Originally Posted by SakoShooter
No contest, Sako A7 and don't think twice. I used to own an A7 soft touch stainless in 30-06 and it was a good shooter and I felt the stock was a lot stiffer and better designed than those on cheaper rifles.
Mine came with a cheap burris scope and rings mounted on weaver bases, but I replaced the scope and bought one piece Talley lightweight rings (browning a-bolt rings fit the A7) and threw out the weaver bases. It's a very friendly rifle for scope mounting, with a low bolt lift and no need to deal with inflexible proprietary rings and bases like its big brother Sako 85.
I'm not sure if you have a scope picked out, but with the 90 degree bolt lift of the Kimber, many scopes with larger diameter eyepieces simply will not mount low enough to be comfortable, this might sound trivial, but if you end up finding a scope that you love, and it doesn't work right with your rifle, you'll end up changing rifles.... been there more than once myself.
I've never fired a Kimber hunter, but I've played with them in store, the stock is far inferior to the A7, especially if you buy the roughtech version, the barrel is a thinner profile which will make range time less fun for sure, and I hate the blocky plastic magazine with its cheezy plastic release tab.
In short, scopes will mount lower on the A7, the stock is superior, the magazine is way better, it has a slightly heavier, but still sporter weight barrel, and you can expect better accuracy from the A7.
I sold mine because I have too many rifles and synthetic stocks don't really excite me so it never got used much.
I will say, Kimber makes several rifles I would definitely own, but they are priced much higher than the Hunter, which is a budget gun along the lines of a Ruger American, or Winchester XPR, but without the budget price.
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