Story and Photos by Dave Campbell
Editor in Chief
For a company that originally never intended to build anything besides first-class rimfire rifles, Kimber sure has had an interesting history. From the time it brought out the Model 82 around 1980, demand from shooters for premium-quality, classically styled firearms has spurred Kimber into ever-broadening areas. Soon after the introduction of the Model 82 in .22 LR there was an 82 in .22 Hornet, then the Predator model in .221 Fireball and .223 Remington. Next came the Model 84, a mini-Mauser scaled to just handle cartridges of the .222 and .223 Remington class. In 1988 Kimber debuted the Model 89 BGR, a classic claw gun designed to work with anything from the .270 Winchester up to .375 H&H. The Model 89 BGR was a beautiful rifle, with the few original pieces having machined receivers. When Kimber tried its hand at using investment-cast receivers though, things got a bit derailed. The company holds such tight tolerances and fit on its guns, the investment-casting technology of the time wasn’t able to keep up with its demands. However, demand from consumers remained strong for a quality bolt-action rifle having the best attributes of the vaunted Mauser 98 and Winchester Model 70 rifles.
 |
Above Large: Hand-cut, 24-line-per-inch checkering and an ebony fore-end tip on the Claro walnut stock adds markedly to the aesthetics of the Model 8400 Magnum SuperAmerica. Higher grades of Claro walnut are noted for their flame-like grain structure. Above Left: With its full-size Mauser-style claw extractor, the Model 8400 Magnum gets plenty of purchase on a cartridge case rim. This arrangement makes it virtually impossible to tear the rim off a stuck case. |
Movin’ On
Then the company reorganized and moved its operation from Oregon to New York and began turning out 1911-style pistols. For a couple of years in the mid-1990s Kimber offered centerfire rifles based on Mauser 96 and 98 actions, but when the supply of surplus rifles petered out, the company was left without a centerfire rifle line.
More reorganization occurred, and Kimber came up with another controlled-round-feed centerfire, the Model 84, in 1997. Four years later the Model 84M, designed for
.308 Winchester-length cartridges, was introduced. In 2003 the 84M took on a wide-body profile in order to handle the then-new WSM family of cartridges. Last year we finally got an action long enough to handle everything from .25-06 to .375 H&H in the Model 8400 Classic. The rumor mill ground on about seeing a Kimber in .300 and .338 Winchester Magnums, but it was a while in coming. A few 8400 Classics were released in the magnum calibers late last year, but I wanted to see one in the dolled-up version—the SuperAmerica.
The SuperAmerica got its name from one of the founders of Kimber, the late Greg Warne, who was a sports car enthusiast and fond of the high-end, limited-edition Ferrari of the same name that came out in 1956. Like its namesake, Kimber’s SuperAmerica takes an already sophisticated design and lavishes it with upscale adornments like a mirror-finish polish on the metalwork and a AAA-grade Claro walnut stock with well-executed 24-line-per-inch checkering.
|
Something Old, Something New
It is sometimes said Kimber centerfires are clones of the Winchester Model 70, but that isn’t true. Kimber’s actions are a melding of the Model 70, the Mauser 98 and some innovations of its own. First, the receiver is round, unlike both the Winchester and Mauser, which have a flat bottom. The trigger is pure Kimber, and though it’s not as simple as the Model 70, those that I have shot, including this Model 8400 Magnum, are excellent and 100-percent reliable. Kimber borrowed an idea from Remington by using a 1⁄4-inch-thick washer-type recoil lug to hold everything in place and transfer the rearward thrust generated during firing to the stock. But the company’s designers thoughtfully conceal it under a matching-width hood extension on the front of the receiver. It looks as if it’s one piece when put together, but removing the barreled action from the stock reveals a telltale seam underneath. The bolt has, of course, the requisite Mauser-style claw extractor—generally considered holy and sacrosanct to aficionados of the classic turn-bolt rifle. That, combined with the equally traditional blade-type ejector, means the 8400 is a true controlled-round-feed rifle—equally obligatory to those of us who revere Peter Paul Mauser’s genius. The safety is pure Model 70 in looks and function—three-position, with a down-turned wing to operate it, yet maintaining a low enough profile to mount a riflescope as close to the bore as possible.
Kimber’s stocks are as traditional in design as the rest of the rifle—straight of comb, with a slim, round profile on the fore-end and embellished in a well-executed point-checkering pattern. In addition to the high-grade Claro walnut, the SuperAmerica stock has a cheekpiece reminiscent of the one developed by old-time stockmakers Bob Owen and Alvin Linden, without the new-age shadow line. It also has a fore-end tip of ebony, as well as a blued-steel grip cap. The buttstock is capped with a 1-inch recoil pad.
For at least 30 years the trend in bolt-action rifles has been to employ shorter and shorter barrels. It makes a lot of sense from a handling standpoint. Obviously a shorter barrel is less likely to hang up in the brush or on a tree limb. But there is a tradeoff. Bobbing 2 to 4 inches of barrel means giving up as much as 200 feet per second in velocity, depending on the cartridge and its load. That may or may not be a big deal to an individual shooter, but you need to be aware of it. In my mind, if I am packing a .300 magnum, I’m not too likely trying to punch a hole in a whitetail in some brush-choked river bottom. I’ll be in open country hunting critters that may require a 300- to 400-yard shot or more, so I want all the velocity I can get. That’s why I like it that Kimber chose to screw a full 26-inch barrel on its magnum guns. Though iron sights are classic—a holdover from the early days when riflescopes were less reliable—the SuperAmerica follows the more modern practice of a naked barrel, with the receiver drilled and tapped for scope mounts. It’s an example of Kimber’s philosophy of rifle design: There should be no more steel or wood on a sporting rifle except that which is absolutely necessary—call it a minimalist philosophy.
A one-piece floorplate and trigger guard, along with a blued-steel grip cap, |
Just Enough, No More
From the receiver and barrel to the stock, Kimber has carefully pared away just enough material to accomplish an objective, be it contain the pressure of the cartridge or provide the least, yet most practical, stock design necessary to handle the rifle in the field. The action is machined from bar stock and measures 93⁄8 inches long with a front receiver ring diameter of 1.360 inches. Just for grins I compared it to one of my Model 70s, a .338 Winchester Magnum—same basic case, just a different diameter hole in the barrel—and the front receiver ring measures the same 1.360 inches, but Kimber shaves a bit of weight with its trigger and a composite magazine follower. Too, the washer recoil lug on the Kimber is 1⁄4-inch thick, compared to the 3⁄8-inch-thick lug on the Model 70. Interestingly, Kimber put the bolt of the Model 8400 on a more restrictive diet with a diameter of .680 inch compared to the Model 70 at a full .700 inch. Across the lugs, the bolts measure .908 inch on the Kimber and .970 inch on the Model 70. Now these differences aren’t staggering, and collectively they shave no more than a couple of ounces or so, but they do reflect Kimber’s minimalist attitude toward its rifles.
In the event of a ruptured primer or case, gases are vented from a 5⁄32-inch hole in the right side of the receiver ring and down through the magazine well. An integral flange at the root of the bolt helps divert escaping gases and case fragments from blowing back into the shooter’s eyes.
Kimber’s trigger is fully adjustable for pull weight, sear engagement and overtravel. The hole in the middle (arrow) is actually a port that allows you to see the sear engagement. |
A single Allen-head screw secures the trigger assembly into a mortise under the tang of the receiver. It is adjustable for weight, engagement and overtravel. The trigger was quite crisp, but at 43⁄4 pounds, it was a little heavy for my tastes. It took about 15 minutes of playing with the weight-adjustment screw to get it down to my preferred pull weight of 3 pounds on a hunting rifle.
The barrel, which typically contributes the most mass to a rifle, is nearly straw-like in its profile, despite its 26-inch length. Just in front of the receiver it measures 11⁄8 inches and carries that diameter 15⁄8 inches forward before rapidly tapering to .560 inch at the muzzle. I have seen lighter contours on .300 magnum barrels, but they were on ultra-light, custom-made guns. My 26-inch Model 70 barrel measures 1.158 inches at the receiver ring, but that diameter ends after just 7⁄8 inch where it begins a gradual taper to .578 inch at the muzzle. Again, these dimensions are not a monumental change from tradition; rather they represent the notion of continually refining the bolt-action sporting rifle into a more efficient form.
Within the stock Kimber has shrouded the action in epoxy at the tang and surrounding the recoil lug. The bedding compound extends into the barrel channel as far as the untapered portion of the barrel; the remainder of the barrel is free floated. Aluminum pillars are epoxied into place where the action screws are located to provide a solid and repeatable foundation to anchor the barreled action to the stock. A one-piece trigger guard and floorplate departs from the traditional Model 70 profile, and within the trigger-guard bow is the latch for the floorplate. The lines are clean, straight, and the inletting is virtually flawless, as one would expect on a high-grade rifle. In keeping with modern rifle design and practice, the action screws have Allen heads that allow them to be repeatedly torqued without marring them.
Inside the stock, the bedding is as clean as the exterior of the rifle. Contact areas fore and aft are reinforced with epoxy, and aluminum pillars ensure a constant, repeatable relationship between the stock and the barreled action. |
Field Ready
The result is a 7-pound, 5-ounce .300 magnum that is well balanced and handles similarly to my Model 70 Featherweights, yet provides enough hand-filling purchase to control the big cartridge. I screwed on a Swarovski 3-10x42 mm riflescope in Leupold STD bases and rings, grabbed a few boxes of ammo and headed for the range. The scope added 13 ounces to the field weight of the rifle—8 pounds, 2 ounces—not too large a burden considering the .300 Winchester Magnum chambering.
Kimber tends to build its guns very tight. By that I mean tolerances are held very close, with very little slop in operating the gun—be it rifle or pistol—and this SuperAmerica is no exception. However, an extraordinarily tight gun can sometimes take a while to break in enough so it functions smoothly. This rifle was an exception to that. From the first time I worked the bolt, it operated as if it was on ball bearings. Chambering and feeding were flawless at the range; however, my prior experience with rifles held to tight tolerances has been that they must be kept scrupulously clean. Get out there in the dust and dirt, and a lack of daily attention to gun sanitation can result in a sticky bolt throw or, in a really bad case, failure of the bolt to close. That’s simply part of having a well-fitted rifle. They can be a bit more high maintenance.
A happy coincidence, the rifle was almost dead-on at 100 yards with nothing more than bore sighting. My first three shots with Federal Premium Vital-Shok ammo launching a 165-grain Nosler Ballistic Tip were nearly touching; two more shots opened it up to 11⁄8 inches. Five more of the green tips downrange yielded an almost identical group. That’s not surprising; I’ve found Ballistic Tips to be one of the most consistently accurate—if somewhat fragile—bullets available. If the rifle had potential—which it obviously did—it would show with Ballistic Tips. Were my plans to use this rifle on pronghorn this year, I might have stopped right there, but I have an antlerless elk tag to fill in Wyoming later this year. I believe I’ll opt for a heavier bullet of stronger construction. So, after sending the remainder of the box of Federals into the target—two more five-shot groups measured 7⁄8 and 11⁄4 inches, respectively—I switched to Winchester Supreme Elites with a 180-grain XP3 bullet.
Twenty red tips later, and I knew this rifle is as accurate as it is beautiful. Three of the five-shot XP3 groups were 11⁄8 inches; the fourth opened up to 13⁄8 inches—more than likely due to fatigue on my part. I can certainly live with that accuracy, but I have a hankering to start a reloading project with this rifle over the summer.
Recoil—which is always at its worst on the bench—was actually quite tolerable due to a well-designed stock with a straight comb, despite the lack of mass in this rifle. There is less than 1⁄2 inch of drop at the comb and barely more than 1⁄2 inch of drop at the heel of the stock. The gel-type recoil pad handled the sting of even the 180-grainers with no problem. I’ve shot a couple of .300 magnums with more crooked stocks, and they really got my attention.
Now I wouldn’t characterize the Model 8400 Magnum in the SuperAmerica garb as a featherweight rifle. I’ve shot a few truly flyweight .300s that weighed in at as little as 51⁄2 pounds—great to carry but not as much fun to shoot. But Kimber and its minimalist thinking has produced a more refined magnum rifle for those of us who want something a bit more sophisticated. It is lean and sculpted, accurate, and it handles well—much like its namesake sports car. Of course, it isn’t cheap. Beauty and performance never come at bargain-basement prices. With an MSRP of $2,133 it is doubtful this rifle will be riding in a lot of pickup racks during hunting season. But for those of us who appreciate the classic magnum sporting rifle with its Mauser-style, controlled-round feeding; a fit and finish that screams “Wow!” and that flame-grained Claro walnut stock reminiscent of a mountain campfire all combined with excellent accuracy, it’s worth it.