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Kimber Model 82 .22LR

Kiwi 'smith Dean

Cast Iron
Joined
Jan 13, 2011
Location
Tauranga, New Zealand.
Hi Guys,

just looking for some help from anyone who maybe happens to own one of these old rifles?

Made in Clackamas, Oregon, years ago. This one that i have here is a repair job for a customer - the previous 'tinkerer' has well butchered a few of the bolt parts like the cocking piece, mainspring, etc. to the point now where the rifle consistently miss-fires, and I suspect that the firing pin fall distance is shorter than what it should be? The rest of the rifle is not too bad, so i would liek to be able to get it operational again and working reliably for my customer.

Anyway, easy option would be if i could just purchase the replacement parts required.(Does anyone have a good source for obsolete Kimber parts???)

Other option is if someone out there could be so kind as to be able to provide me some close up digital pics of the bolt/parts from their own gun, then at least i could at least get a head start on see what the parts 'should' look like, if i have to go down the track of making up replacement parts from scratch myself?

Please PM me if you can help, or preferably email me direct at [email protected]

Thanks, Dean.
 
Hi Guys,

just looking for some help from anyone who maybe happens to own one of these old rifles?

Made in Clackamas, Oregon, years ago. This one that i have here is a repair job for a customer - the previous 'tinkerer' has well butchered a few of the bolt parts like the cocking piece, mainspring, etc. to the point now where the rifle consistently miss-fires, and I suspect that the firing pin fall distance is shorter than what it should be? The rest of the rifle is not too bad, so i would liek to be able to get it operational again and working reliably for my customer.

Anyway, easy option would be if i could just purchase the replacement parts required.(Does anyone have a good source for obsolete Kimber parts???)

Other option is if someone out there could be so kind as to be able to provide me some close up digital pics of the bolt/parts from their own gun, then at least i could at least get a head start on see what the parts 'should' look like, if i have to go down the track of making up replacement parts from scratch myself?

Please PM me if you can help, or preferably email me direct at [email protected]

Thanks, Dean.

Kimber are still in business, if they have no parts can they provide drawings?
 
There are no parts availible for the rifle, the only ones are from rifles that have been parted out. Kimber does not support these rifles any longer, but may be able to provide a parts drawing.
Many of these guns were sold to the army on a contract for marksmanship training but were wharehoused and sold through the CMP to civilians. Check around your area for a small bore club or a CMP club, somebody will have one you can get your hands on.
 
There are no parts availible for the rifle, the only ones are from rifles that have been parted out. Kimber does not support these rifles any longer, but may be able to provide a parts drawing.
Many of these guns were sold to the army on a contract for marksmanship training but were wharehoused and sold through the CMP to civilians. Check around your area for a small bore club or a CMP club, somebody will have one you can get your hands on.

OP is in New Zealand Probably no CMP there
 
This is sad, especially for a company of Kimber's stature. " We don't support that any longer" means "We got our money, Fuck you, you're on your own". There was a time when manufacturers took pride in servicing ALL their products, not just the ones they had leftover parts for.
 
These guns were built over 30 years ago for a contract with the army. Even companies like Winchester and Remington don’t support these guns anymore. Call them and try to get parts for a model 12, 52, or 722.
Man I wonder how that thing made it to NZ, very few were sold to the civilian market until they were surplused 10 years ago.
Perhaps if you call kimber they will provide you with a drawing since your in NZ
 
I have several of the M82GOVT versions but they are elsewhere at the moment. If you will list the parts you need (and maybe some pix, too), I will take some measurements and pix and maybe make some drawings for you.
 
I have several of the M82GOVT versions but they are elsewhere at the moment. If you will list the parts you need (and maybe some pix, too), I will take some measurements and pix and maybe make some drawings for you.

Thanks, i will try to get some pics taken tomorrow then post them on here.
The rifle has a stainless fluted barrel. There would have been a small number of these imported into NZ at some point maybe 20-30 years ago. I have maybe only seen 2 or 3 others pop up for sale at gunshows in the past 20 years. The ones like this would have been a fairly pricey .22 at the time.

As others have mentioned the 'Kimber' company of today is totally different to the original 'Kimber of Oregon', as like alot of gun companies they either went bust or got sold and flogged by dubious businesmen/investors - i.e. Not really 'gun guys'. Sometimes several times...... I do some warranty work for the current 'Kimber' agents here, and i am pretty sure i will get zero help from them in regards to this rifle, hence the request for help here.
 
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In particular, i would like to know what the length of the cocking piece should be from the rear face to the front tip/nose? On my one here is seems to have been shortened to around 1.618" OAL. I suspect it should maybe be about 0.030" or so longer?? Also, the angle on that face seems to have been altered, what should the correct angle be?

Also, it looks like some amount of metal has been ground and polished off of the surface of the CP stem along it's length, and this is allowing a bit of flex and sometimes the nose of the cocking piece slips over and past the face of the sear when the bolt is closed quickly.

As i may have alluded to earlier, i hate having to undo other guys screw-ups, but the rest of the gun is just too nice to scrap it or part it out. Some pics and dimensions of an unaltered cocking piece would help me to make a new one if required, if we can't get a replacement part. Please email me directly with photos if you can: [email protected]

Thanks, Dean.
 
This is sad, especially for a company of Kimber's stature. " We don't support that any longer" means "We got our money, Fuck you, you're on your own". There was a time when manufacturers took pride in servicing ALL their products, not just the ones they had leftover parts for.

In many cases the knowledge got lost. Employees left, no longer used drawings were discarded to save space, company got sold or moved, and so on. It's sad, but that is more the norm than the exception today. A while back I called a manufacturer of electronic welding lenses for information about an older model. They didn't even have any knowledge of that model even though it was likely one of the first they made.

Unfortunately, a lot of older documentation was not archive quality and didn't survive or get transferred to something like microfilm.

One thing that severely impacted many U.S. firms was the drive to get rid of older workers to save pension costs starting several decades ago. A lot of knowledge went out the door without getting passed on.
 
It turns out that one of my M82GOVT rifles is at my current location, so I took a look at it. Unfortunately, it appears the design of the back end of the bolt is different from the one you have. It is a single piece, not two pieces as it appears yours is. And the striker is retained by a vertical cross pin.

I can proceed with my offer if you think it would help. Pix would be easy. Let me know. I will also check the other ones later this week to see if they are the same or like yours.

Getting parts from the US may run afoul of Obama's ITAR rules. I have heard that the sitting President may rescind that but who knows if or when.
 
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I hung out in a gun shop sometimes when last dragged to the beach! The owner had a german pistol he had given up trying to get firing pins for. I took the one he presently had in the gun home and just made him 3 firing pins of different lengths and mailed them to him. Never got a thank you,but I'm sure one of them was long enough. Made oif 01 drill rod,hardened and drawn purple.
 
There are 2 models of these that I 'know of'. I think the 'B' model added the external bolt release. I don't know what else may have changed.

I have one of each, an early sporter, and a commercial Gov't model. I'll dig them out and see what if any differences there might be in the firing pin assy.
 
What is the firing pin protrusion from the bolt face with the pin in the fired position? If memory serves it should be in the .035-.040" range. long enough to deliver the blow but not so long as to hit the barrel face. I think the Kimber was safe to dry fire without damaging the barrel. Can you post a picture of the firing pin imprint on a couple of cases? Maybe one that went off and one that didn't? That may help. If it can't be solved here, try the Rimfire Central forum for a broader specific knowledge base.
 
I think the original Kimber 82 was based on an Australian made rifle that was sold in the U. S. As the Winchester 310. (If I recall correctly) Sportco - Wikipedia

You might check with your cousins to see if there are any parts available that might work. The Warnes (founders of the original Kimber of Oregon) came here from Australia and I think brought the basic design with them.

However, looking at your pictures, your rifle may have been from the following generation that came after the original Kimber ended. How the parts vary I have no idea.
 








 
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