Decided last minute to buy a new rifle for deer season this year. I liked the look and feel of the kimber hunter minus the trigger guard. But I can deal with it for the price. Figured I’d try 6.5 CM while I was at it. As I haven’t played with anything new for awhile. Got the rifle and mounted a 2-7 leupold, so far so good. My reloading components haven’t came in yet so I bought a box of Hornady 143g eldx. Much to my surprise the rounds are extremely hard to chamber. You gotta really use force. Feeding from the magazine is pretty much hit and miss too. Cases are coming out severely scratched and there’s brass shavings all around the bottom of the chamber . I’ve heard the horror stories of people getting rifles and stuff like this happening. But this is the first for me. I boxed it up and took it back to the shop. Obviously never fired a round. They said that I’m not the first customer with the hunter model to have this problem. The main guy I deal with wasn’t in today so
I guess I’ll find out tommorow what we’re gonna do.

Not sure I want another kimber if this is a representation of their craftsmanship ??

Sorry to hear that. Nothing worse than getting something new and being excited to use it and then have it not work properly. Kimbers sure do generate a lot of discussions here.

I don't think you can buy a rifle that doesn't need some minor tweaking. That goes for $300 rifles to over $3000 rifles. It's part of shooting and being a rifleman just like knowing how to mount a scope. Did you even look at the rifle to determine the cause of the problem?

I own 2 700s, a tikka T3, and 3 CZ s....they never needed “tweaking” to function correctly. So no most rifles don’t need “tweaking” in my experience. Bedding, trigger jobs sure. But needing tweaked just to function ? Nah never had it. It’s not even a big deal. Just sharing my experience at the moment.

I’m no gunsmith. Nothing looked out of the ordinary to me though. Take that for what it’s worth ...I examined it the best my little brain could.

I'm not jumping your case. I'm just saying it's likely very minor. I've had to do minor stuff to nearly every rifle I own. I had to polish rails and edges on my Montana and trim two little ears on the mag box that came too far into the edge of the feed ramp and was gouging brass.

You should have tried some different factory ammo. I had a very tight chambered extremely accurate Sako once that wouldn't chamber some brands of factory ammo at all,and sometimes it would only chamber 10-15 out of 20.

It's not uncommon, but is a pain in the ass. Only rifles I had that didn't need anything were two Tikkas and a RAR.

Clark. I thought about trying different ammo but the shop just said to bring it back.
16- My luck I’d do something to void the warranty and still not get it fixed

Ky,

I've personally seen similar issues with Tikka T3 and Remington 700 rifles. This isn't exclusive to one make or brand.

Jason

Tight headspace? If so, better than excessive headspace.

Be interested to hear what the actual diagnosis is. Please let us know what you find out...

That isn't minor tweaking, that is totally unacceptable.

The rifle should not have any problems leaving the factory, the quality control should catch obvious problems like that. I don't have any Kimber rifles but I heard from folks that they got much better recently.
Sorry for your disappointment.

Not being able to properly chamber a round doesn't sound like minor tweaking to me at all.

Magazine feed lips, barrel clearance, and cleaning out mounting threads are examples of minor issues. A chamber so tight it shaves brass not so much.

Solid advice..if you touch anything on a Kimber, they seem to frown upon it.

Nobody said the chamber was so tight it was shaving brass. It likely had tight headspace that was causing difficulty cambering and it was part of the mag box or rails shaving brass.

Factory ammo can have slightly different specifications from one manufacturer to another. That's why one particular brand of factory ammo will usually shoot better in a rifle than another. It's just possible that the rounds Kimber used to check function were different enough that they caused no problems. I've known of people getting their $3500 custom rifles and they wouldn't feed because the smith set them up using different ammo.

I suppose I just get tired of anytime that the name Kimber comes up,people who don't own one and most times don't have a clue start shouting " See,I told you they were all just crap rifles to start with."

Yea, Kimber may have put out a POS. It happens with all of them. I bought a Sako that wouldn't chamber factory ammo. I've seem Savages without any rifling in the barrel,and how many Remingtons have had the bolt handles fall off and shoot when you close the bolt?

I guess my point is that it is a mass produced tool,and if you want to use it to its full potential you have to learn how to work on it ,repair and modify it. To me that's what a looney is.

"Cases are coming out severely scratched and there’s brass shavings all around the bottom of the chamber ." From the initial post.

That is a significant issue. True, not specific to the chamber, but with all the bad press Kimber gets you would think they would put a little more time into making sure that the basic function of the rifle is correct.

Not apples to apples comparison, but FWIW I’ve not had to do a thing to the GA Precision rifles they’ve built for me...

Part of the reason I will never own another Kimber... I had almost the exact issue with a Kimber Montana... would not chamber factory ammo.... had to send it back to rechamber as it was cut wrong... thing never did shoot good either and that was probably part of it... absolutely horrible quality control

I am drawing blank here, can someone help me out?

______________________________ Roulette.

Local gunshop called me today. They tried various ammo and it all came out the same. Hard to chamber, scratched cases, shavings etc.

Gonna order me another one. Idk when it will be here but hopefully it functions as it should.

Gary...too bad on the Kimber...I had heard their Quality Control was a LOT better lately...

Guess not. Too many stories of guys having to tweak $1000 rifles....

If it doesn't pan out for you, like another poster said, try a Tikka...no Tweaking!

Best luck Bud!

Kimber Roulette continues...

I seriously looked at a Kimber Hunter in 6.5 CM before I bought my RAR Predator in 6.5 CM last week. Looks like I made the right decision.

No way I would buy a Kimber Hunter anyway. The big reason to buy one is the good stock on the Montana. Take that away and you might as well buy a Tikka. I mean if you want a plastic trigger guard, and don't they weigh and cost about the same?

Ah. Chit happens. We will get it resolved. I’m not happy exactly but whatdaya do!

Curious to find out what happened here.
I played kimber roulette and now having similar issues with brand new Hunter in 6.5. Went to start a load and wanted to measure where the lands are. But I could not get any cases To go in.
Tried few Different cassings/reloads.
Once fired Nosler brass my buddy gave me from his Christensen, 2 or 3 times reload I have for my tikka and brand new factory 140gr S&B PSP.
I could not get the re loads/ resized brass in, I got the new S&B to chamber but it also left a mark on the casing similar To others.
It’s also scratching the [bleep] out of the brass

https://imgur.com/a/JgBGzY6

Paul - if he divorces Kimber we're expecting you to serve as counsel 😂😇

4 Portugal-made M70s and not a single issue...

I don't understand the Kimber thing... why do people buy them if the problems are really so widespread with QC? They aren't exactly cheap for most people and to assume it's going to need fixing while brand new is just mind boggling.

Too bad a firm like Kimber can’t get it right. A lot of negatives in their brief history. I have never had a problem with chambering, overall functioning, accuracy and all around satisfaction with a Howa or Howa-Vanguard. IMO best damn barreled action money can buy. Take a gunstock bed the barreled action and shoot bug holes. Hope you get some customer satisfaction.

Sounds like you have a minimum-spec chamber, and your feed rails and feed ramp maybe could use a bit of emery cloth to break the sharp edges.

Thanks Jordan. First real response.

Called kimber and they kept going around how they have very tight tolerances and do not recommend any reloads. Only new premium American made factory rounds.
Also the scratches on the brass is nothing to be concerned as it’s not hindering the functioning of the bolt. “Brass is softer than steel, so it can scratch the brass”
Basically the rifle is fine.
Finally after what seemed like 20 minutes he caved in and asked for the serial number, but my ass left the # at home.

Nope they fix it for you, I have a few kimbers and they have been great. I only tried their customer service once and they were pretty good to me.

This thread is quite a few years old now.

Wtf is it doing on page 1?

Yeah well I’m having similar results as you.
What happened with your rifle?

Well it's been a few years now, but if I remember right, there was too much metal on the bolt face or something of that nature and the cartridge wasn't able to fully slide up under the extractor. Why on earth that stopped it from chambering I don't really remember. Like I said it's been awhile.

Probably because you didn't tell anyone wtf happened with your Kimber. How they treated you and if the issue was resolved. WTF good is a thread when you don't explain the specifics?

Dude......The thread is from 2017.

Maybe I was busy with work when it got resolved, maybe I had not logged in for bit and in that time just maybe the thread got buried several pages back; I really don't remember. Ever forget about something? I did with this thread.

What I do remember is trading it off for a .22 Hornet because it shot like crap.


Now don't you have some pics of groups to post or some AR competition to talk about ?

You might need to run virgin brass in this rifle, but it should chamber handloads just fine if it chambers factory ammo. The emery cloth on the underside of feed rails and top of the ramp will take you about 5-10 minutes. Easy fix.

Does the link not work with pics ?

Nutnfancy kimber review

https://youtu.be/95PTaORaDK0

It’s all coming back after 4 years, too busy but you saw this first day it’s up, and also know what bsa post!
Too Funny.
Thanks for letting me know what the issue was. Hope I have better luck than you.
I’ll try to remember and keep up what happens with this bad boy.

You guys are some snowflakes.

If you want me to take you serious then might I suggest learning to spell and using proper punctuation? Very difficult to read. But I get the idea of what you're trying to say. I didn't come back to a post 4 years ago, and now you're having the same problem I had and you're mad at me because I didn't update you about a problem that you didn't even know you were going to have until 4 years later and I'm the bad guy.

Ok. Got it.

I’m not mad bud!
At work and didn’t proof read my previous post, and auto correct on my phone can be a pain.
Anyways, I was just having similar issues, and wanted to hear what your final result was with the rifle or with Kimbers Costumer service.
From where I am sitting,
BSA was just busting your balls a bit. You you are the one that turned into the snow flake and got your feelers hurt.

Lol. It's the Internet. I'm far from mad.

Thanks. Initially, I just saw the first pic. You might also want to chuck a bronze brush on the end of a segment of breakdown cleaning rod into a cordless drill, wrap some extra fine steel wool around it, and give the chamber a polish, as well.

Sent those pics to kimber and they are saying those marks are normal with their mouser type action .
I told them I’m not happy or satisfied with this,
So he’s going to send the pics to his master gun smith and see if they can do A custom polish on the chamber.
Am I asking for too much or my expectations unrealistic?!

No, you aren't. The idea that you pay hundreds or thousands for a rifle that comes with known and apparently accepted defects is absurd. Same thing with CZ. If Kimber want a to make rifles, they should really *make* rifles.

A rifle with accepted defects is still a defective rifle to the buyer... By God.

I ran into an issue with a mis-machined receiver on an ascent. I caught it looking at the galded lugs on the bolt. Sent it in to Kimber. Same thing, said it was normal. Local smith took the barrel off and sent Kimber pics on my behalf. Said it was unsafe to shoot. Kimber then gave me a new gun. Up until the smith got involved, they wouldn’t do anything.

I’m a bad gambler already, I should have know not to play kimber roulette!
I’m just going to play nice and hope they come through and stand behind their product.

Kimber called me Today to provide me return shipping label.
I will be sending them the rifle over the weekend.
Happy to see they are standing behind their product.

Calm down mountain men! There is nothing ever wrong with a kimber rifle. They are perfect in every way.

According to some of campfire's most magnificent kimber fan-boys, the accuracy problem is how you're holding it........

haha,,, have had 4 kimbers now as easy to shoot off a bench as any other rifle I've owned. Chit so simple my granddaughter makes groups easy..