I have a Kimber Subalpine and (I think) I over tightened the sling stud resulting in the following damage. The bipod is pulling the stud out. I talked to Kimber who said they will sell me a new stock but they can’t fix it ($500). Before I send it off I thought I would see if people had any suggestions. Is this something that can be fixed? It just so happens that I had decided to sell the gun about the time this happened so I want to fix it right. I could always sell it as a barrelled action I guess and the new owner could buy whatever stock they want. It’s a great gun with a threaded 18” barrel that I had LRI cut down I’m just not a fan of ultralight guns.
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Broke my Kimber .308
- Thread starter leclairk
- Start date
Easiest fix would be to bed in a threaded insert, or bed in a flush cup and then use the sling swivel adaptor. If you’re handy you can do it yourself, if you’re not it would probably cost less than $100 to have a gunsmith do it.
They also make threaded inserts that get killed into the barrel channel.
There’s no need to spend $500 to put a stock on that thing and it says a lot about Kimber if they can’t fix what someone can at home with some basic tools.
They also make threaded inserts that get killed into the barrel channel.
There’s no need to spend $500 to put a stock on that thing and it says a lot about Kimber if they can’t fix what someone can at home with some basic tools.
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If it were me and I was going sell it, I'd probably just be up front about the damage and take the hit on it. Personal opinion is I'd rather do the fix myself in the way that I wanted to rather than hope the person I bought the rifle from did a good enough job. I definitely wouldn't put a new stock at $500 on it. I'm not sure what the retail price of them new are, but my guess is the rifle is depreciated $1-200 from used prices, depending on buyer.
SUPER easy to fix. Unbelievable Kimber says they can't. Just another reason to not own a Kimber.
Take the barreled action out of the stock. Remove the sling stud. If there is a threaded insert the swivel screws into, remove it, too. Fill that old hole with a good epoxy. Allow to cure. Use a Forstner bit to drill into the center of where the old stuff was from the barrel channel side. Use an appropriate diameter bit to drill a hole for the new sling swivel stud. Install a T-nut into the stock from the barrel channel side. Coat your sling swivel stud with wax and screw it into the T-nut. Fill in on top of the T-nut with that same epoxy. Let it cure out. Use a deep well socket of appropriate diameter, wrapped in 120 grit, and hone out the barrel channel of any sort of spillage or whatever.
Terminato
Take the barreled action out of the stock. Remove the sling stud. If there is a threaded insert the swivel screws into, remove it, too. Fill that old hole with a good epoxy. Allow to cure. Use a Forstner bit to drill into the center of where the old stuff was from the barrel channel side. Use an appropriate diameter bit to drill a hole for the new sling swivel stud. Install a T-nut into the stock from the barrel channel side. Coat your sling swivel stud with wax and screw it into the T-nut. Fill in on top of the T-nut with that same epoxy. Let it cure out. Use a deep well socket of appropriate diameter, wrapped in 120 grit, and hone out the barrel channel of any sort of spillage or whatever.
Terminato
Install a 3" or 4" metal picatinny rail on the fore-end and then get an Atlas bipod. Money better spent, and stronger/more rigid setup.
Yeah, slap a 4+oz rail and a heavy ass bipod on a sub 5lbs back country rifle. Brilliant fucking idea. That’s as dumb as the arca plate suggestion.
I highly doubt that kimber couldn’t fix it. Probably more inline with the McMillan I had just got back. McMillan wouldn’t repair it and charged me $40 for replacement. Liability insurance plays a role in these decisions.
Now if I was in your shoes I’d buy a few ounces of epoxy and some thickener and bed a tbolt into the barrel channel.
Now if I was in your shoes I’d buy a few ounces of epoxy and some thickener and bed a tbolt into the barrel channel.
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Thanks for the tips guys. Given I’m going to sell I think I will just know a couple hundred off the price and let the new owner fix it the way they want to.
Not for nothing but here is an Arca/Pic combo that is 1oz. Fixing sling studs is easy and so is drilling new t-nut wells. OP's stock can easily be fixed, he can also upgrade his bipod at the same time without adding much weight. I'd be surprised if the total added weight was over 6oz while getting a far better bipod mounting system.
SALMON RIVER SOLUTIONS ARCA + PIC RAIL
The SRS family of arca rails are not only the lightest arca rails on the market, they are also the only arca rails available that match well to a rounded style hunting stock. The Arca + pic enables someone to have a single rail to run a bipod, and a tripod off. Made from 7075 aluminum, it is 4”...
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Dude, convert your bipod to 17S and add a lightweight pic rail to the stock. This is a painfully easy fix.
It’s not that they can’t, they won’t. Kimber’s CS has taken a serious nose dive in the past couple of years.
Agree though, if it were me, I would bed the stud and disclose to the buyer. Don’t put a rail on it, it’s an ultra light rifle and marketed as such.
