Why did I wait so long to get a Kimber.

cdn shooter said:
I'll probably be looking for a matching one in .223 pretty soon.
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Get one, you won't be disappointed.

I've only had my 223 Montana a very short time. Eight coyotes down with it so far and I can only imagine how many more to come.

It will be on the back burner for a bit now as big game rifle season is in full swing here. After November it will be with me daily once again.
 
crazy_davey said:
Get one, you won't be disappointed.

I've only had my 223 Montana a very short time. Eight coyotes down with it so far and I can only imagine how many more to come.

It will be on the back burner for a bit now as big game rifle season is in full swing here. After November it will be with me daily once again.
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Nice work on the yotes. That's why I want one.
 
At what ranges are you shooting yotes Davey? If I didn't already have a BRNO 222 I would be looking at a 6mm or 220 swift myself. I am having a hard time getting ANY wolves or coyotes within 200 yards here. They seem rather skittish.
 
cdn shooter said:
So about three years ago I had my first encounter with a Kimber Montana at the local shop. I fell in love with the feel of the rifle and decided to do a little homework before buying. Went on the computer and read horror story after horror story about low quality, awful accuracy and terrible customer service, I decided not to buy it. I then continued the hunt for the perfect rifle and went through several. Then this summer after recieving the wrong barrel for a custom lightweight build I finally decided I was going to try the kimber, even if I had to gunsmith some stuff, put an aftermarket barrel on it, whatever had to be done I wanted that rifle.

I put an add up on the EE and found an 84M in .308 win which I quickly pounced on and boy am I glad I did. I ended up putting a Leupold CDS scope on it with talley lightweights. All the claims of bad this, and poor that do not apply to the rifle I ended up with! She'll hold sub moa with almost no load development and it points like a shotgun. This fall it's been my grouse gun, (head shots) deer gun, (4-point @300y DRT) and it's been a lot of fun at the range just seeing what I can do off-hand out as far as 500y.

Never been much of a one gun type of guy but short of competitive score shooting...not sure what this Kimber wont do.
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Man, im still waiting to finalize my first Kimber, but its great too hear these storys!!!!!!

photooos!!

WL
 
I've read so many of these threads that I've broken down several times and bought a Kimber each time (a couple of centerfires, 1 rimfire). Each one was a total dog. Each time I said "never again".

If I do it again...and get another dog...I'm holding all you guys personally responsible.:)
 
Not every rifle owner is a operator. That's where a lot of Rifle woes get their start. A too long action bolt or base screw and a pinched mag box or less than perfect bedding or a crown that's not all it could be baffles most, but all things that a savvy rifleman looks at before the first shot is fired, These checks would go a long way in keeping average joes from looking and sounding like an incompetent boobs on the interweb.
 
"Operators"? Good Lord, not in this forum as well. :rolleyes:

There are some of us who can usually blindly stumble upon a home-brewed trick or tweak that will make a substandard factory rifle shoot and function well. When such attention is required by a bargain-basement product like a basic Savage or an H&R, it is disappointing but doesn't really raise many eyebrows. When it is necessary to apply it to rifles that wear Weatherby-sized price tags, it gets your attention, and not in a good way...especially when it happens more than once.

I'll be the first to admit some or even most of the accuracy-related problems reported by new Kimber owners are probably the result of the increased difficulty of obtaining good accuracy with an extremely lightweight rifle, especially from field shooting positions. I'll also agree that a small sampling like that with which I have experience is probably statistically irrelevant. However, only one of those guns had accuracy problems...the other one of the centerfires had multiple issues with extraction and ejection. The HB .22 was hopeless. Human nature being what it is, these experiences have put a very bad taste in my mouth. I still hope to get a good one, but when/if I do, it'll be because statistically I'm due to find one of the many that are very good. It certainly won't be a foregone conclusion or a sure thing.

The reaction here from the Kimber fan-base is predictable. Sorry to interrupt...continue swooning...
 
Could you elaborate a little more Dogleg? Following that logic would suggest that shooting very large game with a 375 WBY within 100 yards would only require a 1 lb rifle.
 
It's always funny to watch the the masses blindly stumble, after all it's the only trick in their bag. Continue tripping over the easy things.....
 
Cleftwynd said:
Could you elaborate a little more Dogleg? Following that logic would suggest that shooting very large game with a 375 WBY within 100 yards would only require a 1 lb rifle.
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Comparisons work best when comparing like to like. Anything taken to extremes gets silly.

A handgun at not over a pound is lots of shooting 100 yards. A 5 or 6 pound rifle will serve at 5-600 yards. 10 pound rifles are looking good at 1000.
 
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I am in the same boat.
I bought my fist kimber last year. Classic select in 25-06. Called the korth group asked the guy on the phone was great. Explained they had two in stock. While on the phone he took pics of both and sent to me. I picked the one I wanted. He asked what dealer I was going to get it through. I told him he put it aside for them. Called my local shop they ordered and two days latter it was in my hands.
This is now my go to rifle. Light accurate great trigger.
Why oh why did it take so long. Better fit and finish than some of my customs.
I don't think I will go the custom route again.
Mounted A leupold fx3 6x42 with German #1 retiTical
 
Geezus this has got me hard....

oops well....

Cant wait dudes! the little 7 will be sent to my LGS id say next week, and then a few days there to have the Scope setup on it and I will have it Forwarded to my current location.. Ready for some Factory fodder for now!

Soooo awesome to be hearing all of this stuff, along with what the seller is telling me.. he sounds genuine though!

WL
 
jjohnwm said:
"Operators"? Good Lord, not in this forum as well. :rolleyes:

There are some of us who can usually blindly stumble upon a home-brewed trick or tweak that will make a substandard factory rifle shoot and function well. When such attention is required by a bargain-basement product like a basic Savage or an H&R, it is disappointing but doesn't really raise many eyebrows. When it is necessary to apply it to rifles that wear Weatherby-sized price tags, it gets your attention, and not in a good way...especially when it happens more than once.

I'll be the first to admit some or even most of the accuracy-related problems reported by new Kimber owners are probably the result of the increased difficulty of obtaining good accuracy with an extremely lightweight rifle, especially from field shooting positions. I'll also agree that a small sampling like that with which I have experience is probably statistically irrelevant. However, only one of those guns had accuracy problems...the other one of the centerfires had multiple issues with extraction and ejection. The HB .22 was hopeless. Human nature being what it is, these experiences have put a very bad taste in my mouth. I still hope to get a good one, but when/if I do, it'll be because statistically I'm due to find one of the many that are very good. It certainly won't be a foregone conclusion or a sure thing.

The reaction here from the Kimber fan-base is predictable. Sorry to interrupt...continue swooning...
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If find your comment on "extraction and ejection" interesting. About 6yrs back I bought a 8400 Classic Select in 30-06. Paid a premium dollar for it at the time as they were hard to get. The rifle arrived in 5 months instead of the estimated 24. The French walnut stock was so so, nothing in the way of figure, straight grained and plain. The rear sling swivel is mounted off centre. The accuracy is acceptable for a hunting rifle, 1.5" groups at 100yds. off the bags. All this was disappointing but livable but when it would not pickup the rounds from the mag that were stacked to the right if memory serves, that essentially made it a single shot rifle as the first round up from the mag after the chamber round was fired came from that direction.
I called Kimber in Yonkers. They were very good in listening to what I had to say and put me through to a staff gunsmith. He sent me a whole new mag spring and follower in the mail N/C as he stated at that time they had no service reps in Canada, and the BS involved in sending it to them was not practical. He warned me that the spring would come bent in a certain shape and not to change it. It arrived, I installed it, and it solved the issue. Still for the money I paid for this rifle new you don't expect any issues what so ever, cosmetic or functional. If it was a Savage or a Mossberg okay but not a Kimber.
I have since bought 3 new Win. M-70's without any issues and even the Super grade 75th anniversary M-70 never cost me what this Kimber did. So the 8400 sits in the vault for the most part, no use trying to sell it as I would be lucky to get half of what I paid for it. From my experiences and what I have heard from others, Kimber is consistently inconsistent. For those fellas that have gotten good ones I am glad for you. But for us fellas who have not, excuse us for being once bitten and twice shy in not buying another one.
 
Uh oh, now you've gone and done it, Goat...everyone now knows that you're not an operator!

"Consistently inconsistent" is the perfect wording. It's not like some high-quality rifles that may be known for having one specific problem that crops up from time to time, like Sako with their occasional ejection woes. Rather, the problems displayed by a few Kimbers seem to run the gamut: accuracy, feeding, ejection, extraction, whatever. Finding and fixing the problem may be simple...or not...but accepting that the gun needs that work can be a #####.
 
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