Hey all, I've been a member here at the campfire for a while but can't remember having ever posted anything other than "I'll take it" in the classifieds, so hello!

This forum seems to be the place to talk about Kimbers, so here's my story. I am a 260 Remington fan, and have had a Savage 16 for the last year with the Accustock in 260, hunted with it several times and it's been a great(accurate) rifle. However, the new Accustocks are not lightweight in any way, and I do alot of walking/hiking type hunting. The weight at 8 lbs scoped isn't terrible, but I really got a bug about adding a lightweight rifle to my collection. It became my mission to find a Kimber Montana in 260 if I could, or a used one in any caliber at a good price to have rebarreled to 260. I shoot Berger VLD's exclusively, and up till now have only used the 140's. Reports had led me to believe that the Kimber's 1 in 9" twist rate wouldn't stabilize the 140's so I planned on rebarreling in the future in any case and going with the 130 grain bullets at first to see how it would go.

Found a 260 Montana on Gunbroker that was "mint condition with box", and that was reported as perhaps never having been fired. At $975 buy it now it was more than I wanted to spend on the rifle, but I figured I'd go for it and if it shot well out of the box it would save me some money and I could use it till I felt like rebarreling. Bought it, and I do believe it was new in the box, looked to have never been fired except at the factory.

Took it out today for the first time with some 140 grain VLD handloads from the Savage, reseated deeper to fit in the Kimber's magazine and some 130 grain VLD's I had made for the Kimber. I wasn't expecting much with the 140's, and maybe not even the 130's given the 0.090" jump to the lands with the magazine length. I've read all the bad reports out there about Kimbers not shooting well, etc. so it wouldn't have surprised me alot if it didn't do well. After all, who sells a rifle they've "never fired"?

Well, worst group of the entire day was 1.25" @100 yards eith the 130's. Best group with 130's was 0.85" at 100, using 44.0 H4350 and Lapua brass, CCI BR2 primer. Most surprising was that the best group of the day was 0.70" with the 140 grain VLD's that I didn't think would stabilize! This was at 45F degress or so, 600 ft above sea level. All groups with the 140's were under an inch, and all but one with the 130's as well.

I am very pleased with my Kimber, and glad I took a chance. I've read alot about Kimber roulette and have had 2 of their 1911's that just couldn't get reliable, but I guess I was due for a hit. Gonna sell the Savage and I think this is my new go-to for hunting here in Texas!

That sounds like a great rifle!

My .260 Little Sky would be one of the last out the door.

Besides the cheap Remmington 140s I grabbed when I picked up the rifle, mine hasn't seen anything but the 120 TSX. Shoots those well below an inch.

Enjoy!

George

I just picked up a .223 Montana, I had to [bleep] with the magazine system a bit to get it working to my liking but now its good to go.

I have 100 factory rounds fired through it so far, and its slowly becoming my favourite boom stick.

I just bought my second 84M Classic in .260 to go along with my Steyr SBS Forester. I love them all. I was recently looking at a Montana .260 on GB but they were asking $1100 starting bid which I think is too much for a synthetic stock. Besides, my Steyr is SS so I don't really have to have a Montana.

Glad your's worked out. Congrats.

Sounds like you got a good one. Congratulations.

Damnit I bid on that rifle and didn't meet the reserve. Almost clicked by it now but figured I better check with the wife first since it would of been for her. Next morning gone. Glad it's working out well for you.

You SUCK! That was probably the rifle a local dealer had on his rack forever. I held it and bought my 4moa 7/08 84M instead.

Pics or it didn't happen

RyeDaddy,

I've got a 260 in the Classic and like it a bunch. What sort of velocity are you getting with those 140s?

Was also wondering what scope you are using?

Pics would be good!

Sure guys, I'll get pics of the rifle up tonight.

Scope that's on it now is a Vortex Viper 3-9x40 in Talley lightweights.

The 140 grain load was in Remington brass with 42.7 grains of H4350 and it used to chrono at 2700 FPS out of the Savage's 22" barrel. The Savage is a 1 in 8" twist, so I wouldn't be surprised if the load was slightly faster out of the Kimber.

Oh the nerve. Here's yet another master fabricator claiming a Kimber can shoot.

Congrats! I have a heavy 260 and want to add a Kimber MT in 260 as well someday. But, I doubt I'll get as lucky as you and have to end up rebarreling one.

Here's a pic. In the interests of going with the least weight I stopped by Cabela's yesterday on the way home from work and bought a new Leupold VX-2 2-7x33 (pictured) for a 5 oz weight savings over the Vortex 3-9x40 I had on it. I'd have to say the new Leupold is a totally adequate scope, but the image clarity is not as good as the Viper. Pay no attention to the the sling, it's seen some miles.

Great rifle! Congrats.

Another Kimber cult, follower......

These rifles are a bargain for what one gets

Great guns! Glad you're enjoying it! I've never shot a 260! I bet it's fun to shoot, especially on that platform....

The 260 is great. Recoil is more like a 243 in most rifles. In this rifle it feels more like a 308 does out of standard weight guns. Doesn't wear you out. The Kimber is kinda jump at the range, muzzle likes to come up off the bench when fired. That's expected I guess. Nothing out of line.

This is interesting to me. I'm trying to decide between a Fixed 6x36 Leupold or the 2-7x35 Vortex. The Vortex is heavier by a few ounces, but I don't want to be giving up optical quality.

OA,

I believe the Viper is a 2-7x32 not a 35. If that matters to you...

Yes, 32. My mistake. Have one, like it a lot.

Nice, it's always good when you get a keeper.
Enjoy.

Update: I've had it out to the range a few times now trying to nail down the perfect load with the 130 VLD's. Finally found it today!

It was kind of erratic the last time I took the Kimber out, running 2-2.5" groups on average, I was running at max loads (and a little over) trying to get the most speed out of it I could. I found that my hold on the rifle had a large impact on accuracy, too. This lightweight likes to be snugged up on.

Anyway, backed the load down for today's outing to 43.5 grains of H4350 behind a 130 VLD in Lapua brass and got groups measuring right at 0.5" at 100 yards. There were three groups, so I'm satisfied it's not a fluke. Chronograph showed 10 FPS standard deviation. 2820 FPS 12 ft from the muzzle. Perfect. I realize now that my upper end loads were pushing pressure limits and were most likely somewhat over, and that thin barrels like this can sometimes be picky. 43.5 grains seems to be the sweet spot for this bullet in my rifle.

Happy as can be, and the 140 grain load still shot as well as it did every outing, Chrony showed 2710 FPS average with 42.7 grains H4350, so I picked up about 15 FPS with the Kimber over my old Savage. Great!

This thing keeps it up and I'm gonna end up buying a WSM Montana to keep it company.

Thanks for the update. How is the scope treating you?

That is a fact with the Montana. I found a firm grip, but not too firm, results in excellent and repeatable accuracy for me. Basically as if shooting offhand, but with a light assist from the bags. As a note, the same load shoots <1" with me holding it, and >3" if off a bipod with a rear hold only. I'm slow, but I learned...

I like the Leupold 2-7x, WIDE field of view at 2x, and 7x is more than enough to hit game at 600 yards and in. The rifle is very light with this scope setup, which was my primary reason for changing to the Leupold over the Vortex.

As a bonus, the LR duplex drop points match my 130 grain load really closely. I don't normally hunt past 200 yards, but it's not unheard of out in West TX so it's nice to have a visual reference without needing to dial elevation.

Outstanding pickup!

The 260Rem sounds great.

Rye, my Kimber MT 260 shot just so-so with H4350... when I switched to H4831sc and 120-125 gr bullets, the groups shrunk by more than half.

Thanks for the info, I ended up with H4350 because I already had it on hand for my father's 243 I load for, but I'll definitely give H4831SC a try if I ever switch bullets.