Talk me out of a Kimber Montana 84

cody c said:
I just posted some pictures in the Haenel jaeger thread for the fella that bought one, have a look at the pictures I posted in that thread, at $1275 for a .270 through wolverine I think it makes the 84L look quite boring.
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It's a nice rifle but there are are no similarities between it and the Montana, so I fail to see how you'd arrive at your conclusion? :confused:
 
bearkilr said:
It's a nice rifle but there are are no similarities between it and the Montana, so I fail to see how you'd arrive at your conclusion? :confused:
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I find the 84L boring for an expensive rifle, especially in the stainless synthetic variety, so yes, not similar.

As for the fancier grades of furniture or the select grades of kimbers, if that is what someone is looking for then perhaps it is worth a comparison, price point is in the same ball park, but a bit less for the HJ.

You are right for the accent, it is apples to oranges, for a select grade maybe not.
 
Dogleg now has the 8400 in 270WSM and as far as I know he is very happy with it.
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Yep, still got it. It responded well to handloads, Barnes factory loads and a bit of forend pressure. Popped a bunch of coyotes and one deer with it. Good weatherproof snowmobile gun too. My girls call it the "Helium gun", and it isn't even one of the lightest versions.

Three out of four of my Kimbers ended up with a pressure pad. The fourth, which was the first one I bought is a heavy barrel.


I'm not overly concerned with the blind magazine for unloading, but I do like being able open it up for clearing a piled up magazine box. Everyone has done that, especially when crowding mag length limits.
 
Seen a few of them out shooting or in friends of a friends possession. Never owned one for the simple fact 75% of the guys complained about the accuracy. I remember one summer there was a guy down at the range pulling his hair out for a few months with one. Saw him the next year with a different Kimber and the same frustration. I offered to help him with it but at that point he was totally done with Kimber as a company. Last time I saw him he had a Sako, sub MOA groups and a smile.

For the price these things should have a basic accuracy standard.
 
crazy_davey said:
...Please keep in mind that most of the bad Kimber experiences you will read about are the older 8400's(feeding and accuracy). Since the 84L has come out I am not sure I have read about a bad experience on those yet, but I am sure there are a few just like with every rifle company. Do a search on the 84L on 24hour campfire and I am sure you will find that the majority of 84L Montana owners are very happy.
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Now that's interesting. Both of my bad ones were indeed 8400 models. I lost interest and never followed the news on them again. If the 84's are actually an improvement, rather than just a marketing "new-and-improved" thing, maybe they are worth a look.

For a long time, the term "Kimber" for me was practically followed by a spit to the side a la Corner Gas...."Woolerton!"...hork! :)
 
2" or better would be good I guess, at least double check the things before sending them out. I know how hard it is to shoot a light rifle, even if the rifle it's self is accurate. The one 260 I saw was a 4-5" shooter. That's not good enough. The guy put on a new bbl (similar contour) and was down to around an inch for 3 at 100 yards.

Davey might be right, the new ones could be much better, this was a few years ago.
 
Republic of Alberta said:
2" or better would be good I guess, at least double check the things before sending them out. I know how hard it is to shoot a light rifle, even if the rifle it's self is accurate. The one 260 I saw was a 4-5" shooter. That's not good enough. The guy put on a new bbl (similar contour) and was down to around an inch for 3 at 100 yards.

Davey might be right, the new ones could be much better, this was a few years ago.
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4-5" would suck. It would be like the new Sako 85 I got that wouldn't shoot the cold shot closer than 3" away from the group, and the new Winchester Supergrade that did some 2" groups, hidden in and amongst the 3s. Bad barrels happen.
 
I wanted one really really badly a while ago. I researched things 8 ways from Sunday, then I handled one and spoke to a guy that had one. I got more and more of understanding of these rifles and their pros/cons.

For the money I think that better options exist. If you get a good one they are fantastically finished, others not so much.

I ended up staying with my 99E in 308. Opinions on the Montanta are sometimes confused with opinions on a lightweight rifle. Compare apples to apples
 
OldSavage said:
For the money I think that better options exist.
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I don't believe they do, at least I haven't come across one. Stainless full length barrel, SS action, high quality synthetic (not IM plastic) stock, CRF and all that coming in at under 6 lbs in a long action caliber. The only other production gun out there similar is the Forbes, and it's more expensive.
 
Ok, I see your point. When comparing apples to apples you're right.

The blind mag, lack of accuracy and a $1,400 price tag are what pushed me away from them. Especially considering some of the QC issues they've had over the past couple years. In my mind an inaccurate rifle isn't worth its weight in kindling (even if it is a composite stock). I've heard of some shooting well but of more shooting poorly. This is also mostly hearsay as I don't have the balls to drop that kind of money to find out. I shoot my 14 pound 22-250 better than my 8 pound 7mm Rem Mag and my 7 pound 308. Not all of that has to do with weight but some of it does so the Kimber at times gets a bad rap.

I think a custom lightweight yet somewhat ugly version of the Montana could be built on a Savage short action (once again it would be ugly). You could probably get down to a similar weight with the appropriate components. I guess it all depends on what a pound or two is worth to you. Its too bad those Model 70 Featherweights aren't a bit lighter or they didn't make Model 7's anymore.

bearkilr said:
I don't believe they do, at least I haven't come across one. Stainless full length barrel, SS action, high quality synthetic (not IM plastic) stock, CRF and all that coming in at under 6 lbs in a long action caliber. The only other production gun out there similar is the Forbes, and it's more expensive.
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I bought a new winchester m70 EW chambered in 7-08 thinking it would be a shooter. 2-3" groups with premium bullets. I haven't given up on it yet but so far not close in the accuracy department as my kimber montana. I hear all this talk about poor accuracy with kimber but in my experience its been opposite. I would like to see a light weight factory rifle that is more accurate than a montana for the same price.
 
I'm trying to convince myself to purchase another Kimber, however I'm still waiting for them to manufacture a special run of accurate shooters.:rolleyes:
 
Well, the house seems pretty well divided on this topic.
As I said I've never owned one but handled a few.......I was under the impression that the Montana was a $2K rifle, really never even looked at price tags because of all the negative chatter a few years back. So what is the new Montana 84L going for these days?
 
Dogleg said:
4-5" would suck. It would be like the new Sako 85 I got that wouldn't shoot the cold shot closer than 3" away from the group, and the new Winchester Supergrade that did some 2" groups, hidden in and amongst the 3s. Bad barrels happen.
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So do crooked actions and bolts. Just trued up a Remington yesterday, man was that thing out of wack.
 
track said:
I'm trying to convince myself to purchase another Kimber, however I'm still waiting for them to manufacture a special run of accurate shooters.:rolleyes:
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