Tikka vs Kimber, what would you do?

[RedStag]

I have a few friends who shoot tikka t3, all of them in 7mags. I think four the price they are a fantastic rifle, throw a manners or.b&c stock on and away you go. That being said street having owned 2 Montanas in 300wsm and now 280ai, I couldn't bring myself to carry a tikka.
My 300 shot better than I could, a lil whippy. The new one in 280ai is.grouping 1.25" with factory nosler right out the gate.
My 300 didn't feed great but I never had ejection issues, just wasn't smooth like Tikka.
I think there is an element of a gamble if a Kimber will shoot well or not, I've been lucky.

 

[Dromsky]

I have a few friends who shoot tikka t3, all of them in 7mags. I think four the price they are a fantastic rifle, throw a manners or.b&c stock on and away you go. That being said street having owned 2 Montanas in 300wsm and now 280ai, I couldn't bring myself to carry a tikka.
My 300 shot better than I could, a lil whippy. The new one in 280ai is.grouping 1.25" with factory nosler right out the gate.
My 300 didn't feed great but I never had ejection issues, just wasn't smooth like Tikka.
I think there is an element of a gamble if a Kimber will shoot well or not, I've been lucky.

I think your last comment captures where I'm at in this evaluation. With a Kimber you might love it, or not. No too many negative Tikka posts yet. On paper the Kimber looks to be better but in the real world, the Tikka seems to hold an edge.
I'm only looking for a lightweight rifle I can reliably shoot as straight my ability will allow.
I'm looking to replace the rifle I bought last year impulsively for all the wrong reasons. Savage 111LRH .300 WM. too heavy for mountain carries and I don't get to shoot enough that the recoil doesnt affect me, been thru 5 brands of good to premium ammo without a group I'm proud of yet.
Is is the the guns fault? Maybe. My fault? Likely. Doesn't change the fact that I'm lacking confidence with it and would like to improve my shooting as well as lighten the load on my back.
Won't be purchasing another .300wm, likely a .270wsm or .308 this time around.
So thanks again for all your feedback, its all been very helpful.

 

[RedStag]

If.the 270wsm I.would go the tikka route, if you go with 308 I wouldn't hesitate to pick up a Montana.

 

[Dromsky]

If.the 270wsm I.would go the tikka route, if you go with 308 I wouldn't hesitate to pick up a Montana.

Ok, Can you elaborate, shed some details?

 

[RedStag]

Every Montana I have seen or.heard through friendsin a 308 parent case had been a shooter. I think its because of lower velocity with the light whippy barrel?
Also all.wsm rifles I've owned don't feed as smooth. Tikka only makes one length of action so if you are going to have the weight and length of a long action take advantage of it with a 270/7mag etc. As with the.wsm you would have the same weight rifle in a 308!, where is the benefit.
My next rifle will be a 308/260/7mm08 in a montana.
You also end up with a shorter barrel for the 308 on the kimber

 

[16Bore]

If you're wanting a 270WSM Montana, shoot me a PM. I've been going back and forth between my XCRII 7Mag and this one. Planning to keep the 7Mag. I've got 100 pieces of new brass, about 30 once fired, 110 TTSX, 129 LRX, 135 SMK's, and a Redding 3 die set, Talley LW's. Probably going to hang on to the 3.5x10 CDS, but might be talked out of it.

 

[mtluckydan]

All three of the Kimbers I no longer have were of the 308 case - 2 in 308 & a 7-08. Of all the people I know that had problems with the kimber Montanas, there was a mix of short action and magnum actions. I don't know anyone personally that shot the long action standard calibers like the 3006. The weight advantage is lost with the long action models. The short actions ie 308 base cases were 5lbs 2 oz give or take depending on caliber. Most of them shot initially, but possibly deteriorated sometime down the road. Many of the short mags never shot good, however I never owned one of them to have any personal opinion about accuracy. One of the local gunsmiths who used to sell Kimbers rebarreled his 308 because of accuracy issues. It still isn't awesome, but shoots better than with the original factory barrel. One of the 308's I owned started out with the 2-position safety. I had the local Kimber gunsmith change it to the 3 position safety that I prefer and he also said the firing pin spring was bad and changed it as well. One of my best friends had a 308 that did the same thing as my 7-08. It went from shooting good one day to POS the next. He had a blued model with a wood stock that shot fine. We speculated it might have something to do with the stainless they were using, but obviously never proved anything. I don't know of any other single make/model that has had so many problems in my experience.

 

[16Bore]

The whole works for $1,400 shipped....

 

[BigTimber]

I have 3 Tikkas (T3's) and 3 Kimbers, 2 Montanas and one Mtn Ascent, Montanas manufactured in 2012, 2013 and Mtn Ascent in 2014, the Kimbers are tac drivers, I am a big fan of the mauser style action and all metal. Kimber all the way for me.

 

[MattB]

I ended up buying a Tikka T3 in 7mm-08 and will see how it shoots. While there are number of things I preferred about the Kimber, the 2-4 month wait was the deciding factor.

 

[AXEL]

Dang!!! Everytime I turn around, I find some other Canuck, who is chuffed with the latest Kimber Montanas and Mtn. Ascents; this makes me want to buy another rifle, which I DO NOT need!!!!

BT, what chamberings are your Kimbers in?

 

[BigTimber]

AXEL, the the Montanas are chambered in 30-06 and 308 and the MTN Ascent is 280 AI, Tikkas are 7-08, 338 winny and 6.5x55, can never have enough.

 

[Jimss]

I didn't wade through the posts but do yourself a favor and take a look at a Sako Finnlight. Mine's in 300 WSM and I love it for everything from antelope to moose sized game!

 

[GKPrice]

Gunbroker.com is a good site that doesn't charge an excessive seller commission (like "some other" sites) nor are they "anti" anything - So far I've had good luck with the other buyers and sellers there and one can usually find what they're after for at least the "going price" if not a good to great deal - There is a shop in Lewiston (Lolo Sports I think) that normally has a good selection of Kimbers in stock for the "going rate" - Kimber can cause a lengthy wait if ordered directly but my advice is to buy NIB current stock and AT LEAST be cautious of the used or "old stock"

 

[Weston]

16Bore....I'm interested in your kimber, your inbox is full. shoot me a PM please.

 

[AK Troutbum]

I know that I'm probably resurrecting a horse that's been beat to death but, I think this is a good testament as to how accurate a Kimber Montana can shoot. This was yesterday my 12-year-old son shooting an early model .300 WSM Montana, using factory ammo, off the bench, at just under 300 yards.

 

[luke moffat]

Wow troutbum that'll do just fine. Good shooting by your son!!

 

[Mjm316]

Impressive!!!

 

[dotman]

My kimber, weighs in at just over 8lbs.






It is a Kimber Classic 300wsm, I'm happy with my first attempt at a paint job. She was a shooter before I added the A5.

 

[charvey9]

I haven't owned a Kimber, but have been extremely pleased with Tikka T3 7mm I bought last year. I've used a .270 Weatherby Mark 5 as my hunting rifle for going on 20 years, but it comes in at about 12.5lbs and I wanted one other lighter option for any mountain hunts I might go on in the future. I primarily bowhunt these days, and after looking at everything available I just did not want to drop a ton on a rifle I would not be using a lot.

My cost on a new T3 stainless was under $600, so I went for it. I passed it off to my old man and after some time at the reloading bench we were able to get 4 shot groups in a nickel with 150gr Speers. 168 Berger VLD's also shot well, but couldn't get them close enough to the rifling and still fit in the magazine. I topped it off with a Leupold 6.5-20x56mm VX3-L and it weighs in at just under 8.5lbs. Can't ask for much more from a $600 production gun off the rack. It will come along as an insurance policy on my Mountain Goat hunt this fall in case I can't get one in bow range.