Has anyone reamed out their Kimber .260 Remington to 6.5-284? Does anyone know if this is possible and/or easily accomplished. I'm thinking of a Kimber Montana in 6.5-284 for a sheep rifle.

Thanks,

Redlander

The kimber magazine box is only 2.8" and the bolt throw is similar. That does not mean that a longer box and bolt throw could not be done.

If you don't mind I am going to discuss the 284 Win. which is similar to the 6.5-284. Thats the one I tried to fit in a 84M.

The COL of the 284 Win is 2.8" however if you seat a 140 Ballistic Tip to that length the bullet goes so deep into the neck that a space can be seen between the case mouth and the bullet. The 284's case is much longer than the 308's that the Kimber was designed for.

I called up Kimber and they told me that the 284 would not fit.

All and all it was not the path of least resistance and I forgot about it.

Just my opinion ,
But the 6.5X284 needs at least 24 inches of barrel before you would get much velocity gain.
And 26 would be better yet.
The .260 would eb prety good in its own right unless you plan to shoot a heck of a long way...tj3006

The 6.5x284 is a great round. Like a number of short cases you lose much of the appeal when you get to the heavier bullets, but 140g and under should do fine. The end of the body to the tip is about 1.04" +/- so you definitely get into the powder room with any of the sleek spitzers, but you can't say on the one hand that the 260 is just fine but the 6.5/284 is too short for heavy bullets. It gives you more, plain and simple. Would it be better in an intermediate action? Yes. That's why Norma's offering is a 3.2" round or thereabouts.
I've heard of people having trouble with the rebated rim, but I've also heard it isn't something a good smith can't handle.
Myself, I'd choose a magnum boltface like the 6.5 RM. About 100 fps behind the 264 WM with 120's. When you get tired of that you can wildcat the Ruger Mag case.

The problem with putting the ?x284 in the Kimber M/84 is not the length of the loaded round, but the diameter of the basic cartridge. The Kimber M/84 is designed around the 308 cartridge. The reciever and barrel are very small in diameter and to open up the chamber to the 284 diameter would make the wall thickness of the barrel too thin which would over stress the receiver.

Headache

You're right. It's the 8400 that is chambered in the mags.

Well then, what about a .260 AI? Is there much advantage?

quote:

Well then, what about a .260 AI

In my opinion and testing with a 243 and 308. Burn a little more powder for same velocity. The 260 already has the reduced taper of an AI. You gain around 1.5-1.7% capacity so maybe a gr of powder.

Simply buy a 7mmRM Kimber and have PacNor rebarrel to
264 WinMag and then you have the best of all possible worlds for a flat shooter...oh, and make certain the barrel is at least 26 inches...I am presently doing this with a Ruger
Hawkeye 7mmRM....will keep ya'll posted...

quote:

Originally posted by Bwana-be:
Myself, I'd choose a magnum boltface like the 6.5 RM. About 100 fps behind the 264 WM with 120's.

That was my choice. I had a 6.5 rem mag Douglas XX 26" barrel installed on a 300 win mag that had a short magazine. There is plenty of room to move the bullet out. Here is a 130 gr Accubond




I am just now working up loads and have reached 3100 fps easily with 130 gr bullets and am working on 140 gr bullets now. I expect to see 2950 or 3000 fps with the 140's.

I had a 264 win mag. A little too overbore for me. I would expect the 6.5 rem mag would not need a long barrel since they chamber it in the guide gun. That would make it a much more appropriate sheep rifle.