I have a Kimber Montana , stainless/synthetic in .223 and would like to get better groups , at least 1". I know that the light barrel does present certain problems .At this point I'm going to put a piece of rubber sheet under the barrel at the forend tip . Otherwise I'm very happy with the rifle. Have any of you found some good tips ?
Kimber Accurizing
- Thread starter mete
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warbirdlover
New member
I think those are factory glass bedded aren't they so that's already done. I think your idea is a good place to start.
Pressure bedding the barrel may work for you, I know it worked wonders on my Winchester M70.
Do you reload? Custom tailored ammo can easily cut you group size. I'm sure you have checked the obvious stuff like the crown and the tourque of the action screws. One of the quickest ways to shrink you groups is to tune your trigger, Kimbers have fantastic fully adjustable triggers have you tuned your trigger? My Kimber is breaking at 12 oz and she is shooting groups half of what they were when it was set at 4lbs
Do you reload? Custom tailored ammo can easily cut you group size. I'm sure you have checked the obvious stuff like the crown and the tourque of the action screws. One of the quickest ways to shrink you groups is to tune your trigger, Kimbers have fantastic fully adjustable triggers have you tuned your trigger? My Kimber is breaking at 12 oz and she is shooting groups half of what they were when it was set at 4lbs
The biggest problem with shooting Kimbers is the operator. The very light rifles require perfect form and technique. Shooting a 5 lb rifle with a 3 lb trigger takes concentration. I bought one in 308 about 3 years ago and it did not shoot well for me at first. After about 200 rounds it started shooting groups well under 1". I just came back from the range about an hour ago with several groups in the .5's and .6's.
I've read that a lot of them start shooting better after a couple hundred rounds, but I suspect the real reason is that the shooters get better after a little trigger time.
I've read that a lot of them start shooting better after a couple hundred rounds, but I suspect the real reason is that the shooters get better after a little trigger time.
The rifle has a 1:9 twist.I don't handload . Trigger is 3.5 lbs but all my triggers are in the 2.5-3.5 range so I don't think that's the problem.If the forend pressure doesn't work I think I'll put a spacer under the front of the receiver to make it free floating. Not sure when I'll get to this ,depends on the weather.Thanks for the comments .
Success ! 
After careful examination I felt the free floating was a bit 'iffy' .I put a .015" shim behind the recoil lug to lift the barrel higher for positive free floating .Even on a windy day the groups were noticably smaller , I got my 1MOA I was looking for ! I'm not sure I'll do any more tweeking other than perhaps lighten the trigger from 3.5 to maybe 2.5 .
Instead of looking at the book I actually measured the trigger pull -- 2.25 lbs !! I'm not touching it ! Now to get it properly 'broken in ' !
After careful examination I felt the free floating was a bit 'iffy' .I put a .015" shim behind the recoil lug to lift the barrel higher for positive free floating .Even on a windy day the groups were noticably smaller , I got my 1MOA I was looking for ! I'm not sure I'll do any more tweeking other than perhaps lighten the trigger from 3.5 to maybe 2.5 .
Instead of looking at the book I actually measured the trigger pull -- 2.25 lbs !!
I'm not touching it ! Now to get it properly 'broken in ' !
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Glad it's working for you, and that it was a simple fix.
My experiences with Kimber rifles has been excellent. All have shot well under 1MOA after I found the right factory load and/or handload.
I'm reasonably confident that the "so-so accuracy issues" with Kimber rifles has more to do with operator error than the rifles themselves. Kimber rifles take some getting used to, largely because of their light weight. Granted, every maunfacturer will have a few slip by that need a slight improvement here and there (such as the case with the OP's rifle), but by-and-large, Kimber makes one of the better hunting rifles (please take note of the fact that I didn't say target rifle) out there, IMO. The trigger on those rifles is second-to-none as far as factory triggers go. Mine broke clean between 2.1lbs and 2.8lbs, zero take-up, zero creep, zero lateral movement. All-in-all, perfect triggers.
My experiences with Kimber rifles has been excellent. All have shot well under 1MOA after I found the right factory load and/or handload.
I'm reasonably confident that the "so-so accuracy issues" with Kimber rifles has more to do with operator error than the rifles themselves. Kimber rifles take some getting used to, largely because of their light weight. Granted, every maunfacturer will have a few slip by that need a slight improvement here and there (such as the case with the OP's rifle), but by-and-large, Kimber makes one of the better hunting rifles (please take note of the fact that I didn't say target rifle) out there, IMO. The trigger on those rifles is second-to-none as far as factory triggers go. Mine broke clean between 2.1lbs and 2.8lbs, zero take-up, zero creep, zero lateral movement. All-in-all, perfect triggers.