338 federal problem

C

clarks31

Guest
Guys new to the site and hope to get some information from some of you more experienced shooters. I have a Kimber Montana in 338 Federal that is killing me. It will not shoot consistent. One day I can shoot a three shot group around an inch and the next time I shoot it may be 3 inches with a different point of impact. I have sent it to Kimber and they replaced the barrel it is some better but still not what I expect from a rifle in that price range. I did notice the indentation in the primer is not centered. I did have a few misfires until I adjusted the firing pin and the misfires seem to have gone away. Anyone have any experience with these? Please help!
Thanks
Chris
 
Chris, what twist barrel and what weight bullets, I built a 338-08 (basically the same thing) and it wouldn't shoot 180gr under 1 1/2- 2 inchs @ 100 yards, went to 200gr bullets and it started drilling bug holes

the wind is my friend,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

DD
 
Thank You for the responses. I have a good set of bags front and rear, also have a bulls bag, tried using both setups. I've tried 180 and 200 grain bullets, Kimber said to tighten the screws in the stock to 65 in lbs and that didn't work so I tried 45 and it seems to be better. I have checked all the normal things like mounts rings etc. I have had the 185gr barnes tsx factory load shoot better than anything else I've tried. I was wanting to know if the firing pin not hitting the center of the primer will affect accuracy. I'm assuming that means the hole in the bolt is off center or the chamber is. Let me know what you guys think.
 
Try a different scope to rule that out.

Check for barrel contact with the forearm...I'm not familiar with that rifle so I'm not sure if it should be free-floating or not.

Changing point of impact sounds like either the scope or bedding. You could try glass bedding the action.
 
clarks31 said:
I was wanting to know if the firing pin not hitting the center of the primer will affect accuracy.
Click to expand...
There is a range of "off-centeredness" that won't matter. Obviously, at some point, off-centeredness would matter.

Sort of like firing spring tension, or the firing pin bouncing around a bit because the tip isn't supported in the bolt. But these last two are benchrest issues, and I doubt anyone has ever stopped and tried to quantify just how much is a problem, and whether or not that "problem" disappears if three-quarter inch groups are your yardstick, rather than one-fifth inch groups.

Since changing the action screw tension seems to have a better/worse result, I'd start with a good bedding job. And personally, I'd use even less tension on the screws, say 25-30 inch pounds, with blue loctite to keep them from backing out. With good bedding, all the screws do -- at least, with benchrest-level of recoil -- is to keep the action in the stock.

There are a lot of thing we do in benchrest that do not translate directly into other shooting venues. For example, shooting free recoil can solve a number of gun handling issues with most BR rifles. Not something I'd particularly want to do with a .338 in a lighter rifle. And as always, there are things that may change groups from .3 inches to .15 inches. It would be grossly inaccurate to say that they reduce groups by 50%, since they may well not reduce a rifle shooting 1 inch groups to one shooting .5 inch groups. "Scale" matters.
 
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Ditto on the bedding job and look to see if the barrel is centered in the forearm. Make sure that the stock is not putting side pressure on the barrel.
 
Humor me on this. Shoot without the rear bag, with the rifle well shouldered and cheeked, and tell me what you get.
 
clarks31 said:
Guys new to the site and hope to get some information from some of you more experienced shooters. I have a Kimber Montana in 338 Federal that is killing me. It will not shoot consistent. One day I can shoot a three shot group around an inch and the next time I shoot it may be 3 inches with a different point of impact. I have sent it to Kimber and they replaced the barrel it is some better but still not what I expect from a rifle in that price range. I did notice the indentation in the primer is not centered. I did have a few misfires until I adjusted the firing pin and the misfires seem to have gone away. Anyone have any experience with these? Please help!
Thanks
Chris
Click to expand...

IMO This is not "a .338 Federal problem."



I submit that this is "a Kimber problem."



al
 
Right on Al :D, Kimber makes a really nice 1911 pistol. but the quality of rifle leaves ALOT to be desired.

DR
 
My Model 84 Kimber in .308 has been returned to the factory three times. New barrel (burr in muzzle) , new stock (one pillar crooked) , adjust firing pin (irregular detonation) , magazine lid fell open when full upon firing, etc. They fixed everything, but. . . .Never again.
 
Troublesome Kimbers

I had a Kimber model 84 308 for 2 years and it had poor ignition and every other bad thing that one could imagine.As for accuracy my 1942 enfield in 303 British would chew it up and spit it out. My advice is to get rid of the darn thing before you waste any more time or money on components. :mad::mad:
 
I haven't seen anyone mention a different scope.

Seems like it's worth a try at this point.:D

Good luck.
 
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