Polishing feed ramp?

[lewy]

So picked up a 280ai kimber Montana and yep it feeds pretty sticky, sounds like it's common with the steep ramp of the kimber and shoulders of tha ai. I think a little work with some emery cloth would work wonders but I'm a little reluctant to try without suggestions on "how to". Suggestions? Thanks guys!

 

[VernAK]

I use a Demel with a long felt polishing bit from the bottom side......apply some polishing paste....I also hone the bottom edges of the rails as on most Kimbers they're very sharp and and bite into the brass cartridge.

 

[lewy]

Well I went for it and had great results Feeds much better now

 

[Boreal]

Well I went for it and had great results Feeds much better now

Can you describe what you did? I have occasional issues with my 6.5CM.


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[lewy]

Can you describe what you did? I have occasional issues with my 6.5CM.


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I pretty much did what Vern described

 

[ATX762]

Good work and good for you for getting into it. A lot of different bolt action rifles benefit from this. In the old days gunsmiths were pretty used to doing these things, polishing the feed ramp, opening up feed rails a few thousandths, getting bolt-action rifles to feed like butta. But those skills are mostly lost these days. A Dremel with felt wheel is generally the best and fastest option but on some rifles I've used an abrasive wheel to lower the edge of the feed ramp, followed by the aforementioned felt wheel. It's pretty easy to see where you need to cut--just remove the metal where the bullet nose is hanging up.

If it's a problem with the cartridge body hanging up, rather than with the bullet nose riding roughly on the feed ramp, sometimes slightly widening the receiver feed rails (go very carefully here), say 5-10 thousandths at a time, will make a real difference. Target area is generally about mid-way down the feed rail, right where the cartridge is released from the magazine. But always best to start with looking at where the bullet nose hits the ramp and how it rides into the chamber.

 

[lewy]

Thanks, great advice. Most of the problem I seemed to have was from the feed rails towards the front rubbing on the shoulder of the cartridge, so much in fact that I had brass shavings left behind. Pretty frustrating that it would leave the factory that way. I will try and post some pictures of what I had going on.....I have also floated the box magazine and done some work on the front corners of the mag to allow more clearance for the cartridge to slide by, as well as adjust the trigger down to 2 1/2 lbs. I will say that it is the best feeling factory trigger I personally have felt. Looking forward to getting this thing to the range just waiting on a few more components

 

[ATX762]

Ah yes. That really is an area that gunsmiths used to tune. Also I suspect it was easier on the manufacturers in the older days when there were fewer chamberings which all had somewhat of the same shape/feed profile. But also...stuff just don't get hand fitted very much these days--it falls on us to do the hand-fitting! Good luck with the rifle once you get it all built.