Kimber Mountain Ascent Rifle Review (and customer experience difficulties)

Hello Fellow Rifle Hunters,

I'm sharing my experience with Kimber to help you decide whether you should invest in one of their rifles or look elsewhere. If you have any questions I'd be happy to answer them.

-I purchased the Kimber Mountain Ascent (7mag) with the Optifade Open Country synthetic stock (special edition camo)

-I purchased the special edition Zeiss scope in the Optifade Open Country camo pattern to match the stock

Upon arrival I reviewed each product and noticed the following:

-The Kimber Mountain Ascent with the special edition Optifade Open Country camo pattern comes with black scope base/rings (have to buy matching mounts separately)

-The special edition Zeiss scope in Optifade Open Country is not hydro-dipped, but rather wrapped in what feels/looks like a heavy duty waterproof construction paper that is wrapped around and affixed to the scope.

-Zeiss (or Kimber) has an employee use a bladed instrument to cut around the twist power ring, Zeiss brand plates and so on in order that the wrap does not hide the brand or impede operation of the scope

-Brand plate was half missing as it had been chipped by the employee, wrap was unevenly applied to scope, scope had been poorly stripped of the camo wrap in places, and in other places it had not been properly removed. Overall, the quality of the application was unprofessional looking and upon notifying Kimber and providing pictures they immediately agreed to replace the scope (I opted for return, not replace). Kimber honored my request for a refund. Bought a vortex scope and sent it to an operation in Wisconsin to have it hydro-dipped to match rifle (looks much better).

-Kimber rifle action could not extract spent shells from chamber after firing. A range master provided a small rubber mallet that I used to tap the bolt in order to remove spent shells (did not have strength to pull out on my own). This happened approximately every few shots. I was directed to try different ammo. I purchased a number of other high end ammos as directed and encountered the same issue.

-Contact at Kimber requested ammo details. I provided lot number, brand, grain, and all other requested information. Kimber arranged return via my local firearms dealer. After several weeks the firearm was returned and I was told the gunsmiths on staff could not recreate the issue. Surprised I asked if they had used the ammo I had used (several different brands, etc...). I was told they hadn't. The gunsmiths simply used some ammo they had on hand and only fired the gun a few times.

-This is where Kimber did not live up to my expectations. Given their reputation and price point I'd have expected not to have to argue with the representative assigned to my case for them to take the gun back again so their gunsmith could recreate the issue using one of the number of ammo types I had fired (all info provided to them). After much resistance, Kimber gave in and took the gun back. Upon doing so and shooting the ammo types/brands I had they quickly replicated the issue I reported.

-The action of my rifle was swapped out, tested and returned. After this the rifle fired fine. Unfortunately, I missed the first hunt I had scheduled (reason I bought the rifle) as this process required a couple months for Kimber to resolve and many hours of my time.

-Upon receiving the firearm I went on another planned hunt. The hunt lasted 4 days and took place in a burn unit with limited brush. After 4 days of still hunting in mostly open country the Optifade Open County camo pattern on the stock wore off in each of the spots I held the gun in my hands. These are not scratches and are not owner caused. The camo application process is flawed, or the synthetic stock used by Kimber does not take to the application of camo.

-Again, I called Kimber. Again, they asked for pictures. Again, my rep indicated the camo should not be rubbing away like it was (after viewing the photos I provided) and offered to replace the stock. He also mentioned that he believes I'm the least lucky Kimber customer he's dealt with.

-I opted not to bother The issue is the materials used or the application process itself.

In closing, Kimber has some serious Quality Assurance issues and did not properly vet their rollout of the camo options. This says nothing of the issue I had with the action or the fact I had to be somewhat aggressive to get kimber to replicate the issue I was having with the action (a potentially unsafe condition).

Additionally, each time the firearm was sent back I had to remove the scope, then set it up again upon receipt (includes going to the range, etc...) . This and correspondence cost me many days of personal time and months of lost hunting.

I have provided this feedback in detail to Kimber. And, Kimber sent me a soft gun case and a rifle sling for my troubles. I appreciate that, but I cannot recommend this firearm to any hunter. Nor can I recommend the rifles in general given all of the issues I encountered--scope, action, stock, etc..

appears the scope photo didn't take. i'll figure out whats going on and try to get that uploaded as well.

Wow! I'd have probably lost my sh*t if that happened to me. Sounds like you got a lemon. I hear that happens to Dodge owners too.

The local shop In my neck of the woods told me to stay away from Kimber , to much trouble with them .
It's just to bad , I was looking at two Rifles for my Son and myself .

Dodge, that's funny ShootsManyBullets.

Mt. Perchman,
I've heard the same from the range masters at the firing range in my area. They suggest this isn't necessarily unique. Again, I tried to remain objective and disclose only the facts. People can make up their own mind. However, I would not purchase a Kimber again based on my experience.

My hunting partner purchased the exact same rifle in a different caliber. He couldn't get it to shoot worth a damn. We spent hours at the range trying different loads and never made any progress. He then decided to take the rifle to a guy that specializes in load development....he couldn't get it to shoot either. Long story short, he called Kimber and they gave him a bunch of run around and he ultimately decided to sell the rifle. Purchased a Sako and hasn't had an issue!

Yeah there's a lot of complaints out there on Kimber. Too bad b/c they support BHA and are probably nice people.

I thought about getting one but I got enough problems in my life and didn't need my rifle giving me a bunch of drama. My buddy and I hydrodipped some of our rifles and I haven't had issues in 6-7 years of frequent use and infrequent cleaning.

Sorry for your issues. I think they are hit and miss. Sounds like you got a bad one. I have a Hunter in 30-06 and haven't had any issues yet. I've run about 2 boxes of ammo through it and it feeds great. I has the standard tan stock. I generally don't pay extra to have anything in camo.

I have an ascent in 300WSM and havent had any issues with it. In fact, I was able to harvest both my antelope and elk this year with it. I've heard they are hit and miss as well. It appears I was lucky.

I'm looking into the Christensen Rifles .

Southern Elk and Dcopas78,

I'm glad to hear you both have had better luck with your Kimber rifles. I tried to keep my review objective and focused on the facts. Certainly, Kimber ships some functional firearms or they wouldn't be around. This said, I found it rather unlikely that I'd have an issue with my scope, with my action, with my stock unless there were some serious QA issues.

All this said, after I put a different scope on my rifle and after Kimber finally replaced the action I am able to shoot relatively tight groups at 100 yards and harvested a nice mule deer buck with the rifle late in 2017...although I stalked the buck in its bed and fired from 33 feet away.

Best,

Sorry to hear about your troubles with Kimber. I have nothing but a positive experience with mine. I purchased an ascent in a 280 Ackley when they first became available three or four years ago. Sent the rings in for an exchange with no problems. Mine shoots well and have had no issue feeding, firing, or extracting. Couldn’t be happier.

Interesting read. I almost bought one of these a couple years back.

Kimber offers probably the most well designed rifle and best component to price ratio on the market. Once you deal with their quality control and customer service you figure out where they cut their corners.

I absolutely love my Kimber, but had some issues with it from the factory and miserable experiences dealing with the company sending it back and forth. I finally paid my gunsmith to fix the problems. The time and headache of dealing with Kimber weren't worth the money I'd have saved if they fixed it.

I'm really glad I stuck with the gun though, it's easily my favorite rifle I've hunted with.

Sirzonkalot,
I'm glad you had a good experience with Kimber. When I contacted kimber customer service about the fact they ship the camo stocks with blue scope rings I was told that I'd have to purchase the camo rings separately. I believe the cost for the camo base/rings was approximately 100 Dollars (could be off slightly). So, I'm glad they exchanged the rings for you, but I was NOT given the same option.

Randy 11,
Glad to hear about your gun. I'm hopeful (stock aside) that I'll be happy with my rifle in the long term.

My ring swap was the matte rings that were furnished for some silver ones. I don’t think they offered or had camo rings when I made the swap. They were great to deal with for me. That gun has been with me on dozens of hunts in the last few years and hasn’t failed me yet. Sure is a pleasure to pack around the mountains.

At Kimbers price point, for me, needing to return a rifle for repair out of the box is unacceptable. I get stuff happens, but with Kimber it seems it happens too often. How come you can buy a Savage Axis, Ruger American, or Tikka for a fraction of the cost and have 0 issues? What are these manufacturers doing, for way less money, that Kimber is missing?

I was hoping that Kimber Roulette was resolved. I've had my eye on the Hunter model in 280AI but I don't have the patience to mess with things plus I can get the Tikka T3 SuperLite in 7mmRemMag for about $100 more and won't need new reloading equipment.

I’ve seen the camo stock issue a couple times and I’ve had mixed results with Kimber rifles.

I own four Kimber Montana's. No problems - love them.