Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Who has had to rebarrel a Kimber Montana?

Thinking of getting one for next season. If I got a used one I wanted to explore the cost and options of a new barrel and any smith work to make it a great shooter. What have some of you done and what were the results and cost?

As a side question, how good is Kimber about correcting poor accuracy in a new Montana?

I did quite of bit research putting together my Montana Fly Weight rig. I read that light weight rifles kick like a mule and were not accurate. This concerned me but I have also read that pocket handguns are not accurate and that has never been the case with any of mine. I had a Mountain Ascent on order but would have never used the muzzle break and wasn't totally sold on the digital Camo stock. I had to have a short action because it keeps the weight down and love the 308 caliber as a all around great hunter. I believe there was only a 5 oz different between the Ascent and Montana in the 308. So I went with a Montana. First myth debunked was the hard recoil. The Montana in 308 is a pussy cat. I couldnt tell any recoil difference between it and a sportster weight rifle. I shot 3 boxes of shells at one sitting and felt great. Next myth was that light weight rifles are not accurate. I have found mine to be more than accurate enough for any hunting situation. Even when I did three shots relatively fast (10-12 seconds) I could easily get a 1" group without bearing down and concentrating. One could argue that is a plenty accurate enough for hunting if that group was shot slow from a CCB. My Montana when shot slow is a 1/4" shooter which I will document when the range conditions get better. Kimber makes a high quality rifle. I am already looking at a Montana 223 to replace a heavy predator rig I now am starting to think is too heavy. Once you carry a light weight rig, the average weight riles seem unnecessarily heavy. Its a sickness.

My advise would be to buy the gun you want and don't worry about Internet horror stories. By statistics, a owner is more inclined to come to the Internet with a unhappy situation looking for answers rather than all the happy owners that remain silent. You are more likely to get a great shooter right out of the box.

Kimber, like any other manufacturer, has its good components and bad ones. It mostly depends on the tooling tolerances at the time of manufacture. If it is not set up right or the tool slightly worn it affects the results. Kimber makes a good quality firearm and I have had a number of them; most shot quite well out of the box. I currently have a Classic Select in 270 WSM that consistently shoots everything I put through it sub-MOA. The Montanas are so light that they feel like toys but most of them shoot well if you know how to shoot a light rifle.

IMHO I really doubt that if you buy a Kimber you will have to replace the barrel.

Unless you want to push slippery 105's in their 10-twist OEM .243 spout....

My Kimber experience is limited to the Super America in 308 I bought for my wife about 10 years ago. It is a NY gun. It shot OK but was not exceptional with best accuracy with my best recipe of about 1 1/2-2 MOA. I recently ran the Tubbs Final Finish System though it and it now shoots well under MOA. If you suspect a bad barrel it may be worth polishing the barrel out a bit before you replace it.

I have a 7mm-08 Montana which only shoots well when the barrel's warm. Start with a cold barrel, and it scatters them, though it was a little better after fire lapping & bedding. I do have a borescope, and it looks pretty rough inside. I've tried a bunch of stuff previously, and will bite the bullet & get it rebarreled.

Other folks have reported good results with them, so I suspect on a new one, you'll have decent luck. I'd wouldn't buy another used one unless I could look through it with my borescope.

The design itself is really fine, but someone needed their ass kicked for putting that barrel on a $1000+ rifle, IMO.

I re-barreled one, not cause it needed it, but I wanted a 7mm WSM. Cost me under 700 for a Hart and chamber job and the rest of the fixins on the action. Glad I did it.

Was that a special price, like the smith was a friend or you doing the work yourself? I've never had any gunsmith work done and just wondered about what a rebarrel and whatever accuracy improvements that goes along with that might cost.

Can someone give me the best gunsmith recommendation that they know of that works on rebarreling the Kimber Montana's .. Thanks a bunch

I thought we got one ('06) needing a rebarrel from a regular on this board when it would not shoot anywhere near MOA with the loads he gave or any other load I tried. Grandson was very frustrated quickly and used my rifle for his elk cow tag. Well it sat for almost a year when I started over as if it were a new rifle. Floated the barrel right off and hot dog that gun shoots. If I can ever get H4831 again it will be back to .5 to .6MOA with 165 and 180 Hornady and 180 Sierra GK, with Big Game it's only .6 to .8. As a bonus the barrel must have been cut with a sharp tool because it cleans up so easy. Guess who now wants it back.

There's nothing special about working on Kimbers. I don't know about the best, but I've had Pac-nor do a couple 8400 WSMs and 84Ms and they all shot well under an inch. They'll do a bead-blasted SS barrel, turnkey, for $610. Add $35 if you want a custom contour.

Are you BSing that I won't document it or don't believe a Montana can shoot 1/4" groups?

I'll say it -- I don't believe it.

Not that it can't shoot an occasional 1/4" group, but it won't do it consistently.

I'm calling bullschit that your Kimber Montana is a 1/4" rifle.

Sure, you might be able to shoot an occasional 1/4" group. But that's far, far from making it a 1/4" rifle, which could either mean it averages 1/4", or every time it is shot will hit a 1/4" target (I use the latter).

Maybe it's the special bench technique required.

Well I though we addressed this before. I will take my camera out to the range to get you a better picture. Kinda seems like there should be some money put down with all the smack talk. Hmmmm, I do take Paypal. Frankly I am shocked a 1/4" group at 100 yards would even impress you or that you would find it hard to achieve?? Ya gotta get out more.. Hank tight boys, it will probably be this Saturday if the weather looks decent.

More importantly, I think,this means that the rifle is capable of 3/4" groups at 300 yards...or 1" groups at 400,on command.

Mmmmm.......I am skeptical.

Personally,I don't care if it will shoot 1/4" every time or not. If it does it 50% of the time , I would call it a 1/4" gun.

Even if it shoots 1/2" 30% of the time and 3/4"-1" 70% of the time it is a damn fine shooter for a 6 lb rifle. The groups he already posted are plenty good for me and I just don't see all the calling BS. If I called BS for all BS, there wouldn't be enough time to do anything except argue all day.

Where do you live? I'll fly there and you shoot five 3 shot groups and if they stay at or under 1/4" (at 100 yards) I'll give you $1,000. You have to be behind the rifle.

To be fair, since you said it's a 1/4" rifle when shot slow, I'll give you 5 hours for those 5 groups.