Kimber Mtn. Ascent 30-06 Ammo

bbrooks

Beginner
Aug 3, 2015
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I just bought a Kimber Mtn. Ascent 30-06 and I'm curious if anyone has any Ammo they have found that shoots well in this gun. I'm not a hand loader so I'm looking at factory rounds. I'm using this rifle for deer and elk and am looking for something in the 160-180g range.

Any advice or experience would be much appreciated.
 
Welcome aboard, bbrooks; glad to have you posting. With respect to factory ammo, any may work. Generally speaking, Federal makes some of the most accurate ammunition available today. My experience across several platforms is positive, even with the Federal Blue Box ammunition. It is work checking out. What weight bullet are you intending to shoot?
 
Appreciate the response DrMike. I've had poor results with Hornady rounds so far, and am going to try out some Nosler 168 E-tip and Barnes TTSX 165g rounds. The gun was factory tested with 180g Federal rounds, but I've had some difficulty with supply on Federal in the past. Looking to shoot something in the 160-180g range, with a preference for the lower end of that range.
 
Federal does offer a good selection of bullets in their .30-06 Springfield lineup. While I have had considerable success with premium loads using both Hornady and Combined Technology bullets, my experience with ammunition from either of these firms is less positive. I have never used any of the Vortex ammunition offered by Barnes, so I can't speak to that. I do recommend that when you find a load that works that you order several boxes of the same lot if possible. I did that many years ago even though I was hand-loading. It saved me some grief on a few occasions with the cartridge I was using at the time. I was having difficulty securing a supply of TBBC bullets at that time.
 
You can pick up some 165gr. Accubonds in the Nosler custom factory round that are real accurate. A buddy of mine has always used factory round as he only hunts Whitetail and stated that in his opinion they were some of the best he has ever used.
I know for the break in of my 280AI I used the 140gr Accubonds in the factory Nosler customs so that I could have brass after using them. They were under a 1" moa.
PS. Welcome aboard I am sure you are going to have a great time on this site as the people are friendly and knowledge is next to none (y).

Blessings,
Dan
 
Thank you sask boy! Appreciate the friendly welcome and you sharing your experience. I'm going to shoot some 168 E-tip this weekend. Might try some custom 165's next.

Thanks again.
 
bbrooks,

Welcome and congratulations on your Kimber.

This is without a doubt the best forum on the net. Lots of great folks here.

Vince

Sent from my SGH-M919 using Tapatalk
 
I have not used the Nosler 165 gr. custom ammo but I have used the bullet in my handholds. Very accurate and they gave me a one shot kill on a cow elk that dressed out at 378 pounds.
For a factory round that has been in all my 30-06 rifles except one, I like the 180 gr. Winchester Power Point spitzer. That one has a custom barrel with a slower twist and it does not like bullets heavier than 165 gr. That was the one I used to take the elk. Couldn't find the bullet but it did the job.
Paul B.
 
I appreciate all of your help and responses. I put a box of the 168 Nosler E-tip through my gun and they shot well. Barnes 165g shot equally as well. nice to have options.
 
Glad to hear you found an accurate load. I was about to suggest to be sure and use good benchrest techniques with that light rifle. Of all the rifles I've ever had ( a few custom, some very lwt rifles on top of Rem Mountain rifles) the lighter ones are the hardest to shoot well... for me. I also noticed that if I zeroed these lwts about "spot on" @ 100 off a bench, they would print around +2.5-3"@100 from hunting positions! Maybe you've discovered that too, but I thought it was worth mentioning, good luck to you Pard!
 
Thanks, Preacher...the sighting in went well and I just got back from a backpack muley hunt. Was able to take a nice 5x4 laying in his bed. All that worrying about the right load paid off!
 
Pleased to hear that your hunt was successful. Perhaps you can give us a blow-by-blow and a few pictures so we can all share your success. Congratulations.
 
Congrats to you. What bullet did you end up using?

Those Ascents are pretty handy rifles.
 
I ended up using a 168g e-tip from Nosler. I was getting nice groups with them pre-season, and to cap it off I only shot two shells this year for elk and deer.

If you all are interested, we filmed our mule deer hunt and it should be in one of the hunting film tours starting the summer. Film is called Chasing Ridgelines.

Happy hunting,
Brad
 
Brad how was the terminal performance of the ETip? Shot distance? Impact locations on the animals?

Sorry for all of the questions but I'm very interested in the ETs.

Congrats again on your animals.
 
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