New Kimber Open Country 6.5 Creedmoor

[MCMXI]

I took home a new Open Country 6.5 Creedmoor rifle this weekend and will be shooting four different ammunition types over the coming week to see how well the rifle shoots suppressed. The stock is 100% carbon fiber with a deeply fluted heavy barrel weighing in under 7lb which isn't bad for a varmint rifle or even for an all-purpose varmint, antelope, sheep and deer rifle. The barrel and receiver are stainless with Kimpro grey finsh, the muzzle is threaded 5/8"-24, and a thread protector with integral recessed target crown comes standard along with a tool to remove/install the thread protector.

Late yesterday I mounted a Vortex Viper PST 6-24x50mm FFP in Talley rings, cleaned the barrel, screwed on a Dead Air Armament SANDMAN-L suppressor and bore sighted at 100 yards. Aiming at the center of the target (attached) I shot three rounds of Hornady 120gr ELD Match and had all three shots touching inside a 0.25 moa group. I then shot two more rounds which opened up the group to 0.67 moa. The Open Country has a flat beaver tail forend that didn't fit the bag on my shooting rest so I'll be changing that tomorrow. I was quite a bit off on the bore sighting but suppressors can do weird things. The SANDMAN is heavy adding 26.95 oz to the end of the barrel which isn't ideal for a 24" barrel on a bolt action rifle. If a coworker is ok with it, I plan on using the SilencerCo Omega shown in the attached photo for the remainder of the accuracy/precision testing. It only adds 14.05 oz to the barrel so will balance better and probaly shoot better. I did zero the scope after I shot that group but will have to re zero if I get to use the Omega. I really wanted to shoot more but ran out of time so I'm looking forward to more trigger time this week.

I'm not going to make any bold statements re this rifle yet, but the first five rounds fired show real promise. Hopefully all four loads shoot well and regardless of the outcome I'll update this thread as I work my way through the testing.

 

[browningguy]

Very nice rifle!

 

[rockyboy]

If you would, why don't thread protectors have a crown? Or am I just not noticing them. And, PS, as usual, you are an amazing shootest. If I recall you are an exemplified pro as far as reloading [et al]. Will you post your factory ammo choices against your own reloads?

 

[redneck2]

That's pretty impressive so far

Then again, in another thread we were told that sub MOA groups are rare as unicorns

Wonder if having an excellent shooter with a great rifle, really good ammo, and really good high quality, high magnification scope had anything to do with it?

 

[LoonWulf]

Sweet rifle, nice initial Accuracy too!

 

[MCMXI]

If you would, why don't thread protectors have a crown?

Some thread protectors act as an extension of the crown at the muzzle but the Open Country thread protector provides the recessed part of the 11 degree target crown which just adds a bit more protection to the crown while hunting.

Will you post your factory ammo choices against your own reloads?

Maybe, once I get through the factory ammo test. I plan on shooting five 5-shot groups per ammo type at 100 yards followed by one 5-shot group per ammo type at 400 yards.

 

[MCMXI]

That's pretty impressive so far

What surprised me the most was that I cleaned the barrel with foaming bore cleaner followed by patches soaked in alcohol so the barrel was squeaky clean for that group but there was no significant change in impact over the five shots. That's what I want in a hunting rifle and it's an indicator of a good barrel.

 

[Nature Boy]

I'd be very happy with that right out of the gate. It can only get better from there

 

[MCMXI]

Nature Boy, I've always had better results with heavier 6.5mm bullets so I'm kind of expecting excellent performance with the 140gr, 143gr and 147gr ammunition but you never know. Unless it's very windy tomorrow I'll be shooting tbe 120s.

 

[Gtscotty]

Looks like a great looking, and if the first group is representative, great shooting rifle. I've never heard of Kimpro, is it a coating like Cerakote or some kind of surface treatment?

 

[MCMXI]

I've never heard of Kimpro, is it a coating like Cerakote or some kind of surface treatment?

It's an applied coating like Cerakote but the application process falls under the general term of elctrophoretic deposition.

 

[MCMXI]

I shot two more groups last night (no chrono data) and then shot five groups this morning with chrono data for most of the shots for a total of eight 5-shot groups using Hornady 120gr ELD Match ammunition.

Avg of eight 5-shot groups: 0.930 moa
HI: 1.262 moa
LO: 0.670 moa
SD: 0.194 moa
Groups under moa: 5 of 8

It was a mixed day in many ways with some frustration, some ok results, a lot of learning and a few surprises. I set up the LabRadar this morning and couldn't get it to work properly until the 5th shot of 25 today. If you look at the screen shot in the second photo you'll see that I did manage to get velocity data for the last 21 of the 25 shots and the data doesn't look that great. An extreme spread of 108 fps and an SD of 23.5 fps isn't exactly good. I want a third of those values with a 6.5 CM handload. I'm not claiming that the results were affected by the velocities but it's something to think about if you're a hand loader. This isn't a LabrRadar review but I like the ease of setup once I figured out that I needed to have the muzzle just a few inches away from the unit since the suppressor attenuates the muzzle blast that triggers the Doppler radar. I did get some interesting downrange data at 20, 40, 60, 80 and 100 yards and can post that if it's interesting to anyone.

Here's the set up of the rifle, LabRadar and target.



Here's the summary screen for Series 0002



Here are the two 5-shot groups from last night which weren't bad but still show that I was having issues with the front rest. I didn't get an ok re the Omega suppressor so I used the SANDMAN-L again. I'm really not a fan of a heavy full-auto rated suppressor for this type of rifle but it's what I have. I would prefer to use my AAC MK13-SD but don't have a 5/8"-24 90T QD brake adapter for it.





Here's the complete target from this morning. As I mentioned earlier I'm going to report the results good or bad with the disclaimer that this is a complex subject. There are so many variables that can affect the results such as the rifle, the suppressor, the ammunition, the weather, the rest, the shooter, and on and on so even if every target is kind of average like the one shown below this is just a general overview and not a definitive summation of the potential of any part in the system. Like I said earlier, it was a frustrating day and it took a while to figure out the best way to shoot this rifle and maybe I still don't have it figured out. It was kind of windy this morning but not enough to significantly skew the data. I've made some progress based on how each group "felt" and I think I might have finally figured out the best set up with group #5 (bottom right). I struggled with different rests under the forearm and in just about every case had four shots inside 0.5 moa with one shot ruining the group. With the fourth group (bottom left) I started to get the rest issue resolved and by the last group I think I hit upon a good system that I'll use for the other three loads. I might even shoot the 120gr ELD Match load again later in the week.



Group #1 (top left)


Group #2 (top right)


Group #3 (middle)


Group #4 (bottom left)


Group #5 (bottom right)

 

[wally]

Then again, in another thread we were told that sub MOA groups are rare as unicorns

They just plain aren't if you consider 3 or 5 shots a "group".

 

[flashhole]

Your groups are not very good. I saw the word Hornady in one of your posts, you should consider better quality ammo.

I handload for several rifles, 45-70, 7mm Rem Mag, 25-06, 223 (two) and 221 Fireball. The guns are all factory stock except for the Fireball where I replaced the synthetic stock with a riigid lalminate. They all shoot better than what you are showing.

 

[MCMXI]

Your groups are not very good. I saw the word Hornady in one of your posts, you should consider better quality ammo.

My AI AW shoots Hornady 140gr A-MAX or ELD loads really well but of course my handloads are better. There are many variables here but the main objective is to see general trends shooting factory ammunition with a suppressor attached. Perhaps this rifle shoots better without a suppressor but I won't know unless I try.

I shot six 5-round groups this afternoon despite it being fairly windy. I used Hornady 140gr ELD Match ammunition and began by shooting one group to adjust scope zero. Also, I used the SilecerCo Omega rather than the SANDMAN-L. I chronographed all 30 shots and got better ES and SD numbers with this ammunition compared to the 120gr ELD match ammo. The best group was .798 moa and the worst group was 1.082 moa with only one group greater than 1 moa. I messed up at least two shots but most felt good. Stll learning and still having fun.

 

[flashhole]

Stll learning and still having fun.

That's the most important part.

 

[Coop45]

Nice, very nice.

 

[taliv]

looks pretty good to me!

not surprised about the lab radar results...

 

[Steve S.]

Continue to shoot that piece and your groups should shrink somewhat - nothing like familiarization and practice. The groups you are showing are fine and should improve as you get comfortable with the rifle. A 100 yard dime shooter it is not (maybe yet) but for a deer's boiler room, it is a tack driver. Good shooting.

 

[Gtscotty]

Your groups are not very good. I saw the word Hornady in one of your posts, you should consider better quality ammo.

What better 6.5 Creedmoor factory ammo would you suggest he use? Factory Hornady 6.5 Creedmoor ammo is well regarded, at least amongst folks who shoot it, if you know of something categorically better, I'd be interested to hear about it.

I shot six 5-round groups this afternoon despite it being fairly windy. I used Hornady 140gr ELD Match ammunition and began by shooting one group to adjust scope zero.

My Montana did not really care for the 140gr ELD factory fodder, but really loves the 143gr ELDx Precision Hunter, might be worth a try.

Maybe I'm the only one, but I don't think a 7lb rifle that averages sub-moa with EIGHT five shot groups of one factory ammo at one end of the bullet weight spectrum, and SIX five shot groups of another factory ammo at the other end of the bullet weight spectrum is a disappointment. Averaging sub-moa over 14 groups with two different factory loads is a bit different from posting a few sub-moa groups with tailored handloads.

Also, I'd be interested to see how it does without the can. Of my two best shooting rifles, screwing my Saker on the end of one makes it group a little better, the other shoots notably worse with a can on the end... No idea why.

 

[MCMXI]

My Montana did not really care for the 140gr ELD factory fodder, but really loves the 143gr ELDx Precision Hunter, might be worth a try.

Gtscotty, that's what I'm shooting this morning. I literally just shot this first 5-shot group to check scope zero from yesterday's 140gr test. It's a weird group for sure and the LabRadar didn't catch a single shot! I cleaned the rifle this morning using foaming bore cleaner and alcohol soaked patches and this group is from a cold clean bore. I'll post the entire five group target later today for a total of six groups.

 

[MCMXI]

So here are the results from this morning's session shooting Hornady 143gr ELD-X Precision Hunter with the SilencerCo Omega attached. The "zero" group shown above was .836 moa and it's shown again below. The five groups measured .842 moa, .941 moa, .481 moa, .859 moa and .828 moa (see complete target below with processed targets). I made a scope adjustment after the first two groups on the target showing five groups. All in all a better day with better results.

AVG: .798 moa
HI: .941 moa
LO: .481 moa
ES: .460 moa
SD: .147 moa

 

[MCMXI]

Also, I'd be interested to see how it does without the can. Of my two best shooting rifles, screwing my Saker on the end of one makes it group a little better, the other shoots notably worse with a can on the end... No idea why.

I plan on doing just that and will report back. I'm using .30 cal suppressors so it would be interesting to see if a dedicated 6.5mm model would make a difference. Typically I get similar or better results when shooting suppressed, never worse that I can think of but harmonics and stresses can do weird things. I really don't like the integral brake on the SilencerCo Omega. It's significantly louder than the SANDMAN-L which doesn't have an integral brake. I have to wear ear plugs when using the Omega.

The running tally with this rifle is as follows:

Hornady 120gr ELD Match > 8 5-shot groups with an average of .930 moa > Largest group 1.262 moa
Hornady 140gr ELD Match > 6 5-shot groups with an average of .958 moa > Largest group 1.163 moa
Hornaday 143gr ELD-X PH > 6 5-shot groups with an average of .798 moa > Largest group .941 moa

So that's a total of twenty 5-shot groups with the worst group being 1.262 moa and four of the twenty groups being over 1.000 moa. Total running average for all loads is .899 moa with an SD of .174 moa.

Next up is the 147gr load from Hornady followed by shooting the best load from the four with no suppressor. I might even try the handload that I worked up from my AI AW if time allows.

 

[MCMXI]

Back at it this morning with Hornady Match 147gr ammo. Just shot a 5-shot "zero" group from a cold/clean bore that's easily under 1 moa. Five more to go.... and now the wind is picking up.

 

[MCMXI]

Here are the five 5-shot groups from this morning (147gr load). The wind picked up quite a bit and some of the groups probably reflect that, but overall I really enjoyed this combination. I feel like I can hit whatever I'm aiming at. I'm still using the SilencerCo Omega suppressor with decent results. This is one heck of a sub 7lb production rifle. I haven't run the groups through OnTarget yet but will do so today. Looks like the middle group is on the moa bubble.... we'll see.

Added in edit - I processed the six groups shot this morning and the results are as follows:

.797 moa (zero group)
.858 moa
.632 moa
.814 moa
.595 moa
.662 moa

The LabRadar velocicty data for the last 25 shots is attached.



View attachment 758217

So at this point I've shot 26 5-shot groups using four kinds of factory ammunition.

AVG for all 26 groups is .859 moa
HI: 1.262 moa
LO: .481 moa
SD: .176 moa