Kimber Mountain Ascent Casa Review: The Light Is Right

A lightweight and accurate bolt-action rifle, the author takes a closer look at the Kimber Mountain Ascent Caza.

None of us are getting any younger. Speaking of my legs, hips, and hips, the hills I choose to hunt seem to be getting steeper and steeper. Even after more than half a century, I refuse to let my native Catskills and Adirondacks intimidate me into avoiding hunting. The terrain may be rugged, but in contrast to the Rockies, where oxygen is at a premium, we have it here in the mountains in New York, and while the games may be few, it makes for an iconic experience.

For those who hunt in rugged terrain, such as those hunting sheep in the scree fields of Alaska’s mountains or those who carry their gear on their backs on adventures in some of the few remaining wild places on earth, the weight of a rifle is often It becomes a factor. If you’re in a relatively flat area, such as New York’s Hudson Valley, the Dakotas’ Great Plains, eastern Wyoming and Colorado, or even much of Africa, you won’t care if your rifle has some weight. . But when things start to get steep and steep, you want to keep the weight on your back and shoulders as minimal as possible.

Kimber is a rifle company originally based entirely in my home state of New York, and has long prided itself on lightweight rifles. Granted, the Kimber Talkeetna and Caprivi large-bore rifles are both made in common weight ranges, but there are also a number of models that swing at welterweight.

The Kimber Montana, especially the short-barreled Kimber Adirondack, felt like I had a helium balloon on my shoulder, but it was still easy to handle when shooting. The scaled-down action is packed with the features necessary to be considered a controlled round feed, and combined with the slim barrel and lightweight synthetic stock, it’s felt during the process of stuffing deer from long distances. It produces exact combinations. A rugged place.

The Adirondack model produces a high amount of muzzle blast from its short barrel. However, while not too much to handle when used as a hunting rifle, even the Montana felt like a willow cane when settling down for a shot. After observing various models of Kimber rifles over the years, I feel that the Mountain Ascent Kaza rifle strikes the best balance between weight and portability.

Rule of Kaza

The naked rifle weighs just over 5 pounds, depending on chambering, so Kimber offers a sensible mountain rifle here with all the features I’ve come to appreciate. Despite its light weight, the Mountain Ascent Caza has great balance. And while most companies rely on short-action receivers to save weight, my test rifle featured Kimber’s his 84L long action, chambered in the versatile .30-06 Springfield. I was there.

Featuring a 24-inch featherweight stainless steel barrel, an 8-inch groove just in front of the chamber, and a 2-inch muzzle brake (with thread protector), the Mountain Ascent provides top speed. My ears have certainly taken some damage from years of shooting and loud drummers, but muzzle breakage on a rifle this light makes sense. I often wear a combination of earplugs and shooting muffs at my backyard shooting range, especially when testing rifles with brakes, but I’m not used to hearing protection in the field. I’m not a fan of brakes, but physics is physics, and on a lightweight mountain rifle like the Mountain Ascent, brakes improve shooting accuracy more than when dealing with snappy recoil .

The 84L action is what I often refer to as a mini-Mauser. It is a controlled round-feed design with a non-rotating claw extractor, a truly miniaturized configuration. I measured the diameter of the bolt body and found it to be 0.585 inches. A typical Mauser 98 bolt body diameter is just about 0.700 inches. This means that the action diameter is significantly reduced. To further reduce weight, Kimber grooved the bolt body. A two-lug bolt face (the Mauser 98 has his third lug at the rear bottom of the bolt body) and a 90-degree bolt throw are used.

The 84L action features a wing-style three-position safety that is very reminiscent of the Winchester 70 design, with forward up to firing and an intermediate position where the bolt can be actuated for safe loading and unloading. , the rear is safe and secure. The bolt won’t move. When you move the safety forward and put the rifle into battery, you will see a small red dot where the safety wing meets the bolt body, indicating that the rifle is hot. The 84L action is pillar-bedded on the stock, and the action and barrel are coated with Kimber’s proprietary non-reflective KimPro II black finish.

The Mountain Ascent comes with an adjustable trigger, and Kimber says the weight is set at 3.5 pounds. Using a Lyman trigger pull gauge, the test rifle’s trigger consistently broke at 2 pounds, 8 ounces. The shoe is wider than most rifles, measuring 3/8 inch wide, giving a nice feel in the grip and snapping off with no creep or overtravel. I really liked this trigger not only during accuracy testing, but also from field position.

The Mountain Ascent has a blind magazine that holds four rounds, and a small polymer trigger guard with a single action screw completes the action-stock connection. And speaking of stocks, the Mountain Ascent has an ergonomic, ambidextrous, reinforced composite stock wrapped in a Puma Caza camo finish. To my eyes, the Caza blends the digital camouflage color scheme well into a smooth pattern that is appealing to the eye.

The Mountain Ascent Caza stock feels great in the hand, with no checkering or distressing to improve the cheekpiece or grip. With an angled pistol grip that keeps the fingers of the trigger hand parallel to the barrel rather than perpendicular, the kimberstock is (seemingly) symmetrical, giving the shooter everything he needs and nothing he doesn’t. .

The stock has one sling swivel stud in the rear and two sling swivel studs in the front, allowing you to attach a bipod to the rifle. A 1-inch Pachmayr reduced recoil pad takes lightning out of your .30-06 even from the heaviest loads. I measured the length of pull on this rifle at 13⅝ inches.

target story

Kimber offered a sub-MOA warranty on the Mountain Ascent and provided two test targets to attest to the fact that the rifle met these parameters and left the factory. And while his targets were printed with 168-grain match-style ammunition, he felt that the beauty and versatility of the .30-06 Springfield also lies in the variety of bullet weights it offers hunters. I am.

So for this test, we had five different bullet weights across the .30 caliber spectrum to see how the Mountain Ascent handled them. Considering the very thin profile of the barrel and the fact that this is definitely a hunting rifle, he limited the number of groups to three shots.

From light to heavy, we tested Federal’s 150-grain Fusion load, Federal’s 165-grain Nosler AccuBond load, 175-grain Terminal Ascent ammunition, Norma’s 180-grain BondStrike ammunition, and Federal’s 200-grain Trophy Bonded Bear Claw. , indicated the range. Number of projectiles suitable for deer and similar sized prey to grizzly bears.

The Kimber muzzle brake suppressed recoil even with the 200-grain load, and although there was significant muzzle rise, shooting the Mountain Ascent on the bench was no problem. Again, physics is physics.

This rifle has a clear preference for 165- to 180-grain bullets and achieved excellent accuracy with a 175-grain terminal ascent load, keeping all loads in this bullet range within 3/4 MOA. The 200-grain Trophy Bonded Bear Claw averaged 1 MOA, followed by the 150-grain Federal Fusion load for an average group size of 1.12 MOA. Accuracy is more than adequate for any hunting scenario, even the worst groups.

There were no problems with feeding, extraction, and evacuation, and although the action was small, the action of the 84L was satisfactory. The Mountain Ascent trigger gave a very natural feel and the Maven RS.2/Talley ring combination allowed for good cheek welding.

Playing around with some off-hand shots, I found that the Kimber rifle’s lighter weight required additional time to stabilize the aim, but when using natural rests or a set of shooting sticks, no major problems occurred. did not.

final thoughts

If a lightweight rifle is in your future and you’re not interested in a carbon fiber-wrapped barrel, I think I’d take a good look at Kimber’s Mountain Ascent. I like the features packed into this rifle, even among lightweight guns. I’ve always been a fan of controlled round-fed actions and love a good trigger.

If I had to pinpoint an issue with the rifle, it would be that the safety felt a little snug right out of the box, but smoothed out by the time testing was complete, but the length of pull really It was a little too short for the one. . However, the latter comment is common to almost all American rifles. You’ll notice that the standard 13 1/2″ to 13 3/4″ draw length is shorter overall. Expanding its dimensions to 14 1/4 inches instantly puts you in a different position when you pull the trigger, allowing you to shoot better.

So, Kimber, if you’re listening, maybe you could suggest extending the pull period on your stocks?

Overall, you’ll have no trouble dragging the Kimber Mountain Ascent into the mountains, across the prairie, or into a deer blind. Frankly, the weight of the rifle may come into play and force you to take a different approach to shooting stability, but that fact makes it an absolute pleasure to carry. It is alleviated by something.

Congratulations, Kimber, you did a great job this time.

Editor’s note: This article was originally published in the September 2023 issue of the magazine. gun digest magazine.

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