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Overview
New for 2017 is the Kimber Subalpine Mountain Rifle, available with a Gore Optifade Subalpine camo finish. Kimber is famous for its lightweight, rock solid rifles and the Subalpine is no exception.
Chambered for .280 Remington Ackley Improved, .308 Winchester, .30-06 Springfield, .300 Winchester Short Magnum and .300 Winchester Magnum the Subalpine has a sub-MOA accuracy guarantee. The rifle offers mountain hunters an accurate and portable choice when every ounce counts.
The Subalpine sports a 22-inch fluted and threaded stainless steel barrel. A brake can definitely help tame the recoil with a rifle this light. Hunters can also install a simple knurled thread protector to cut down on snagging in the field.
The soft Pachmayer Decelerator recoil pad takes the edge off recoil, which helps for prolonged shooting sessions and when shooting magnum cartridges. The stock features an open pistol grip to cut down the risk of split knuckles when shooting.
Kimber teamed up with Leupold to produce riflescopes with the same camo finish for a complete kit. Leupold will offer two matching VX6-HD scopes for a complete Subalpine kit. Buyers have the choice of a 2-12x42mm scope or 3-18x44mm scope.
These scopes come equally packed with a lot of features including an in-scope cant indicator. When those long range shots are all that are available, this is a great benefit.
The VX6-HD series has coated glass for low-light conditions and comes with locking turrets. The turrets also use a quick push-button elevation adjustment system. Like all VX6-HD scopes they have an adjustable illuminated reticle for fast target acquisition.
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Specifications
- Weight: 4.8 pounds
- Overall length: 41.25 inches
- Barrel length: 22 inches
- Twist rate: 1-in-10 right hand
- Trigger: adjustable, set at 3-3.5 pounds
- Stock: reinforced carbon fiber with pillar bedding
- Finish: satin stainless steel and Gore Optifade camo
Impressions
While many light rifles tend to lose their balance and wave around like a reed in the wind, I found that the Subalpine to balances very well. It rises to the shoulder naturally and maintaining the point of aim is easy.
The reinforced carbon fiber stock carries like a dream. Even though the stock isn’t checkered it still provides a solid grip. The 12.5-inch length of pull is a touch short for my long arms this rifle will fit the average shooter well.
The Subalpine is built on Kimber’s 84M action It has a strong full-length claw extractor and is machined for reduced weight. The rifle has a right-side three position safety and it feeds from a four-round magazine, which is nice for such a small rifle.
Pricing and Availability
The Kimber Subalpine rifle has an MSRP of $1,701. Considering it has a semi-custom set of features including a fluted barrel, lightened bolt and receiver and camo-finish carbon fiber stock the Kimber Subalpine Mountain rifle remains competitive with other mid-range production bolt-action rifles.