Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Crappy shooting Montana (for real)!

Everybody likes the Montana here so I figured I'd give one a try. Got a line on a used one in the somewhat rare and my favorite caliber, the .260 Rem. Really like the feel of the action and stock, I could see why everybody likes the.

I was out of 120 TTSX which I had been shooting in my Rem 700 in .260 Rem so I grabbed some 120gr Hornady GMX. I loaded a few with some H4831sc and some with some H4350. I also grabbed some leftover loads for my other .260 Rem loaded with 120gr TTSX and a box of factory 120gr Federal Fusion.

I headed to the range last week end to see what she would do, that's when things started to go down.

First the Factory Fusion. Figured it was not great but its factory ammo, my handloads should tightened that up.



120gr GMX with H4350. Nope, not any better.



120gr GMX with H4831sc. Even worst! The third shot of this group hit the target to the left of it, about 10" to the left (the 46gr of H4350 target, the hole to the bottom left!).


120gr TTSX. Obviously this rifle doesn't like the GMX. Surely my old standard load should fix things up. Nope.


This is at 100 yds, Kimber Montana in .260 Rem with a VXIII 3.5-10x40 in Talley LW.

I had a quick look at Shortactionsmoker's tutorial before heading out to the range but figured mine would be one of the good ones. I'll take it apart this week end and re-read the tutorial!

You need to borrow some targets from BSA hunter, his are never over 1/2 inch...

I got one last week,waiting on mounts guess ill find out soon enough.

I feel your pain. I went to Pac-nor.

Still working with the rifle, but at least now the cold bore shots are very consistent. With the factory barrel it would only group well if the barrel was warm, and you spaced your shots just right. Which of course is useless for a hunting rifle.

That sucks.



Travis

Bummer, probably definitely something amiss. I will note that if I shoot mine off a bipod without holding the forend at all it looks kind of like that. Not quite so bad, maybe like the Fusion load. But hold it like you're hunting and it shoots lights out.

Holy hell Batman! I think you might have lost at Kimber Roulettte!.............Good luck........Hb

Steve, hope you get things sorted out. SAS's remedies should cure what ails.

Copper fouled barrel?

For the money that kimbers cost, why do people tolerate that level of shoddy workmanship?

Have you tried some lead bullets? I've found monos are more finicky with seating depth.

USED Kimber.
Mystery solved.

When you buy a Kimber you're not paying for workmanship. At that price or even less there are rifles with better workmanship. You are paying a premium for a rifle that is 2-3 lbs lighter than the competition. If you want a rifle that weighs under 6 lbs scoped it is a bargain. Anything else at that weight will cost 2X-3X more.

It's a wonderful design.

But whoever accepted the barrel on mine should have to eat it

I have two Kimber rifles, and a 1911 pistol. They have wonderful designs, and then cut corners on them to save a few bucks.

If Ruger can put nice barrels on American Rifles, that sell for 1/2 the Kimber's price, there's not much excuse for Kimber using crappy barrels.

I would follow SAS tutorial. I have a 260Rem that shot fine until I had it cerakoted and rebedded by the fellow doing the cerakote. Shot crap and the bedding job is rubbish. This weekend with SAS tutorial I will bed it myself.

Can't understand why people whinge about Kimbers when just about every new, or used, rifle I have had has needed work. Bedding to start with.

Hope you can get yours shooting well. Look forward to following the progress.

Don't despair. Give the bore a good cleaning with something like Wipe-Out, then do the SAS thing and it should shoot fine.
Buying a used rifle is always a crap shoot but with a little effort it will be fine.
Of course this comes from a guy that bought a used M700 in 223 and after a barrel, stock and gunsmithing it shoots lights out but cost 3X the original price.
Rifle loonies, what can I say?

I'll second that...... The targets look like mine chambered in 7mm-08.

Dave

There are many reasons that could be causing you trouble from bedding problems to a bad or damaged crown or just a bad or horribly fouled barrel. I have worked with a noted rimfire gunsmith (I know yours is not a rimfire but accuracy is accuracy) and can tell you that even some of the top custom barrel makers occasionally make barrels that are just not up to par and factory barrels are just a crap shoot.

One thing that rimfire gunsmiths routinely do is slug the barrel (that is push a bullet down the bore with a rod) looking for tight and loose spots. This is done to assess the quality of the bore and for the gunsmith to locate a tight spot near the muzzle end, where he will cut and crown the barrel. Most custom barrels are now taper lapped so that the tightest spot is at muzzle end. Ideally, when slugging a barrel it should take constant pressure to push the slug down the barrel. If it suddenly gets easy to push the slug, you are at a loose spot. If it's loose enough you will get gas blow-by and if the loose spot is at the muzzle there is just no way it will shoot well. If you re-barrel, have your smith slug the barrel and tell him you want it cut and crowned at a tight spot, while giving him a minimum barrel length that will be acceptable for you. Having a gunsmith slug and/or bore scope your factory barrel should identify any problems with it. All accuracy problems are fixable. I would have it re-barreled by a good smith before I would send it back to Kimber.

Maybe I'm nuts but when I buy a rifle I expect it to shoot. Maybe Ive just been lucky.

Mine too. It shoots something like the OP's 260. Which is to say, it sucks

After 4-5 range session I concluded ..."this thing is sick",and tossed it in a corner.

But before I did I pulled it apart and took a close look.The guys like SAS are right and here's what I found myself. YMMV.

First, yes the mag box is binding on the bottom of the magazine well. All the tell tale shiny spots are down there.

Second when I loosened the guard screws, the action just fell out...nothing "tight" about the bedding at all,even though it "looks" perfect.

I removed the mag box and follower ,and just dropped the barreled action back into the stock. It now dropped into the stock so low that the barrel (which looked perfectly centered and floated),now made contact with the stock.It was no longer "floated".

Put this all together, and we see that with the guard screws tightened, the barreled action was "bedding" and tightening up on the top of the mag box and not making contact with the bedding surface of the stock at all...at least in the front of the action.

I had heard here about the mag box "binding", but didn't think the whole action was bedded on it...ain't hard to figure why it doesn't shoot.

I also recall Stick saying to bed the recoil lug "tight"...at least that's my memory. That in mind and with screws out, I found the action would rock and roll side to side in the stock. I think I understand what he was saying....that little action could easily roll around under the stress of shooting.

I think the fix is easy enough....bed properly and high enough to avoid the mag box thing, grind it down if necessary,be sure the tube floats. And I will bed that lug so there's no side to side rock and roll. Tight.

All stress free of course.Will see if all that works. I am not ready to trash the barrel...based on what I see. It can't possibly shoot with dogshidt bedding. Have to fix the obvious sickness first.The best barrel in the world will not shoot with lousy bedding.

But I'm no gunsmith.