Any of you guys have experience with the new Kimber Hunter rifles?

[Greenbug]

I have owned 4 Kimber rifles. Here is the breakdown.
223 Montana, wouldn't group less than 3" @ 100 yards. Sent it in to Kimber they said it was within spec.
243 84M, wouldn't group less than 4" @ 100 yards. Sent it in to Kimber they said it was within spec.
338 Federal Montana, grouped ok about 1.5" @ 100 yards but kicked the snot out of me.
6.5 Creedmoor Montana, averaged about a 5" group @ 100 yards. Sent it to Kimber, they said it was within specs.

So in my experience 75% of the time you will get a rifle that shoots horribly.
100% of the time when you send it to Kimber for repair you get treated like a second class citizen who does not know what they are doing and the rifle is within spec according to them.

Buy a Tikka, use the money you saved on better optics....

Conclusion: a Kimber rifle is about as useful as a poopy flavored lollipop.

 

[osprey]

No Regerts, I am not quite sure what you are saying as Rem M700 is similar to Tikka. Meaning safety has to be off to fully cam bolt open. Where it differs is with action cocked and safety on, you can move bolt handle up until it stops but this position no way impedes disengagement of safety like it does with the Tikka. In this way the Rem M700 is superior to the Tikka T3 and I have never had a problem with a Rem 700 in this regard. It is the rifle I hunted with before I bought a Tikka and it is my basis of calling this idiosyncrasy of the Tikka a design flaw.

 

[elkhunt58]

I have two Montana's, a .308 and a 300wsm, both have great triggers, shoot fine for me and have fed fine as well. I will say they are spoilers, my .308 carries a Leupold 3x9 Ultralight, in Talley one piece rings, and weighs in at 5.8lbs. It's like carrying a Ruger 10/22 all day. My Winchesters now feel way too heavy.

 

[elkhunt58]

Just in case no one believed my claimed weight I guess I felt I needed to post it twice!

 

[ezra45]

I have played Kimber roulette ...and lost consistently, lured by their great looks...
I have had 84's and 89's, 3 of the 1st and 4 of the 2nd over the years. None shot well and I kept thinking, " this one will be the one!"
After the last 89 in 7-08 that I could easily outshoot with a Remington 700 that cost $600 less, I said never again...until 2018.
I saw a Kimber Hunter in .223 and loved the weight, SS action and barrel, and the trigger.
Bought it, put an older Swarovski on it in lightweight Talleys, and took it to the range. It would put 3 shots in a cloverleaf...when I could get it to load the 2nd round.
Sent it back to Kimber and got it back a month later. I forgot to tell them that ejection was at best, anemic, that the empty would just barely roll over the rail even when working the bolt forcefully. I called Kimber and asked to buy a new claw extractor after explaining the problem. The guy on the line said I would have to send it back but said to just remove the extractor and bend it into a little more of a V shape...
After some thought, I did exactly that. Went to the range and fired a mag full. Bingo! It sent the spent brass about 6' away! I had my Kimber finally!
Shot two more mags and the last three empty cases barely made it over the rail again.
I sent it to Kimber and had the extractor replaced then took it to Cabela's and traded it for a CZ 527 in 7.62x39 and a tuna can of ammo.
Now this is a rifle! Set trigger, crfeed, accurate, good extraction, not as pretty.
I told my shooting buddy to hit me on the head if I EVER mutter the word Kimber again.

Regards,

ezra