Kimber Subalpine

[dblb]

I just got it mothers day weekend. I haven't even bought a scope or rings for it yet. In fact I have a thread going about what glass to buy for it. I am itching to get it out but the walleye bite is on in MN right now.

I thought hard about the WSM. I have a buddy with a wsm tikka and he likes it. Another guy I hunt with has a browning 300 wm and loves that. It was a closeout gun so I thought I got a decent price. It doesn't have a fluted bolt like the ascent and it didn't comes with a muzzle brake.

No worries on taking the topic off course, I like the information.

What glass do you guys on yours?

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[thinhorn_AK]

I just got it mothers day weekend. I haven't even bought a scope or rings for it yet. In fact I have a thread going about what glass to buy for it. I am itching to get it out but the walleye bite is on in MN right now.

I thought hard about the WSM. I have a buddy with a wsm tikka and he likes it. Another guy I hunt with has a browning 300 wm and loves that. It was a closeout gun so I thought I got a decent price. It doesn't have a fluted bolt like the ascent and it didn't comes with a muzzle brake.

No worries on taking the topic off course, I like the information.

What glass do you guys on yours?

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk

I was just browsing the kimber website, it seems like they stopped making the “subalpine” and now have the mountain ascent subalpine.

 

[elkguide]

I have 3 Montanas and have Kahles or Swarovski on each of them.
I have a 2.2X9X42 on my .300 WSM.

 

[AK Troutbum]

I’ve been topping mine mostly with Leupold’s and one Swaro.


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[Rs3003]

I noticed this also. The NEW subalpine now has a muzzle break on them. The older model did not.

 

[oenanthe]

I was just browsing the kimber website, it seems like they stopped making the “subalpine” and now have the mountain ascent subalpine.

Yep. The Subalpine used to be a separate model from the Mountain Ascent. It has been discontinued, but the Mountain Ascent is now available in Subalpine color scheme.

The old Subalpines lacked the muzzle brake and fluted bolt of the Mountain Ascent and were a few hundred bucks cheaper.

 

[backcountry_hunter]

That's too bad because if memory serves me correct they had a real-store price around $1400 and if you didn't "need" the bolt fluted and a brake, they seemed to be a pretty good deal compared to he MA

My kimbers now wear swfa's

 

[AK Troutbum]

That's too bad because if memory serves me correct they had a real-store price around $1400 and if you didn't "need" the bolt fluted and a brake, they seemed to be a pretty good deal compared to he MA

My kimbers now wear swfa's

Still plenty of them available on GB.

 

[coues32]

Just picked a subalpine in 300 wsm, gonna buy a different brake and run a Lumley carbon knob. Might have the bolt fluted also.

Would like to run warne mt tech rings and bases but don't see the base option.
Have 4.5x18 LRHSi for scope

 

[deerkiller]

I'm not dissing Kimbers at all (own or have owned many and liked them all) but I have found that they don't always feed the WSM's like push feeds do, I realize that they won't "just because" but I had a Montana 270 WSM that was a bugger to feed reliably and I never could get it to, cost me a couple of opportunities so I rebarreled - If I'm going to a WSM I'll go Tikka without hesitation

 

[deerkiller]

I totally agree there. It also takes practice to shoot these rifles well. I think a lot of the issue stems from the availability of lightweight rifles, and the accessibility/price of the kimbers in particular.

[Once upon a time, to get a lightweight rifle meant going somewhere like NULA, paying through the nose and having some kind of support there to guide you... someone who could say “hey idiot you gotta do this to make them shoot”.] With the price tag people really spent time trying to make it work.

Nowadays your average joe can go up to a big box store and buy a Kimber off the shelf. The guys behind the counter don’t know ish most of the time, so they go home thinking “oh man I paid 1200 for this, this is gonna outshoot everything!” and after their first range trip they’re ready to give up.

I guess it all boils down to knowing what you’re buying.

People are also quick to point out Tikka or Savage like they never have any issues... I’ve personally owned two savages with issues(one headspace, the other I had to open the barrel channel)... and tikka, I’ve had two that wouldn’t shoot and one that had headspace issues. Not to mention whatever stainless tikka uses leaves much to be desired. That’s not to say that either one puts out a crappy product, just that every manufacturer has issues.

(Melvin will say that if you want anything he doesn't offer on his website ! NULA rifles are fine hunting tools but not perfect and not to the liking of all hunters/shooters, I know from experience)

as far as "learning to shoot a lightweight" pretty much any experienced "rifleman" can get themselves over that learning curve, just takes concentration and some practice

re: Tikka It is factual history that the Tikka gunsmiths taught the Sako gunsmiths a thing or two soon after Tikka was absorbed into "Beretta" BUT the Tikka reputation for QC and accuracy has spread like wildfire and Tikka "was" a relatively small entity - You put that kind of near overnight success on any enterprise and "growing pains" can be expected, I believe that you'll find that Tikka has done an outstanding job of overcoming that obstacle (even with a thick headed parent like Beretta), gun for gun it will be difficult to find another company who has done as well ….

 

[Bountyhunter]

Go with the 300 WSM, I am a great fan of it and with 165s and RL 17 it can be a LR screamer and relatively mild to shoot. We have had barrels go 4000 rounds in competiion and win the Nationals. It is not a barrel burner

 

[deerkiller]

Go with the 300 WSM, I am a great fan of it and with 165s and RL 17 it can be a LR screamer and relatively mild to shoot. We have had barrels go 4000 rounds in competiion and win the Nationals. It is not a barrel burner

true - so is the 270 WSM, although being considered "over bore" and nipping on the heels of the 270 Weatherby it's actually quite "easy" on barrels as well

 

[Dirty-D]

Kimbers shoot good, just gotta get used to them. ANd put lot of weight on them... I keep mynon trigger hand on the scope, most are used to shooting 12# guns are cant figure out the 5# kimber. I like to buy the non shooters second hand and kill away with them!

 

[thinhorn_AK]

Kimbers shoot good, just gotta get used to them. ANd put lot of weight on them... I keep mynon trigger hand on the scope, most are used to shooting 12# guns are cant figure out the 5# kimber. I like to buy the non shooters second hand and kill away with them!

Yup, I’ve never had a kimber that didn’t shoot well, granted I haven’t had as many as some people have but I haven’t had issues with mine.

 

[oenanthe]

Well, I just picked up a Subalpine in .30-06. There are some screaming closeout deals available right now - cheaper than Montanas. I ended up going with the .30-06 over a .300 WSM because I already had dies and brass.

Not sure if I can get used to a camo stock. I can just imagine what my hunting buddies are going to say about a rifle that matches my long johns!

Nothing a rattle can won't fix ...

 

[AK Troutbum]

Well, I just picked up a Subalpine in .30-06. There are some screaming closeout deals available right now - cheaper than Montanas.

Where are you seeing these deals?




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[oenanthe]

Where are you seeing these deals?

I purchased from Reed's, https://www.reedssports.com. Also saw some good prices on gunbroker and europtic.

 

[AK Troutbum]

I purchased from Reed's, https://www.reedssports.com. Also saw some good prices on gunbroker and europtic.

Thanks!


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[Brightside]

Received my Subalpine in 30-06 3 weeks ago. Back of the bolt head smacks receiver on its way back. Called CS, they wanted it sent in. They sent it back 5 days later, say it is in spec. First cartridge out of mag needs to be smacked 3 times to finally feed, second needs a couple smacks too. Brass has DEEP gouges. The ramp throws the rounds into barrel threads and ripped the lead tips off. Hoping some deburring and polishing fixes the feeding issue.

Installed a VX5 3-15x44. Kinda bulky and top heavy for this rifle.