lightweight gun - kimber montana vs custom build

Oh I agree completely about the 20" barrel vs. 22" barrel. It is just an option for a lightweight set-up, that's all.

Oh yes, suprisingly nobody has mentioned the new Savage Lightweight Hunter at 5 1/2 lbs. I would have thought Chuck Nelson would have been all over it like stink on a monkey.

Looks interesting I guess. The Savage website claims 5.5lbs throughout the range of offered calibers which makes me awful skeptical of the claimed weight. :rolleyes: Time will tell I guess.

"stink on a monkey!" :p :D
 
I have a Kimber Montana in .338 Federal and absolutely love the rifle. It points and carries nicely. I have had no feeding issues or missfires. It does however have a very rough cut chamber that after almost a year, I am still waiting to have fixed. My advice would be to carefully inspect the Kimber if you intend to buy, to avoid a problem like this. I don't know how common this is, but I have heard enough stories to think that it happens more than it should.
 
The compact 3-9X33 is a piece of absolute crap

x 2

I ended up putting it on my 10/22, then sold it cuz it even sucked on there. It's like Tasco designed the eye relief on that UL 3-9x33

3-9x40 VXII w/ CDS resides on my 260 now. Still manageable to haul around @ 6.0 lbs scoped w/ Butler creek caps

I'd happily hunt a Kimber Montana but would have to get rid of the horrid grey Remington 710 color stock
 
I'm thinkin the reason it hasn't been mentioned is the fact that it's really not in competition with a quality lighweight. ;)

I don't know what experience you have with savages, but i would say i would take mine any day of the week and twice on sunday compared to a lot of so called high end rifles.;)
 
I've put together a few lightweights on 700 actions.

It'll cost you more than a Montana,although you can have a floorplate with the 700. And, a floorplate weighs no more than a blind mag by the timeyou factor in the heavy steel escutcheon for the front screw, the extra middle screw and the deeper mag box of the ADL style. I'm not guessing on this, we've proven it on a couple Ti's a friend and I BDL'd a while back. There's not enough difference in weight to register on the scales we used.
And, with the 700, while you may end up with a nice light custom, you still have a 700 action with it's cheap extractor and soldered on bolt handle.

Get the Montana, it's quicker, cheaper and easier.
 
I used an 84m in 308, the walnut blued version for several years with a Nikon Monarch 6x40 fixed scope. I started with a compact Leupold 3x9x33 and I have to agree with Chuck(which doesn't happen that often...grin) th efixed 6 or 4 is a way better scope. The gun was a bit fickle on loads and took me a bit longer than normal to find a sub moa load but I did. The gun was a dram to carry and it handled really well, kind of like a light SXS shotgun. I probably shot more deer offhand at 100+ yards than any other rifle I ever owned. The only feeding issue I ever had was the rails were very sharp and it used to mark cases on extraction and ejection.

I didn't like the Montana as I can't love a blind magazine.

Rembo also put together a BDL'd 700 Ti for me that was prettly light which I ran a FX111 6x42 in talleys on that I never really fell in love with. The gun was accurate, but never fit me quite right, not sure why anyway it resides in the NWT now and is a sheep rifle for a member of the RCMP up there.

Hard to go wrong with the Kimber as long as you recognize it's a 5 poound gun and it's not a bench rifle.
 
BTW, the 700Ti was a 7mm SAUM and recoil wasn't too bad but certainly affected followup shots.

I had a browning Abolt for a year in 300 WSM and frankly have no desire to own a lightweight magnum rifle again.

These lightweight rifles work best in the cartridges they are designed for, the 308 family of cases...just my opinion.
 
I also fondled the savage lightweight and liked it verry much, but I think you have to take it for what it is and it is a mid/ low price light weight, I have also herd some not so great accuracy results, this all from a savage guy might come as a surprise.
Also I think you can make any hunting rifle a semi light weight, my 308 weather warrior with scope,rings, and sling is under 7 and hopefully when I am done it will be 6.25 it regulary shoots 1.5 inch at 100 yards
 
Then I question your experience with so called high end rifles. :)

Shot and handled a few high end rifles, ( 2 H.S precision and a Kimber), neither would group better than my Savage 114 American Classic.

One of the H.S rifles the bolt would become sticky to work if the rifle didn't have at least 5 min to cool between shots.

The stock on the Kimber felt like it belonged on a kids toy, not a quality hunting rifle.
 
Shot and handled a few high end rifles, ( 2 H.S precision and a Kimber), neither would group better than my Savage 114 American Classic.

One of the H.S rifles the bolt would become sticky to work if the rifle didn't have at least 5 min to cool between shots.

The stock on the Kimber felt like it belonged on a kids toy, not a quality hunting rifle.
I'm personally not too interested in how small of a group I can obtain in a lightweight hunting rifle(or any hunting rifle for that matter). If I can get it to 1.5 MOA or so, that's plenty in my books.
I've never had a HS, but have owned really lighweight rifles by RMR, NULA, Bansner,Kimber and Remington's Custom Shop. All had far superior fit and finish compared to Savage, as expected. All were plenty accurate in my books and a couple of them exceeded my expectations.
Bottom line, Savage makes cheap, functional rifles. You get exactly what you pay for, IMO.
 
I'm personally not too interested in how small of a group I can obtain in a lightweight hunting rifle(or any hunting rifle for that matter). If I can get it to 1.5 MOA or so, that's plenty in my books.
I've never had a HS, but have owned really lighweight rifles by RMR, NULA, Bansner,Kimber and Remington's Custom Shop. All had far superior fit and finish compared to Savage, as expected. All were plenty accurate in my books and a couple of them exceeded my expectations.
Bottom line, Savage makes cheap, functional rifles. You get exactly what you pay for, IMO.

To each his own, that a person gets out and hunts or shoots is whats important.:cheers:

All i know is that for the money i spent on the savage i have not found a rifle out there that gives the same quality for what is spent.

If a rifle is to be a true high end rifle then it should perform and feel like one.
 
You're blowing allot of smoke. That comment is proof positive you don't have a clue about quality nor have you used anything that resembles it.

You seem to think i care about your opinion, saying a person is blowing smoke about a subject leads me to believe that you could be the type that thinks spending a lot of money to impress people is more important than actually doing something impressive.

As i have stated i have tried a few high end rifles, certainly not every type or every single rifle out there, my experience may differ from yours but to each their own.
 
You seem to think i care about your opinion, saying a person is blowing smoke about a subject leads me to believe that you could be the type that thinks spending a lot of money to impress people is more important than actually doing something impressive.

As i have stated i have tried a few high end rifles, certainly not every type or every single rifle out there, my experience may differ from yours but to each their own.

Not all opinions are equal and not all experience is either. Paying for quality to impress (Who again?) has nothing to do with it.
 
Back
Top Bottom