Kimber 84m 308 - 12 twist ?

[zap]

A buddy of mine has a Kimber 84m in .308. with a 12 twist. He said the last time he shot , his groups were up to 5 inches at 100 yards. I only spoke by email and from what he is saying, it has never shot well. He is shooting factory Barnes ammo, and No I don't know what the bullet weight was on those. He also shot a box of some kind of Federal ammo.

I am thinking that If his ammo has 150gr bullets or heavier, he may be having stabilizing issues. He did not say anything about key holing, just poor 3 shot grouping. He does let the pencil barrel cool well he said between strings.

I don't own a .308 but I believe most have a 10 twist, please correct me if I am wrong.

What will a 12 twist stabilize ?

 

[Frankr]

The 12 twist should work for up to about 190gr ers..
i think its best with about 165 gr ers..but will work for 150's.

Im a big kimber fan. the best ever made. factory rifle..all of mine have shot in a hole..I have even shot 5 shot groups in the thin barrel to see if it would walk and they do not.. I just layed away a new 84m in 257 rob. hope to pick it up next month. I im completely sold they are the best sporter rifle's ever made in the usa peroid...

A problem i have ran into with mine is they are wood stocks and they do warp..one 300WSM the bedding cracked at the back of the front piller and it started throwing a shot,,I just rebeded it, and it was right back to shooting.

My 8400 long action 270 win. i have targets with five shot groups that measure .750 with 19 round down the barrel...then was able to tune a 150 VLD down to sub 1/2" 3 shot groups.. then one day it just quit shooting..
the stock had warped(over a two year peroid) between the front of the action and rear( long magazine cut out only has two thin pieces of wood between the front and rear of action). so i rebeded cutting down into the wood and along the sides.. that was over 4 years ago, its never moved since..

I would have the bedding checked.. if someone had it out of the stock..it may just need reset..

Other than that, bad scope or mounts. or just junk factory amo.

 

[tenring]

I bought the same rifle in .308 with 10 twist four years ago. It has been returned to the Younkers factory three times. One pillar was not installed straight; bore scope found a dimple in the bore near the muzzle; and with magazine loaded, first shot, all cartridges would drop on the ground. They did make satisfactory repairs for each problem.

After 300 rounds, it continues to blue badly even with extensive cleaning, and is not very accurate. I load 165 Accubonds, and best 3 shots at 100 is about 2". I would not buy another.

 

[Rustystud]

My son has a Kimber in 270. With 130 grain Swift Scirrocos ahead of 60 grains of H4831, it will shoot 5 that you can cover with a dime. Now I had to adjust the trigger as it would fire whan you closed the bolt when he first got it.
Nat Lambeth

 

[Browningguy]

Some of my rifles won't shoot the barnes bullets either, but I think it has more to do with the length rather than the weight. The barnes all copper bullets are significantly longer than led core bullets of the same weight and hence require a faster twist.

12 twist is pretty standard in .308's, I would have him try some standard 150's. the SST bullet works well in all my rifles.

 

[Frankr]

I bought the same rifle in .308 with 10 twist four years ago. It has been returned to the Younkers factory three times. One pillar was not installed straight; bore scope found a dimple in the bore near the muzzle; and with magazine loaded, first shot, all cartridges would drop on the ground. They did make satisfactory repairs for each problem.

After 300 rounds, it continues to blue badly even with extensive cleaning, and is not very accurate. I load 165 Accubonds, and best 3 shots at 100 is about 2". I would not buy another.

tenring I'm sorry to hear that. I have loved all 3 three i have, i hope my new 257 will be OK.
the fit and finish on all of mine has been first rate.
to the point where i marval at them, i know a few custom gunmakers, and i can tell you to get a rifle from them of this quality will cost you $3,500.00 and no guarantee they will shoot.

all i can really say is most people don't understand how hard it is to shoot a lightweight rifle from the bench, you have to follow the crosshair all the way through the shot, its not that easy to do..most 308 have a pretty stout recoil for that light of a rifle,making them more difficult to shoot.