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.

Nice.......just be careful where you lay it down or you may be going home without your new rifle.

I'm glad they decided to leave the battleship grey coating off. Nice looking rig!

I'll be interested to see how it shoots the 162gr Amax, I'd also be interested in how it shoots the 168gr Berger VLD Hunting bullet.

Great write up. Thanks!

Mine also likes Re 22 and the 140 grain TTSX. My cold weather load is H4831. Same POI and close in velocity.

Nice review bud! What did the Forbes end up weighing all up?

Thx for the review, I've been around the same rig and it seems nice.

Be interesting to do some bedding work on that rig. And, it'll be interesting to see how it's shooting when you get around 150 rounds or so.

Thx for the review

Dober

(smart move keeping the brake off and by the way how'd the Browning Ti shoot?)

Side note, after it gets broke in and bedded and you're in sink with it I'm for betting you find a load that will perk along in the .75-.8" range.

Dober

It sounds like I am going to have to try Reloader 22 for this cartridge. I would appreciate any load data you have for this setup. I know all rifles are different but it might give me a good starting point.

Thanks for the comments. I have learned a lot on here. Hopefully, the information posted helps others.

I put a Leupold Ultralight 3x9-33 scope on the Forbes [24b 270] and it weighs 6# 5 ounces. It has a thicker barrel but a lightweight stock, thus front heavy. It is a nice feeling rifle with the extra weight out front. I accidentally banged the scope against the deer blind a couple of weeks ago. It chipped paint and dented the front of the scope housing. I checked the zero with a 3-shot group. The POI was still on and it printed a 0.5" group. It's a nice rifle and the Talley lightweight mounts passed the test..... again.

Dober

The Browning Titanium A-bolt shoots good. It is a 300 WSM and it only weighs 6# 10oz with a Leupold 3.5x10-40 and Talley lightweight mounts. I may be a wimp, but it kicks hard. Therefore, I have not shot anything heavier than 150 gr bullets. I haven't had a chance to work up hand loads yet but with factory Federal 150 Ballistic Tips, it is under 1 MOA consistently. I like the gun, but it will make you flinch.

Thanks for taking the time to fill us in! I'm waffling between the two, waiting for the SS Forbs to come out.

My 280 AI loves 64g of RL 22 and 140 TTSX's @3150.

Darktimber: Nice writeup and report...thanks.That out fit has a lot of appeal....a long action,lightweight with that sort of performance is nothing to sneer at...Mmmm I ain't getting any younger.....

Had you chronogrpahed the loads or did I miss that?Whats your thoughts on the recoil? I sold a Kimber Montana in 7mmWSM because I thought it was a rude, hard snapping little bugger.Is this Ascent manageable?

Thanks. I did not get to chronograph the loads. The fps references were printed on Nosler's box so I am not sure of the actual speed. Regarding recoil, I think I am pretty sensitive to recoil. It is not the pain but more the fear of developing a flinch. I was concerned the 280 AI would buck pretty hard with this light of a rifle, but it has been pleasant so far. I am sure it will be more noticeable with a heavier bullet, which I plan to test, but so far it has been pleasant, even at the range.

Thanks for taking the time to fill us in on this one

Thanks for the 411 and pictures. Nice looking gun.

Very nice write up and report, I'm not crazy about the brake and glad to hear its easily removable. Though I love the 280 and the 280ai would do just as well, I'd be excited if they released it in 7mm-08.

Nice write up. Thanks for that!

I'd be interested in how much recoil the brake would minimize -and-
whether or not the POI would change. Could run it "brake on" to practice and "off" to hunt.

That should be a great all-around rig for just about anything in N.A.... or even Texas!

Mind sharing your loads for RL-22 and H4831?