Winchester 70 Extreme Weather SS or Kimber 8400 Montana

[ACLakey]

I am looking for a solid, all weather 30-06 and have narrowed my search to the Winchester 70 Extreme Weather SS or Kimber Montana 8400. I have handled the Winchester a little and it feels a little thick in the stock but not horrible. I have yet to get my hands on the Kimber and may have to make a trip out of town to a dealer. I would like to get opinions and thoughts from those who have owned one or both of these rifles. So what would you choose and why. Thanks in advance.

 

[winmag]

Ive owned a pile of Winchesters, and shot a couple Kimber rifles, and owned a Kimber 1911.
They are both very simmilar, almost Identicle in feel as far as the action is concerned. The new Winnie all weather does appear to have an ugly thick stock, and still sells for around $1029.00 in 300wsm, while the Kimber is still super sexy and sells for just a bit more.
Untill I joined this site, Id never hered 1 bad thing about Kimber. Needless to say theres a few folks here who dont like them, but I havent had a bad experience with one yet.
Im a Winchester nutt. So Win gets my vote, tho if I were in your shoes Id have a real hard time making up my mind. The main thing holding me back from the Win is the Stainless. I hate the stainless and shiny look. Just a personal opinion. I like blued and wood. I guess Im a bit on the traditional side of thinking. Good luck with your choice!

 

[cfvickers]

Winmag, Have you ever tried to work up a load for a kimber? The sporter weight rifles I have dealt with are just not accurate. everything else about them is great, if you just want to look at it and work the bolt.

 

[Fitch]

Winmag, Have you ever tried to work up a load for a kimber? The sporter weight rifles I have dealt with are just not accurate. everything else about them is great, if you just want to look at it and work the bolt.

+1

IMO .30-06 is a really useful, extremely practical, cartridge.

Winchester, Remington, Savage, CZ, and Ruger, to name a few, are all better than Kimber IMO. I don't own, but I've shot, one of the new Winchester Super Grades. Thing was under an inch out of the box.

All weather usually means stainless, though it can be finished or painted.

Fitch

 

[winmag]

Winmag, Have you ever tried to work up a load for a kimber? The sporter weight rifles I have dealt with are just not accurate. everything else about them is great, if you just want to look at it and work the bolt.

Ive never worked up a load for a Kimber.
Tho I have gone well beyond ''looking at them and working the bolt''. One was an 8400, 300wsm and I shot factory ammo into many sub moa 3 shot groups at 100. The other was a 325wsm with a buddy's handloads, and it was a tack driver. It actually out performs his most of his customs.
Sorry about your luck with trying to load for one. Every now and then you get a bad apple with any rifle brand. I dont know your loading techniques, nor your ability, so I guess ''looking at them and working the bolt'' is as close as you want to get to one. But I liked the ones I shot. They were accurate, AND looked nice.
The Kimber handguns Ive owned were superior to any Ive ever shot, and I would recomend them to anyone. Having also handled, and shot thier rifles, I cant imagine them just being eye candy, and no accuracy. I guess we've had differing experiences. But to the credit of this forum, and its members, Id way sooner listen to the real world experiences, and opinions of members here than anywhere else. Theres a pile of experienced, and well respected shooters here. So good or bad, the collective opinions of L/R/H members would play a major role in my decision. Like I stated in my earlier post, Untill I joined L/R/H, Id never hered a bad thing about Kimbers. But there are members here who do not like them at all. Many L/R/H members are a very demanding lott. So there's gotta be a reason for some of those opinions. Who knows, maybe Kimber took a page out of Remingtons new play book. It would be a sad day if they did. Once great, and built on a SOLID reputation, of accuracy and performance, but look at theyre new stuff now a days...........

 

[ACLakey]

Ok, what are your thoughts on the Thompson Center Icon compared to the new Winchester 70?

 

[cfvickers]

Winmag, Sorry to come off crappy. I didn't mean it as such, it was a serious question. I have talked to a lot of people on forums and in person who have said that kimber hunting rifles were not very accurate, in a general sense. With the ones I have dealt with and heard about it seems like there have been more that were bad than good, so to me, and this is just my experience, it would seem that the ones you shot were more of the fluke than the norm. I have always wanted a kimber 45 and I have heard and read nothing but praise for their tactical rifles, but I have heard a LOT of horror stories about their hunting rifles, and have a couple in my own experience. I agree that the LRH members have a lot of experience and I too would take the advice of the majority. Maybe you are in the majority, maybe I am, I don't know, we will see.

Either way, it seems to me their accuracy is inconsistent, and I would go with the manufacturer with the most consistent accuracy, because you can't look at them and tell the difference, and with most you can't shoot it till you own it. If 60 % had success and 40% had failure with accuracy, how would you see the odds of getting a good gun, would it be worth dropping 1200.00 to gamble 60/40 odds? I would be looking for a sure bet if I were the buyer. A kimber I can assure you, is not a sure bet, and they don't always make it right with the customer either, that is experience as well. Not dishing on the company as a whole, but their standard and my standard are not equal, both rifles met their standards, neither met mine.

 

[highdrum]

I have a Kimber Montana in 300 win mag topped with a Burris Signature Select 4-16 scope, beautiful gun, handles nicely. Handloading is the key here. I havn't been able to get great groups with factory ammo. Currently best load is with 180 accubonds. Check the twist. Most people will load a 30-06 with 140-160 gr bullets for general purpose hunting. A 1:12 twist is ideal for these bullets. The faster 1:10 twist is better suited for the larger 180-220 grain bullets for large game, hence this being a moutain rifle. I have no experience with the winchester extreme weather, all though I have been eyeballing one in 338 win.

 

[brentc]

I just paid $750 for a new Win EW 300 WSM and I really don't think the Win EW stock is blocky. It truly is not that bad, I've felt better, but I actually quite like the feel of the B&C stock and to have the action factory skim bedded into an aluminum bedding block is a bonus. I topped it with a Zeiss Conquest 4.5-14 with a Warne base and QD rings.

I took some time today to install a lighter trigger spring to bring the pull down to 2 lbs. I cleaned it and lubed the bolt and the action for a break in session on Monday. I actually like the B&C stock much better than the HS Rem stocks.

The Kimbers feel great and look good, but I've yet to see a factory Kimber shoot as consistently as a factory Win, Rem, Browning, or Savage.