I was wondering if anybody here had, or used this rifle for target shooting up to the 300 yard line. Looking for a factory ammo shooter as I wont be reloading and figured the .223 would be an easy paper puncher. How would this rifle compare to the Savage Model 12 Long Range Precision Varminter in terms of moa accuracy. Want a shorter barrel so if we could just stay with this rifle. Just love the look of this Kimber rifle but dont know how well it will do on the sub-moa shooting. Any feedback would be great. Thanks....
Views on a Kimber 84m Varmint SVT in .223 Rem
- Thread starter icedragonmx
- Start date
- Location
- In the clock tower!!
Well, I just picked up an 8400 in 300 WM. Not exactly what your looking at but I'll give you my 2 cents on the rifle.
I picked up the gun on a whim after handling it. The fit and finish really caught my eye. The kevlar stock fit well, handled nice, the fit and finish of the gun overall was very impressive. The bolt operated better than expected for a controlled round feed design which tend to be somewhat rough. The machining was very nice, no tool marks, smooth edges, and the bolt fit the action very well, no slop or rattle. I dressed the Kimber with a Leupold VXIII 3.5-10x40, your standard fare scope and great bang for the buck.
Today was the first day on the range. Weather was dead calm, 15 c, and sunny.
Ammo was Barnes 165 gr TSX from Federal, (did not have time to play with handload yet).
My first few groups to obtain zero @ 100m were spread between 2-3 inches. It took a bit to get use to the rifle as due to its very light weight it suffers in the recoil department with this caliber. Last 3, 3 shot groups were 1 inch or less, but nothing over 1 inch which was pleasing.
Here is a break down of my likes and dislikes thus far.
Likes:
- Fit and finish. Overall, this rifle is very well made. For the cost I feel you get a very well made firearm. On par with Sako and other mid to higher range rifles. I bought this on the heels of a SAUER 202 and let me tell you, for almost half the price the Kimber is put together very well.
- The Kevlar stock fits me and handles nicely. It is very solid with no noticeable flex.
- The bolt operates surprizingly smooth for a controlled round feed design. It required a cleaning and lubrication but its very pleasing for that design which tends to be on the rough side.
- Accuracy is more than acceptable for a hunting rifle.
- The trigger,,,,,,,
I can't say enough about the trigger. It is smooth, no creep, and breaks just over 3 lbs. I'll go out on a limb here and say that this is THE best trigger I have ever use on a factory rifle. It is almost as nice as the trigger on my sniper rifle. All I can say is I am VERY impressed. Shot a tuned Sako 75 back to back for a comparison. There was no comparison, the trigger on the Kimber was in a whole different class.
- The gun comes pillar and glass bedded from the factory and this is apparent in the accuracy of the off the shelf gun. **(I have not yet removed the barreled action to see what kind of job Kimber did at bedding but it was done at the factory none the less)**
Dislikes, (the list is short but there is a list),
- The recoil This gun was not made for this caliber. I would suggest that 300 WSM would be more manageable and the largest caliber I would recommend for this gun. A 30-06 in this rifle would be the magic combination. You would have an undisputedly great all around cartridge and a manageable gun. This rifle is WAY to light for the magnum cartridges. The 300 WM climbs hard. For 1-2 shots on a hunting trip this rifle would be fine. Sighting it in at the range or working up a good handload is just plain abusive As a comparison, I again shot the Sako 75 side by side. The Sako is a 338. I had a collegue, also a very experience shooter, try the same test. The Kimber 300 WM was just plain abusive, even more so than the heavier Sako 338. In the magnum calibers this rifle would benifit greatly from a muzzle break.
- The magazine is my only real beef here. After 30+ rounds today, it is appearent to me that someone at Kimber sat down and spent considerable time designing this rifle,,,,,,, then promptly SH*T the bed on the magazine The 8400 Montana has no floor plate and must be loaded and unloaded from the open bolt. The mag has a good solid spring underneath the follower, however, the cheap plastic follower is not well supported front to back and thus is tippy front to back. After you load the first round into the mag you MUST ensure you seat the second and third with even force or the front of follower will drop allowing the round to get jammed hard between the first round loaded and the lips of the mag. Its a B**CH to get the jammed round out while if there was a hinged floor plate you could just pop it open and problem solved. ***** 2 thumbs down on the mag design on a rifle that was otherwise VERY well though out****
Overall I am very happy with this gun. For the cost its a very good buy. In the caliber your looking for this would be a great, fun rifle to shoot. To boot it should be more than satisfactory in the accuracy department.
Hope this helps,
I picked up the gun on a whim after handling it. The fit and finish really caught my eye. The kevlar stock fit well, handled nice, the fit and finish of the gun overall was very impressive. The bolt operated better than expected for a controlled round feed design which tend to be somewhat rough. The machining was very nice, no tool marks, smooth edges, and the bolt fit the action very well, no slop or rattle. I dressed the Kimber with a Leupold VXIII 3.5-10x40, your standard fare scope and great bang for the buck.
Today was the first day on the range. Weather was dead calm, 15 c, and sunny.
Ammo was Barnes 165 gr TSX from Federal, (did not have time to play with handload yet).
My first few groups to obtain zero @ 100m were spread between 2-3 inches. It took a bit to get use to the rifle as due to its very light weight it suffers in the recoil department with this caliber. Last 3, 3 shot groups were 1 inch or less, but nothing over 1 inch which was pleasing.
Here is a break down of my likes and dislikes thus far.
Likes:
- Fit and finish. Overall, this rifle is very well made. For the cost I feel you get a very well made firearm. On par with Sako and other mid to higher range rifles. I bought this on the heels of a SAUER 202 and let me tell you, for almost half the price the Kimber is put together very well.
- The Kevlar stock fits me and handles nicely. It is very solid with no noticeable flex.
- The bolt operates surprizingly smooth for a controlled round feed design. It required a cleaning and lubrication but its very pleasing for that design which tends to be on the rough side.
- Accuracy is more than acceptable for a hunting rifle.
- The trigger,,,,,,,
I can't say enough about the trigger. It is smooth, no creep, and breaks just over 3 lbs. I'll go out on a limb here and say that this is THE best trigger I have ever use on a factory rifle. It is almost as nice as the trigger on my sniper rifle. All I can say is I am VERY impressed. Shot a tuned Sako 75 back to back for a comparison. There was no comparison, the trigger on the Kimber was in a whole different class.- The gun comes pillar and glass bedded from the factory and this is apparent in the accuracy of the off the shelf gun. **(I have not yet removed the barreled action to see what kind of job Kimber did at bedding but it was done at the factory none the less)**
Dislikes, (the list is short but there is a list),
- The recoil
This gun was not made for this caliber. I would suggest that 300 WSM would be more manageable and the largest caliber I would recommend for this gun. A 30-06 in this rifle would be the magic combination. You would have an undisputedly great all around cartridge and a manageable gun. This rifle is WAY to light for the magnum cartridges. The 300 WM climbs hard. For 1-2 shots on a hunting trip this rifle would be fine. Sighting it in at the range or working up a good handload is just plain abusive As a comparison, I again shot the Sako 75 side by side. The Sako is a 338. I had a collegue, also a very experience shooter, try the same test. The Kimber 300 WM was just plain abusive, even more so than the heavier Sako 338. In the magnum calibers this rifle would benifit greatly from a muzzle break.- The magazine is my only real beef here. After 30+ rounds today, it is appearent to me that someone at Kimber sat down and spent considerable time designing this rifle,,,,,,, then promptly SH*T the bed on the magazine
The 8400 Montana has no floor plate and must be loaded and unloaded from the open bolt. The mag has a good solid spring underneath the follower, however, the cheap plastic follower is not well supported front to back and thus is tippy front to back. After you load the first round into the mag you MUST ensure you seat the second and third with even force or the front of follower will drop allowing the round to get jammed hard between the first round loaded and the lips of the mag. Its a B**CH to get the jammed round out while if there was a hinged floor plate you could just pop it open and problem solved. ***** 2 thumbs down on the mag design on a rifle that was otherwise VERY well though out****Overall I am very happy with this gun. For the cost its a very good buy. In the caliber your looking for this would be a great, fun rifle to shoot. To boot it should be more than satisfactory in the accuracy department.
Hope this helps,
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Thanks for that well thought out report Blackcloud. You addressed one concern I had in regards to the trigger on the Kimber models. Since your platform differs from the one I am looking at I will ask for more input from anyone with some wisdom on the SVT model. Glad to hear that the quality is as expected and I hope that the mag issue is not a deal breaker. Thanks for that great report!
