Hunting and game posts

[mcmxi]

Since this is a hunting thread, I put together a custom Kimber rifle last week and am very pleased with how it turned out and how it shoots. Weight as shown is 8lb 6oz with an empty 5-round magazine. Maybe I'll get a deer and elk with it this season which started today and ends the Sunday after Thanksgiving.

The rifle is truly one of a kind since I designed the receiver and had it made as a test model when I worked for Kimber. I was able to keep it when I left the company. Sadly, the owner of CDI Precision who made the bottom metal passed away a couple of years ago and the company shut down, so bottom metal is no longer available for the 84M rifles. In truth the BM had issues but I did a lot of custom work to the AG Composites stock and bottom metal which is now integral to the stock and not held on with the action screws. I added QD sling mounting points, a tripod mount, bedded the recoil lug and front of the receiver, added a titanium bolt handle, and had Proof make 22" and 24" barrels.

Here's the rifle, the first three shots while bore sighting (Remington Hog Hammer 168gr TSX), and a 5-shot group at 100 yards after dialing and shooting 200, 400 and 500 yards to check DOPE.

Next year I'll send the receiver and bolt out for salt nitriding and finish bedding the receiver to the stock.

 

[Trapper Bob]

Super nice rifle! Caliber? .3…..

 

[Flintknapper]

Caliber/Cartridge?

Barrel twist rate?

 

[mcmxi]

Super nice rifle! Caliber? .3…..

.308 Win, 22" barrel with a 1:10 twist.

 

[mcmxi]

Caliber/Cartridge?

Barrel twist rate?

Here are the specifics.

Kimber 84M action (custom and one of a kind)
Titanium bolt handle
Proof 1:10, 22” barrel (.308 Win)
AG Composites stock (recoil lug bedded with Devcon)
CDI Precision bottom metal (bonded to stock with Devcon)
TriggerTech trigger
EGW Picatinny rail
Nighforce LW rings
Vortex Viper PST 4-16x50mm FFP mil/mil optic
Magpul sling
Magpul 5-round magazine
TBAC Ultra-9 suppressor (with QD brake)

 

[mcmxi]

I worked at Remington as an ammunition R&D engineer when Randy Grove developed the Hog Hammer load that I show above. Randy was my boss for about a year and he did a really good job on that Barnes load. He gave me a few hundred rounds from a DV (design validation) test which typically was better quality than the stuff that went to stores.

I'll work up an LRX or TTSX load for the rifle next year, but I'm not concerned with using the Hog Hammer load this hunting season.

 

[Trapper Bob]

I really like Varget pushing Barnes TTSX bullets. Use them in my .308 & 7mm08.
We are in bow season now, rifle season after Thanksgiving. You got “me” worked up.

 

[mcmxi]

I really like Varget pushing Barnes TTSX bullets. Use them in my .308 & 7mm08.
We are in bow season now, rifle season after Thanksgiving. You got “me” worked up.

Varget is one of my "go to" powders for a variety of cartridges, but particularly for the .308 Win. It might not push bullets as fast as some of the newer powders, but it's famously temperature stable which is important for me and where I hunt. I'm a fan of TTSX too, and the LRX even more.

Talking of 7mm-08 Rem, I'm building two custom Kimber 84Ms chambered for 7mm-08 AI. (maybe 150 to 200 fps faster). I have a couple of Criterion barrels, AG Composites stocks, and TriggerTech triggers along with everything I need to finish the chambers.

 

[Trapper Bob]

I bought the 1st 7mm08 (REM) for my son. Weatherby made a youth rifle (shorter pull) that came with an adult stock. As my son matured, we changed the stock & he kept hunting with the same rifle. He was recoil sensitive, so I loaded the 7mm08 down about 400 fps. The rifle shot really nice & more importantly, my son shot it really well. I fell in love with the round/rifle. I bought a compact Weatherby in 7mm08 for myself. On my farm, shots are 300 yards max, with around 100 yards being more typical.
My .308 Win, came from shooting a black rifle in .223 in “NRA, Across The Course”. I like that platform & wanted a rifle I could hunt with (AR-10).
& basically, if you want accuracy, you need to reload your own cartridges, specifically for your rifle. It works for me.

 

[Flintknapper]

I really like Varget pushing Barnes TTSX bullets. Use them in my .308 & 7mm08.
We are in bow season now, rifle season after Thanksgiving. You got “me” worked up.

^^^^

Its a good powder. I use it and Alliant Reloder 15 for my .308 and 7mm-08.

 

[mcmxi]

^^^^

Its a good powder. I use it and Alliant Reloder 15 for my .308 and 7mm-08.

I used to shoot a 178gr A-MAX in front of 42.2gr of Reloder 15 in a Lapua case in F-Class. That was a really good load out to 600 yards. The custom rifle I used had a 26" Krieger barrel with a 1:10 twist.

I use Varget, Berger bullets and Lapua brass in my Accuracy International AXMC chambered for 6.5x47mm Lapua. It's a great combination that gives excellent results.

 

[Trapper Bob]

I used to shoot a 178gr A-MAX in front of 42.2gr of Reloder 15 in a Lapua case in F-Class. That was a really good load out to 600 yards. The custom rifle I used had a 26" Krieger barrel with a 1:10 twist.

I use Varget, Berger bullets and Lapua brass in my Accuracy International AXMC chambered for 6.5x47mm Lapua. It's a great combination that gives excellent results.

I think it was Col. Townsend Whelen that said, “Only accurate rifles are interesting”. You sir, have some interesting rifles.

 

[DustyRusty]

 

[Trapper Bob]

This is why I carry a pistol on my tractor. These things dig up my hay field & around buildings.

 

[Trapper Bob]

Sorry about the blood🫣.

 

[RCW]

This is why I carry a pistol on my tractor. These things dig up my hay field & around buildings.
View attachment 89594
View attachment 89595

Bob - never seen an armadillo up close but for TV shows.

In the northeast we have woodchucks/ ground hogs. I grew up a farmer and shot about 100 per year. Longest shot about 600 yards.

 

[Flintknapper]

Sorry about the blood🫣.

If you cut your finger.....you'd be able to post it here and folks would expect see a little a blood I bet.

 

[Flintknapper]

Bob - never seen an armadillo up close but for TV shows.

They are everywhere in my State. See them all over the highways, dead on their backs. But some are just 'passed out'.

 

[Trapper Bob]

In the northeast we have woodchucks/ ground hogs. I grew up a farmer and shot about 100 per year. Longest shot about 600 yards.
[/QUOTE]

I saw my first ground hog around here about a month ago (road kill). I’ve been trapping about 25 years & never came across one.

They are everywhere in my State. See them all over the highways, dead on their backs. But some are just 'passed out'.

That’s funny! There are not a lot of them in Kansas. I shoot about 3-4 per year. Catch 1 or so in a trap (complete accident).

 

[Flintknapper]

Trapper Bob wrote:

"There are not a lot of them in Kansas. I shoot about 3-4 per year. Catch 1 or so in a trap (complete accident)".

Armadillos have been steadily marching Northward. When I was just a kid in Kansas (Early to Mid 60's) we never saw one (or Deer for that matter), but both are common now, especially in the Southern Counties.