I have 2 Kimber M84s. One 7mm-08 and a .243. Both would not feed correctly with full magazines. Seems the follower spring simply floats around ( back and forth ) in the bottom of the blind magazine relief in the stock and the follower does not rise with enough upward pressure from the rear to push the cartridge up evenly. The bolt would slide over the top of the case, pushing the rear of the case down, the front up, and jam up. I siliconed a 1/2" wide rubber washer in the bottom of the stock at the front of the spring to stop it from sliding forward. This has helped, but not eliminated the problem. I have 2 buddies that have the same rifles and both have the same problems. Has anyone else had this happen; and have you been able to solve the problems. . . ? I love the little rifles, but hate the feeding problem.

I don't have one of them n front of me, but it's possible that the magazine is loose when it should be captured. Look and see if there's a dimple in the spring that should be holding it in place in the floorplate.

If there is, and it's not holding the spring, you can enlarge it a little bit at a time with a hammer and a large nail. Don't do too much at once, or you'll jam the sping into the keeper so hard it'll never come out. (That might or might not be a good thing...)

If I understand correctly, you have a blind bottom stock, no floor plate?? If that is the case and the w spring is "walking" on the bottom of the wood, determine how much wood is there at the bottom and then (we did this years ago on match rifles of similar set up) take a small screw, drill the spring section where we wanted it, insert wood screw to hold in place. Obviously if you do not have enough wood to work with in the bottom of the stock can't do that, but would think you have something in the order of .250 anyway?? For rapid fire w/ bolt gun, can not have no feeds or a real bad day at the matches and same for sporting rifle. Just a suggestion.

With a blind magazine, the spring is just loose and needs to be secured in some manner. In one rifle I used duct tape and it worked just fine. In another, the builder used a blank follower in the bottom of the magazine.

Hello Jaywalker,
Thanks for the update. Don't see but very few Kimbers in these neck of the woods. Local gunstore has couple he has had for over a year now, but never asked to handle them. Would say good rifle of quality.

I thought I had the only problem w/ feeding on my Montana.

I own an 84m Montana in 7-08. Last summer I had the exact same feeding problem....bolt would slide over the incoming round and failed to feed. Called Kimber and they said to bend the follower spring. Did that with no change to the feeding. Even went so far as to bend it so much it broke. So I wrote a long letter describing the problem to Kimber and sent the rifle back to the custom shop. They replaced the spring/follower and the rifle operates flawlessly. However, I am paranoid about removing the stock from the action because I am afraid that the spring will move in the stock and then I'm right back to square one. I want to be able to remove the stock after hunting in the rain so I can dry off the internals and lube the trigger. I am amazed that Kimber has not addressed this problem by coming up with a solution and then contacting all owners of Montanas!!

BTW, when separating the stock from the action, is there a certain way to reinstall the 2 in order to assure that the spring/follower is not moved in the stock?

I am frustrated as the rest of you.

quote:

Originally posted by DWright:
I have 2 Kimber M84s. One 7mm-08 and a .243. Both would not feed correctly with full magazines. Seems the follower spring simply floats around ( back and forth ) in the bottom of the blind magazine relief in the stock and the follower does not rise with enough upward pressure from the rear to push the cartridge up evenly. The bolt would slide over the top of the case, pushing the rear of the case down, the front up, and jam up. I siliconed a 1/2" wide rubber washer in the bottom of the stock at the front of the spring to stop it from sliding forward. This has helped, but not eliminated the problem. I have 2 buddies that have the same rifles and both have the same problems. Has anyone else had this happen; and have you been able to solve the problems. . . ? I love the little rifles, but hate the feeding problem.

DWright ....I just submitted the last post. Forgot to mention that I am south of you in southern Oregon.

Troy

This seems to be the goddamn issue with mine too. It feeds sometimes, but I think it depends on how thw spring is placed in the bottom of the well.

asti,

I think it's not just how it's placed, but that it slides around. Try this: Get the magazine follower centered and empty, sitting squarely the way it's supposed to be. Very carefully press one cartridge STRAIGHT down, pressing on the center of the cartridge, attempting to keep the loose magazine spring from sliding around in the bottom of the magazine well.

If that works, then try the next thing: Get the magazine follower centered and empty again, the way it's supposed to be. Now, press a cartridge down into the magazine forward of centered on the cartridge - the shoulder, or neck - letting the bottom of the magazine spring wander however it wants. If that jams it up, you might have a loose spring problem. (It will be hard to clear, too - the reason I don't care for blind magazines - I want a floorplate just to clear jams.)

It doesn't have to be a loose spring, but you'll have to take the action out of the stock to determine that.

The Kimber M84 has a floorplate and will be easier to both clear and determine if that's the problem.

Thanks, all, but no, my M84 is a synthetic model with a blind magazine. I did put a rubber washer in front of the spring to keep it from sliding forward, which helped, but did not eliminate the problem. It's as though the damn spring is also shaped improperly and just plain does not have enough upward push from the rear of it. I may just stick a Remington follower in and see what happins. There are 4 dealers in a 50 mile raidius that refuses to sell them because of this problem. I'm not giving up though. The little rifles carry too damn well. I'll let you all know if I can get it solved and what I ended up doing. Good shootin' guys.

DWright,

Have you contacted the company and explained the problem?

I think they could fix it for you.

Headache

Jaywalker, I read you. I`ve noticed that too.
Thanks for the advice though.

DWright, you're right and I'm wrong. The Montana is an "M84" and has a blind magazine. I had them divided in my head as "M84 - Classic/wood with floorplate" and "Montana - synthetic and blind magazine."

quote:

Originally posted by Headache:
DWright,

Have you contacted the company and explained the problem?

I think they could fix it for you.

Headache

Heh Headache,
Yup, the lady on the phone had the attitude as though she deals with problems all day long, possibly with pissed off customers. She acted as though I was nut's (no way could there be a problem with one of their rifles), and told me I would have to pay and have it shipped to them and they would try and get it fixed. But I don't want to pay to have it shipped, wait a month before I get it back. I know I can fix it myself when I get a little more time anyway. Just curious if anyone else has had the problem and what they have done to remedy it. Sad really, they are so close to having a really nice rifle. Kind of a mini pre-'64 model 70 Winchester in stainless and synthetic. What could be better? I have not heard of feeding problems with the full size 8400s however. I just really like the smaller M84s. When ever I hunt with my buddies and I take one of the 84s, they are always trying to get me to swap them rifles. Kinda funny!

OK. I'll try here.

From what I have been able to glean from the Kimber discussions, and pertaining to current production (new) in both action lengths, the synthetic-stocked (Montana) rifles have feed problems due to inadequate retention of the magazine spring. The wood-stocked rifles are prone to bedding issues. Is this analysis correct and complete?

Are there other areas of concern for a potential customer?

quote:

Originally posted by Winchester 69:
OK. I'll try here.

From what I have been able to glean from the Kimber discussions, and pertaining to current production (new) in both action lengths, the synthetic-stocked (Montana) rifles have feed problems due to inadequate retention of the magazine spring. The wood-stocked rifles are prone to bedding issues. Is this analysis correct and complete?

Are there other areas of concern for a potential customer?

Drop me a line and I can tell you all about the Kimbers.