The only rifles I’ve seen with the Troy, AL roll mark were from the 6.5CM limited production run

The only rifles I’ve seen with the Troy, AL roll mark were from the 6.5CM limited production run

Maybe they will spin some 7mm08 or .260 stainless setups

That’s what we run in our model 7s and savage LW stuff

Just have appreciation for lightweight, accurate , deer rifles...only haven’t handled many kimbers

Those super lightweight Kimber Montanas are awesome rifles....so long as you have a rest. The lighter they are, the more difficult they are to shoot accurately offhand. I no longer own any of them for that reason alone. I have killed way too many deer at woods ranges offhand over the years to not be able to shoot it more accurately than I could those Kimbers. One of them cost me a giant that I slipped up on, bedded in a cutover. The longer you have to hold it to your shoulder offhand, the more squirrelly things get as fatigue sets in. Just not enough weight to help offset your natural shakes, especially for my old, arthritic, decrepit arse. YMMV

Sorry I didn’t give details. My Kimber was less than a year old when the cerakote started popping off. I called kimber and the said they warranted the rifle but not the cerakote WTF?? I took my gun to my gunsmith and he showed me many other spots I had not seen. I was beside myself. My gunsmith told me they see lots of problems with newer Kimbers. It’s a shame. I agree, they did have a great product at one time. Problem is in today’s buyer market, you screw a consumer like they did me and they lose my business forever. I had the gone cerakoted on my dime and it is great now. I am blessed to have tons of firearms but two companies I will never buy from again are Remington and Kimber. Corporate America has destroyed them. While on the other hand, companies like Tikka (beretta) are improving QC.

JME (on the rest thing) ......tree, knees, fence post, stand rail, rock, etc....outside of hunting west Texas, where stuff sticks you, there’s almost always a rest somewhere hunting in the East. I’ll even carry sticks if I need. If you don’t have a rest, there shouldn’t be the time or distance to want one. If there is, then there’s generally one handy. Just front carry with sling tension is generally enough. Many aren’t used to that, or shooting when winded, either. Light rifles shouldn’t be any harder to take a hunting shot with, than a heavier gun.....and a rest is better, no matter what you throw on it.

Sorry I didn’t give details. My Kimber was less than a year old when the cerakote started popping off. I called kimber and the said they warranted the rifle but not the cerakote WTF?? I took my gun to my gunsmith and he showed me many other spots I had not seen. I was beside myself. My gunsmith told me they see lots of problems with newer Kimbers. It’s a shame. I agree, they did have a great product at one time. Problem is in today’s buyer market, you screw a consumer like they did me and they lose my business forever. I had the gone cerakoted on my dime and it is great now. I am blessed to have tons of firearms but two companies I will never buy from again are Remington and Kimber. Corporate America has destroyed them. While on the other hand, companies like Tikka (beretta) are improving QC.

A deer, in a cutover, in the mountains, at 75 yards, on a mission headed somewhere, back over your right shoulder, about to get gone, and then stops in the dead wrong position for 10 seconds (fatigue starts setting in), and you have one small window to neck shoot him when he starts walking again.....is a scenario (or similar) that I have successfully executed a whole bunch of times over my lifetime. With other rifles at least. I JUST ABOUT made a horrible shot, never to be seen again, with a Kimber Montana in that exact same scenario. I didn't like how the whole thing went down but was thankful to get him regardless and put it in the back of my mind. In a different/later encounter with a buck that made the aforementioned one look like a yearling, I was quietly slipping to a stand in a cutover on a razorback ridgetop, came around a brushtop, and there he laid at about 65 yards (sticking out like a sore thumb, visually at least). Raised the rifle to get a look at his antlers through a huge stump with fresh shoots coming out of it everywhere and saw that he was a stud. Neck and head and chest totally covered by all that mess. Two small trees in between me and his ribs, guts, etc. One hop in the direction he is facing (or dead behind where he is facing either one) and he is off a steep face, never to be seen again. He is clearly looking at me and trying to figure out what to do and I'm doing the same. The longer I hold the gun on him, the worse my stability gets. Aint a rest in sight and if there was, I don't have a lane to kill him ethically anyway. He is looking antsy and I'm about to die...one of us got to have some relief! I decided to take a big slide step to the right and try to shoot him mid-ribs through the gap between those two small trees. Of course, with that rifle being about as stable as it would be if it were on a shaker table, I dead center one of the small trees and never touch him with the shot.

For most people, they will NEVER encounter such bad luck in their good buck encounters. The bastard will walk out 35 yards in front of them and pose like a statue in the wide open. NEVER, EVER happens that way for me. They all have some flavor of these two instances above. Because of that, along with trial shooting offhand on the range with the Kimbers versus my Finnlight, I could never again confidently carry a Kimber Montana in Alabama. Little bit heavier for sure, but the balance and stability offhand FOR ME personally (I have rheumatoid arthritis so it just gets worse every year) are substantially different. If you own a Montana and are prone to bad luck, or if you can humbly admit that you're not the best offhand shot like me, make sure you shoot it a bunch and are 100% confident in it before you carry it hunting.