I had my Montana converted to 358win.


It wasn't a 308 long enough to know if this issue was present prior.


Pretty regularly, rounds will hang up...the bullet end. Seems to "point too high" if that makes sense. If I remember correctly, it's mostly feeding off the left side.


I thought maybe it was the little 200gr round nosed I was feeding it...but it's doing it with 180gr TTSX seated long or short.


What's the fix???


Love the rifle....but don't really want a single shot lol.

I have some experience, but with three 7-08 Kimbers, same basic case. Perhaps too wide feed rail spacing? Or perhaps the rails need to be polished on the underside to slick up travel into the chamber. Or another possibility is that the feed ramp is less than smooth and needs some careful slicking up? Did it feed properly before rechambering?

I didn't run it enough as a 308 to know honestly. Enough rounds to get it zeroed and 1 to kill a buck.


I found an old thread that should help. Will play around with it and probably get a new mag spring as it definitely seems weak. Maybe a new follower while I'm at it..a m700 milled follower is suggested to help.


I thought it was just not liking the little round nosed and thought the pointed bullets would fix it.

Here's a thought... your mag spring may sit too far forward in the bottom of the box, which can push the front of the cartridge up too soon?? If this might be the case, and you are a bit handy, you may be able to fit a spacer at the front of the mag box to hold the spring back to the rear.

Could be....I haven't played with it at all....as I don't know enough to start....took a while but found some useful threads that should get me going. Got a 700 spring and follower ordered too incase I need it....I think it'll be an upgrade though. Factory spring is pretty soft.

Check you brass to see if the rails are scarring the case.....hone the edges if so.

A strong second on honing/polishing the underside of the feed rails. Kimbers are fine actions, but the underside of feed ramps are not sufficiently smooth and slick from the factory. My current Montana had draggy hesitant feeding out of the box. Minimal effort with fine emery paper, perhaps 400 grit? and it's smooth and flawless. And while you're at it, smooth the chamber feed ramp.

Thanx! Heading to the shop after dinner and going to take a look and do some polishing!

Stick’s “start at f’ing the start” thread would be worth a look but I don’t know where it has gone ...

Don't beat or bend your mag box feed lips until damned sure what's going on. BTDT

I fiddlephucqked way too much before determining there was a blob of epoxy jacking the magbox out of position. Everything else needs to be confirmed aok before the bending, filing, hammering starts.

There's a couple of directly related threads, if someone is up to finding them.

I found one of Sticks posts on it actually. That's where the m700 spring and follower idea came from....makes sense to get rid of the plastic follower that doesn't exactly feed smoothly.


Watching the follower in action, the rear always say lower than the front...unless I manipulated it..I could get it to rise but it was "sticky".

Bent the left side of the feed rail a smidge. Poof. Works great now. Feeds everything just dandy.


Before, the case heads were barely sticking up enough to get picked up by the bolt.



Took a while to find threads on actually correcting the issue.... despite many guys complaining of the issue...


Guys will say blah blah blah for a rifle of that price is shouldnt need to fixin.....I'd agree....but at the same time, you can't come close to the rifle without a custom build using an action that costs as much as the Montanas. Believe me. I tried everything I could come up with. To get the size and weight to be similar wasn't cheap with a quality stock.

I knew going in that it might be a project. But at the end of the day, bedding and bending a feed lip a smidge wasn't that big of a deal.

Good to hear. Any sticky’s to posts you found on fixes?
I’m a huge fan of Kimber rifles and so far they’ve all shone. The stocks just seem to fit me perfectly and the triggers are great and very easy to adjust. They can be picky on loads but once you find one, they shoot.

Ugh! I meant to post them here and closed all the tabs after I was sure I got her straightened out.


Like I said, Big Stick has some good info. A few other guys have done detailed posts here and other sites but the pics don't work and they were hard to follow without the pics. Big Sticks that I found didn't have pics but I could follow along well enough.

This is a matter of proper specs and dimensions, not rocket science. I have or had 4 Kimber rifles, and some needed work, but I would easily buy another. Fine rifles.

I’ve read that 308 Montana’s are known for not having feeding issues.

My stupid lightweight suppressed 6.5 CM Montuna wouldn't beat 5 shots under 5/8" today. POS

Take a look at this thread
Feed Spring Montana 84l

My .260 84 classic wouldn't feed worth a crap today. Nor hold rounds in the magazine. I was all sorts of P.O.ed until I realized I left the mag box out of the stock when I had taken it apart last. It was right where I left it! re-installed it, fixed all the feeding issues.

Not at all saying that is your problem but you might want to double check to see if your mag box is installed.

Good luck,

Todd

He fixed yesterday Todd....😀

See what happens when people don’t read! Dang!

Glad you got your rifle running!

Todd