretty broad brush. I've had over 20 Kimbers and have had overwhelmingly great help from their customer service. All but two performed very well at the range. The correlation between cost and performance is not directly proportional. Its the way things are.
I should add that lightweight rifles are harder to shoot accurately. I've had great days and mediocre days at the range with the same rifle. It was my shooting form that was the difference, not the rifle

Is there a consensus as to why there is so much negativity out there on these rifles? Was there a period of time they were piss or is it a function of folks being unfamiliar with printing groups with light rifles?

I'm with you 100% here

Spend 1k then fix the factory flaws.... nice

I've only had one Kimber 84M. It shot great. I've been around many. Some shot great, some not so great; but with just a little tinkering, all can be shooters. For what the 84M has to offer over most other rifles on the market, it is worth a little tinkering. Besides, I'm a little loony; I like to tinker with all my guns. If I was going to buy another rifle today, it would be an 84M, hands down.

My only experience is with a Super America that I bought for Mrs Blacktailer back in 04. It's a really nice rifle and pretty. You could buy a Remchester and put an extra $1k into it and perhaps end up with it's equivalent (I have).
The tinkering involves making sure the bedding is good, it doesn't take a doctorate or machinist to make them shoot just fine, you can do it on your kitchen table.

I have an 84M classic in 308, it's all good.

And yes they had some trouble with 7mm barrels years ago, fixed now. But one of the most popular calibers on the fire was/is the 7mm-08 so a high number of troubled rifles were here. That said I never heard anyone complain about a 308, the only thing I ever heard about the 257 Roberts was they were hard to get.

I do remember a member of our hunting club that had a 7-08 Montana that Kimber rebarreled. They also said that there had been some bad 7mm tubes.

I'll gladly tinker with a Kimber to carry it up the mountain.

Then again, I don't sit in a box blind over a corn flinger either.

Have an early 84 in 308 great wood for a base gun average shooter, I have a later vintage Montana in 7-08 that shoots every thing I have ever fed it way above average.

The Montana is the new daughter in-laws rifle now.

I have a Kimber 8400M chambered in .300 WSM. My rifle shoots 3 shot sub-moa with handloads using Barnes, Hornady Interlocks and Nosler Ballistic Tips. For a lightweight rifle recoil is not bad, thanks to a well designed stock and excellent recoil pad. The trigger is also as good as most custom triggers. No regrets buying a Kimber from me!

I think your odds of getting a good one, new, are pretty good. But if you buy a used one, expect to get a problem child, and be happy if you don't.

Yes, I really like the design of my 7mm-08 Montana, but the barrel is lousy. It will go to Pac-Nor, eventually.

Kimbers are among my favorite makes. When I go hunting a Kimber comes along as the rainy day rifle.

Had a classic in 7-08. Mine was put together very well with excellent finish. She was definitely more 'picky' than my Tikkas but the bullet I wanted to shoot did so very well (about .8" for three shots--160 Accubonds and H414).

Sold it on here when I decided to go more utility grade (SS and synthetic). Probably will never buy another new one, or walnut, (my Tikka's are too damn good) but if I ever come across a good deal on a Montana in a caliber I want, I wouldn't say no...

My one nitpick is the pencil barrel. I like a tad more meat out on the end...but they're definitely doable.

I bought two used. Classic in 308 and classic select in 257. Both are shooters.

The 308 is in my saddle scabbard right now. Just came off the mountain from elk hunting. It sure is nice to carry at 10,000 feet.