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My son bought a Kimber 8400 and this gun just will not shoot. The first two shots will group at maybe 1 1/2 MOA and the third is ALWAYS a flier, with any commercial load, and opens to 3-4 inches. Any recommendations on what to do first before calling Kimber? Obvious solutions? BTW, are all Kimber actions this sloppy? | ||
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What do you mean the action is sloppy. Is the action loose in the stock are there big gaps in the wood is the bedding bad. Or do you mean the rifle is just not accurate. If it is just not accurate the cause could be many things bad bedding, bad barrel, bad scope, bad shooter. Frist thing one needs to do is make sure all the screws are tight then I try a different scope. I would give the barrel a good cleaning also. Is it a new or used rifle if new try calling Kimber. I wouldn't do any thing to new rifle beside making sure everything is tight until I was sure the company was not going to help me. There are many things one can do glass bedding free floating the barrel ect. | |||
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I recently had a very similar issue with Kimber 84M that I posted about in other forums. I don't have any good news for you. I would see if you can return the rifle in all honesty. If not, you're son is in for a lot of gunsmithing costs. The action on my rifle is pretty sloppy too. | |||
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To clarify on the sloppy action, I assume the OP means the bolt has a lot of wobble to it. On my rifle, when the bolt is closed on an empty chamber, you can grab the bolt handle and wiggle the bolt more than on any other rifle I own. | |||
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Had a Rem 700 in 257 Wby Mag (CDL model) that did the same thing. First 2 rds. touched, next round was 3" - 4" out, 4th round was off the paper at 100 yds. Did it with factory loads & handloads. Also did it with 5-6 minutes between shots, just to let the barrel cool, and this was in cool weather. Brand new gun with box. My solution, sold it, and did OK. Sorry I didn't find a better approach. | |||
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Is this rifle new.....are you the original owner? ________________________________________________ Maker of The Frankenstud Sling Keeper Proudly made in the USA Acepting all forms of payment | |||
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Often this is caused by a barrel that has not been properly stress relieved. If it was any/most other issues, then it wouldn't return the first two shots to where they were. Then when it warms up after two shots, ,the third one flies out of the group. Once you determine the problem is yours, IE, no warranty on it, I'll tell you want to do next. I see this occasionally but most hunters do not ever see it as they only fire one or two shots at a time. Never with Douglas barrels though, as they are stress relieved, Twice. And Mag Particle Inspected in between. | |||
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You could HT with a stress relieve treatment such as 1200 F for two hours .That's a typical stress relieve/anneal treatment .Too low a temperature to cause scale . From my own experiences you write down a list of things that can be done and try them one by one. | |||
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mete Would you recommend pulling the barrel or heating the action with the barrel? | |||
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NOOOOOOOOOO!!! Do not heat the receiver or bolt!!! | |||
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I was told by an old time shooter to smack the barrel as hard as you can with a hammer whilst holding it vertically in your left hand. That will align the molecules and relieve stress. He said it worked; I never tried it. | |||
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Welcome to Kimber rifles. Hard times create strong men. Strong men create good times. Good times create weak men. And, weak men create hard times. | |||
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 If it's a new gun, don't mess with it. Don't even wipe off the goo from the price sticker. Send it back. If it's an old gun, trade it in or rebarrel it. Trading it is the cheapest but it won't guaranty that the next one will shoot. About 85% of custom barrels will shoot under 1 inch, so your odds of getting something good are best with rebarreling. When I was a kid. I had the stick. I had the rock. And I had the mud puddle. I am as adept with them today, as I was back then. Lets see today's kids say that about their IPods, IPads and XBoxes in 45 years! Rod Henrickson | |||
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Agree. I sold mine after sending it back to kimber. It grouped very poorly before sending back to a Kimber. And they did nothing to correct it. NRA Patron member | |||
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What is it chambered in - wood or synthetic stock? Mike Never under estimate the internet community's ability to reply to your post with their personal rant about their tangentially related, single occurrence issue.  What I have learned on AR, since 2001: 1. The proper answer to: Where is the best place in town to get a steak dinner? is…You should go to Mel's Diner and get the fried chicken. 2. Big game animals can tell the difference between .015 of an inch in diameter, 15 grains of bullet weight, and 150 fps. 3. There is a difference in the performance of two identical projectiles launched at the same velocity if they came from different cartridges. 4. While a double rifle is the perfect DGR, every 375HH bolt gun needs to be modified to carry at least 5 down. 5. While a floor plate and detachable box magazine both use a mechanical latch, only the floor plate latch is reliable. Disregard the fact that every modern military rifle uses a detachable box magazine. 6. The Remington 700 is unreliable regardless of the fact it is the basis of the USMC M40 sniper rifle for 40+ years with no changes to the receiver or extractor and is the choice of more military and law enforcement sniper units than any other rifle. 7. PF actions are not suitable for a DGR and it is irrelevant that the M1, M14, M16, & AK47 which were designed for hunting men that can shoot back are all PF actions. 8. 95 deg F in Africa is different than 95 deg F in TX or CA and that is why you must worry about ammunition temperature in Africa (even though most safaris take place in winter) but not in TX or in CA. 9. The size of a ding in a gun's finish doesn't matter, what matters is whether it’s a safe ding or not. 10. 1 in a row is a trend, 2 in a row is statistically significant, and 3 in a row is an irrefutable fact. 11. Never buy a WSM or RCM cartridge for a safari rifle or your go to rifle in the USA because if they lose your ammo you can't find replacement ammo but don't worry 280 Rem, 338-06, 35 Whelen, and all Weatherby cartridges abound in Africa and back country stores. 12. A well hit animal can run 75 yds. in the open and suddenly drop with no initial blood trail, but the one I shot from 200 yds. away that ran 10 yds. and disappeared into a thicket and was not found was lost because the bullet penciled thru. I am 100% certain of this even though I have no physical evidence. 13. A 300 Win Mag is a 500 yard elk cartridge but a 308 Win is not a 300 yard elk cartridge even though the same bullet is travelling at the same velocity at those respective distances. | |||
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My nephew bought himself a new Kimber 7mm RemMag but it just wouldn't shoot with several factory loads he tried, took it back and bought a Tikka in same cartridge, sweet shooting rifle with factory and reloads. Kimber was on sale at a good price, wonder why? | |||
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young bill, always take the barrel off. If the 1200 F bothers you ,you could drop that to maybe 800 F. The 1200 F won't give you scale though you could always heat in vacuum or argon if it makes you nervous . The light whippy barrels can hit the forend so more clearance should be tried .That halved the groups on mine !!The blind magazine was too long so it was shortened .That put me down to 1/2" where I stopped . | |||
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I have a Kimber Montana in 7mm08 and it has shot very well. I have got a few groups that are 3 shots in 1 hole. I even got a 5 shot group into 1 hole. My only complaint was that the front sling stud stripped its thread. I just epoxied it back and all is fine. "When the wind stops....start rowing. When the wind starts, get the sail up quick." | |||
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The gun was supposedly "new old stock" and appeared unfired. Thanks for the suggestions....working on it. 35whelenman hit the nail on the head. Never have seen an action where there is so much wiggling and rattling when closed...seems to firm up a bit with the safety in the fire position. Not impressed. | |||
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I have had 5 different Kimbers and still have 2. They all shot well and the newest one (an 8400 300WM) seems to be the least fussiest of all... It's only a few weeks old. Cheers, Mark. | |||
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I got a Kimber 22 for my father years ago. It was a fantastic rifle, and he loved it. He passed away a few years ago, and I still have that rifle. Not long ago Ingot one of the new Kimber 22 riflescwith a laminated stock and a fluted stainless barrel. Bloody awful! It looks great, but no one likes to use it. One has a struggle trying to get the magazine out. I also have a Kimber 22 target pistol. Again, I am very disappointed, we have more misfires and malfunctions with it than any other make. I am not I will buy another Kimber. | |||
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I've had bad luck with Kimber rifles and pistols. I'll never buy another one. Dave | |||
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I have 2 8400 rifles of the first runs with problems, one in 300WM & one in 338WM. My only issue was a rough/gouged chamber in the 300WM, that took some polishing to fix. Accuracy has been very good in both, even with the rough chamber. My only issue really has been the bluing wears easily and the bolt handle had to be stripped and re-coated. Both have select grade timber without the ebony forends, never seen this elsewhere, maybe they were special ordered for the Aussie market? Cheers.  | |||
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I have two Kimbers, a Montana in 308 Win, and a 8400 Classic in 30-06, which later got a new L.Walter barrel in 338-06 A-Square. Nada problems with neihter of them, accurate and nice rifles, both are from Yonkers NY. Arild Iversen. | |||
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I’ve not had a problem but bedded one of mine. This is a good read: https://www.24hourcampfire.com...hp/topics/12047538/1 DRSS | |||
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That's a hell of a thread on 24hourcampfire. Very interesting read, but I have to ask, does anyone out there believe that a $1200-1300 rifle should require that much work to shoot well? For those not interested in all 20 odd pages, the referenced thread was posted by a guy who claimed to have owned 20 Kimbers that all required magazine box grinding, bedding, action screw shortening, and front scope base screw shortening in order to shoot well. 'Shoot well' was not defined. To me, that means 1-1.5" inches at 100 yards. I'm sure some here define shooting well as groups half that size. Personally, I think that in this day and age, $1200 should get you a rifle that is capable of 1.5 MOA without having to spend hours of work in the garage, or an extra $500 in gunsmith fees. Savage, Tikka, Bergara, how many other sub-$1000 rifles have sterling reputations for out of the box accuracy? They may be ugly, have lots of plastic, and not be something your kids are going to want to keep, but dammit they shoot. And what else is a rifle supposed to do? | |||
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I’m three for three on good performance with Kimber rifles. Montana, Classic and Hunter. The 260Rem Montana I bedded after I had it cerakoted. Earlier Montana’s could be problematical I believe, sometimes. Can’t say that with some other factory rifles I have owned..... DRSS | |||
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I have two Kimber Montana rifles. One in 3006 and the other in 300 Win Mag. They both shoot moa but not with all ammo. The 3006 likes Barnes 150 gr. TTSX and the 300 shoots 180 gr. TTSX, 190 gr. Nosler Accubond LR, and 200 gr. Hornady ELDX. With the light contour barrels, groups in both rifles quickly open up after the barrel heats up. | |||
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My son has a Kimber in .280 Ackley that shoots exactly as described in the first post in this thread—first shot is always spot-on, then second is close and third opens up group to nearly three inches. I glass-bedded it for him to see if that helps but he hasn’t tried it again yet. If that didn’t fix it maybe I’ll try cryogenically treating the barrel, or replace the barrel. John Farner If you haven't, please join the NRA! | |||
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I have an 84M Classic in 7-08 and it has been back to Kimber twice and it would still shoot groups of 2.5 to 3 inches with anything put through it. I spent a year or two shooting twelve different Factory loads and dozens of reloads with the same results until I tried a reload with Barnes TTSX bullets which turn in a groups that measures .78. The Mossberg Patriot in 7-08 I bought my Son for Deer hunting which will shoot 1.25 inch or less with most all ammo and hand loads .75. Steve......... NRA Patron Life Member GOA Life Member North American Hunting Club Life Member USAF Veteran | |||
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Sounds like a lemon. Cut your losses and return it. Since you don't like the sloppy action, rebarreling is only going to make a sloppy rifle with a new barrel. Also know the new barrel probably won't fit the stock. It is an expensive snowballing can of worms, walk away! | |||
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It does act like barrel stress. If you want to try a cheaper means of stress relieving the barrel you can have it cryogenically treated as opposed to heat. It was a big deal in the 90s and Krieger does/did it in their manufacturing process. Someone correct me if I wrong but I believe you can cryo-treat the barreled action without all that disassembly/reassembly cost. | |||
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