Kimber Montana mag box and firing when taking off safe

Joined
Feb 20, 2016
So I broke down and bought a Montana in 308 today because.......well I found one! Got home and disassembled it to clean the grade off etc. Reassembled and was checking function etc.

Here’s where it got weird. Checked the safety in all three positions with no rounds in(pulled trigger). 1.(full back) no fire. 2. ( mid position) no fire. Flip the safety to fire and the gun fires (without Ammo in). What! Long story short is if I moved the trigger from position 1 to 3 without pulling the trigger in 2(safe) it wouldn’t fire. If I put the safety in position 2 and pulled the trigger it would not fire BUT as soon as I moved the safety to fire it would go off without touching the trigger.

I worked on this and found the following.
1. I would not do this with the action out of the stock.

2. After I learned that I narrowed it down to it would not do that without the magazine box installed.

3. That lead me to believe that I wasn’t doing something right with the installation of the mag box. I fiddled with it and currently have it together with the mag box installed and have tested it 100+ times and it has not done it.

Any thoughts on this? Seems really weird that something like this could happen with only an error in installing the mag. Open to all thoughts. Was hoping to shoot tomorrow but apparently need high Tally’s Thanks


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Likely cause was the mag box was binding and the action tang was warping when you snugged the action screws. This will change the sear position relative to the cocking piece and give you what you got. As the safety allows the cocking peice to move forward slightly its pushing on the sear and not letting the trigger reset.

What should happen when the safety is engaged to any position is the cocking peice is cammed backward about .01”, putting a gap between the sear and cocking peice. Warping the tang pulls the cocking peice forward in relation to the sear.

Jeremy
 
Likely cause was the mag box was binding and the action tang was warping when you snugged the action screws. This will change the sear position relative to the cocking piece and give you what you got. As the safety allows the cocking peice to move forward slightly its pushing on the sear and not letting the trigger reset.

What should happen when the safety is engaged to any position is the cocking peice is cammed backward about .01”, putting a gap between the sear and cocking peice. Warping the tang pulls the cocking peice forward in relation to the sear.

Jeremy

Thanks! I read on another forum that the poster trims a small amount off the “ears” on the bottom of the mag box, allowing it to “float”. Ever hear of that? Good idea ?


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Thanks! I read on another forum that the poster trims a small amount off the “ears” on the bottom of the mag box, allowing it to “float”. Ever hear of that? Good idea ?


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Yes. File them down until there is just a little play left when you put it back together. One in the stock you should be able to stick your finger in there and wiggle the mag just a hair.
 
Thanks! I read on another forum that the poster trims a small amount off the “ears” on the bottom of the mag box, allowing it to “float”. Ever hear of that? Good idea ?


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Yes. Trimming makes is easier to assemble. The tolerances in their stocks are not awesome, so the mag boxes can be tight and bind.

As Muleyfever noted, it should float a little when installed. If it rattles, fine, it won't when you have cartridges in it.

Jeremy
 
Just go easy on the filing. I can tell you that a *cough, cough* "guy I know" did the same and took off too much.... and then it wouldn't feed correctly. Then the "guy I know" had to spend $50 from kimber on a new mag box....

the "guy I know" was me....
 
Thanks guys. Took a tick off the bottom and seems good. It kinda slides on the side “rails” if you will rather than on those “feet” that stick down. Not even really sure why it’s designed that way.


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