Underneath, the 8400 Advanced Tactical has much in common with the 8400 Tactical: same mechanism and barrel dimensions, same 20-minute slant in the rail. However, its stock offers more features: adjustable comb, butt spacers to change length, four flush QD swivel cups.

Appropriately, this sophisticated hardware comes in a heavy-duty tan polymer hard-case, with six push-button latches and hard-foam interior. The Kimber 8400 Advanced Tactical weighs 93⁄4 pounds and will set you back $2,497.

The rifles I received for testing looked new; however, their trigger pulls were lighter than the three- to 31⁄2-pound pulls Kimber claims as factory settings. Triggers on the LPT and Tactical models broke crisply at just under 21⁄2 pounds, that on the Advanced Tactical just under two.

The latter was already scoped with a Leupold 3.5-10X LR/T with illuminated reticle. On the LPT I mounted a Bushnell 3-9X 3200 Elite, on the Tactical a 12x42 AO. (The practice of using 8-40 screws instead of 6-48s is a thoughtful departure from tradition, particularly in light of the heavier scopes now popular on tactical rifles.)

After zeroing, I fired all three rifles with a variety of match ammunition and some sporting loads. Bullet weights were 110, 150, 155, 168 and 175 grains.

The 84M LPT performed best with Black Hills 168 Match. But it didn't group quite as tightly as I'd hoped, averaging a bit over a minute of angle. The 8400 Tactical shot better, averaging about 3/4 inch.

The 8400 Advanced Tactical showed a tendency to horizontal stringing, though I managed one three-shot, one-hole group. As is my custom, I tested myself to ensure I could hold as tight as these rifles could shoot. With other rifles, I drilled groups of 1/4 and 1/2 inch.

The reluctance of the AT to group consistently puzzled me, as most Kimber rifles are accurate. So I spoke to people at the company and learned that this rifle had been out on other testing sessions and that perhaps a super-thorough cleaning was in order.

I did as instructed and headed back to the bench. I thumbed Hornady 155-grain TAP cartridges into the rifle and got a 7/8-inch group. It would prove the biggest of the day. The 110-grain TAPs that drilled the one-holer now cut a 1/4-inch group.

Black Hills 175s gave me a 5/8-inch cluster, as did Fiocchi hunting ammo with 150-grain SSTs. Given this level of accuracy, I could have punched a golf ball at 200 yards all afternoon. The willingness of the AT to digest a wide range of bullet weights pleased me. Rifles fussy about fodder don't.

There were no malfunctions from the Kimbers. Bolts cycled smoothly and cartridges fed without a hiccup, the Mauser-style extractor controlling them from initial contact to lock-up. Single-cartridge feeding was easy too, as the extractor lip is fashioned to jump over a round chambered by hand.