help with a kimber

[KodiakHntr]

Yeah, good point. Had a Remington or two that needed some care and attention when putting them back together.

If there is that much trouble trying to find a load, undoubtedly it's a mechanical issue someplace.

Be interesting to see what the "groups" look like.....

 

[Rembo]

A Kimber of Oregon rifle is a whole different animal than the current Kimbers.

I had one years ago, a 270 Win in an Super America. It was crap, didn't feed and didn't shoot. The only thing it had going for it were the integral Talley bases.

It has been reported that the K of O rifles had the best $7 Wilson barrels available at the time.

 

[ian745]

well, pulled it apart with someone who`s got way more experience with me and went over everything, and it all looked good, put everything back together, had the scope on another proven rifle and was fine, so scope is good, re mounted it, bore sighted it same as i`ve always had done, federal etip premium in 180 gr (nickle plated case and bullet with orange polymer tip), and was about 4 inchs at a local rock pit as the range was over crowded,

gonna take it to a range and get it on the bench, gonna pick up some cheap white box stuff and a box of fusion in 180 and see how it does with that( only using 180 as everyone i talk to says thats where 300 winmags shine)

not gonna bother with a pic as the group wasnt that great, if you could call it a group that is.haha, hopefully tomorrow is better as hunting season opens on saturday.lol

 

[BigUglyMan]

The only thing that can tell you when a bore needs cleaning is the barrel, and the weatherman. From what I've seen of hunting near oceans I'd be cleaning constantly if I lived near one, but since I don't practically never is a better plan. I'm bound to get rained on before it quits shooting for being dirty.

Back to kimbers, 3 of my 5 have forend pressure pads. Two because they were determined to shoot better that way and one because it was alresdy touching so I tried it that way first. It shot well enough that I gave it a little dab of Devcon to make it look like it was planned that way. That particular 7 Rem was one of those oddities that shot better if it was meticulously clean and startied opening up after s very few groups. Took a little while to figure that one out, and about that time Crazy Davey told me about ULtra bore coat. Fixed that right up and it is in the ever clean pile now.

All my Kimbers have smallish chambers, which is likely what they mean when they say match grade in their promotion material. As near as I can tell brass seems to want to last forever. It does seem to affect powder charges or at least something is. My 22/250 cavorted load is minimum by Hodgdons data and maximum by Noslers. Either way it has zero pressure signs and is faster than both. The 338 Win matches book speeds with lighter charges and calmly out runs the book with listed max charges. The .270 WSM will take listed charges and dish up screamer speeds. The 300WSM wants a load 1 grain above minimum but delivers the velocitiies of the Max loads. I wouldn't want to load it any hotter. The 7mm seems to deliver book speeds with book loads, depending on the book. I've learned to never try to out guess a Rem mag.

Not a slow barrel in the bunch.

I was wondering about the bore. The first thing that I would do is clean the living #### out of it. Especially with erratic performance and Barnes bullets. Remember how back Barnes fouled when they first came out? Can't hurt to ensure that you're starting at zero. Once it's dead clean and everything is tightened as it should be, then try again, keeping the barrel dead cool throughout the shooting. I also agree with the hard hold on the bench. My 9.3 likes to jump out of the rest unless you hold onto the forend, as does my 416 (no surprise there).

Another thing to try is some dry firing. With a light 300 WM you might be flinching and if you are then the rest of this is meaningless.

 

[Mush]

Try some IMR 4350 behind 180gr tsx.
Should be nice.

 

[Mount Sweetness]

If you try the 180's and aren't happy, try something lighter

 

[ian745]

I was wondering about the bore. The first thing that I would do is clean the living #### out of it. Especially with erratic performance and Barnes bullets. Remember how back Barnes fouled when they first came out? Can't hurt to ensure that you're starting at zero. Once it's dead clean and everything is tightened as it should be, then try again, keeping the barrel dead cool throughout the shooting. I also agree with the hard hold on the bench. My 9.3 likes to jump out of the rest unless you hold onto the forend, as does my 416 (no surprise there).

Another thing to try is some dry firing. With a light 300 WM you might be flinching and if you are then the rest of this is meaningless.

ya, i cleaned the heck out of it, i do that with all my rifles that i get, as soon as they get to my house they get a nice deep clean, i`m used to the jump and kick, my other 2 main rifles are a 338 win mag browning that really likes to kick, and my 45/70 with well, kicks and jumps, i love the recoil, yesterdays attempt was not in ideal conditions so not going to base all my decisions off that, gonna try that ammo again today but more controlled environment

will try and get a few groups worth posting later on

and since ive sold off most of my components already (powders move fast here), i`m staying with factory rolled

 

[ian745]

well, got it down to just over an inch at 100 yards shooting fusion 180`s, i`m happy with that for the time being, hunting season opens tomorrow so not gonna keep messing with it till season is over
thanks for the tips and hints guys and gals

 

[crazy_davey]

I hate to say it, but TSXs tend to shoot; often in rifles that don't like much of anything else. They are quite forgiving of long jumps and it's a pretty safe bet that a factory load in a 300 Win is going to give it one.

Exactly!

TSX's are usually very easy to find a load for and are very consistent.(most of the time anyways, there are always exceptions)

Those who say different haven't shot them enough in a variety of rifles or just jump on the interweb bandwagon trashing something they really know nothing about.

 

[crazy_davey]

Especially with erratic performance and Barnes bullets. Remember how back Barnes fouled when they first came out?

Anyone who has been around hunting bullets for some time can surely remember the old "X" bullets. It has been about 25 years now since they first came out. But now, the majority of the time we are no longer talking about those bullets(probably almost never actually). We are talking TSX, TTSX etc.. Which do not have the problems the original X bullets had and are very consistent and reliable.

 

[ian745]

Anyone who has been around hunting bullets for some time can surely remember the old "X" bullets. It has been about 25 years now since they first came out. But now, the majority of the time we are no longer talking about those bullets(probably almost never actually). We are talking TSX, TTSX etc.. Which do not have the problems the original X bullets had and are very consistent and reliable.

i normally like barnes, just havent had the luck with them and this rifle, so this one will be staying with the factory rolled for the time being till i can find more spare time after the season end to dive back into the reloading game

as for the old X bullets, i have a buddy that is still working his way through those, dirty dirty dirty but he loves em, except how often his barrel requires attention..
the ones i was shooting were indeed the newer TSX

 

[FLHTCUI]

Find something in 180 gr and give that a shot - and not Barnes...they can be tricky to get to shoot sometimes. Look for a good cup and core...Fusion if you're just shooting deer, Nosler Partitions if you're hunting moose or bears.. It's a 300WM, not a 308. No sense in running too light a bullet. The 300 was made for 180s.

BUM beat me to it.
180 grn Noslers over some IMR 4350 and see how she goes.
Worst case scenario this fall is for factory ammo...
Rob