At the beginning of the summer I began a quest to get a hunting rifle that would offer me a sense of pride of ownership, shoot accurately, feel and handle great, and look pretty. I started out by giving myself a certain budget, as I don't have carte blanche to spend what I want, and as a teacher you can't work overtime if there is a project you need to fund.
With that in mind, I went out and bought a Sako 85 Hunter in 30-06. Nice enough wood, but it didn't fit me that great, so I never even shot it. I was able to trade it for a Sako 85 Bavarian in 270 WSM. That was a beautiful gun. Really pretty, I loved the cartridge, loved the set trigger for shooting off the bench, but in the end, this Sako also didn't fit me that great. I quickly traded the Bavarian for a Cooper Model 52 Jackson Hunter in 280 Rem. Nice gun, fit and finish was great, shot 1/2" groups no problem, and a good trigger. Looking back there were a few things that left me kind of cold towards it. First, the bolt lift was very heavy compared to any rifle I have previously had, but in a 60 degree throw it understandably takes a little oomph to work those 3 big lugs. Second, the gun was heavy. Finally, though the styling was nice, something about stainless / synthetic just leaves me cold, so up she went for sale. Within a day she was gone to a happy owner in Calgary.
The one gun that I had flirted with in the past and had read about for some time was Kimber. If I had to pick one thing about the Cooper that left me wanting it would have been the hefty weight, but when I told a fellow GunNutz member about this at the range, he mentioned that if I thought the Cooper was on the heavy side, I could always lose a few pounds and it would all equal out. I replied that I could lose about 40 lbs, not just a few. Anyhow, I began to read everything I could about Kimbers, and as you know, there are mixed reviews. Some swear by them. Some swear at them. I decided to take a risk and bought a 8400 Classic Select Grade in 270 WSM from Prophet River that Clay said he wasn't really sure whether it had even been shot outside the factory. I got it from him the next day in the mail. The barrel needed to be free-floated, but Clay picked up the tab being the gentleman that he is.
So now it's time to head out to the range and test her out. I decided to go with Berger 140 VLDs and IMR 4350 (largely because I had them on hand). I arbitrarily chose 58 grains as my charge (as 59.5 was max in Berger manual), and loaded four seating depths from 10/1000" off the lands all the way down to .120" off.
I drove out to the range right after school, hoping that this gun would be a shooter, and not a dreaded POS that I would have to sell. I bore-sighted the gun and had her on target after 4 shots. 10/1000" off was not too promising with about a 3" group. 50/1000" off shrunk to about 2". Then I shot the rounds that were seated 90/1000" off and ended up with a .460" group. Mission accomplished for hunting season. I smiled and fired off the rest of my rounds at the 300 yard range. I drove home with a smile on my face, knowing that even though I had convinced myself that I would do copious load development if necessary to make the gun shoot, I had lucked out on the first attempt. To make things even sweeter, I haven't even begun to fine tune charge or seating depth, so there is still room for improvement.
As for the gun, I honestly couldn't be happier. It fits me like a glove. Shoots like a *****cat in comparison to the Sako Bavarian in the same round, and has less recoil than the heavier Cooper in 280 Rem. Why I don't know, but it does. It is light weight and has an exceptional trigger, every bit the equal of the Timney's I have been putting on rifles lately. And at least to my eye, it's a gorgeous rifle with crisp checkering, and clean, classic lines. In short, everything I was looking for is embodied in this gun.
If anyone is in the same space as me - considering a Kimber, but somewhat apprehensive - give it a whirl. I did and am tickled pink.
Here are some pics...
With that in mind, I went out and bought a Sako 85 Hunter in 30-06. Nice enough wood, but it didn't fit me that great, so I never even shot it. I was able to trade it for a Sako 85 Bavarian in 270 WSM. That was a beautiful gun. Really pretty, I loved the cartridge, loved the set trigger for shooting off the bench, but in the end, this Sako also didn't fit me that great. I quickly traded the Bavarian for a Cooper Model 52 Jackson Hunter in 280 Rem. Nice gun, fit and finish was great, shot 1/2" groups no problem, and a good trigger. Looking back there were a few things that left me kind of cold towards it. First, the bolt lift was very heavy compared to any rifle I have previously had, but in a 60 degree throw it understandably takes a little oomph to work those 3 big lugs. Second, the gun was heavy. Finally, though the styling was nice, something about stainless / synthetic just leaves me cold, so up she went for sale. Within a day she was gone to a happy owner in Calgary.
The one gun that I had flirted with in the past and had read about for some time was Kimber. If I had to pick one thing about the Cooper that left me wanting it would have been the hefty weight, but when I told a fellow GunNutz member about this at the range, he mentioned that if I thought the Cooper was on the heavy side, I could always lose a few pounds and it would all equal out. I replied that I could lose about 40 lbs, not just a few. Anyhow, I began to read everything I could about Kimbers, and as you know, there are mixed reviews. Some swear by them. Some swear at them. I decided to take a risk and bought a 8400 Classic Select Grade in 270 WSM from Prophet River that Clay said he wasn't really sure whether it had even been shot outside the factory. I got it from him the next day in the mail. The barrel needed to be free-floated, but Clay picked up the tab being the gentleman that he is.
So now it's time to head out to the range and test her out. I decided to go with Berger 140 VLDs and IMR 4350 (largely because I had them on hand). I arbitrarily chose 58 grains as my charge (as 59.5 was max in Berger manual), and loaded four seating depths from 10/1000" off the lands all the way down to .120" off.
I drove out to the range right after school, hoping that this gun would be a shooter, and not a dreaded POS that I would have to sell. I bore-sighted the gun and had her on target after 4 shots. 10/1000" off was not too promising with about a 3" group. 50/1000" off shrunk to about 2". Then I shot the rounds that were seated 90/1000" off and ended up with a .460" group. Mission accomplished for hunting season. I smiled and fired off the rest of my rounds at the 300 yard range. I drove home with a smile on my face, knowing that even though I had convinced myself that I would do copious load development if necessary to make the gun shoot, I had lucked out on the first attempt. To make things even sweeter, I haven't even begun to fine tune charge or seating depth, so there is still room for improvement.
As for the gun, I honestly couldn't be happier. It fits me like a glove. Shoots like a *****cat in comparison to the Sako Bavarian in the same round, and has less recoil than the heavier Cooper in 280 Rem. Why I don't know, but it does. It is light weight and has an exceptional trigger, every bit the equal of the Timney's I have been putting on rifles lately. And at least to my eye, it's a gorgeous rifle with crisp checkering, and clean, classic lines. In short, everything I was looking for is embodied in this gun.
If anyone is in the same space as me - considering a Kimber, but somewhat apprehensive - give it a whirl. I did and am tickled pink.
Here are some pics...
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