Another Kimber project rifle

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Spats McGee said:
The name of the store is, in fact, Fort Thompson, and they are still in the same place.
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Thanks for the confirmation. I remember going there with a Remington coworker to buy a Winchester M70 EW .300 Win Mag that was on sale for $850, which included a $50 rebate if I bought a box of Winchester branded ammunition at the same time. I asked if they had anything else in a .30 caliber. The guy behind the counter went in the back and came out with a Kimber 8400 WSM chambered in 300 WSM and it was kind of love at first sight/touch. He wanted $1050 for the Kimber (dealer cost) so I bought both. The Winchester went down the road within a year or two but the Kimber has always been a keeper. I bought another M70 EW in .308 Win and that too went down the road.
 
rbernie said:
Man, I wish somebody offered a Kimbage prefit option.... <sigh> I love the action, but really want to be able to install my own barrels in the garage....
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I have the tools to remove/install Kimber 84/8400 barrels. I also have a few Kimber barrels for sale if you're interested. The one's I have are made by Bergara and Criterion. PM me if you'd like a list of what I have.
 
MCMXI said:
I have the tools to remove/install Kimber 84/8400 barrels. I also have a few Kimber barrels for sale if you're interested. The one's I have are made by Bergara and Criterion. PM me if you'd like a list of what I have.
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Thanks so much, but I think you have it backwards – I want to be able to buy a Kimber action and screw on aftermarket barrels using a barrel nut, so that I can re-barrel the Kimber action without a lathe or finishing reamers.

:)
 
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Another quick update. I sold the Kimber 8400 WSM McRees chassis on Gunbroker this morning for around $400 which will pay for one of the Proof barels. Also, it means that I won't be comparing it to the McMillan stock shown in the first post. I bought a couple of 12mm x 1.75 bolts the other day to use as pillars in the McMillan stock. I'll drill and tap the existing action screw holes, "machine" the bolts to the proper dimensions and the set them using Devcon. I've done this before with good results so it shouldn't be too much of a challenge.
 
Ive never tried making pillars from bolts....Id have a hard time coring them straight with my gear anyway. Sounds like they would be about perfect tho.
Used lamp post tubing more than once, and aluminum cable stops a time or two.
 
Here's the stock as it currently sits sans pillars. I'll post some photos of the stock once the pillars are done. I'm going to remove the bedding compound in front of the recoil lug pocket. I'll probably bed the receiver too once a barrel is screwed on but most likely after shooting a few groups using factory ammunition to get a baseline.

mcmillan_stock_1.jpg
 
Just heard from Proof that the two Sendero barrel blanks are ready. I'm going to drop off the action tomorrow morning so I should have everything back in a couple of weeks or so, maybe less. I need to get my butt in gear and get pillars installed in the McMillan stock so that I can do some shooting as soon as the barreled action is back.
 
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Sweet! That's pretty quick.

I'd expect the barrels to shoot well, they have a good reputation.
 
LoonWulf said:
I'd expect the barrels to shoot well, they have a good reputation.
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I have a couple of Proof barrels in .308 Win that shoot very well, but my previous experience with the 6.5 PRC and the 8400 WSM receiver has me a little worried. I will say that the 8400 Tactical models that Kimber offers in 6.5 CM and .308 Win do shoot very well, and the Proof barrels have a similar profile to the tactical barrels but are probably stiffer. I guess I'll find out in a couple of weeks!
 
I was trying to make pillars last week for the McMillan stock, but despite making up a "fancy" jig to help me bore a concentric hole through the long axis of a 12mm bolt I had more than a few problems. In order to expedite this project I sent a text to the talented @MachIVshooter late last week to ask him if he could make me six pillars (four for other projects namely a couple of custom AG Composites 84M CF stocks). He's shipping the pillars out tomorrow so I should be able to get a couple installed later in the week. The Proof barrels are probably a week away. Our rifle season ends on the 29th of this month so it's possible that I could use the 6.5 PRC to fill a deer tag. I've been watching some nice White-tail bucks on my property and they typically hang out about 350 yards from the house. If the 143gr ELD-X factory load shoots well I might be able to use it to good effect. More to come ... hopefully. :)

pillars.jpg
 
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This project is creeping along. I received the stainless steel pillars shown above this afternoon (ahead of schedule so thanks USPS) and used Devcon on the threads which should be good. In case it's not obvious, I drilled out the original action screw holes in the stock to an appropriate size, then tapped the holes using a 12x1.75mm tap. The pillars are made from stainless steel 12x1.75mm thread rod. Once the epoxy is set I'll finish the top of the pillars and then think about permanently bonding the bottom metal to the stock. The barreled action and extra barrel could be ready next week so I need to get a move on.

Jeff of CDI Precision did the inletting for his Kimber 8400 WSM bottom metal before he passed away. He was a good guy and I enjoyed our phone calls over the last few years.

I was at a local store today and they have a fair amount of US 869 which is supposedly one of the faster powders for the 6.5 PRC. Does anyone have any experience with this powder? I have quite a lot of H1000 which is a good powder for this application but wouldn't mind having another suitable powder on hand in case the H1000 doesn't work as well as expected.

pillars_01.jpg
 
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Figured to post this here, some great additions to the laupa line.

https://bulletin.accurateshooter.co...rc-284-win-300-prc-300-win-mag-brass-in-2021/

I wonder when next year they will be available and the price. For my 6.5 prc it .maybe overkill to have lapua brass for a hunting rifle but expect the lapua to last many more times then the hornady drass. Hope it's around the price for adg brass, hope to see them compared soon.

The new 284 brass makes me want to build a 284win now, still stuck on what action to use tho.
 
@troy fairweather, thanks for that link. I'd definitely be interested in Lapua 6.5 PRC brass if this rifle shows any promise with Hornady brass.

LoonWulf said:
I believe 869s about the slowest hodgdon powder available. I've never played with it, even in my bigger magnums.
Probably too slow for peak performance with the 6.5PRC, but might be worth a shot just to see if it's an option.
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@LoonWulf, when I was at the store yesterday, one of the counter folks printed out this load data from a book they had. I'm interested in 140gr + bullet weights and US 869 appears to hold its own offering more velocity and lower pressure than H1000 for 147gr bullets. Real world results might be different but given that it's readily available online and in a local store I think it's worth the risk. The other thing is that it might be a good alternative to H1000 for my .338 LM if it's not great for the 6.5 PRC. I notice that it's a spherical powder which I don't typically use for rifle cartridges and it's $19.99 per pound at my local store which seems very reasonable.

https://shop.hodgdon.com/hodgdon/hodgdon-us-869

6.5prc_load_data.jpg
 
I'll pick up a bunch today, hopefully at least 8lb if they'll sell that much to me. Not a bad idea to have alternative powders on hand during these times, and some research indicates that it's a good .338 LM option so it won't go to waste. Being a spherical powder it should meter well, and given the way it packs into the case it could give low ES values.

@LoonWulf, my apologies for the delay in getting those bipod adapters to you. They'll go out tomorrow.
 
Let me know how not works. I've been avoiding it simply because it's so slow, but if it runs in the PRC it should do well in stuff like the 7mag, and maybe the .280ai.

No worries on the adapters, I haven't had a chance to shoot or hunt with a rifle since I got the pods in lol.
 
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