Kimber 84m Montana ?

Let me say this from the bottom of my heart. I bought a Kimber 84 308cal Montana and all summer we have worked with this gun. We have shot Sierra , Hornady, Nosler ,factor loads etc. R-15 , H380 ,4064,tryed 3031, and many other powders . This gun will not shoot a group with out throwing one and the best group I got was 2 1/2 ". We had it out of the stock and fixed the touching problem. Ok I guess you get the point. This is the worse gun I ever owned. Oh ya it coppers up real quick. Will take any tip on getting it to shoot . Just how I feel about my first and last Kimber. Thank You.
 
My hunting buddy has a Montana in 270 WSM. He bought it used for a decent price and it seemed to shoot really well at first. After the first round of load development he was getting several groups around 1/2-3/4" at 100. It still shoots that well, but the problem is that the chamber is galled. There is a pretty good sized groove that goes 1/3 of the way around the chamber. When shooting loads that are near max the brass will fireform itself into the groove and make it very difficult to eject the brass. And of course the brass is ruined. He sent it back to Kimber with a letter of explanation, along with some fired casings showing the damaged brass. They returned it to him with a letter saying that it met their specifications so no repairs were performed.

My brother had a Kimber 1911 that had some feeding issues. He also sent it back for repair, and he also received a letter back saying that it was within spec and had not been repaired.

Based on customer service alone I would not buy a Kimber product.
 
I had a kimber 84m in 260 and after the headache I had with it I would never own another one. Best group was around the 2 inch mark at 100 yards with a dozen hand loads and 2 different factory offerings. It was a beautiful gun no doubt but not worth the hassle. Went with a rem 700 and gave the kimber to my dad. I couldn't sell it to somebody shooting like that. He had it rebarreled at kimber haven't had a chance to shoot it yet. Definitely would be cheaper to do a semi custom rifle. My $.02 worth.
 
Well , after refloating the barrel and glassing the action it is shoot a nickel at 100 yards. Oh ya I also shot #1 / 2# / 3# lapping bullets in it. This cleaned up the bore and help some. So after all of this it shoots a 150 grain hornady with 45 grs 3031 and 210 match primer. Should of just got raid of it put my brother just wouldn't give up. yes Rem. guns shoot right out of the box.
 
I own two Kimber rifles, an 8400 in 270WSM and an 84M in .22-250. Both easily shoot sub-MOA. Both also function flawlessly. Most horror stories seem to be second hand....."I've got a friend who says....." or "Some guy on an internet forum said.....", not first hand experience....."I've got a Kimber rifle and.....". Drawing such strong conclusions as "shape up or get out of business" and never even have owned a rifle built by Kimber......sounds like some REAL research is in order.
 
Im with you there I have a hard time believing that they are such a issue. Probably not even 3 boxes of shells shot through my mountain accent in 7mm Rem mag and it shoots clover leafs at a 100 with berger vld sorry but Beg to differ here buddy.
 
I have three Kimbers. Two in .338 federal. One was finicky found it liked heavy bullets. ok cool. The montana got a bedding job and a new firing pin spring when I had a few misfires. I got two springs while I was at it. The select I bought new and the montana I got online for $900. I got my son a one and done rifle for him when he graduated. Kimber ADK (we live there ironically) .308 shoots lights out!!! 5 155 bergers under a dime and 180 grand slams almost as good. My .338F will put 160 ttsx in one crisp hole on my good days. So while I had to work on one it was all cheap, gave me a better comfort level and we are pleased with them.
 
Hmmm, finicky to load for, gotta hold it just right, misfires... I sat next to a fella at the range that had one in 325. The thing shot like a match rifle. He loved it. Still... unlike some certain northern European gun makers, it sounds to me like a guy doesn't really have a reasonable expectation of getting a great shooter from Kimber. I dealt with that all through the 80's, 90's and turn of the century with US gun makers as they bribed gun writers to say 2-1/2" groups @ 100 yards were "hunting accurate" enough and blamed lousy engineering and quality control on liberal lawyers. Thankfully Savage Arms put a stop to all that. Oh, and the Finn's just kept making great shooting guns that people could afford, even with import taxes. The Japs too make a solid shooting gun that's strong as an ox.

The way I see it, if Kimber can make one great shooting gun, they should be able to replicate that, near every time. This "luck of the draw" crap is for the birds. If a guy can't shoot or holds it wrong, that'll come out in the wash but inconsistent gunmaking never comes out in the wash. If Kimber has some pointers on shooting their products, it should be universally published to the world instead of goading the gun owner into countess hours, miles, dollars and frustration to figure out why his Kimber won't shoot.

When 90+ % of all Kimber rifles sold satisfy their owners, that's when I buy a Kimber. Good grief... do your testing and handle your tolerances.

That said... that dude sitting next to me at the range didn't seem to particular about his load or much else. He said, "all I gott'a do is hold still". Sounds to me like Kimber can make a great rifle but the commitment doesn't seem to be there according to the people who own them.
 
I have owned numerous Kimber rifles. About half of them shot well. However, a few of them were downright horrible. From past experiences I would never take the $1,200 gamble again.
 
Mines fine not even 3 boxes shot through it yet.
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If you buy a Kimber Montana or MA and it doesn't shoot, spend a few bucks and have it bedded and the trigger adjusted, I think in most cases you be very happy you did as they are an awesome rifle,
I know you shouldn't have to do this but.......

I bought a Kimber Montana 6.5CM and it would shoot 1" to 1 1/4" groups, I had it bedded and trigger set at 2.5lbs and would shoot Hornady 143eldx at .35" and 120gr ELDM into the same hole.
 
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With very minor tweaks, an Adirondack and a Montana both shot great for me. Actually better than the far more expensive NULA I had.
 
I currently own an 84M Montana in .308 & my brother-in law owns the same gun in 7mm-08 as well as an 8400 Montana in 30-06. Both shoot extremely well with my handloads. I cannot advise on factory ammo. I have also owned a 300 WSM Montana, .308 84M & .243 84M. All have shot very well in 3 shot groups (1/2" to 1") when not trying to cook the barrel. Only issue to date was the 30-06 with mis-feeds from mag box. Solved that by some slight clean-up of mag sheet metal at ramp and adding a stiffer leaf spring to follower as well as blocking front side of follower spring in stock to prevent excess movement of spring in stock. That took a bit to figure out, but feeds well now. We may just be lucky here, but I have had to do a lot more work on Remington 700's & Model 70's to get equivalent out of the box accuracy to all the Kimbers I have owned. I have not found a better balanced light bolt gun than a Kimber either. Some may be as light - but they will not carry & point as well in a hunting rifle. It all comes down to the purpose of the gun. I think for mountain hunting where you are walking and carrying a load, a Kimber is hard to beat. If you are target shooting, varmint hunting or doing long range big game hunting where you spend little time carrying the rifle - then buy something else Just my two cents.
 
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