Caught Yet "Another" Great Deal!

[preacher]

I was minding my own business ( not really, I was scoping out the local ads for a "good deal" on a "spare" rifle) My dedicated elk rifle is being reamed out to 338/06 AI/bedded right now. And my Shilen barreled 7x57 (dedicated deer/antelope/nice weather elk rifle is at the shop for the caliber engraving, final trigger touch up. I was thinking, I need a spare that can bridge both ends, but I didn't want to ante up another wad of money for a "spare" (some call them a loaner rifle). Low and behold, an older gent was getting out of hunting and had his Kimber 8400 Classic 300WSM and mounts (nice brown wood and matte blue metal) listed for "half, maybe a third" of what they are going for on the market! Well, nothing doing but drove an hour to meet him and put a small sweaty wad of money in his hand! ha. He had hunted one time with it. No rust, scars, just a dirty bore that cleaned right up. The trigger will need adjusting ( I don't mess with triggers, my Smith does that) and mount my spare scope on it ( Burris FFII 3x9) I still have a bunch of components/dies from a few years back. I had bought another 8400 Classic from a guy over on LR Hunting that has reddish brown beautiful wood but all "Stainless" barreled action in 300WSM. I worked up a load for it and gave it to my grand-daughter (for her Dad to sell for her later, she doesn't hunt, but education costs!) I like Kimber Classics, have now owned/used an 84M/7mm-08; an 84L 270; these two 8400 WSMs and one "lemon" Kimber Hunter 270 POC, poor QC is an understatement! So now, I don't "have to" take my pretty newly assembled 7x57 as my "spare" elk rifle. And I don't have to take my 338/06 AI as a spare to my pretty new 7x57 on an Exotics or antelope hunt, I can take the Kimber for either one. Bottom line....at the price he sold it to me, I "had" to buy it! It would be a sin to let it go to someone who would put it in the closet and shoot it once a year, yeah, a sin I tell you!

 

[Blkram]

Since most rifle loonies have a rifle or two (or more) in their closet or safe that doesn't get out as often as they should, I would say that it just proves we are all sinners anyways!
I too recently acquired another rifle...a LH Browning X Bolt All Weather in 270 WSM in excellent condition that came with rings, scope and ammo for a good price. It is the early version w/o the muzzle break. Supposedly shoots the Federal Premium 140 gr Trophy Bonded Tip ammo that came with it into 1" groups, We'll see. Also look forward to trying the 136 gr Terminal Ascent ammo in it once I can acquire some. I will swap out the Nikon Monarch 3 3-12x42 scope that came with it for a Leupold VX-3 3.5-10x40 B&C Gunmetal Grey scope I have on hand.
Will look similar to the 6.5 Creedmoor I have, except for the colour of its' matte Leupold scope, that I took to New Zealand last spring, and am taking to Africa in May.
Update:
Pic
2nd Update:
I have picked up some Low Talley's and am getting them Cerakoted in Titanium finish to match the rifle and lower the scope
3rd Update:
New Talley's mounted. THe Federal 140gr Trophy Bonded Tip ammo shot 3 shot groups @ 100 yards of 0.396" at 3156 fps out of the 23" factory barrel (factory specs of 3200 fps from a 24" barrel) and a SD of 7.8! Most accurate ammo shot to date in this rifle; too bad it is discontinued! But I did find 2 more boxes in a gunstore on a recent business trip! And it worked fine on my caribou this fall at 210 yards! It also shoots the Nosler 140 gr AB ammo into 0.565" groups @ 100 yards at 3073 fps (factory spec at 3100 fps) and SD of 18.1, so I do have a great shooting second option! I also found some of the Federal 136 gr Terminal Ascent ammo for it in another gunstore on this trip, so will finally get to test it too!With Leupold mounted rifle weighs 7 lbs 13 oz w/ empty magazine.

 

[SJB358]

Nice score Preach. Those Kimbers are quite nice to hunt with.

 

[preacher]

I hear you Blkram, we are so messed up, God Himself had to send us a Savior, lol! Sonny as I get older, man, my "tastes" in lighter' lively rifles , has made my "tastebuds" more sensitive, ha

 

[lefty315]

I was minding my own business ( not really, I was scoping out the local ads for a "good deal" on a "spare" rifle) My dedicated elk rifle is being reamed out to 338/06 AI/bedded right now. And my Shilen barreled 7x57 (dedicated deer/antelope/nice weather elk rifle is at the shop for the caliber engraving, final trigger touch up. I was thinking, I need a spare that can bridge both ends, but I didn't want to ante up another wad of money for a "spare" (some call them a loaner rifle). Low and behold, an older gent was getting out of hunting and had his Kimber 8400 Classic 300WSM and mounts (nice brown wood and matte blue metal) listed for "half, maybe a third" of what they are going for on the market! Well, nothing doing but drove an hour to meet him and put a small sweaty wad of money in his hand! ha. He had hunted one time with it. No rust, scars, just a dirty bore that cleaned right up. The trigger will need adjusting ( I don't mess with triggers, my Smith does that) and mount my spare scope on it ( Burris FFII 3x9) I still have a bunch of components/dies from a few years back. I had bought another 8400 Classic from a guy over on LR Hunting that has reddish brown beautiful wood but all "Stainless" barreled action in 300WSM. I worked up a load for it and gave it to my grand-daughter (for her Dad to sell for her later, she doesn't hunt, but education costs!) I like Kimber Classics, have now owned/used an 84M/7mm-08; an 84L 270; these two 8400 WSMs and one "lemon" Kimber Hunter 270 POC, poor QC is an understatement! So now, I don't "have to" take my pretty newly assembled 7x57 as my "spare" elk rifle. And I don't have to take my 338/06 AI as a spare to my pretty new 7x57 on an Exotics or antelope hunt, I can take the Kimber for either one. Bottom line....at the price he sold it to me, I "had" to buy it! It would be a sin to let it go to someone who would put it in the closet and shoot it once a year, yeah, a sin I tell you!

I have had my 8400 Classic in .300 WSM for many years now. I can’t remember when but it could have been in the first three years of production. It pretty much shoots anything I’ve ever put through it. I started with a 200 grain AccuBond because I couldn’t find any 180’s when I first got it. At 200 yards it would group just a smidge over an inch. I’ve since started shooting the 180’s but still have a few boxes of 200’s standing by. I like the classic looks, wood stock and blued barrel. I’ve hunted in some nasty weather conditions but always make sure I took good care of it.

 

[preacher]

I have considered getting this one Cerakoted, but it really is a "spare". My dedicated elk rifle ( I like that phrase!) is a stainless synthetic with an easy to care for blued receiver. I have had scopes go wonky on me in the middle of hunts though and one time a sage seed locked up my Shilen trigger on my Whelan. I try to always take a ready to go spare, left in camp or the truck, much faster than putting on a spare scope, etc, resighting. The spare 300WM we had in Namibia sure came in handy! Speaking of my old 35 WAI (now long gone) I had it tricked out buddy...Brown Precision High Country synthetic stock, baked on Moly something coat, all weatherized. For the next 15 yrs, every time I hunted with it, it never rained or snowed on me! ha It might be right before or right after but it never got wet. Funny, the only time I was in a fresh, heavy wet snow with it was two years before I got it coated! Just walnut/blued Mod 700 Classic, ha, and it didn't swell up or freeze up on me. Go figure...

 

[DrMike]

I've owned two Featherweights chambered in 300 WSM and worked up loads for more than 30 rifles chambered in that cartridge. An excellent cartridge. In later years I began using 200 grain bullets rather than the 180 grain bullets I had used for years.

 

[preacher]

I like the way 200 grainers thump out of an '06, just never loaded them in a WSM. I just loaded up some trial loads of 168 TTSX (pulled from last batch of handloads) over Big Game (per Barnes load data) and it seems this rifle has a tad short throat. From touching the lands to the bolt face, round is 2.90". When seated to the top edge of the top groove (where I can still crimp with FCD, plus the ogive starts a bit further up) I'm at a C.O.A.L. of 2.875", just 25 thou off the lands. I "start" out any conventional jacketed bullet at 20 thou off the lands and seat deeper as needed. I'm not locked into the 168 TTSX, they are just what I had on hand. I "may" have to try out the Grand Slams or Nosler 180 PP Partition. I don't like to go lighter than 165 or so in any 300 mag. The magazine length isn't really long enough to be worth having this rifle's throat lengthened, so we shall see what see! Who knows? They may shoot great right there, BUT, most Barnes "I ever dealt with" like a good run at the lands.

 

[Yoteklr]

I have had/ have three 300wsm barrels. The one thing I've definitively learned is Standard rifle primers produce better precision than magnum primers in this cartridge ( same for 6.5, 270, 7mm wsm).
My current 26" 300wsm has two great loads.
180gr Elite Hunters and Reloder 16.
180gr Ballistic tip and 7828ssc.
Both loads' accurate windows happen to fall at 3100fps in this barrel.

180 BT 7828ssc.
200 yards from a hunting bag.

 

[PJGunner]

"Preacher said, "I like the way 200 grainers thump out of an '06, just never loaded them in a WSM."
I run the 200 gr. Speer Hot Core at 2880 FPS in my several .300 Win. Magnums and the loa has been quite accurate in them Four are various versions of the Ruger #1 and number five is a Winchester M70. All five rifles have 26" barrels.

Unless you have a supply of WMR (Winchester Magnum Rifle) powder the load will be useless and it had been unobtainium for at least 15 years, possibly more. The nice thing about the load is I can switch from the Speer bullet to the 200 gr. Nosler Partition with no change in POI.

I've only used the load once on game. A cow elk at a lasered 530 yards just east of the White Mountain Apache reservation here in Arizona. One shot, down and done. That's the longest shot I've ever done on game.

The area where the elk were is as flat as a billiard table and I stalked to the last small bush before taking the shot. The area is known for hunters having to take very long shots. Anyway, give 200 gr. bullets a look see. My .300 mags like them and the load was easy to work up.

Paul B.

 

[preacher]

I had a nice 358 Win Browning BLR a few years ago. I had the same issue. I ended up having to use a 200 TSX instead of my favorite 200 TTSX. It shot the 200 Clkts fine, but they are a short bullet nose too. I have to get this rifle's trigger adjust right, seal the inletting yet. Scope it ( it had bases but 30mm rings) I don't use 30mm anything. I suppose I could seat ,say, a Barnes where it will reliably work through the magazine and "then" have a smith lengthen the throat for that particular bullet. I would be tickled if I could find a Hammer heavy enough for me, but with a short nose. They don't care about seating depth. I used the Sierra 150 Pro Hunter from a 300WM one year to shoot Texas Hill Country deer. They are small, and I wanted a "bomb". They acted just like Partitions! I'm thinking I might even try the 180 Pro Hunter and see how it shoots. Anyone ever shot the 180 Sierra or Speer HC out of a magnum on elk? I have access to Speer 200, should I just try them too?

 

[Dr. Vette]

In later years I began using 200 grain bullets rather than the 180 grain bullets I had used for years.

DrMike,

What was your favorite powder with the 200s? I have tried the 200 ELD-H in mine and it just doesn't perform as I'd like.

PH

 

[DrMike]

With the 200 grain Sierra GK, my best results came with either VN560 or IMR7828. Accuracy was sub-MOA and velocities were ~2900 +/- 20 fps in my Featherweights. I leaned more toward VN560 as the combination of velocity & accuracy was marginally superior.

 

[preacher]

Doc, how have you found N560 in those cold temps? Does it lose speed like WW760?

 

[DrMike]

I trust the Vihtavuori powders in many of my rifles, and I do hunt in some rather cold weather. I've not noted a significant loss of velocity or accuracy.

 

[preacher]

I'm also a member over on HammerTime, been discussing this over there too. Several spoke well of the 154gr HHT ( Hammer Hunter Tipped) that has a short nose. What I really like about Hammers is the fact one can just buy a sample pack)15) and try them out. I'm going to do that.

 

[EOD Diver]

Preacher,
Congratulations on your score! Kimber rifles have been good to us! Two years ago it seemed like mama’s rifle was the luckiest thing going with my and my daughter taking mule deer and both kiddos killing antelope. That little 84M is a joy to carry and the 110 AB in 257 Roberts is a sweetheart to shoot!
V/R,
Joe

 

[preacher]

If I owned that 84M in 257 Roberts, I would end up getting it Ackleyed, ha. I traded a like new 6" Colt Python even for one of the first Special Run Mod 700 Classic in 257 Roberts, new, at a gunshop in Vidor Texas, 1982. I was a mud engineer on a well there. I had been reading some on the Ackley so found a smith over in Houston who had a good reputation. That was my first "Improved" cartridge, loved it! Young family and oil bust of late '82, '83 saw me sell it. But hey, one can always get another rifle, the Bills have got to be paid, amen?

 

[preacher]

With the 200 grain Sierra GK, my best results came with either VN560 or IMR7828. Accuracy was sub-MOA and velocities were ~2900 +/- 20 fps in my Featherweights. I leaned more toward VN560 as the combination of velocity & accuracy was marginally superior.

Did you get a chance to take any game with that 200 Sierra Doc? If so, how did it hold up? I have shot that bullet alot in 30-06 and in a long barreled 30-06 Ackley, very accurate. Just never killed anything with it.

 

[DrMike]

Never killed anything with that 200 grain Sierra. I killed quite a bit of game (moose, mule deer, whitetail, black bear, elk) with the 180 grain Hornady SP and the 180 grain Speer MagTip.