Kimber or Sako

H

HuntMontana

Beginner
Jun 12, 2008
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I am looking for a 300 win mag. I have read up on some of the pros cons for both. What do you think would be the best bang for the buck Sako or Kimber?
 
I have no experience with either company as far as rifles go but,
I do like kimber's pistols and think any time you can buy a high quality AMERICAN made product you should.
 
Kimber rifles haven't quite got it right yet. They are still having accuracy and feeding problems. Their rifles are bedded on a slave action, not the action that goes into the stock. Had a friend who sent his Montana 7/08 back to the factory twice for accuracy problems. Both times it was returned with targets displaying 1.5" groups at 50 yds and they stated that was acceptable accuracy. I know their are people who have had no problems with their Kimbers but it looks like a $1000 crap shoot to me. I had one for several months and tried a variety of loads, seven or eight different powder/primer combos. Tried different scopes/rings/mounts. Had several different people shoot the rifle. Now it has gone to another. Nice looking and handling but it has to shoot better than it did. I would have accepted 1" at 100yds, it never got below 1.5". An out of the box Savage will usually do better. No more Kimbers for me. I did contact Kimber and told them what all I had tried and the results. They sent me the torque settings for the action screws that were different from those sent to one of my buddies who also tried a Kimber.Rick.
 
HuntMontana":2fe2m01m said:
I am looking for a 300 win mag. I have read up on some of the pros cons for both. What do you think would be the best bang for the buck Sako or Kimber?
Click to expand...
...................Are you open to others besides Kimber or Sako??? Along with Rick`s assessments on Kimber, I have heard that Sakos were having some quality control problems awhile back too! What exactly, I can`t remember or if they solved them or not.........Your two choices are very beautiful nice wood stocked rifles, but are you open to other better weather durability options? I can think of several other very accurate, out of the box alternatives in a 300 Win. Mag. for probably less $ than either the Kimber or the Sako!

Weatherby Vanguards Sub MOA
Howa M1500`s
Tikka T3`s
Remington 700`s
Savages

I personally haven`t heard any war stories about any of the above and from what I do know, all are very accurate out of the box! I have friends that own most of the above!

Even though the Ruger M77`s have had some accuracy and barrel problems in the past, their newer M77`s along with the new LC6 trigger are vastly improved and very accurate. I put a new trigger in my late model M77 (before the new LC6`s), which made a much improved difference in accuracy from the bench. And, I do have a new Howa M1500 .375 Ruger arriving sometime in the fall.
 
I have always kind of wanted a Kimber, but everytime I pick one up and play with it I change my mind. For the money the action seems sloppy and not smooth like I would expect. The rifle sure sholders nice though. Reminds me of my old Model 70s. I bought a used Sako a while back and am still fixing it up the way I want it. I think it's going to be a fine rifle. That being said, as much as I like to buy American, I personally would buy a fine high quality used Sako. There are lots of them out there. Take a look at gunsamerica.com Good luck, Ken
 
rick smith":3try8yv0 said:
Kimber rifles haven't quite got it right yet. They are still having accuracy and feeding problems. Their rifles are bedded on a slave action, not the action that goes into the stock. Had a friend who sent his Montana 7/08 back to the factory twice for accuracy problems. Both times it was returned with targets displaying 1.5" groups at 50 yds and they stated that was acceptable accuracy. I know their are people who have had no problems with their Kimbers but it looks like a $1000 crap shoot to me. I had one for several months and tried a variety of loads, seven or eight different powder/primer combos. Tried different scopes/rings/mounts. Had several different people shoot the rifle. Now it has gone to another. Nice looking and handling but it has to shoot better than it did. I would have accepted 1" at 100yds, it never got below 1.5". An out of the box Savage will usually do better. No more Kimbers for me. I did contact Kimber and told them what all I had tried and the results. They sent me the torque settings for the action screws that were different from those sent to one of my buddies who also tried a Kimber.Rick.
Click to expand...

+1 on Kimber not quite getting it right yet. I had a 30-06 Montana and it was great but here is another one that they did not drill the holes right for scope mounts.

KimberMontana-baseholes-3.jpg


Sako is my choice between the two and I have owned 5 Sako's through the years and no problems.
 
Bullet,
Looks like a 10year old drilled those holes with a cordless drill. :shock:
I think I will stick with the 1911's
 
old #7":zvwoyaa7 said:
Bullet,
Looks like a 10year old drilled those holes with a cordless drill. :shock:
I think I will stick with the 1911's
Click to expand...

Don't it though. You talk about being surprised when you spend over 1100.00 for a rifle to have holes like that, which is bad quality control.
 
I had this same delimma over the past few months and I went for both!!!

1. Sako 85 greywolf in 30-06; wonderful gun couldn't recommend it highly enough.

2. Kimber Pro Tactical .45 1911 pistol; absolutely a pleasure to shoot no problems of any kind. ps throw away the factory mags and get the wilson combat etm.

I decided to stick with what each company does best in my purchases.

+1 Sako
+1 Kimber
 
Neither the Kimber or Sako rifles are without fault.

The Sako recently suffered blowups that blew the fingers off of some shooters. As for Kimber they have had some less dangerous problems with accuracy being the most common from what I have read and experienced.

sakotk5.jpg


I have purchased 5 new Kimber rifles and I still have 4 of them and after some work by me I have then shooting well.

I would go with the rifle I trust.
 
yeah, somebody had the wrong load and that is not a Sako TRG. Yeah, give me the rifle I trust and that is why I shoot a Weatherby Mark V :grin:
 
actually, the stainless problems affected both Sako and Tikka rifles. that having been said, i am extremely pleased with my 2 tikka T3s (.270 ss and .308). if they made one in .280 it would be in the safe. I'm with most of the folks above: Kimber makes great 1911s, Sako makes great rifles.
 
Thanks for the input. I am still undecided on the 300. I might look into some different custom rifles. I do plan on ordering a Cooper in 25-06. I am just tired of fighting the problematic Rugers I have, and want to do it right once and for all.
 
I got beat at the local match on Saturday by a fellow (club president) with a Cooper in 204 Ruger in the factory varmint class. They are truly quality factory rifles.
 
stephenJ, Kimber does make good .45 autos but I can tell you they also make excellent rifles/shotguns. I have a Kimber Montana in .300WSM that shoots like a dream, is nice and light (excellent for up and down the Colorado mountains) and is quality made. I owned a Sako Forrester at one time and had no complaints but when you hunt in all kinds of weather, there is nothing like stainless and Kevlar.
 
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