Weatherby Mark V Ultra Lightweight or Kimber Montana?

[seeliger]

Which of these two do you guys like better?  Does the CNC machined insert in the Weatherby take the place of pillar and glass bedding in the Kimber.

Seeliger

[Zachary]

I don't know how I missed this post.  Sorry.

I don't have as much experience with that particular Weatherby as I do with the Kimber.  I have a Kimber Montana in .300WSM and it is one of the finest rifles that I have ever owned.  Quality and fit and finish is almost second to none.  It is more of a custom gun than it is production.

I highly recommend the Kimber Montana.

Zachaary

[Buckfever]

A very respected gunsmith speaking to a group of people that the mounting plates are good but not as good as a hand laid bedding job.  He was retired and didn't work anymore.  He said it is a way the manufactures can get better accuracy in a mass produced product.  Skilled hands are the best.  I tend to think he is right.  However, as a subject for another time how accurate do we really need a hunting rifle to be?   Buckfever

[HHI #4694]

He was right. All of the very finest custom rigs, do not use bedding blocks. They are hand done.

[Rogue Ram]

      WOW.  A coworker whose wife works for a VERY well known sporting goods outfit, got a screamin' deal on one of these new KIMBERs.....  he brought it in for me to drool over today.      FINALLY someone has made almost exactly what I want. This had a lightweight kevlar stock, typical Model 70/Mauser controlled feed action, no stupid idiotic bottom metal nor detachable magazine...just solid blindbox magazine, all stainless,  the gun weighs under 6 pounds, closer to 5. The action was smooth as glass, trigger very nice, not a machine mark on the gun at all.  He has one of those funky Leupold scopes that fit down over the barrel (forget the model or what you call it) on there......the eye relief was unbelievable on that thing!!! 

The gun will be broken in properly and we'll post the bench results soon. The only thing this gun lacks IMHO is a nice set of some type of open sights.  AND, God help anyone getting this thing in a magnum, I  would have to think due to its light weight it might slap the snot out of you.........certainly that scope would be of help.

Nice rifle. If it shoots good as it looks one will find its way into my gun safe.

RR

[Zachary]

Actually, I have that gun in a magnum, a 300WSM.  And yes, it is a kicker.  Thankfully, I have a Leupold VX-III in 3.5x-10x-40mm that has plenty of eye relief.

It is one of the finest guns I own, with fit and finish being just near perfect.  It groups about 1 1/4" with Federal 180 TSX, and about 1" with Federal 180 Nosler Partitions.  I consider that good accuracy for such a feather light gun.

BTW, I think that the scope you are referring to is a Leupold VX-L

Zachary

[jimmyp50]

I have the Kimber 8400 classic in 300 WSM with a Zeiss 2.5 x 8 scope on it. The Zeiss has a constant 4 inches of eye relief and the optics are very clear.  I went with the Kimber classic as it has a bit more weight and the one they showed me had an exceptional wood handle.....  I find the gun more pleasant to shoot with 180 grain bullets at 2950 fps or so than a Weatherby Mark V synthetic in 30-06 and 180's at 2500 or so.  The stock design of the Kimber is more suited to my frame.  I am stilll working up loads for it, but it shows good promise.   You know I laughed at the WSM's until I held the Kimber 8400 30-06 and then the Kimber 8400 300WSM.  It is not just the cartridge, it is the handyness of the rifle in the shorter action size.  In the end I said handier rifle and more FPS, what's not to like??