Help me upgrade a 30-06 safe queen

B

Battle River

Regular
EE Expired
Rating - 100%
12   0   0
Location
Central; Alberta
I have in my possession a beautiful kimber 89 BGR in 30-06. I have taken two moose one cow elk and two deer with it , But have not used it in 4 years and no longer shoot it. It has a weird shaped chamber where it will fire factory loads but may not fire full length resized handloads. It will fire neck sized loads well though. Accuracy is decent, but not what I consider exceptional, and it is very fussy on loading. The stock is a beutiful piece of walnut with some great figure. I hate the plastic coat finish from Kimber and I do have some love scarr from a mishap with a rockslide.The ebony forend tip was put on crappy and needs to be recut.Since I have procured a heym 06 that shoots .5" groups I no longer need this unit in this configuration.

Kimber-copy.jpg


My question is- what would YOU do with this unit?
Caliber?????????????
Stock finish style?
BBl maker? length?



My thoughts are to put together a 338-06Imp on a 24"light bbl, a nice compliment to my 6.5-06
 
That is fine looking rifle.

IMHO, You have all sorts of choices in no particular order.

1. Have a gunsmith re-do the chamber.

2. Rechamber to .300 Win Mag(or .300 H&H if the mag box is long enough). This would allow you to retain the barrel but would require action/bolt modifications.

3. Rebarrel to a different caliber(or the same caliber). The 338-06, .35 Whelen or even the 9.3X62 Mauser for something a little different.

The Stock

Strip the finish with some sort of chemical stripper. The bowling pin finishes can be a bear to remove but there are some pretty good strippers out there. After stripping and sanding, apply a classic, oil-like finish. I personally would stay away from Tung or Linseed oil because I don't consider them to be as water resistant as other materials. I use a mixture of marine spar varnish and Danish marine teak oil that I thin with mineral spirits. It provides a water-proof finish that looks very classic. If you decide you want a high-gloss, apply a few coats of Tru-Oil over the finish.

Or, there are some pretty decent synthetic stocks out there.

The Tip

If you cut the tip off, be aware that some are attached with metal dowels. If the dowells aren't metal(or if there aren't any), I would wrap the tip join with tape, mount the stock square in a chop-saw with a decent blade and cut down the join. This would square both the tip and the fore-end. Re-attach using a couple of hardwood dowels and a good quality epoxy(I use Agra-glas gel dyed black)
 
Such a classy rifle deserves a classy caliber.
I'd rebarrel to 7x57 or 257 Roberts.
But then I have a soft spot for the old classic calibers.

Pickles
 
Why not a .30-06 AI? That plus refinish the stock and you are set for not too much $$.
 
"Why not a .30-06 AI? That plus refinish the stock and you are set for not too much $$."
__________________1899- can I really expect much more velocity from a 22' bbl? I prefer 24"tubes. A good option though.
 
Said as politely as possible, I wouldn't invest a dime on a Kimber of Oregon barrel. Reputed to be the best $7 barrel Kimber could buy from Wilson at the time. Rebarrel or keep as is. Our 6.5-06 was a 270, it shot okay but had a 0.350" throat and was very, very rough. One reason it got the Pac-Nor.
 
If Rick F is right about the barrel, then I wouldn't waste my time. Bits of Pieces has Heym barrels available for very reasonable money. He is a member of CGN too. About the improvement of an AI, I can't tell you first hand...yet. My buddy's rifle is at Dennis Sorensen's shop right now. I believe it is a 22" barrel. I'll give a report once we test it. I'm guessing 50-75 fps improvement, especially with heavier bullets.
 
rebarrel it to 35 Whelen with a nice set of NECG sights............:D ...or maybe go fancy with a 411 Hawk chamber:) that would be a unique Kimber. It does have darn nice wood....not like the one I had.
 
Borrow someone else's dies sounds like the only loading problem there, if that's jake you can sell it with clear conscience.
 
"rebarrel it to 35 Whelen with a nice set of NECG sights"

Whelan maybe, sights-= thats is not an option:D :D :cool:

Rick F good point on the barrels.

Others, yes there are some issues with the Kimber Rifles,

They were at the time I bought it the only source of pre 64 Rifles on the market. Some have very nice wood. they have good ballence and can in this case make for a very nice sei custom rifle.

BR
 
Battle River said:
I should have mentioned that I already have a custom 280 on a pre-64 action

for some reson I cannot get excited over a 35 whelen?
Click to expand...

If you want to go larger instead of smaller, then consider the 9.3x62, it is a great cartridge and brass can be formed very easily. Consider it a .35 Whelen plus! ;)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom