Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Kimber Mountain Ascent 280 Ackley Improved

I have had a Kimber Mountain Ascent in 280 AI for a couple of weeks now and wanted to share the results so far.

I own several lightweight rifles, including 2 Kimber Montanas, Titanium Browning A-Bolt, 2 Tikka Superlights, Browning X-bolt, and a Forbes Rifle. I was reluctant to buy a Kimber for a long time based upon the accuracy concerns, but that seems to be less of a concern as of late. I eventually bought a Kimber and it has turned out to be my favorite rifle. It is the Kimber Montana in 308, which is also the lightest, but I have always wanted a little more downrange energy. I have been looking at the 280 Ackley Improved in a Montana but when the Mountain Ascent came out, I had to have one. I found one on GB and began to trick it out. I put a Leupold 3-9x33 Ultralight scope and lapped the Talley extra low mounts. I removed the muzzle brake in an attempt to reduce further hearing damage�..ugh, the provided thread protector works well. I also reduced the trigger to 1.5 pounds. The Kimber triggers are easy to adjust and very crisp.

After I removed the muzzle brake and installed the scope, the rifle weighs 5# 15 oz. I like to backpack hunt and have strived to reduce all weight�. including my own weight, haha. Consequently, hunting has been much more enjoyable. While this rifle is very light, I have been wondering if I should of bought an Ascent in 308 instead; maybe that will be on my Christmas list next year. At 5# 15oz, the Mountain Ascent 280 AI compares well to my other guns. The Kimber Montana in 308 with a Leupold 3x9-33, Talley extra lows, and a replacement aluminum trigger guard, weighs 5# 11 oz. The extra 4 ounces of the Ascent 280 AI puts a long-action rifle in my hand in a caliber well suited to longer ranges.

The description on the rifle says the barrel is stainless with some coating on it, Kimcoat I believe. It looks like naked stainless steel to me. The fluting on the bolt is nice. I am not sure the fluting on the barrel reduces much weight. I think it is more aesthetics than function. I love the straight stock of the Kimber Montana and the Mountain Ascent has the same design, which reduces felt recoil. The factory Nosler 140 grains at 3150 fps are a formidable load, but the recoil is mild to very mild.






I cleaned the rifle between shots for the first ten shots and then after each group during the first session. As expected, since I was cleaning between shots and groups, the groups were not great. I was shooting factory loaded Nosler Accubonds in 140 grain. The results of the three-shot groups follow:

12-8-12
1.7� Nosler Accubond 140 factory � clean between shots
1.9� Nosler Accubond 140 factory � clean between shots
1.9� Nosler Accubond 140 factory � clean between shots
1.8� Nosler Accubond 140 factory � clean between groups
2.0� Nosler Accubond 140 factory � clean between groups
1.8� Nosler Accubond 140 factory � clean between groups

I took the gun hunting on 12-15-12. It is a great carry gun. I shot a couple of management does at 300 yards. The shot placement was not great but I didn�t have the best rest, it was windy, I was shooting over broom weeds, and hey West Texas whitetails are a small target. Even with less-than-ideal shot placement, the bullets hammered the deer. The gun was a dream to carry but I wish the hits had been more confidence inspiring. I should also practice those types of shots more.

I next loaded a few hand loads with Berger 140 grain VLD Hunting bullets. I tried to seat them near the lands but they would not work in the action. The longer seating would fit the magazine but they could not be ejected, and with a blind box magazine, that is problematic. Therefore, I seated them only as deep as required to allow them to function in the action with a CAOL 3.31". The wind was blowing about 15mph during testing, but here are the results of the three-shot groups:

0.7� 59gr H4831
1.1� 60gr H4831
1.3� 61gr H4831
1.2� 62gr H4831







I also loaded a few Ballistic Tips in 140 grain. Again, I could not get these seated near the lands so I seated them just enough to allow the rounds to function in the action. The bullets were seated with a CAOL of 3.29". For reference factory 140 Accubonds have a CAOL 3.28". A summary of the three-shot groups follows:

1.3� 60gr H4831
0.9� 61gr H4831
1.2� 62gr H4831



[img:center]http://i1167.photobucket.com/albums/q630/MarkBurkett/280Target4_zps50ba8c8a.jpg[/img]

I waited for the gun to cool between groups. The gun has very acceptable hunting accuracy and I believe the groups would have shrunk without the 15mph wind. I will keep tweaking the loads. I have another round of Bergers loaded with deeper bullet seating and I have also loaded some 162 Amax bullets.

I love the weight of the gun. The stock color is growing on me �.. slowly, but it fits me very well. When I pull it to my cheek I am looking down the scope. It surprises me that many factory stock are still designed for sights even though very few rifles like this have sights anymore. This stock is designed for a scope. The fit and finish is good. My gun feeds well. I love the trigger and like the stainless barrel. When I get the right loads, this will be a great backpack rifle. I don�t know if I could do much better.