I had several light primer strikes with failure to fire last year leading up to the fall so I decided to not use my Kimber Montana and put it away for the rest of the year and work on it in the off season. I measured the pin protrusion and it was .055 and that's considered good and on the top side of max so I cleaned it up and polished the pin but decided since it was all torn apart I would put a new spring in it. So a phone call to Kimber and $18 later I have a new spring in hand. Can't help but notice the length difference of the new one vs the old one with probably less than 500 shots on it but it's a solid 7/16 longer.

My thought is I might have got an M spring installed in my L action from the factory

Sending you a 7/16" longer spring as a "fix" tells me there is a design problem.
On the other hand, if your original spring belonged on a 84M, that speaks to a lack of quality control.

They didn't just send it to me.

I explained my problem and the customer service rep wanted me to take the scope off and send the rifle back to Kimber for inspection

I wasn't doing that so I had to buy a spring.....no free ride

Just what bigwhoop was saying. Maybe they sent one for an 84M not L. Gotta wonder. Personally I really like my Montana to the point that I just bought another one. But light strikes and then they send a shorter spring has me thinking out loud "something's not right here!" Please let us know when you get it all back together. Terry

The old spring is the short one

The new one is the long one

I can't help but wonder if they put a M length spring in my L

But if you look closely the coil count is the same 32 just closer on the shorty

Did you leave the bolt cocked while in storage for an extended length of time?

Nope

I think it was a chronic problem with kimbers. I had an 8400 that had the same problem.

Me too. And the new spring looked about 1/2 inch longer but had the same number of coils as the old one.

I called Kimber today and got the un-pleasure to speak with Alen, the Kimber Customer Service Supervisor

He would answer no questions

Only kept telling me to remove the scope and send my rifle to Kimber for inspection

The Kimber customer service reputation is earned for sure

It's obviously a junk rifle with terrible customer service involved.

Package the bolt pieces and springs complete in a plastic bag and send it along with the rifle to me as soon as my check to you for $5500 clears.

That way we'll both be happy.

Let me know. GFY is anticipated.

That sounds like a good deal to me.

Dink

I've seen 60-year old rifles stored cocked that whole time that have not problem with a weak spring issue.

It's yours and I will throw in a soft spring

I had a lot of FTF's in my 84M 308, I check firing pin protrusion and it was fine, I ordered a spring from Wolfe but I have not installed it yet.

tedhorn, did it correct the problem?

I have called Kimber two times in 10 years

They are two for two and on working very hard to do very little

Kimber USA......The worst customer service in the firearms industry

Did you happen to be using CCI 250 primers? I had to stop using the CCI 250 primer in that .308 load.

Sounds like Kimber has a problem no doubt. Messed up an $1300 rifle comes with a chit spring.

I put thew new spring in and set the pin at .055

I will shoot it this weekend

btw.....I have read the Wolf spring is too fat

Be sure and let us know

Hi

Dang. That was easy. I figured with all of the praise you were dumping on Kimber that it would take at least $10K to pry it loose if it came to that.

I'm sure the problem has several easy fixes if it really needs a fix that won't require 17 pages of jaw gnashing.

Kimber Strikes again !

Damn Glad I got a Tikka Superlight instead,
I was thinking seriously about getting one but read too much bad about the Quality. Hit or miss.
Guys that like them REALLY like them.
Guys that dont like them(is in have had issues )REALLY dont like them.
I really like the concept but the execution seems to go either way!
By the way I have read of the problems with in Nathan Fosters Book "The Pratical guide to Long range Hunting rifles)
One of the things he says is to avoid Kimber like the plague !
"He says the lightweight models have weak firing pin spring(main spring)inconsistant ignition which cannot be remedied"
These are his words and not mine as I have never had one.

Yep.....easy fix

$18 spring

Yes CCI primers

But they go bang in my other Kimber and my 700's

I really like my 308 donor, love my 7WSM and can't wait to pick up a 223 for what I paid for the 308. I don't care if the box rubs the stock, it needs bedding, a trigger adjustment, shortened scope base screws, clearance around the action screws, firing pin spring or a combination of the above.

Yea I was kinda bummed. Primer switch made my groups worse. CCI 250's went into the .3's. But the CCI was to hard for the mighty Kimber spring. Oh well, switched to FED 210 primers and groups went into the .5's

Haven't had any issues with my 308 Montana, but this thread doesn't exactly instill any confidence if I get a shot at a big buck next fall....

Yeah, Brad has had poor results WRT killing chit with Kimber's.

Never had a problem killing chit with a rifle that doesn't fail

I have many far less expensive that have been nothing but 100% reliable

Like I said earlier, selling you a new spring that is 7/16" longer indicates something is radically wrong.
I wish I had a 84M and an 84L model - as I'd take 'em apart and check the length of each spring.

The Kimber guy.....Allen

Said the spring is interchangeable

The front section of the pin is shorter to accommodate the M but that is about all he would tell me

I would like to find a source on a quality after market spring

I have less than 2500k rounds total between my two Kimbers but not a misfire yet. Both 84M's, plan on getting an 84L soon and will have to compare the springs.

Ted,
Check WIlson. As I recall when I replaced mine ($18.00 from Kimber) I found them on Wilson's website cheaper. Although mine had been in the rifle 10 years since I owned it so if this one goes 10 years I really won't complain.

Wolfe is about as good as it gets for springs. Yes they have them for kimbers, Had some issues with a couple of 22lr's.

I have read the wolf spring to be too big on the OD dimension

What is the length of the longer Kimber spring?

4"

Short one is 3.6

Thanks, will have to measure mine. Don't want a misfire in the back of my mind....

I have put 2 wolfe springs in and they were not to big.

That's good news