Kimber Mountain Accent accuracy problems

[elkspert]

There is a great article on 24 hr campfire forums. It's called Montana tinkering. Do a search for it. I followed a few of his easy to do tips and I am getting 3/4" groups out of my 280 AI. 

[Ironhead45]

Thanks.

[Duckslayer89]

Thanks.

I don't think you'll have to tinker. Let us know how it goes tomorrow

[grade-creek-rd]

OK, my 2 cents worth...have you checked the scope and mounts? The rifle should shoot much better than that regardless of other issues...but if your mounts are loose or there is something wrong within the scope this would make sense. Each time you pulled the trigger the crosshairs might have moved if its broken inside. Maybe swaps scopes?

Grade

[tlbradford]

What load does Kimber recommend?

Also, when I looked up the rifle, this article popped up.  You may find it helpful and it reiterated what others posted.

https://www.sofmag.com/how-to-shoot-light-rifles/

[Clark33]

I have the Mountain Ascent in 280AI.  One thing I just discovered:  When shooting off of sand bags I generally have the sand bag more forward, towards the sling attachment stud.  We discovered when resting the rifle like this, the fore end of the stock was actually contacting the barrel.  Before noticing this my groups were anywhere from 1"-1.75" at 100yds.  After moving the sand bag back towards the action/trigger guard my next 3 shots were touching.  Just something to look into.  Good luck!

[jackelope]

Ultralight everything makes for everything being sensitive to everything.  Lots of everythings. Those pencil barrels will heat up fast. The lightweight stock is going to flex a little more which could make for barrel to stock contact. I'd put the sandbags farther back towards the action and shoot like 1 round every 15 minutes so she doesn't get hot.
That's a 10 twist 24" barrel. I'd try some of the heavier bullets and see how it goes. 180 grain Accubond, 200 grain accubond if it were me.
 

[meatwhack]

How does the sub moa warranty work on these?  I've considered one of these rifles but have seen alit of guys having issues getting them to shoot decent and I wasn't sure how hard it was to collect on the moa warranty and how much money you'd have to spend shooting it before you could prove it didn't shoot well.

[Bushcraft]

Lightweight rifles are a blessing to carry a long ways and shoot once, but occasionally frustrating to get them to shoot to their known or true accuracy potential.  Attempting to shoot them like a heavy bench rest gun or mid-to-heavyweight canyon crossing rifle is a recipe for frustration.

I have a little Kimber Montana in .308 that weighs 5.95 lbs. with a Leupold scope, three rounds and a sling.  It loves 168 gr. SMK's for practice loads, but has to eat 168 gr. TTSX's over a hot charge of Varget for my elk hunting purposes.

The best results I've found for getting it to group tight, is to place the front bag immediately in front of the action and the rear of the stock very firmly nestled in a rear bag that allows for fore and aft movement.  Contrary to how I shoot virtually all my other rifles (and instruct others), the rifle itself is held white-knuckle tight straight back into my shoulder pocket with my right hand with minimal cheek weld, and my left hand pulls back and down on the action behind the front back.  I can replicate this on the bench or in the field.

It's not a particularly fun gun to shoot with hot loads since it is so light and kicks like a little mule, but it is a joy to carry.

[Ironhead45]

O.k I think I have solved on piece of the puzzle.  She shot off of bags today instead of sled.  We shot before reading the replies about bag placement and would say it was close to the action.  I had her shoot at 50 yds just to keep a little of the human error out and to hopefully build a little confidence.  The first three with 150 power shocks spacing shots out 1 minute was not great.  1.25"-1.5" give or take.  Next three 1 minute apart were worse out to 2".  I let it sit for 30 minutes and ran a brush through it followed by a few patches.  Next three were 10 minutes apart and the group tightened to just under 75".  More work to go but heat has been a big part of the problem.

[jackelope]

O.k I think I have solved on piece of the puzzle.  She shot off of bags today instead of sled.  We shot before reading the replies about bag placement and would say it was close to the action.  I had her shoot at 50 yds just to keep a little of the human error out and to hopefully build a little confidence.  The first three with 150 power shocks spacing shots out 1 minute was not great.  1.25"-1.5" give or take.  Next three 1 minute apart were worse out to 2".  I let it sit for 30 minutes and ran a brush through it followed by a few patches.  Next three were 10 minutes apart and the group tightened to just under 75".  More work to go but heat has been a big part of the problem.

Take that 3 minutes apart and make it 10-15. There's no metal there to dissipate heat.

.02

[coachcw]

I'd really float the barrel aND lighten the trigger . three shot cold bore groups .

[coachcw]

You may ask Hirshey , She shoot a mountain accent

[craigapphunt]

an unfouled and free floated barrel, reasonable trigger, proper scope and mounts with torqued hardware, and a load that is matched to the twist rate of your barrel should produce good groups as long as the shooter does his or her part.

[Highmountaindan]

I have the Montana in 30-06. I started with 180 grain nosler accubonds but was not impressed. I have had a hard time getting consistent with the gun. I ended up using 150 grain Barnes tsx ammo and it grouped way better. Also I found I had to try a few different stock positions by my shoulder to find where it would not react against my bone structure ( shoot strait back into it was the Goal) also since the barrel is skinny I had to let it cool down more often between shots. I'm about a inch at a hundred but still haven't got used to it. The skinny stock and light weight is the learning curve and finding how to hold it and shoot it. It's definitely different then shooting my Remington 700 long range which is heavy and has a bigger stock. So I don't feel the gun is the problem but figuring out how to adjust herself to the gun so she can shoot it well.