Kimber Mountain Ascent Rifle

Cabelas in Gonzales had one last time I went. It was behind glass so I couldn't hold it but it looked cool.

No hand loading but I really want this rifle.

Is $1600 fair for a used one with rings and a box of ammo? It has had 100 rounds through it.

Looks like they are $1800 on gunbriker. I would be cautious about buying such an expensive used gun. You don't know the history on it. Probably works great, but I would hate to buy someone else's problems.

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No hand loading but I really want this rifle.

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In order for you to be able to shoot, you, or someone else, will need to handload. I'm not aware of any factory 280 Ackley Improved loads. Of course, you can always shoot regular 280 Rem loads in the AI chamber, but you'll loose some velocity from the factory specs. And yes, the 280 AI is a VERY fine round as it very nearly duplicates the 7 Mag using less powder and less muzzle blast.

Read this about them on a different forum


Let me first say,, that I'm totally happy with both my Mountain Ascents, I have had to work on both. The 280AI needed the most as I had to polished the follower and blind box to get it to feed right. Both are very accurate, but both would misfire every once in a while and was worst with factory than my handloads. I'm a very precise reloader and it caused me to be very exact. I started neck sizing was able to eliminate the misfires.

I had both these to a gunsmith and had the firing pin depth checked and it was good, we did discover that both firing pin set screws were loose. The other day I tried some factory loads to foul my barrel and again got a misfire. I decide to call Kiimber CS and after a long conversation convinced the rep to let me BUY 2 new springs, just so I could eliminate that as a cause. I did try to buy new ones from WOLF, but the springs they stock fit the regular Montana but are too big in diameter to fit inside the bolt on the MA.

So my new spring from Kimber arrived yesterday and I believe my issue is now resolved. The new springs are over an inch longer and they strike the primer with much more force and I can also tell a difference in the force it takes to recock the bolt.

So a picture is worth a 1000 words. I hope whoever wins gets a good one, but if not don't give up until you try it. They are a lot of rifle for the money when you get a good one.

Nosler sells 280AI accubonds but he probably won't be able to take full advantage of the versatility of 7mm bullets just buying factory loads.

CorBon also makes 280AIs

Yeah I checked all my distributors and those were the only two factory loaded Ackleys I could find