Another Kimber project rifle

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I received an email from Proof today to inform me that the barrels and action should be ready next week. With all of the Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales going on I ordered some more stuff from AREA 419 including Hellfire 5/8-24 and 1/2-28 suppressor adapters and a 6.5mm Hellfire self timing muzzle brake for testing purposes. It threads onto the Hellfire suppressor adapter that I'm using on a number of rifles. I plan to start out testing the 6.5 PRC with a suppressor attached, but if some weird stuff happens I can switch to the muzzle brake.

I should be shooting groups next week. Too bad it's not this week given the wonderful weather we're having at the moment. Here are stock photos of the brake.

hellfire_brake_02.jpg

hellfire_brake_01.jpg
 
MCMXI said:
I received an email from Proof today to inform me that the barrels and action should be ready next week. With all of the Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales going on I ordered some more stuff from AREA 419 including Hellfire 5/8-24 and 1/2-28 suppressor adapters and a 6.5mm Hellfire self timing muzzle brake for testing purposes. It threads onto the Hellfire suppressor adapter that I'm using on a number of rifles. I plan to start out testing the 6.5 PRC with a suppressor attached, but if some weird stuff happens I can switch to the muzzle brake.

I should be shooting groups next week. Too bad it's not this week given the wonderful weather we're having at the moment. Here are stock photos of the brake.

View attachment 960152

View attachment 960153
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Thats a really clean looking brake! im interested in how you like that one, as im probably going to add a brake to the .264 barrel on the american.
 
LoonWulf said:
Thats a really clean looking brake! im interested in how you like that one, as im probably going to add a brake to the .264 barrel on the american.
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I'll definitely provide some feedback. I've ordered quite a few things from AREA 419 and have been impressed by the quality so I expect this brake to be no different. I'll be able to test it on at least three rifles, all .264 cal and all with Hellfire suppressor adapters. That's the big appeal to me, the ability to easily and quickly attach and time on different rifles. If I see large ES numbers or odd groups using a suppressor I can repeat using the same load but with the brake to determine whether the suppressor is the culprit. If it works well I might end up ordering the .30 cal version too since I have four .30 cal rifles that also have the same Hellfire suppressor adapter.
 
The eldms are something like 1.5" long, the 140gmx were a bit shorter than that i THINK.
Now that ive thought about it more tho i could be wrong. Im not sure what happened to the box of GMXs i bought, and im NOT 100% sure they werent 120s. I bought them for my first Creedmoor.
 
I'm still not 100% sold in normal mono bullets, they say the penetrate good but see many where they are found just under the hide. I prefer to get a exit, the hammers interest me. I like how the front petals break off and have a better chance to hit more vitals, and the bases will continue and penetrate.

I just have to try a few traditional monos on some animals to get some confidence I guess.
 
troy fairweather said:
I'm still not 100% sold in normal mono bullets, they say the penetrate good but see many where they are found just under the hide. I prefer to get a exit, the hammers interest me. I like how the front petals break off and have a better chance to hit more vitals, and the bases will continue and penetrate.
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I've shot three elk, four mule deer and a white-tail all using monolithic copper bullets. I used Federal Trophy Copper on the elk and white-tail (.300 WM & .308 Win), and Barnes TTSX on two mule deer (.375 H&H). The animals were shot anywhere from 150 yards to 465 yards and I've never recovered a bullet and all dropped within a few yards of where they were shot. I won't use anything but solid copper bullets for hunting any game animal I intend to eat.

The petals don't typically break off, based on bullets I recover from the sand berm behind my 100 yard target. I normally find nice mushrooms. Can't say what they do in animals though since I've never recovered one.
 
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MCMXI said:
I've shot three elk, four mule deer and a white-tail all using monolithic copper bullets. I used Federal Trophy Copper on the elk and white-tail (.300 WM & .308 Win), and Barnes TTSX on two mule deer (.375 H&H). The animals were shot anywhere from 150 yards to 465 yards and I've never recovered a bullet and all dropped within a few yards of where they were shot. I won't use anything but solid copper bullets for hunting any game animal I intend to eat.

The petals don't typically break off, based on bullets I recover from the sand berm behind my 100 yard target. I normally find nice mushrooms. Can't say what they do in animals though since I've never recovered one.
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How is the availability of the Barnes since they got sold? The federal are only available in ammo from what I remember, there other new bullets look good but seem hard to find.

I'd like to try the monos in my 7wsm and the 6.5prc.
 
Wednesday has come and gone and no email or call from Proof but I'm hoping to hear some good news before the week's out. AREA 419 shipped the self timing muzzle brake and more adapters and they arrived yesterday. I have to say, AREA 419 does everything well and the brake is extremely well made. Even the boxes and packaging from AREA 419 are exemplary. They've rapidly become one of my favorite companies to order products from.
 
I received an email this evening informing me that the two Proof barrels are ready for pick up. I'll get them tomorrow morning and if all goes to plan will be shooting some factory loads this weekend to get a baseline.

I ordered NF Ti 30mm rings but @LoonWulf very kindly sent me a Spuhr 0 MOA 30mm mount so I'll most likely be using that instead. I'm thinking of starting out with one of the Vortex Viper PST FFP 6-24x50mm scopes since they've worked well for me thus far.

Fingers crossed on this project. :uhoh:
 
LoonWulf said:
Its Christmas, it has to work right?
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I sure hope so! I think this is the most nervous I've ever been about a rifle project, probably because I've put a lot of work into it, combined with the less than stellar experience with the same receiver and a 6.5 PRC barrel, well, two 6.5 PRC barrels to be precise.
 
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I picked up the barrels this afternoon and everything looks great with the exception of no cartridge marking on the outside of the chamber. Not a huge deal but I might take them back to get laser engraved. The fit up to the receiver is excellent, the AREA 419 brake looks great on the muzzle and overall I'm cautiously optimistic at this stage. I'll need to do some inletting of the barrel channel in the stock though based on a preliminary fit this afternoon.

8400wsm_proof_01.jpg

proof_area419.jpg
 
troy fairweather said:
Very nice, I really need to save up for a wrap and find an action that's worthy. I've thought one on my 09 Argentine should turn heads.
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I really like what @Nature Boy did with his FN SPR so you might want to look at that action.

I weighed the 24" Proof barrels and both are 2lb 13.05oz. Contrast this to the standard Montana 8400 WSM 6.5 PRC barrel (not in production though) with a 0.56" O.D. at the muzzle which weighs 2lb 6.85oz or only 6.2oz less. The Proof is arguably a much stiffer barrel and it comes with decent 5/8-24 muzzle threads rather than the ridiculous 7/16-28 threads on the Montana.
 
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MCMXI said:
I really like what @Nature Boy did with his FN SPR so you might want to look at that action.

I weighed the 24" Proof barrels and both are 2lb 13.05oz. Contrast this to the standard Montana 8400 WSM 6.5 PRC barrel (not in production though) with a 0.56" O.D. at the muzzle which weighs 2lb 6.85oz or only 6.2oz less. The Proof is arguably a much stiffer barrel and it comes with decent 5/8-24 muzzle threads rather than the ridiculous 7/16-28 threads on the Montana.
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Are they sendero or the light.

Yeah one of them actions like nature boy has would be great, probably have to buy a hole.gun don't think I'll get lucky and find a action. Still like a commercial fn action for a 280ai build.
 
troy fairweather said:
Are they sendero or the light.
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Sendero profile. The stock, barreled action, optic, rail, mount, suppressor and 10-round AICS magazine will be right at 12lb. The stock is a bit of a beast and the weight will only increase if I use the NF NXS 3-15x56mm and Spuhr mount, but this was never intended to be a lightweight hunting rifle. My plan for this from the outset was a "lightweight" tactical rifle that is similar in weight to Ruger's Precision Rifle or Tikka's T3x TAC A1.

I forgot to mention that I ordered a Titanium "tactical" bolt handle for this build as well as one for my 84M Proof barreled rifle.
 
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Just a quick update before a bigger update late tomorrow or Wednesday which should involve bore sighting and a few groups.
  • I threaded one of the barrels onto the receiver, confirmed barrel timing and torqued to 100 ft-lb (I need to check headspace)
  • The barrel channel inletting is 98% done
  • I've removed the old recoil lug bedding and redone the bedding up front (the receiver appears to fit the stock very well)
  • I've made action screws to the proper length
  • The EGW rail is installed
  • A Nighforce NXS 3-15x50mm F1 is installed in NF Ti rings
Tomorrow afternoon I'll remove the barreled action from the stock, check the bedding, do a little cleanup and if all looks good install a TriggerTech trigger and put the barreled action back in the stock. After that I'll install an AREA 419 Hellfire adapter, screw on a suppressor and do some shooting. The Ti "tactical" bolt handle has shipped and could be here early in the week. I'll post photos of the finished rifle along with some targets, probably Wednesday. I have to say, if this rifle shoots as good as it looks I'll be very pleased. It looks really good ... and right.
 
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