Lengthening the mag catch on long action AICS DBM?

KimberGuy

Not a FNG
Full Member
Minuteman
Nov 2, 2007
219
122
Las Vegas, NV
Hi all.

I recently picked up a used Kimber 8400 Advanced Tactical in 300 Win Mag. The prior owner had, among other things, a CDI DBM installed. From my research, it looks like CDI was the only company to ever offer a DBM system for the Kimber 8400 SA/LA actions.

I won't be able to shoot the rifle until next week, but sitting at home and hand-cycling ammunition has revealed that the magazines do not sit high enough in relation to the action to reliably feed the rounds. The first 1 or 2 rounds will feed, but rounds 3-5 do not. The bolt starts to push the rounds forward but it overrides the rounds and pushes them back into the magazine after a short distance. If I put upward pressure on the magazine, the feeding issues go away.

The only two options I can think of are:
A - have someone cut the inlet just a little bit higher to allow the entire system to sit closer to the action

or

B - find someone to lengthen the mag catch latch to allow the mags to lock in higher

CDI has been out of business for a long time, and I am unsure if other manufactures use the same latch as the CDI (probably not). Would it be possible to weld on some material to the top of the catch and then file it down to get the magazine to sit at the correct height? I don't know of anyone that does inlet work for the 8400 actions anymore, so option A is probably out.

Or are there other options that I'm not thinking of? I've already tried Magpul Pmags, same problem. I have some Accurate mags on order, as well as a mag lip tool to see if I can spread the lips slightly to allow the round to sit a bit higher, but I'd rather fix the problem instead of having to modify every mag I want to use with the rifle.

Pic of said gun for shits and giggles.

Thanks for any help.
 

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I think I would first address the follower spring. Either get a new/longer one or pull the existing and stretch it a bit to see if that puts enough upward pressure on the follower to prevent it from compressing.
 
Some of the modern chassis designs have a mag catch that allows adjustment of the position of the part that contacts the magazine catch tab.


welding on a little metal and then filing down to a working length should work to.
 
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I am unsure if one of the adjustable mag catches would be a direct swap into your DBM, but MDT makes one as well, just to name another.



If your mag really does just need to be held a little higher then building up the catch and file fitting is definitely an option. It's also the one that I would personally prefer over altering all of my mags for that one rife.