Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Considering a Kimber Montana 308

I bought a Montanna in .308 for my son,the day after he was born.I liked it so much,I bought another one in .300 wsm.I never used it for elk but I've killed loads of deer with it.I live in Pa and hunt some steep mountainous terrain in the northcentral part of the state.It's light,accurate and just feels good in my hands.I put talley mounts on it and a 3x9 Sightron big sky.My favorite load is 45gr of varget behind a 165 gr accubond.I've yet to have a deer take a step and only recovered one bullet that traveled lengthwise through a doe and lodged under the skin in front of her chest.When son son turned 9 this past year,he wanted to start using it.I loaded 42.5gr of IMR3031 behind a 125 accubond for him.He handles the mild recoil fine and has killed two deer with that load.I'll most likley use the 300 wsm this deer throughout deer season but I'll be getting another Montanna in .308 after Christmas.I couldn't imagine a season without ne in my hands.If elk were on the list as much as deer,I'd probably opt for a 300 wsm but that's me.

Bought a Super America for my wife about 10 years ago. It wears a Leupold 2-7 Compact. With 165 TSX it has accounted for zebra, fallow, impala, warthog, bushbuck, blackbuck. Nice rifle. If I ask her nice she lets me borrow it sometimes too.

I've had a KM for a couple of years,,it took me a bit to find a load but once varget came into play it became a model rifle. Only 1 big game animals so far but it will be my moose rifle for our late season here at the Lake.

Nice wolf. Diggin' on the hide color. You catch the pack working the lake?

stalker,,,,I was sitting right her having coffee when the dogs started raising hell,,shot from the steps at 125yds!

Nice!
Scope and load for yours?

46.5 Varget,, 150 Nosler Partition

This one also on the ice out front,,30 Gibbs 165 Hornady SP,,62gr H-4350

That's exactly what I'm shooting right now. I got the B&C crosshair setup. Talley ringmounts. I've had it about 4 years.

Mine has proven particularly touchy about accuracy. I've used maybe a dozen-15 bullets, 10+ powders, 2-3 primers, WW brass, Lapua brass. I found 2 loads that shoot. Both use RL 15, WW brass, and federal 210M primers. 43.5 grains of RL15 under a 165 accubond or 44.0 grains of RL15 under a 165 partition. Change ANYTHING, even vary the powder charge by a half grain, and you'll be lucky to hit a grapefruit at 100 yards. With those loads, I get about 3" groups at 200 with the accubond or about 1.75" groups with the partition. I wouldn't bother with the accubond but I have about 6 boxes on hand. When they're gone, I won't replace them.

I really hoped it would be more flexible. I wanted to run 180 grain accubonds or partitions for elk and 150s for deer. No go in the accuracy department. I wanted to run 110-130 grain varmint bullets. Also no-go. Light X bullets .. no go. It's truly a two, almost one, load rifle.

I'm thinking hard about replacing it with another Montana in .257 Roberts or .280 AI and getting a heavy barreled 700 in .308.

Tom

I have a Montana 308 and like it, but love my Montana 84L 25-06, 280 and 2 30-06s more than the 308. All of mine so far are accurate with .280 and .25-06 shooting clover leafs fairly often, though I haven't fired one of the 30-06s.

For the rough, open country I often hunt, I prefer the balance of the 84l.

Not an elk or deer, but a 150ttsx out of my Kimber Montana in .308 Winchester worked on this guy. A 150gr Hornady SST also worked on a sheep. I reach for this gun more often than not, as it feels like I'm carrying a .22 more than a .308. Have the Leupold 2.5-8X36 on it, and it just seems to fit. I've loaded up 130ttsx over Varget at 3150fps, 150ttsx over Varget at 2850fps, 168ttsx over IMR4064 at 2750, and 200 Partitions over RL17 at 2550fps. All shot reasonably well. I wouldn't change a thing, and likely never will.

wilhelm,

That's like 10 deer combined! Impressive moose, very nice!

wilhelm,
Congrats on the moose with the .308Win.. Welcome aboard here.

Great lookin moose, and welcome to the fire

wilhem,, that's a dandy moose congrats!!

Thanks for the welcomes and congrats. Some say the Kimber Montanas can be finicky, but I couldn't be happier. The rifle shoots well enough for my uses, and they have a lot to offer for the way we tend to hunt...either on snowmachine or four-wheeler bouncing around with the rifle slung over your shoulder, or hiking miles to get into places.

Thanks for all the replies this is exactly the kind of info I was looking for. Keep em coming! I did not realize that the kimber was so popular in Alaska. That says a lot about how tough they are. As luck would have it I just missed the exact set up I asked about in the classifieds the other day. However I did get to speak with Heavybarrel which was a very enjoyable experience. Lots of good people here!

One heck of a bull!

My .308 Montana wears the Kimber factory rings, and is topped with a VX-2 2-7. My gun loves a 165 gr Accubond with 45.5 gr of RL 15. My last group was a ragged one holer that I haven't measured yet.

Mine is about the same: VX-2 2-7x33, kimber bases, !ow rings. The only change I'm considering is to switch to leupold dual dovetail bases/rings. (But haven't checked yet to see if they're available for the 84) I've put the DD bases on a couple of other rifles and really like the simplicity and (at least to my logic) increased strength.

I was on the hunt for that rifle as well. If I hadn't been hunting, I likely would have taken it. But another will come along.