Kimber provides a rifle that hits a market niche that is not filled by the other major manufacturers. Their rifles are light,appealing to the eye, and feel good in the hand. They provide a Classic style sporting rifle that is eye candy when compared to the others at that price point. In my humble opinion, I believe that most customers do accept what they get and are not critical when they consider the primary mission for the Kimber Rifle. The Model-70 style safety, controlled round feed extractor and tastefully executed classic style stock compensate for run-of-the-mill accuracy.
This is not my first Kimber. I owned a very early Kimber of Oregon Model 82 22rf. I had sold an Anschutz 54 Sporter to get. Why did I do that? For the Classic Style stock. That was a real mistake. The rifle couldn't approach 3/4" at 50 yards, whereas the Anschutz would shoot 3/8" diameter 10 shot holes. As it turned out, the Kimber had a "bulge" in the barrel about 5" back from the muzzle where you would feel the patch jump as you were pushing a rod down the barrel. I sold that 82 and bought another Anschutz that I still have.
My next Kimber was a 6PPC Ultra Varminter. It was recommended by an associate that was a benchrest shooter who also had numerous Kimbers. The rifle arrived with a sharp edge on the front face that cut the rims of the then expensive and hard to find 6PPC Sako brass. Because it was a solid bottom single shot, the extractor had to ride over the rim to chamber a round. Well, I stoned that defect off of the extractor and went on with business. The point is, a premium rifle that is sold at a higher price point should not exhibit such deficiencies. The rifle was not a stellar performer out of the box. After rebedding, it became an honest 1/2 MOA rifle. The attraction is the estethic appeal. It is a nice mid-weight walkin' around rifle that, after some work, is a fine 300 yard varmint rifle.
I have several Kimber 1911 variants that have been fine handguns, I started buying those when they first started into the market. I found that the Kimbers were better performers than Colt's of the time. Going forward, I will buy no more Kimbers. There are too many good 1911's available today, at the Kimber price point, to have to patronize an organization that projects an attitude out of their service department that is unprofessional and offensive. Any company that does not put customer satisfaction and quality first is not going to get my money.
Kimber deserves to lose their market share of not only rifles, but the 1911 customer base. For out-of-the-box factory rifles, I'm looking at companies that provide a test target and an accuracy acceptance criteria with their products. Those would be companies like Cooper and H-S Precision. After that, I'm having some qualified smith put my rifles together. I've had very positive customer service experiences with Marlin and Ruger. For the purpose that those rifles are built and the PRICE POINT, they are doing a fine job. I just resent sending arifle for repair that was not properly crowned on a lathe and having it returned without having the original problem addressed as it should have been. As far as quality control is concerned, there seems to be some pervasive cultural deficiencie that has migrated with the Kimber organization as it migrated from Oregon to NY.
I think that consumers are entitled to know the truth about what they are paying for. Kimber rifles do have a classic design, good triggers, real walnut and a light weight. Just don't expect the performance or execution of design to be as good as they look. "The only interesting rifles are accurate rifles." - Townsend Whelen
