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

^^^^^^

This

So it doesn't matter if it shoots good or not?


Can you tell I'm not a Kimber lover?

Bet he doesn't blow up guns though.....


BCSteve, hope you can figure it out soon.

Berger's twist rate calculator shows the 120 GMX as being real marginal on stability in a 9 twist. I wouldn't be a bit surprised if that's most of the reason for the truly abysmal accuracy there.

Otherwise the rifle looks like it just needs the SAS treatment, and I suspect it will be shooting fine. Funny thing is, depending on the order in which the Fusions were shot, if you had stopped at three shots some of the groups would have been just over the magic MOA everyone seems to think is necessary to kill a deer. This is a good example of why a person shouldn't rely on 3 shot groups to determine accuracy.

Have you thought about another scope?

I know of a few members here who had trouble with 260 MT's(several years ago).

Pretty sure that was the trouble child for Kimber.

It's interesting that the groups seemed to get worse as you went along.

Bad scope? Cracked mount or ring? All the other stuff of course.

I've seen a lot on here about proper bench technique for light rifles. If you're not experienced in that area, you might want to ask someone who is so you can properly evaluate the progress you hopefully will make finding the problem.

Good luck. It's tough when you get all fired up about a new toy and then run into trouble.

The .260 quietly left the Kimber lineup after a year or so. I think Kimber hired grief counselors for their "customer service".

Those targets look like most of the Ruger 77s that I have owned.

Fortunately I have a Kimber Montana in 300 WSM that makes holes just like BSA's targets.

donsm70

With a used 260 this was my first thought as well, but I would double check the scope/mounts first and then try the SAS treatment before reaching that conclusion.

I remember reading about that, now that you mention it. I've always wondered if they dropped the chambering because of poor sales, or because of possible accuracy issues.

Good idea here. The SAS/brad treatment should be pursued.

In case there is anyone relatively inexperienced out there reading this, it isn't the cartridge that is problematic. The 260 Remington is easy to work with.

I have two Montanas; a 257R (purchased used) and a 708. The 708 shot about like your 260 and the 257R was even worse. I followed Stick's and SAS treatment and both shoot great now. The biggest problem, as far as I can tell, was the bedding.

This is what I did to improve the accuracy of my 708:
-lightened the trigger
-had the crown touched up (it was really rough)
-fully floated the barrel back to the lug
-bedded the lug tight and drimmeled under for some clearance.
-replaced the front guard screw with a Rem 700 (had to trim down a few threads)

I'm still in the load development stage so most of my groups are 50 yds but it give you an idea of how it will shoot. I've tried 120 NBT, 120 TTSX, 140 AB and 140 NBT and get good accuracy with everything so far.

120 TTSX and RL-15



the crown before it was touched up


Good luck with the 260

On the handguns, I think it's because they look fancy.

On the long guns, it's a mystery to me.

Never understood the rolling of the dice by so many.

When you get ready to sell.... Let me know... Seriously

Same here. I own 7 Kimbers (3 Montanas, 2 Classics, 2 Classic Selects) and they are all shooters. Maybe I should buy a Lotto ticket from what I'm reading here.

lochsa I would not be surprised to see a good bedding job give those results.It doesn't take 5 minutes to check this stuff. The bedding on mine is so obviously "bad" you really can't miss it.

I've had a 257 Roberts Montana that shot great; but I think every Kimber should come with an "Possible Assembly Required" warning label on the box.

I figured this thread would get attention.

To answer some of the questions and comments.

I was shooting with a front rest and a rear bag but was holding the forend behind the rest to reduce the hop off the bag instead of letting it free recoil.

The rings are new and not cracked. The scope is proven but I may try a different one that the road if nothing else works.

I have some 140gr A-Max, SMK's, Scenars and 130gr Bergers that I may load to try if a "target" bullet would be more accurate.

The barrel was scrubbed down to metal and DBC applied. Shot 10-12 rounds to cure the product and cleaned with Wipe-out prior to this range session. I cleaned the barrel with Wipe-out after this range session and it didn't appear to be overly dirty.

I'm going to take it out of the stock tomorrow and check the mag box, action screw length and scope base screws to start with.

Fingers crossed.

Steve drop the action back into the stock without the mag box. Be interested in what you see.