Kimber 8400 Feeding Issue

Meelosh

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You know how when you buy sumpin' pretty and you really want to like it, so you overlook the flaws? That's this rifle. Had it since 2011ish and I've only now decided that I am sick of her shit.

Chambered in .300 WSM and this thing just does not feed like it should. Bolt just slides over the round half the time without picking it up, tip of the bullet gets caught and bends it over pretty often the rest of the time.

I understand there is probably some fixes for this. Anyone done it that can walk me through the process? I'd rather fix it than retire/replace it but it needs to perform like it should or that is what's gonna happen.
 


Jiffy

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How does it shoot?

Kimber has really good customer service, I'd contact them and see what they say. Although that should have been done from the get go. If you bought it new that is.

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ps: I take that back. How much do you want for the piece of shit.... ;)
 

Meelosh

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It shoots better than I can. I s'pose I should contact them but they may tell me its been seven years and "that should have been done from the get go."
 

Jiffy

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I'd still try it and see what they say, worth a shot.

SDMF is your man on this one....
 


Meelosh

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Can't rule that out unfortunately.
 

guywhofishes

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ha ha ha - if a guy has to think about feeding another round the gun’s not working right IMO
 

SDMF

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Call Kimber and they'll probably send you a new magazine spring. If that's too much trouble, take the action out of the stock, take a small pliers and squeeze the 3 bends in the magazine spring to increase the size bend which will also add more spring tension.

This is a <1/2 beer fix.
 

PrairieGhost

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I would like to add that the most likely problem is the sides of the magazine are to tight and dont allow the cartridge to lift high enough for the bolt to pick it up. For some reason this is very common in semiauto handguns. In 22lr even when the bolt picks up the cartridge it often strikes low below the chamber and the forward edges of the magazine lips need to be bent outward.
 

SDMF

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I would like to add that the most likely problem is the sides of the magazine are to tight and dont allow the cartridge to lift high enough for the bolt to pick it up. For some reason this is very common in semiauto handguns. In 22lr even when the bolt picks up the cartridge it often strikes low below the chamber and the forward edges of the magazine lips need to be bent outward.

I guess it's possible, however, with very little taper to the WSM case, if the mag-box lips were tight enough to crowd the case low, they might be too proud to allow the case body to engage the receiver rails at all in which case the loaded round would pop right back out and not stay down at all.

I'll go out on a limb and guess that rounds #2 and #3 feed fine and it's only #1 w/3 down that's a problem?
 


Kentucky Windage

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Call Kimber and they'll probably send you a new magazine spring. If that's too much trouble, take the action out of the stock, take a small pliers and squeeze the 3 bends in the magazine spring to increase the size bend which will also add more spring tension.

This is a <1/2 beer fix.

You drink too slow.
 

Kentucky Windage

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Lots of spring tension conflicting #1 and not allowing for any free play in the process of chambering, compromising the process.

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The 2 problems mentioned do not seem related to a single issue (jumping over the round AND/OR deforming the round when it does grab). Any chance you’re short stroking when the bolt doesn’t grab the round and when you deform the round it’s related to my first comment?

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When a round is chambered from the box mag, the rim of the case will drop down slightly as the shoulder begins riding up the feed ramp to accommodate the angle at which the cartridge needs successfully feed. If there’s no wiggle room there, you will have feeding problems (deformed bullets) while chambering.

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As I stated before, when the bolt slides over the round, I’m betting you are either short stroking OR there’s a rail issue that need to be modified because it’s not allowing the case to be exposed properly for the bolt to grab the round. I’m basing this off of my knowledge of guns other than Kimbers specifically.
 

Meelosh

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Well... I guess I’ll start the process of throwing money at it one piece at a time until it fixes it or becomes a fence post and then sell Jiffy the coordinates to said fence post.
 

SDMF

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SDMF....yes.

The casehead needs to come up. If #1 doesn’t work and #2/3 do, my vote is too little spring tension.

No reason to throw $$ at a minor problem that can be fixed with a phone call and by removal/reinstall of 2 5/32 Allen screws.

if the new spring (which they’ll likely send for free) doesn’t fix if, the next step is a flat nose pliers and a little tweak of the mag lips beginning @ the rear.
 


Meelosh

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That’s where I’ll start. Call Kimber tomorrow.
 

Whisky

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I copied the below from another site. I came across it and remembered this thread...

couple of things. First though, I've owned and still own two Montanas, an 84 and an 8400. And I've read about a lot of guys having feeding problems but they've always been able to fix them. It sounds like you need to polish up the feed ramp and rails, which was the first thing I did with mine. I used a dremel tool on the ramp and fine emery paper on the rails. Both helped.

Second, some of the feeding issues I read about were caused by a follower spring that was not strong enough and replacement helped. On my rifle, a more common problem was the spring sliding forward underneath the follower, allowing the follower to tilt backward. This can be fixed by putting the spring in the right position in the stock and placing a dollop of epoxy in front of the spring to keep it from moving forward.


Hope this helps.
 

Meelosh

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Kimber asked me to ship it in. Probably what I will do.

I read that too Whisky.
 


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