I had an 8400 Montana in .270 that I liked but wasn't in love with. The stock was just too bulky. Didn't ever feel quite right in the hands. Someone wanted it so I let it go, and I haven't really missed it. I did feel the need to replace it, it was the only fully stainless synthetic lightweight setup in my safe. I looked around some and decided that I had a pile of bullets and cases and powder for that chambering, so I set out to find a new rifle in .270.

I handled a few rifles, more than a few really and decided that Kimber Hunter had most of what I was looking for. A trim profile, 24" barrel, three position safety, all at the top of the list. All I could find here in SD was .30 Gov't 06 and that would have been ok but for the components on hand already. There were a few .270's on gun broker and I found a good deal on one and had it shipped in. I wanted the KimPro coating but the rifle I found also had a RealTree camo stock. Seems to have a 22-3/4" barrel as well, oddly. Its not as ugly in person as it is in the pictures but it has grown on me. I recentered the MeoPro 3.5-10x44 which was on the Montana, mounted it in Talley LW's and went to the range Saturday noon.

I had some factory loads on hand from back in the day, Remington Safari Grade with 140 A-Frames. Felt like a decent enough place to start. Ordinarily I'd have started with blue box Federal but none to be found in my basement. I boresighted it, dropped three shots to get it roughly sighted in, and then put three more into this group:

[Linked Image from i.imgur.com]

Hard to measure on that paper but it's about .6, give or take. Looking forward to load development. I'll probably use RL26 and 150's, either NP or AB. Seems to be headed in the right direction.

"Miss Jean Louise, stand up. Your father's passin.'"