Talk me out of buying a Kimber 84 m stainless

[Country Boy]

It is soooo prettty but 1100 $ how does it compare to a Browning A- bolt or x bolt or something in a similar price range ?

[charles p]

The rifle to compare it to would be a Rem 700.  Is it better or not as good as a 700.

[Savage_99]

The Kimber 84M Montana's are landmark rifles.  They are a superior design, an improvement over the famous Winchester M70 control round feed rifles.

The Kimber is made in the USA and not in Japan or some foreign country like the x bolt may be.

The Kimbers safety is the three position type like the M70's.  Thats the best design and the Kimbers works even better than the M70's.  The Kimbers bolt handle is threaded into its bolt body and the Rem. bolt handles are just brazed on and can break off!

The Kimber is the lightest well made rifle.  I have four of them along with an old collection of M70's, Brono's, Mausers etc.

Get the Kimber.

[Bigeasy]

I own a fair selection of Kimber firearms, and generally find them to be well made and accurate.
 
In their bolt action rifles, they scale the entire rifle down to fit the caliber in question, making for a light weight and well proportioned rifle.  In the pic below, the top rifle is an early 84M in .308 Winchester.  The middle is a recent high grade 84L in 30-06.  The bottom rifle is a pre-64 Model 70 Featherweight in .308 Winchester.  Notice how the two Kimbers make the model 70 look bulky in comparison.
 
Larry

[Zachary]

It is soooo prettty but 1100 $ how does it compare to a Browning A- bolt or x bolt or something in a similar price range ?

I own both.  I own the original Browning A-Bolt in Stainless Synthetic (which I understand from gunsmith is the best browning model).  These are very, very accurate guns, and the quality is also excellent.
 
I also own a Kimber Montana 8400 in 300WSM.  Let me talk about the biggest negative first....the bolt on the new gun that I bought was defective.  Back then, one our members was a Kimber rep, and he told me to send it back to Kimber, which I did.  I got the bolt back in lightning speed, and it was perfect.  The only other negative that I have is the accuracy, but take this with a grain of salt.  With Federal 180 Nosler Partitions, I got 1" accuracy.  With Federal 180 Barnes X, I got 1.25".  Now, keep in mind that this is a very light gun and, generally speaking and all else equal, lighter guns are less accurate.  Then again, most people will tell you that 1" to 1.25" groups (from even heavier rifles) is very good accuracy.  Well, I may be spoiled because virutally all of my rifles shoot under 1" with preferred factory loads.
 
Now for the positives....my Kimber has to be the best rifle I own in the overall quality and fit & finish department.  The gun is put together beautifully, and the materials is excellent.  Specifically, the barrel seems match grade, the stock is probably the best I have seen (both in terms of quality and when put together with the rest of the rifle), and the trigger also seems to be of match quality.
 
Comparing a Browning (the newer ones) to a Kimber Montana is not much of a comparison because, IMO, the Kimber is a much better rifle that I believe is worth the extra money because the materials and labor justifies it.
 
Zachary

[pastorp]

Zack,
Your choice of print colors are really hard to read. But then I don't believe you care since I mentioned this before. The blue on blue is the hardest to read print I have seen. 

[Lloyd Smale]

To be honest the only kimber rifle ive ever owned was a high grade 22lr. It was a beauty and shot great but i just couldnt see having 2k tied up in a 22 so i traded it off. Ive allways been a bit skeptical in buying a centerfire kimber. Ive heard to many horor storys about the way they shoot. Only one ive personaly even shot is one my buddy had. It was a 20 inch lightweight stainless 308 and the best it would do is 2 inch at a 100 and that took alot of handloading to even get to that level. He dumped it promply. they sure make a pretty gun though but for that kind of money they ought to at least come with an accuracy guarantee.

[Swampman]

The rifle to compare it to would be a Rem 700.  Is it better or not as good as a 700.

More attractive but not nearly as accurate.

I spent months researching the Kimbers before I decided not to buy one.

[Savage_99]

To be honest the only kimber rifle ive ever owned was a high grade 22lr. It was a beauty and shot great but i just couldnt see having 2k tied up in a 22 so i traded it off. Ive allways been a bit skeptical in buying a centerfire kimber. Ive heard to many horor storys about the way they shoot. Only one ive personaly even shot is one my buddy had. It was a 20 inch lightweight stainless 308 and the best it would do is 2 inch at a 100 and that took alot of handloading to even get to that level. He dumped it promply. they sure make a pretty gun though but for that kind of money they ought to at least come with an accuracy guarantee.

Lloyd,

I think we met at the range and you saw me shoot at least one of my Kimbers.  I like their rifles along with others.