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I don't think that any of the Kimber rifles, including the Caprivi, are equipped with a true machined, spring-steel extractor - rather some sort of MIM unit which is not of spring-steel construction. For 100% true Mauser-type dependability, this is not a sensible compromise....

Also, Kimber needs to design these rifles with some sort of latch that will keep the bolt-sleeve/striker assembly locked into position. As it stands, this assembly is held in place by a ball-bearing detent, which means that it can become inadvertently knocked out of alignment, causing jams, etc.

Dakota designed its original Model 76 with this same sort of ball-bearing detent system. Years later, realizing the error of its ways, Dakota wisely added a proper bolt-sleeve latch that holds everything in place very well. Kimber needs to make the same modifications.

Proper "dangerous game" rifles need to be built from the inside out, pure and simple. Cosmetics, imagery, and extraneous features are the not the foundation upon which to build a rifle that you can trust your hunting investment - not to mention your life, heath, and general well-being.

I do not think that Kimber can say that it has built the Caprivi properly until it has revised the design features that I mentioned.

Fundamentally, the Kimber action is built around production shortcuts, no matter what else is added to it.

I'm still going to stick with Mauser 98s and Model 70s.........

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The bolt sleeve issue is an interesting one from a historical standpoint as anyone who owns and enjoys 96-action Mausers can attest. They have of course, no retention device of any kind and the bolt sleeve can be spun when the bolt is drawn back. Herr Mauser took care of that issue later.

This new Kimber does indeed look to me like just as you say, a rifle built around maximum production shortcuts. This is not to say that it is functionally poor or anything of the sort, as the design has yet to be proven in use and it may turn out to be very good indeed. However, it appears to me that cheapness of manufacture was obviously high on the list of to-do's when the fellows sat down to design it. It appears finished very well, but there is part of me that wonders if that feature is make-up on a homely girl...

Above the wood line the barreled action is obviously laid out to look like a Mauser. Below the wood line it is anything but, with its tubular receiver and fabricated recoil lug. I find virtually all gun designs fascinating in-general, for all the economic and functional reasons and this one is interesting simply because it is "new".

The gun does not particularly appeal to me and I will never buy one. There's something about it that whispers "Wanna Be" and I guess time will tell, but if I hd to roll the dice and guess if it will still be in production in ten years I'd put my money on "No". I seriously question whether any bolt gun that costs as much as it does {and will as it gets more expensive...} will appeal to many fellows who can afford it {wouldn't they rather spend a bit more or less and get a "real" Mauser?} and certainly it will NOT appeal to many due to sheer cost.

Expensive bolt guns always seem to run into the brick wall of the simple fact that they do absolutely nothing functionally that relatively cheap guns don't do.

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