My Kimber story

[Chesapeake173]

Hopefully this will help someone in the future.

I bought a Kimber Montana last fall. Played around with it a little. Got it “minute of deer” for Michigan hunting and promptly put it away until a few weeks ago. I inherited some reloading hear so wanted to work on some loads for it.

In a nutshell I couldn’t keep any kind of groups under 3” at 100. Mind you I’ve read the whole internet on things to do with a fussy Kimber (mag box, lightened trigger,etc) and none of it seemed to work. I was ready to order a new gun and sell the Kimber. I had ordered some TTSX from a fellow slider and they showed up today. As a last ditch effort I loaded up a few to see what would happen. WOW! I found the holy grail for this gun. 168 grn TTSX over 43 grains of R15.

I don’t know if it’s the longer bullet, the deeper load depth (recommended 2.735 OAL) or something else, but I’ll take it.

Moral of the story is there is probably a solution, you just need to find it!

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[Lxhuntinpa]

My 7mm-08 Montana loves TTSX ammo as well

 

[King Kong]

I went through the same scenario with my Kimber Montana 300wm! I am not a re-loader so I tried several different versions of factory ammo, mfg, bullet type, weight etc. I was about to give up and sell the rifle when a friend recommended Barnes TTSX. I bought a box and was blown away! Incredibly tight groups consistently! There is something about that rifle that it will only shoot Barnes ttsx. Now if I could only find some...........

 

[Newtosavage]

Some rifles are pickier than others. I have owned a Tikka and a couple Savages that would shoot anything I fed them into 1" or less. Likewise, I've owned a few Howas, one Savage and a Remington M7 that wanted very specific bullets and not much else. Glad you found what worked for your rifle.

It makes me wonder how many rifles get bought and then sold by people who are too cheap to try different ammo, and then declare the gun "just won't shoot." LOL

Thankfully I learned this the inexpensive way - with air rifles and about 10 different tins of pellets. Some would group inside a nickel at 25 yards and others wouldn't stay on a playing card. It's common knowledge among serious airgunners that you have to find the right pellet for your specific rifle. Not sure why firearms would be any different.

Yes, there are some guns that will eat anything. But they are rare.

Thankfully my latest barrel on my Savage absolutely loves the bullets I really hoped it would love - the 139 LRX's by Barnes. Stupid accurate with those, and that's all I need.

 

[Boreal]

My Montana 6.5CM loves the 127 gr TTSX with RL17.

 

[WRM]

Kimber and, I'm sure, all manufacturers' guarantees re accuracy are with the ammo they use (not what you want to use and certainly not your handloads) in their facility (a tightly controlled range, I'm sure). Many send rifles back just for them to be returned as "OK". They probably are--under the manufacturer's conditions.

Glad you found a solution and didn't waste your time and money returning it. Sure would be nice though if it liked a bit more ammo.

 

[Chesapeake173]

Kimber and, I'm sure, all manufacturers' guarantees re accuracy are with the ammo they use (not what you want to use and certainly not your handloads) in their facility (a tightly controlled range, I'm sure). Many send rifles back just for them to be returned as "OK". They probably are--under the manufacturer's conditions.

Glad you found a solution and didn't' waste your time and money returning it. Sure would be nice though if it liked a bit more ammo.

I’ll definitely try a few different loads. Hammer bullets specifically, but at this point with my trip a few weeks away I’m taking yes for an answer!


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[WRM]

Yeah--you're hunting with that.

 

[hunting1]

Pretty much my story with Kimber, good deal!

 

[kkp005]

Guess I need to tinker with mine in 6.5 some more. It’s a delightful little gun to handle but it’s by far the least accurate rifle I own.

 

[eaglemountainman]

I have shot TTSXs through 4 different rifles in 4 different calibers, and they all have liked them very much. Two Kimber Montanas in 257 Rob(100gr) and 7-08(120gr), and two Ruger 77RL tangers in 308Win(130gr) and a recent McGowen rebarrel to 260Rem(120gr). All four have ultra thin barrel contours and shoot 3 under 1" as long as I let them cool between shots.

The 260Rem with 120TTSXs turned in the best group of my life while it still had less than 100 rounds through it.

 

[Chesapeake173]

I have shot TTSXs through 4 different rifles in 4 different calibers, and they all have liked them very much. Two Kimber Montanas in 257 Rob(100gr) and 7-08(120gr), and two Ruger 77RL tangers in 308Win(130gr) and a recent McGowen rebarrel to 260Rem(120gr). All four have ultra thin barrel contours and shoot 3 under 1" as long as I let them cool between shots.

The 260Rem with 120TTSXs turned in the best group of my life while it still had less than 100 rounds through it.

View attachment 327167

That’s some shooting!


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[Patterbuilt]

My Montana in 6,5 creedmore absolutely loves 143eld-x factory loads. My 308 truck/tractor kimber shoots 150ttsx factory loads crazy good. That gun is a bit more picky than the creedmore…

 

[OMB]

My Montana in 6,5 creedmore absolutely loves 143eld-x factory loads. My 308 truck/tractor kimber shoots 150ttsx factory loads crazy good. That gun is a bit more picky than the creedmore…

I picked one up over in the winter in 6.5, rough sighted it in with some cheap 140 BTHP's that I could find and called it good until I got some more time to mess around with different stuff. Shot it last weekend with 143 ELD-X's and a set of a bags I never could get comfortable behind and I was cloverleafing 4 rounds at 100 yards. I was nervous after seeing a lot of the "Kimber Roulette" posts on various forums but I've been pretty impressed with the first 25 rounds or so down the tube.

 

[Patterbuilt]

Mine likes a little pressure in the scope when shooting off bags or my pack. The weight of my hand/forearm is enough to keep it from bucking. Definitely takes a bit different form to shoot vs a heavier rifle.

 

[TroutTail]

super interesting. Just bought a kimber in .308 and will likely start with there. Thanks for sharing

 

[Runningwater]

My 8400 300WSM classic will only group monos pushed pretty hard. My friend who finally found some loads it would shoot also says it has a very "fast" barrel/chamber. It's shooting over 100fps faster than the same load in his Tikka. That damn kimber was literally shooting 3 inch plus groups with the varoius lead factory loads we tried. Very frustrating.