CMP kimber 22s?

[Cato the Younger]

Dear All,
I see the CMP has 22 kimbers for sale. Do any of you know how these rifles are- i.e. are they worth the price/accurate/etc. I would appreciate any advice on this. Thank you for your advice.

 

[jefnvk]

I looked at them at the North store. Very nice looking guns, brand new, although some idiot opened the bags with a razor and left a nice cut down some of the stocks.

 

[johnmcl]

Cato,

They are heavy, industrial-grade small bore competition rifles. If that's your desire, then they are a good value. They aren't as light as the current production Anschutz-es, but aren't a $1.5K either.

Now, since they are competition rifles, they are a little finicky on ammo. You can search through this forum for earlier comments.

In short, if you're geared for small bore competitive shooting, then its a great gun.

Hope that helps,

 

[hags]

I've been to the north store. In my opinion the Kimbers are not as good as say a CZ 452 American or RAA Biathlon, both of which you can buy new.
They have been in storage for years with no preventative measures taken at the time of storage. The few that I looked at there had rust on/in the actions and the bolts.
I did purchase one and after stripping the bolt down to clean and lube it I found that it was just full of rust and corrosion. The stocks suck big time.
With no available parts you're taking a big chance if you break a firing pin or extractor.
Not worth the money in my opinion.

 

[Cato the Younger]

thanks guys

I appreciate all the advice- I guess I will try to go look at some in person- I may drive though CMP South next summer on a road trip, and see what they have there!

 

[Jim Watson]

Friend of mine shot an 1179 57X with a surplus Kimber last week.

I have not worked mine up yet, but it is in NIB condition; I was at the South Store and able to pick one with no razor cut and no rust from having been opened.

 

[hksw]

Personally, I like them. Enough so that I bought two and plan on getting at least one more.

IMO, they are exceptional bargains if you are looking for a position gun. The first one I got had a very light cut mark ~4 inches long on the butt but otherwise in ecellent shape. At first, it did not group well (~0.75" at 50 yds, which is not as good as the groups I get with some of my other .22 lrs) and was about to relegate it as a range gun for practicing position with it. On one last try, I fed it RWS R50 and it is shooting in the 0.5s no problem. Set that one up with a scope and occasionally use if for benching as well as position.

As well as the first one was shooting, I wanted another that was strictly for position with iron sights and bought another. ~20% (it was said by the guy behind the back counter of the North store) to not have any blemishes at all and it is one of these that I got. It does not like R50 as much as the first but does exceptionally well with Wolf Match Extra (other gun did not like ME). Using the supplied sights from the first gun (made in Australia), I slapped on an adjustable globe up front and an adjustable iris with polarizer at the rear (both from Anschütz). It is my position gun for now.

For the price you pay and the accuracy/precision you get, IMO, the Kimber 82G is a bargain. Both the ones I have will outshoot the Izmash Biathlon Basic 7-2 and Biathlon 7-4 I have (for now as I haven't done thorough ammo tests on them yet - only Wolf MT and ME, Fed 711, Lapua Midas M, RWS R50). They do as well as my CZ .22s (Varmint, American, Training Rifle, Ultra Lux, Scout) but then again, they are different classes.

The 82Gs I got did not display any rust. They did have some redish foreign material on them that cleaned off easily but did not leave any erosion on the rifle's surfaces.