Earlier this year the folks a Kimber asked what rifle I was interested in shooting. I’d just returned from putting in some serious miles in the mountains of South Africa and was looking to shave some weight from my gear before going back for another round. I figured I’d have to dig deep to find nice things to say about it, but I chose Kimber’s Mountain Ascent rifle in 6.5 Creedmoor. Curiosity got the best of me, I really wanted to see if I could finally get on board with a lightweight rig. Why skip a meal or two and get on a treadmill when I can just reduce the weight of my rifle . . . am I right?
I’ve never been a fan of rifles billed as being lightweight. As much as I wish I were born into a family of sheep hunters, I wasn’t, so the advantages of lightweight rifles has never been a priority for my style of hunting. The disadvantages have always been enough to keep me shooting sporting rifles of heavier weights. I’ll explain.
First, Lightweight rifles are harder to shoot accurately. Imagine setting a bowling ball on a table next to a balloon. Flick both items with your finger and you’ll notice that the bowling ball doesn’t move while the balloon ends up on the floor . Apply the same to your rifle. Every breath, heartbeat and tremor in your hands will move your lightweight rifle as you steady for a shot. Can you become accurate with a 5-pound rifle? Absolutely, but a heavier rifle will always be far more forgiving in the field.
The second reason I don’t love the ultra light rifles is the recoil during range sessions. I mostly like to hunt with magnums. I’m not super recoil sensitive but I’ve had ultra-light 308’s feel like they were going to knock the fillings out of my teeth with the heavier bullets. Not fun.
Kimber didn’t waste any time sending the Mountain Ascent and I opened the box to find a brand new rifle—not a demo they cherry-picked to get a good review. Inside the box was a test target showing a group in the .5’s with factory 140 gr. Hornady ELD Match. Yeah, I rolled my eyes too. I sent an email off and a few days later I had a box from Hornady with plenty of the ELD Match and 143 gr. ELD-X Precision Hunter. While waiting on the ammo to arrive I took the barreled action out of the stock to adjust the trigger, which was set too heavy at the factory. With very little effort adjusting this trigger it became the best factory trigger I’ve felt in a long time. Holding the carbon fiber stock by itself is strange—it weighs nothing. While it was apart I cleaned the rifle, mounted a Swarovski Z8i 1.7-13×42 and installed the Spartan Precision carbon fiber bipod quick detach cup. Their quick detach setup also doubles as a sling point. Everything was ready for a trip to the sand pit and I waited for a morning when it wouldn’t be hotter than the fifth ring of hell.
This rifle won me over at the range. After two fouling shots I let the rifle cool down. This pencil-thin barrel heats up quick but the flutes aid in cooling. I did notice on those first two shots the rifle has very little recoil thanks impart to the muzzle brake. I shot my 3-fire groups with 5 minutes between shots to allow complete cooling. If I was going to get close to the group on that test target I needed every bit of help I could get.
My groups with the ELD Match averaged in the low .8 range, with the hunting oriented EDL-X averaging in the low .9’s. I’m 100% confident a better shooter can get the match ammo into the .5’s. I’ll never claim to be that caliber of rifleman. The important takeaway is that the rifle is very accurate and the test target is actually legit. I’ll still say this rifle requires much more effort on my part to get steady, but I’ve really taken to it. I emailed Kimber to ask them to let me use the rifle through the end of whitetail season, which they granted, but I’ve decided they’re not going to get this one back in January. I’m buying it from them. I’m also not going to work up a hand load for this rifle. I’m confident the Mountain Ascent can shoot better than I can with the factory Hornady ELD-X so I’m going to leave good enough alone . . . for once.
Pros:
-This rifle is very accurate.
-With the brake installed, I’d let my eight-year-old daughter hunt with this Kimber.
-Having a street price of $1800 (eurooptic.com), this rifle is priced right as it does have features you’d normally only find on a custom rig.
Cons:
-I’d like to see the carbon fiber stock have a more-radialed pistol grip. It doesn’t quite go vertical enough.
-I do like the complimentary 1-inch Talley rings but Kimber should’ve used a coupon instead so the end user could specify a 30mm option.
-The action felt a little gritty at first, but it has slicked up nicely. This is being overly picky.
Following years of research from Sun Valley to Key West and from Nairobi, Kenya to Hemingway’s home in Cuba, this volume significantly expands what we know about Hemingway’s shotguns, rifles, and pistols—the tools of the trade that proved themselves in his hunting, target shooting, and in his writing. Weapons are some of our most culturally and emotionally potent artifacts. The choice of gun can be as personal as the car one drives or the person one marries; another expression of status, education, experience, skill, and personal style. Including short excerpts from Hemingway’s works, these stories of his guns and rifles tell us much about him as a lifelong expert hunter and shooter and as a man. Shop Now
