Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Kimber Montana- Should I Pull The Trigger?

Just curious- why not?

The WSM's are good, and the 8400 Kimbers are a great package.

Slight hijack here but...for a lightweight 308 that will handle great and shoot lights out get a 700 Youth in 308 (20" standard contour tube) and wrap a Ti take off around it.

It'll cost half as much as the Montana and will generally shoot twice as good if not a whole heck of a lot better...<g>

Now back to the thread.

Dober

As I recall both shooters sent them either back or down the road without new crowns. One I know was bedded...jim

30/06

Why take the gamble? Half the guys here have told you they have had problems. For half the price you can have a Tikka or a Sako A7 that is guaranteed to shoot five shots within an inch.

Oh baby...I'd be all over a A7 specially if going WSM

Dober

but then you have to put a good stock on it. Its all in your tastes and belief. I cannot get a Ruger to shoot for me, but then most folks can.

Kimber ain't the only rifle make that you'll hear differing opinions on. Tikka is another one. Big time. :p

Will

You'll be Sorryee..........They don't call it Kimber Roulette for nothing.

Couldn't give me a Kimber Rifle of any flavor. Kimber has way too many quality issues with their rifle and their customer service is somewhere between "slim and none", and "slim" has left town.

This opinion is from experience. Two rifles bought and two rifles returned to Kimber and two rifles traded off to another sucker.

pretty much yep.......if yah want fly weight, gamble on a Kimber.....had i needed to rebarrel mine i woulda still been extremely happy with it....by the time you rebarrel a new Rem 700, drop it in a McMillian Edge your getting in the same neighborhood money wise anyways.....atleast with the Kimber you get a rifle action that was designed from the ground up to be a light weight.....if flyweight is your goal Remmy Ti, Kimber or Nula are your major options, aint any of them cheap....

Flyweight is ok, but most people want a rifle that groups with paterns smaller than a 12ga.

I can get a SAKO A7 stainless that weighs the same as a KIMBER and groups under 1" everytime and with a cold barrel and no tricks. and have $400 to put toward a scope or gas for the hunt. This is a no brainer.

Or you can just get the Kimber and be ahead of the game. Two Kimbers, both shoot at/under an inch with no tricks.

I'll probably have a third sometime. Most likely one of the 84Ls.

George

I must be lucky with Kimber's, as so many others have such problems with them. I had a rem model 7 in 308 that was a 3 inch rifle, then I bought a Rem LTR 308 that shot into about 1.5 inches, I had a Rem 700 ADL 243 that was a 2 inch rifle with factory loads as I did not reload, I had a Sako 243 one of the pre garcia ones for a while, it shot so-so with any reload I could conjure up, I have had 3 Ruger bolt guns that I sold or gotten rid of etc etc. its any rifle roulette in my opinion. I will say that most folks struggle to shoot a light rifle, many cannot do it.

Montana's, at least my .325, do take some getting used to on the bench.

Mine can routinely print .75 MOA groups with the 175-gn Sierra's... IF I do my part, which includes changing how I normally bench/bag a rifle.

If I just do it my normal way, it opens up to more like 1.25-1.5 MOA.

Just FYI.

They are super hunting tools. I wouldn't buy one as a benchrest target rifle though.

Rattler,

Why would you rebarrel a new Remington? Remington doesn't seem to have the same frequency of accuracy problems that Kimber does, particularly when you consider the relative numbers of Rem 700s and Kimbers. In terms of a real lightweight at a somewhat reasonable price, the old-style Rem 700 Titaniums (before the Alaskan Titanium abomination) and a Colt Light Rifle faux NULA (Colt Light Rifle with a NULA stock) are where I would look.

The 308 is no issue from the bench. I routinely shoot much harder-kicking rifles. The Kimber was just extremely finicky from the beginning in ammo preference.

that's probably where a lot of the Kimber accuracy "problems" comes from. my two Kimbers shoot .75-1 moa with Barnes TSX bullets.

When I go the Montana Route again I'll first be looking for a .308. Honestly what can't it do.

If I've coin and a shooter 300wsm comes about I will snag it. Although I don't like recoil a Montana in 300wsm really is pretty easy on the shoulder.

A .308 will handle anything most hunters ask of it. I know this because I've seen what a 7-08 can do. The .30 will leave a bigger hole. Dose that make it better than a 7-08? Really dosen't matter cuz the .260 is better than either!

Grab the 308 and enjoy the carry!

That's an unsupported generalization, especially in a forum with such a wealth of shooting experience as the 'Fire. As noted earlier in the thread, the innacuracy issue is often only cured by rebedding/recrowning. My 308 Montana won't shoot TSX worth a damn. Barely groups inside three inches. Oddly enough, the ONLY bullet is likes so far is the Fed Fusion 165, which will group consistently at one inch. Eight other factory loads tested, including match ammo, won't even come close to that.

Give the Montana a go! You will be happy you did. I'm happy with mine very happy to tell you the truth...