Interesting New Products

There are many new products just like every year but a couple caught my attention.

The first is the Kimber 84L. It is a long action version of the 84. I think it is chambered currently for .270 Winchester and 30-06 Springfield. Both great staple cartridges but I bet more will follow. There are many reasons that this rifle is great! First, it's very light weighing in at under 7 lbs. It's elegant despite it's mild price. It combines classic, time-tested features and is set up like a pre-64 Model 70 Winchester with a 3 position safety and claw extractor. Finally, it was designed specifically for the 30-06 case. It's not just an elongated version of the 8400 that is chambered for short magnum cartridges. If their rifles are made like my trusty Kimber Warrior 1911 I think I need one. I already dread that first scratch on the stock.

Hornady Manufacturing has introduced a Superformance line of ammunition that is an improvement over the Light Magnums loads that were previously offered. They claim that the powder is blended to reduce peak pressure while gaining velocity from 100-200 fps. This intrigues me because it is not a result I can achieve on my reloading bench. Is this marketing genius by Hornady or a scientific break-through? I might possibly be getting 30-06 velocities out of my 308s very soon.

6.8 SPC project

I just purchased a Model 5H 6.8 SPC from stag arms. It was very exciting because it has been my first gun purchase since I returned from Afghanistan. I was excited about the military/LE discount but it only allows free shipping when not purchasing the complete rifle. Better than nothing though. I just needed the upper because I have a lower from LRB www.lrbarms.com.

I was not sure about LRB's reputation because I had never heard of them but I found out they had a 6 plus month waiting list on their forged M14 receivers. I don't think I can go wrong. We'll see soon enough. I'm excited about load development for the 6.8 because it is basically a .270 short on a 5.56mm sized lower receiver. The only down-side to the cartridge I can identify so far is brass availability in a bind. It's based on the obsolete 30 Newton cartridge. A guy like me can't just re size some other brass laying around. My solution is going to be buy a lot of 6.8 brass.

What fascinates me the most about this round is that it was developed exclusively for lethality from the bottom up by Special Operations Command people. Although I know they had some help from the Army Marksmanship Unit. This means a lot to me because I experience the top-down justification for military equipment that puts ridiculous items in the hands of those who bet their life on it. Not to mention the outrageous cost to the taxpayer and amazing amount of time it takes to get it fielded. The under-powered 5.56 is a great example. NATO wouldn't even have this round if they ever actually shot anything.

This rifle was built for the AR platform and I see no reason to have it any other way. A design requirement was for it to replace the 5.56mm upper receiver and to do so limited the capability of the cartridge. In a bolt-action rifle you might as well just have a .308 Winchester because the cartridge fitting the action is not an issue. I can't imagine the weight being that much different either.

I have noticed a semi-recent shift to the 1/11 twist rate instead of the 1/10. I think this is probably a good move to increase the spectrum of light and heavy bullet performance. I will probably go with 85 to 130 grain bullets with 110 grain being optimal and heavier for deer hunting. I'll post some results/load data when I get everything put together and running.