A new Kimber Montana came in about ten days ago and I have been to the range with it three times so far and have put about 100 shots thru it. Overall the rifle is quite accurate, handles recoil very well and best of all I like it!



Here it is at the range. The scope is a 3-9 Conquest and the mounts are Kimber bases and Leu. rings. The mounts will be changed asap.







Some loads that shot well were the 130 gr SST with 63 grs of IMR 4350 that made 3259 fps. All groups are two shots and that one was one inch at 200 yds. Sixty four grs of the same powder made 3319 fps and a 1.5" group. That load is maximum.



The 140 gr Ballistic Tip pushed by 71 grs of Mag Pro made 3197 fps and a two inch group at 200 yds. Earlier Sierra 130 and 150 Game Kings made smaller groups but I plan to use the 130 SST for medium range deer this year from what I saw today.



The rifle weighs 7 lb 11 oz with the Conquest. This is about a half pound less than an old Winchester Featherweight that I used to think was as light as it got.



On the downside the bolt operation is hard, rough and noisy. But feeding, extraction and ejection are positive. The saftey is of M70 type as you know and operates about like they do. It could be smoother. The trigger is fully adjustable and now has a crisp 2.5 lb pull that passed all my slamming and drop tests.



Overall it's a good shooting rifle that I don't have to send to somebody to fix or change the stock on. It may seem expensive at $1000 but it's a tough, powerful and light rifle.

Savage, glad to hear it's shooting good for you. I can't wait to hear the story about the giant buck you're going to shoot.
All three of my 8400's smoothed up quite a bit by working the bolt over and over while watching TV. Open the bolt and pull back slightly, put just enough pressure up on the bolt handle to cause a slight drag and work the bolt back and forth about 25 times. Wipe it down with oil and do it in the other direction and again a few time more each way. I think you'll be very pleased at how quickly the little Kimbers smooth up..........DJ

Your right dj as my 84M's have all smoothed out.

Brad wants us to lobby Talley to make their lightweight one piece mount for the 8400's. I think you have their steel mounts now on your Kimbers.