Accuracy help, factory Kimber Montana 300wsm

Note to self, never buy a Kimber Montana.

Don't get me wrong, I adore Kimber rifles. Have Kimber Select and Classic 8400's in 300WM, Select 8400 in 25-06 and a Classic in 338WM.
Have had Selects in 270, 25-06 & 300WM that I sold with my business, as they are one of 3 actions I prefer building customs on turning them into switch barrels.
Their actions are faultless.
Had to reduce my total number of rifles to 15 at each property, our stupid laws dictate this…

Cheers.

I love my Oregon built 243 Montana! It has treated me well and has done its part from coyotes to mulies. More than 3 shots between cooling down is a waste though.


That being said, I picked up one used in 30-06 recently and can't seem to get a load better than 1 3/16". Haven't given up yet. It had been a bit abused…barrel shortened to 23", scope mounts JB Welded in place. Not a good thing. If I give up on it, the barrel will be changed to a 280 AI and I'll try again. But for now I'll tinker with it until I give up.

Ricky C said:

Hey, all I'll say is good luck. I had the exact same rifle, I tried everything I could think of and ideas I found online. I can't remember how many different loads I tried. After being frustrated for a couple years, I sold it. Best decision ever!
I seriously hope you get it figured out
Take Care

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Did you bed the action and or free float the barrel?

Kimbers can be a pain. A friend had a .22-250 Varmint that I nearly set fire to! It was pillared from the factory, but barely. I floated the barrel, skim bedded it, put a new trigger in it, and the best I could get was 1.25" at 100yds. So then I drilled out the pillars and installed new ones and completely rebedded it. I finally got it to shoot 3/4" groups after a ton of time working up loads.

Back in the 90s, I owned one in 308, and one in.243. Bought both new.

The 243 on a really good day shot maybe 1.25 MOA, the 308 was a 1.5 MOA gun no matter what I did. I wasted tons of ammo. Talk to Kimber about it and they said it was "within spec"

The wisdom of the day was to replace the barrel with a PAC-Nor, and people were doing that with success. I concluded the cost after new barrel was right up there with a brand new Cooper so down the road the Montanas went.

What a waste of time and money. Lots of ammo and reloads. Testing one shot at a time with extended cool down, etc. They may be sorted out now, but they certainly weren't 15-20 years ago. The guns had everything I wanted but accuracy. I concluded I would not be confident shooting one at a black tail past about 250. Better guns out there…..

Hey OG Danimal, first thing I did was glass bed it. When I said I tried everything I meant Everything.
OP, I hope you find some help from your post and you get your rifle to shoot to your satisfaction.
Take Care

ObiJohn said:

Interesting... I have 1980s-era Kimbers (84s in .223 and .17 Mach 4), and early 2000s era 84M Classics (.243, .308, both unfired and NIB). The 80s era rifles shoot 1/2 MOA with factory ammo (Fed Premium 52gr .223, Nosler 25gr BT in Fireball... yes, I checked the chamber). I have shot other early 2000s 84Ms in .243 and .308 and they shot well. I have heard that Kimber quality took a beating over the past decade... is that what it is? Every Kimber rifle and handgun (1911 clones) I fired shot reliably and well, and maybe a couple of customers had minor handgun issues that we corrected at the shop.

They were beautiful rifles but for the larger, more powerful calibers I preferred the New Haven M70 Classics. Not a big fan of light, heavy-recoiling rifles.

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From what I read on other forums, the first Oregon made Kimbers were very accurate! I bought my Montana in July of 2006 and after having the accuracy issues and checking the forums, I read the accuracy issues began after Kimber moved to New York which, I believe, was in the mid 90's! I originally bought the Montana because of the Kimber reputation of good accuracy plus I wanted that action! A few tears ago, after I sold my Montana, I read the accuracy issues were over and what was coming out of the Kimber factory was very accurate again! An earlier post in this thread was talking about his Ascent having accuracy issues -- so I wonder if those issues are actually over!
I'm quite a bit older now and am done hunting big game because of my age but if I wanted to buy another big game rifle, other than having one custom built, I'd consider buying another Montana because it's such a well designed action and I'd find a gunsmith who would blueprint it!