A classic Kimber - the 84M Kimber

by Technical Advisor Brendan Atkinson
Hunter 12

Regular readers of this magazine would be familiar with the advertisements for Kimber rifles. Naturally, there has been considerable interest shown by shooters, and it was with considerable enthusiasm that we unpacked the first review rifle sent to us.

First impressions are important and immediately obvious was the weight, or rather the lack of it, with this rifle. In its bare state, the Kimber 84M tips the scales at just more than five and a half pounds, making it one of the lightest sporter-type rifles around. This particular model is available in .243 Winchester, .260 Remington, 7mm-08 and .308 Winchester. In our case, we were sent a .243 Winchester - one of the most popular Australian calibres for many years.

The rifle
The heart of the Kimber is its round action and this is made from 4340 class steel. The top is drilled for scope bases and these are supplied by Kimber with each rifle. The bolt has two front locking lugs, a Mauser-type claw extractor, and works on the controlled round system. The bolt body is actually quite slim and as can be seen from the photo, is very close to the base diameter of a .243 case. We noted that the two-position safety is a wing type and is very similar to a Winchester M70 in appearance and operation. It’s forward for firing and back for safe and in the latter position the bolt may still be opened and removed. The bolt release is a simple push forward arrangement on the left side of the action.

The trigger was excellent for a hunting rifle. In a departure from the usual ‘lawyer’s triggers’ that we see on some USA-made rifles (seven pounds-plus), the Kimber trigger had no creep or travel and broke consistently at three pounds twelve ounces on our Lyman electronic trigger tester. The trigger is fully adjustable, but we felt that the factory setting was just about spot-on for hunting.

The steel trigger guard and hinged floorplate are made as a one-piece arrangement and the magazine holds five rounds.

The barrel appears to be of chromemoly steel construction and is a light sporter contour of 22 inches in length. It is claimed to be ‘match-grade’ and features one turn in ten twist and a field-type muzzle crown. The internal finish looked good through our bore scope and the running-in process appeared to be complete at about 20 rounds. There is no provision made for open sights.

The wood stock on the test rifle was a quality piece of walnut, with some good figure in it and was oil-finished. Apart from giving an attractive appearance, an oil-finished stock can have small nicks and dents repaired far more easily than a gloss finish. If one is going to use this rifle for what it is designed for, hunting, then minor damage is almost inevitable. While the chequering was neatly done at 22 lines to the inch, it was restrained and provided no more than was necessary. Sling swivel mounts are provided, as is a decelerator recoil pad and a metal cap for the pistol grip.

It’s what you don’t see that matters.

If one removes the barrelled action from the stock, a simple matter of two-cup head bolts, the bedding system is revealed. The action sits on two aluminium pillars surrounded by bedding compound. In addition, the first couple of inches of the barrel are also bedded in compound. The rest of the barrel free floats. This has always been considered as the best way to bed light-barrelled sporters and is the method by which my own sporter rifles have been finished.

As mentioned before, bases are supplied with each Kimber rifle and these will accept most turn-in-style rings. We fitted Millett rings and selected a Bushnell Dusk and Dawn 3-9x40 scope, which we consider a suitable power range for this calibre.

Range testing
With the Kimber 84M being such a lightweight, we were curious to see just how it would handle a variety of factory loads. As a general rule, the lighter the gun, the larger the group - this is a broad statement and usually refers to the shooter’s ability to control a light rifle, rather than the accuracy of the firearm itself. With a .243, recoil is mild, but with heavyweight bullets in a .308, it could be a different story.

Armed with a good selection of factory loads, we set about testing the Kimber for its likes and dislikes. With such a light barrel, we opted to fire three-shot groups initially, as barrel heat was a major consideration. Even after three shots the barrel was uncomfortably hot and to continue firing almost seemed like abuse. Fortunately, the test day was about 15C and we allowed ten minutes between groups.

We started with some of Highland’s AX factory loads and achieved groups of about 1.75-2.00 inches. Winchester gave a similar result, but we had more success with some Remington Accupoint 75-gn loads. The latter would put three shots into about 1.25 inches, but the 95-gn loading of the same brand was back up to the two-inch mark. The Kimber did not like the Federal Classic 80-gn loads, for whatever reason, and this is no poor reflection on the Federal brand - the Kimber just did not like them. This is why it is a good idea to try a selection of factory loads in any rifle before purchasing a large quantity of the one style. The Federal Premium 85-gn Sierra Gameking loads were much better.

At the end of the session, we selected the load that had produced the best group and shot two five-shot groups, very slowly. The best groups were obtained with the Accupoint, and five shots could be contained in 1.40 inches. This is quite adequate accuracy for a lightweight .243 with factory loads.

As luck would have it, we had to go back to the range a couple of days later and we used the opportunity to run a few handloads through the Kimber. Using some new Winchester cases, we loaded 70-gn Nosler Ballistic Tips over 46 grains of WW 760. This load has produced the goods in a number of other rifles and in the Kimber shot several five-shot groups just over the inch. We feel sure that with careful handloading, this rifle will shoot even tighter groups.

Summing up
The 84M Kimber has been described as a custom-production rifle. This means that it has the look and feel of a custom-built outfit, but does not carry the high price of such firearms. We understand that this model will sell for about $1850, which places it in the medium price bracket.

For those wanting something up-market in the hunting rifle area, it is certainly worth a look.

Rifle specifications for Kimber 84M
Manufacturer: Kimber Mfg., New York, USA
Calibres available: .243 Winchester (tested), .260 Remington, 7mm-08, .308 Winchester
Action: Twin lug turn bolt action with controlled round feed
Safety: Two-position wing type
Barrel: 555mm (22 inches)
Stock: Oil-finished walnut with aluminium pillar bedding system
Magazine: five rounds, hinged floorplate
Weight: 2.54kg (five pounds ten ounces)
Overall length: 1048 (41.25 inches)
Price: $1850
Rifle supplied by: Toys for Big Boys

Captions
Image 1: The Kimber 84M "custom-production" rifle - the look and feel of a custom-built rifle and a priced like a production model.
Image 2: Kimber 84M action and stock close-up showing the Mauser-style Kimber 84M action - note the hinged floorplate and the fine chequering on the walnut stock.
Image 3: Garry Wood firing the Kimber with 95-gr factory loads. Note the muzzle jump, and the straightness of the stock.
Image 4: We used a variety of factory loads to test the hunting accuracy of the Kimber, with mixed results.