Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Mountain Rig complete...Kimber Montana and Leupold VX6

I just completed my Fly weight Mountain rig a month ago and with I couldnt be happier.

I always wanted to put together a fly weight mountain rig and came to the conclusion after handling many lighter weight rifles that if you want quality light weight, its gonna cost you $$ . My expectations were surpassed with the finished products I put together. I started with a new Kimber Montana 84m in 308, topped it off with a Leupold VX6 3x18 Firedot with Talley light weight rings. Total weigh almost doesnt feel real at around 6lbs. It feels like a toy and its balance is perfect. I took the Montana apart and the kevlar stock is built like a brick house except it weighs nothing. It fits the action better than any composite stock I have ever seen and is beautifully finished even on the inside. The build quality and attention to details Kimber put in this rifle makes it a bargain. The trigger breaks at a clean no creep 3lbs and needs no adjustment.

The Leupold VX6 is Leupolds halo optic and is easy to see why, it sets a whole new standard in rifle optics. Eye relief is ridiculously long even on 18 power. I hunted with this same scope this year in some very nasty weather and it is now a top requirement for every new hunting rifle I own. Every rig is only as good as its weakest link and I think I have eliminated every weak link except the trigger man behind the gun.

The entire rig oozes quality with a outstanding fit and finish but you could still get it wet and beat the crap out of it knowing it will hold up.

My wife gave me a little money for a Fly Weight Mountain rig I have been talking about since October....This was my Christmas gift to myself this year.



I want to first report the conditions of the range today in Central Pa. HORRIBLE 30 degrees with 15-25 mph winds with gust over 30 mph. I was the only guy out there other than a truck that stopped briefly and left. Thats the only bad I can report. The Kimber Montana 308 with its Leupold VX6 3x9 Firedot made me look like a hero in those crappy conditions.

My first shot after only visually bore sighting the gun in at 50 yards was this.......




I have never been so lucky with a new gun and scope mounting to be that close to a perfect bull with its first shot.

I then adjusted the scope up and walked out to 100 yards through the wind. I couldnt even keep my hat on and had to staple the target down many places. With the target fluttering violently, I walked back to shoot its next 2nd 3rd and 4th shots while cleaning the barrel after every shot.



Lightning struck again. I managed to get 1/2" moa under the worst range conditions I have shot with a new gun. A contributing factor to this was the very mild recoil of this 6lbs rig and a trigger to die for. I was expecting more recoil but found it much less than a sportster weight in 270Winchester. Geometry of the rifle and stock construction also must help with the recoil for such a light setup because I could have shot all day. The claw extractor was just like my Winchester. Very smooth extraction and depending on the speed of the extraction, the empty case will slowly and deliberately lift out of the gun or if you rack the bolt back quickly, it will flip the case out way out of your way. The bolt also took bullets out of the blind magazine smoothly. It didn't seem to matter if I fed the gun each bullet as I shot or loaded the magazine up 4 +1 and had it strip each bullet and seat it into the chamber. The safty is also the typical 3 position "wing" safty common on the Winchester M70. For such a light weight gun, it still had a quality feel with safty clicking very deliberately and precisely as well as the bolt release button. All had a very silk high quality feel. Tolerances on the gun were tight and the fit and finish is perfect. The kevlar/carbon fiber stock puts to shame any of the synthetic stocks either factory or after market stocks I have ever owned or handled. Its a shame to even put it in a synthetic stock catagory because its in its own league. The Pachmayr recoil pad fit tight and looks like it was built into the stock with no lips or gaps. I really couldn't find anything on this gun I would have improved upon. It feels like a full blown custom rifle.

The first ammo of choice was Federal Fusion 165 grain. This gun will stack these bullets under better conditions. I then switch ammo to Winchester Power Points in 150 grain. They produced 1' groups about 3" higher but still excellent given the wind. I then tried Federal Fusion in 150 grain. They printed sub 1" moa but 2" lower than the Fusion in 165. I would bet both 150 and 165 will be under 1/4" moa with better conditions and the Winchester PP has a 1/2" MOA in them. All three loads were excellent for hunting and would be outstanding in no wind. I like the 165 grain Fusion. I could see they handled the wind a bit better and will be a great do-it-all round.

Finally after all my test shooting I wanted to see how 3 quick shots would group not allowing the barrel to cool down and without any cleaning between shots. I made 3 shots as fast as I could shoot them. I am guessing 9-12 seconds for all three shots. Once again the end results were outstanding and the Kimber Montana didnt seem to care if the barrel was cold or warm. Given the windy conditions, I am more than impressed with the accuracy. The gun seems to shoot sub 1" moa with anything you feed it. Trigger pull was perfect. I shot with and without gloves and the trigger break was spot on with no creep.

To say I am ecstatic with the performance of this set-up is a under statement. Its not a hard gun to shoot and seems to want to shoot anything you feed it. I am soooo looking forward to another day at the range on a calm day. I tried to save all my targets but a few blew away and I wasnt gonna catch them but the ones I did save gives you a good idea of the day.



It was a great day at the range despite the wind and icy conditions. I am always a little apprehensive with a new rifle and scope. You never know what their accuracy will be. I am very picky with accuracy and my expectations were surpassed. This will be my goto rifle. It likes me and I like it.

I had the rifle out two more times on less windy but cold days and confirmed it is a honest 1/4" moa with Federal Fusion 165 and Hornady SST 165 Superformance.

Nice write up and nice rifle....I think if you flip your talleys around it'd be perfect. Lol it's your rig run it how you want. The 308 is hard to beat for a lw do all rifle.

I needed to have them that way to get the scope back where I like it. I love the Talleys. I have always used Leupold mounts before and will gradually switch them to Talleys.

Congrats.
I'm a big fan of Kimber Montanas

Thanks for the report.

You gotta be happy with a new rifle that shoots that well the first time out, and in bad conditions to boot!

Congrats!

I have a very similar rig, Kimber Montana .280 AI with VX6 2-12

It's a nice rifle for sure, I've spent a bit on my rifle trying to tune it a bit better, but it's not the best accuracy wise.

Ocean Raider,

What size talleys do you have on your 2-12 vx6? Any problems with bolt clearance?

Congrats on a great rifle!

Just a thought.....The rear Talley needs to be turned around. No way the bolt handle isn't rubbing it. It over hangs slightly and it has to be making contact. Flipping the back ring won't hamper the position of the scope.

Mine has medium size, as others have said turned the correct way, bolt clearance is fine, there is a bit of excess between the barrel but I think lows would be to low

Some good looking rigs (this and your other thread) and some good shooting ones at that.

Personally, I don't care for the 30mm scope on such a petite rifle. Nice that it's still somewhat of a free world and we can put whatever we like on whatever we want.

Mine are Talley low mounts. The rear mount is symmetrical so my bolt doesn't touch it. That was a selling point with these mounts, they can be turned either way to adjust how far the scope can come back. I purchased mine directly from Talley and confirmed the universal direction when I ordered them on the phone. I am sold on this system. Its surprising how light weight they are and they are also a good old USA company.

I bought a Kimber Montana several years ago. The machine work looked as though it had been done in 8th grade shop class. There were deep tool marks everwhere. The underside of the raceways that matte with the mag box were so roughly cut that they were actually serated. I took the rifle back for an exchange.

Although I was not happy with that particular rifle, I really liked the feel of the overall package. I hope to handle another, and will eventually own one. I just don't see many this far south.

Looks like you got an awesome Christmas present.

Nice rifle.

Those groups are not 1/2 MOA, nor are they 1/2".

How does it balance? Seems like it would be rather butt heavy.

Looks great! Hard to beat the Montana as a hunting rifle.

Kimber Montanas beg for a VX3 2.5-8. Big scopes don't do them justice.

This rifle should weigh around 6.5lbs how did you get it down to 6lbs?

My scale has it at 6.2lbs. That's why it's labeled at about 6lbs. Lets put it this way, with its optics and out the door weight, its noticeably lighter than a bare M70 Featherweight.

Big scope?? Nightforce is a big scope. Look at the Z6 or higher end Zeis and the Leupold VX6 line is trim for all that it does. After using a VX6, I wouldn't go any less than the Leupolds Halo VX6 line with Firedot. The rifle is extremely balanced.

Where is the balance point with a loaded magazine?