Kimber's Hunter model Pros/Cons

I've been offered a nice deal on a new Kimber Hunter model in 243 . . and its tempting the hell out of me - I haven't purchased a new in the box right out of the shop rifle for a long time!!

Anyhoo I've read up on them and there are plenty of Pro's to be noted (so don't really need any more of those) but how about the "cons" with these?? You know failure to feed/eject, breakages, POI walking, lack of options, wholesaler ambivalence etc etc - what issues have people struck with them??

Any other thoughts (especially from folks like @nor-west and others who try and keep me on the straight and narrow).

Thanks

Grab while you can it will be a couple of years before can again . From the horses mouth .

Only con I can think of, is that mine (84m in 7mm08) hates hornady superformance - like 5" groups at 100m. Everything else I've tried is sub MOA, and my hand loads shoot brilliantly.

Go for it.

Buy it, lovely rifles, sell off some of your others that do similar if you need to. Talk to Headcase he has one, lovely little mauser action almost like a modern Kurz.

Probably no cons except they are a bit heavier than the montana etc. However you can lighten by taking the gel out of the stock

The only con I had with mine in .308 was that it was too light....used to boot me to the degree that shooting it wasn't fun and its weight made it difficult for the longer-range shots. However, as the one you are looking at is in 243, the ultra-lightweight will not be a factor. Everything else was great although the action is not what I would call smooth....and the first round feed took a while to 'break in'.
If you buy it you'll just need to find a nice and light scope so as to not diminish the svelte, trim look Kimber rifles have.

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Originally Posted by Gkp

Probably no cons except they are a bit heavier than the montana etc. However you can lighten by taking the gel out of the stock

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Hah.....and I found it too light.

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Originally Posted by Hermitage

Hah.....and I found it too light.

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Lol, yeap you definitely need to hold on to the kimbers

@Tentman Pays to be careful inserting the mag as it easily damages the mag inlet of the stock. Round of the mag release mech edges. It has a crescent shape to it and the pointed ends can catch on things and drop the mag.

Love my 243 Kimber's
Great lightweight accurate little guns
Suppressed 243s kick very little and are easy enough to shoot accurately
Kimber's have awesome triggers and the mini controlled round feed actions are a work of art
Mine stacks 80gr Winchester soft point factory

Hmmm - I see the 243 is a 1:10 twist and another branch has a 6.5 Crudmoor for the same money with a decent 1:8 twist (and I have brass etc for both) so what to do?? @Bill999 I see you run a 243 one of these, what projectile do you use?? Thanks

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Originally Posted by Bill999

Love my 243 Kimber's
Great lightweight accurate little guns
Suppressed 243s kick very little and are easy enough to shoot accurately
Kimber's have awesome triggers and the mini controlled round feed actions are a work of art
Mine stacks 80gr Winchester soft point factory

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oops - messages crossed

I read elsewhere (don't know whether it's true) that the odds of getting an accurate Kimber have gone up sharply since 2014 when Kimber stopped fitting their own barrels and starting using ones from Bergara. Apparently they're either Bergara or Criterion barrels now, so marked by a small 'B' or 'C' in the extractor cut.

Yep beware of how you insert the mag. Get a spare one if you can. That is really the only cons about it. Mine (308)does not like hornady ammo. But stack the sierras on top of another. Rec

The only complains I've seen are what yall have stated above: a couple of mags that had issues and were replaced, picky with certain ammo in certain calibres, and the odd person who is not used the the controlled round feed and thinks they're shit because the bolt isn't smooth like a Tikka and they can't drop a round in and close the bolt behind it.
Overall pretty positive though

I had one. I found it to be perfectly accurate for a hunting rifle. In saying that, I found it quite difficult to shoot well. The stock had a very short LOP for me, and odd dimensions IMO. Felt like it was made for a wee kid tbh. I was going through a "I've gotta have the lightest gun" vibe. But it's not the be all end all.

My two load with a single round not in the mag and a push on the bolt. I have read this is not ideal for controlled round bolts. The claw holds the round when ejecting...I almost wondering if I should mag load rounds for bench testing if that creates more consistency?

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Originally Posted by tommygun

The only complains I've seen are what yall have stated above: a couple of mags that had issues and were replaced, picky with certain ammo in certain calibres, and the odd person who is not used the the controlled round feed and thinks they're shit because the bolt isn't smooth like a Tikka and they can't drop a round in and close the bolt behind it.
Overall pretty positive though

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the extractor will click past if you drop a round in just fine on the montanas the three I have all do this without complaint
I dont know the story with the mag fed ones

Plenty of info on kimbers above but on the hunter vs the Montana etc.
Cons
- not factory threaded
-detachable mag (con for me although it's a decent design to be fair
-heavier (until you remove the gel then it's lighter)
Harder to single feed that the montana

Pros
-Stocks take a beating
-a lot of leftover money
-better resale

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Originally Posted by Beavis

I had one. I found it to be perfectly accurate for a hunting rifle. In saying that, I found it quite difficult to shoot well. The stock had a very short LOP for me, and odd dimensions IMO. Felt like it was made for a wee kid tbh. I was going through a "I've gotta have the lightest gun" vibe. But it's not the be all end all.

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Might surprise you but length of pull is longer than most factory rifles iirk when I measured. But I understand the feeling as I felt the same.

Well thanks for all the helpful responses fellas - but the deal fell through so there won't be a Kimber in my cabinet afterall. Bother!

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Originally Posted by Stocky

Might surprise you but length of pull is longer than most factory rifles iirk when I measured. But I understand the feeling as I felt the same.

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Is that the extremely swept back pistol grip effectively moving your wrist closer to your shoulder?

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Originally Posted by Fisherman

Is that the extremely swept back pistol grip effectively moving your wrist closer to your shoulder?

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That might be it I never did figure it out. I just got used to it now.

the stocks do feel a bit little if the scope is mounted too far too the rear
Im happy with them as they fit me but if they dont in the montana range its a Pain in the ass to change as they glue them to the stock at the factory

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Originally Posted by Stocky

That might be it I never did figure it out. I just got used to it now.

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Montana. This feature facilitates having a high comb which lines up perfectly with a low mounted scope (for my particular ergonomics). The long wrist allows the bolt to be removed without any gimmicks. Of many many stocks owned and used this is closest to ideal (I do cheat somewhat by using a slip on recoil pad to extend LOP for summer clothing).

I was looking at the Kimber website earlier after reading this thread, i noted that the Kimber hunter in 6.5CM has a 1:10 barrel twist, which surprised me, seems slow, most other do the 6.5CM in 1:8 eh.

Does anyone have a Hunter in 6.5CM? How have you found it shooting the heavier 140/143gr bullets?

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Originally Posted by GWH

I was looking at the Kimber website earlier after reading this thread, i noted that the Kimber hunter in 6.5CM has a 1:10 barrel twist, which surprised me, seems slow, most other do the 6.5CM in 1:8 eh.

Does anyone have a Hunter in 6.5CM? How have you found it shooting the heavier 140/143gr bullets?

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It shows 1:8 twist for me and my 6.5 Creed Ascent is 1 in 8. The 7mm barrels are a 1 in 9 and stabilize 180s quite well. My 308 is 1 in 10.

Digit's website shows 1:10 for the 6.5 but thats wrong . . . the Kimber website definelty shows 1:8 in at least one place cause I checked too . . .

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Originally Posted by Stocky

It shows 1:8 twist for me and my 6.5 Creed Ascent is 1 in 8. The 7mm barrels are a 1 in 9 and stabilize 180s quite well. My 308 is 1 in 10.

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Thats weird as, i double checked on a retailers site too and it also said 1:10 for the 6.5CM. (They must have just copy/paste the spec sheet on the kimber site that i saw.

Obviously a mistake, 1:10 would have been a total cockup.

Edit: ive just worked out what i did, the drop down box that selects cartridge was defaulted to 243 win. My mistake, as you were.

Our spec is most likely wrong. I’d rely on kimber website.

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Originally Posted by GWH

Thats weird as, i double checked on a retailers site too and it also said 1:10 for the 6.5CM. (They must have just copy/paste the spec sheet on the kimber site that i saw.

Obviously a mistake, 1:10 would have been a total cockup.

Edit: ive just worked out what i did, the drop down box that selects cartridge was defaulted to 243 win. My mistake, as you were.

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Mines an 8 twist

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Originally Posted by GWH

Thats weird as, i double checked on a retailers site too and it also said 1:10 for the 6.5CM. (They must have just copy/paste the spec sheet on the kimber site that i saw.

Obviously a mistake, 1:10 would have been a total cockup.

Edit: ive just worked out what i did, the drop down box that selects cartridge was defaulted to 243 win. My mistake, as you were.

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In fairness for some reason I checked a bunch and they show the boot camp version of the 308 as having a 9 twist which would be nice to be honest