Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Custom Rifles & Wildcats Decision time for a LH Kimber M82 Custom Classic .22LR

In the near future I'm going to come into possession of the aforementioned LH Kimber Custom Classic. Brand new never fired.
I already have the stock however.
The Neidner style buttplate that came with the stock is too large and will never work to my satisfaction. I've already lined up a great stock guy to grind a rubber recoil pad for it. First decision is whether to go with red or black. Either would be .6" thick. I'm leaning towards a red Galazan right now but with an ebony fore end tip maybe the black will look better. What do you guys say?
The barreled action is a deep gloss blue (like my LH Kimber M84) but I was thinking of color case for the Neidner style grip cap, the inletted sling swivels, and the Warne/Kimber Premier rings. What do you folks think of color case? Who besides Doug Turnbull does really good color case?
Or would a good polish and blue look better for these parts?

Finally, since this is a Kimber of Oregon rifle I'm leaning towards an Oregon built Leupold scope. There's a certain synergy there I find appealing. Which gloss Leupold would look and work the best? I'm not averse to other gloss scopes either if needed.

This is going to be an heirloom rifle for me and is the classiest .22 I'll ever own but it will be shot and hunted.

Any and all help will be considered and greatly appreciated.

Sounds like a beautiful rifle in the making. On the pad I like red if the wood is dark but prefer black on lighter colored stocks.

Doug is the man when it comes to case color. One thing I will advise about Warne rings and case color hardening is they will not have the vivid colors like a lot of metals do. It has something to do with the metal they are made of. They look good but they tend to have more of a wheat color and less of the bright blues and greens that most metals take on. The colors are there, just not as vivid. I had a set done 6 or 7 years ago. When I got them back I was a little disapointed. I called turnbulls and talked to them. They said it was the metal composition. The color grew on me though.

One day I would like to have a 1st class .22LR too.

Best of luck with it,
Terry

Terry, thank you for that information!

Given the price of a good color case the info about the Warne rings is invaluable.
The stock is lighter colored so the advice about the pad color is also very helpful.
My stock guy, a member here, is going to send some pics of a red pad on a similar stock but he also suggested I consider black. Food for thought certainly.

Thank again!

Prooly cause it's sintered steel which is a powdered iron and graphite. I'd do they Talley's and definitely have Doug do the CC. Sounds like a gem in the making.

Thanks Karnis, I like the looks of the vertically split Talleys even more than the Warnes anyway.
What do you know about the composition of the Lenard Brownell Neidner style grip caps available from Brownells?
Will they show a vivid case?

Far as I know they are chromemoly and should take the CC as any high carbon steel. Any thought to a Dressels grip cap?

Damn you keep digging up these lefty Kimbers of Oreg0n... jealous! Sounds like you have plans to treat this one right.

I agree with Terry on the butt pad/ color combos. though the red can be sort of pink/orange when you first get them... if you polish them with Vaseline they get a nice color/ sheen. Not that is a factor on the 22 but some complain that Galazan's pads are too stiff... I have one on a 12 gauge and it does not bother me but I regularly shoot a 12 gauge with no pad at all.

As for the case color... I personally don't necessarily love Turnbulls stuff and he is expensive. I have also heard other that had long waits or were not treated well... so I would recommend either M Clark and Sons who you can contact through this link or google...

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=278193299

Or Ron's gun shop

http://www.ronsgunshop.com/finishes.html

Ron's is a little more expensive but both should be a good bit less than Turnbulls. The color is caused by a number of different factors, metal type included. I actually really like the colors that M Clark gets and have dealt with him on the phone and he was great. If one wanted to experiment with the Talley rings, Ron's offers a cyanide case color that might take better than the standard bone and charcoal.

How big is the Neidner style plate? I have one around here that I could measure up and see if its more in line with what you are looking for. I'd be happy to sell it to you. For a 22, if you could go with metal buttplate, I would, as pads just seem out of place on a 22 to me but understand if you can not swing it.

I'd love to go with a Neidner buttplate but I wasn't aware they came in a smaller size. Mine measures 5.125" from tip to toe and 1.60" at the widest point.

The length is the issue as mine extends about .060" past the toe. Just about the width of the margin around the checkering. Doesn't sound like much but on this rifle it would bug me to either have it hang over that far or to file away most of the margin at the toe of the plate. Nobody would notice but me but I'm enough. I may try filing it as all I have to lose is the buttplate.

I'd much prefer the Neidner buttplate to all other options so I'll give it a go with a file. The width is nearly spot on with only minimal filing required to make it perfect. The only other issue with using the Neidner is that there was a small repair made to the toe using brown epoxy but I think this could be blended in quite nicely.

I did a little searching on the net and did see M. Clark's website and his work does look nice.
How hard is it to do color case as I do have access to a heat treating furnace and I know I can get bone charcoal from Brownells?

Karnis, I'll look at the Dressel at Brownells but it would have to be the same size as the Neidner since the stock is designed for it.

All the help and advice so far has been very nice and it is truly appreciated!

The plate I have is probably about the same but if its less I will let you know.

Another option... if you are willing to have a non checkered butt plate but with the spur/ widow's peak you could call Roger Biesen and order his "plain" butt plate and then once the plate is fit, have it case colored also. His are listed at just a hair larger than the one you measured but very close. The case color will wear over time but that is character if ask me.

Biesen's site
http://www.biesen.com/Accessor_1_1.html

I think that M Clark will do the butt plate, grip cap, and rings for ~ $75-100 (just my WAG based on previous conversations)... at that price is it worth messing with?? There is some concern over the pieces coming out straight... would be messy if a ring got twisted from the heat/cool... most items are jigged in some way to keep them straight.

Drew I would appreciate that greatly!

I'll check the Biesen website for sure and $100 or a bit more for the color case would be perfect for me and no, it wouldn't be worth it for me to experiment with doing it myself.

Once again I thank you for your help and sound advice.

I'm freaking excited as all get out over a darn .22LR!!!

Ken,

I think you already have a solution but I finally found that butt plate... mine is exactly the same as yours 5 1/8" by 1 5/8"

Can't wait to see this thing come together.

You and me both Drew, you and me both!!

Selling off some stuff now to make it happen faster.

I saw that...

I am also a little upset that you did not tell me about the high end lefty rifles that were listed a few days ago!! Not that I need to spend the money.

PS I just got in a Biesen trap door butt plate that I think will likely end up on the DuBiel gun after it gets some light engraving. I was hoping to have it cased hardened but Roger told me that part of the mechanism is silver soldered and it will come apart in furnace. Probably a ways from actually getting started on the project as I just mailed the check for the gun today but its fun to plan!

I have an 82 Custom Classic left handed. I had mine restored and kept it stock. I have orginal Kimber rings and a Leupold fixed 4x on it. Just me put I would keep it orginal to retain the value and get a project rifle to make a custom build.

Sweet rifle Bh!!

Not likely I'll sell the rifle so originality isn't paramount in my mind.

Having an unique rifle with the custom features I like is my goal.

Once again, great LH rifle there!

Black is a must on the pad, Leupold would match up perfect for this rifle....Gloss with some of that custom shop splatter paint would really set it off....PM me for more Ideas!

Black on the pad and a Fisher grip cap as I find the Dressel too thick unless used on a beefier stock more typical of that of a big bore. It sounds like the rings are the curret Warne's and not the original that would be "correct" for the rifle? I believe the latter were fully machined from bar stock. At least those on my Oregon 82S Hornet were. I would go blue on everythiing. A nice rust blue ideally.

I've decided to go with the original Neidner type buttplate and an uncheckered Neidner type grip cap. I've also replaced the original Kimber inletted sling swivel bases with new ones from Dakota Arms because the swivel holes on the originals were drilled horribly off center. The rings are indeed Kimber originals but I have heard conflicting reports about their composition.

All these parts are going to be color case hardened. My CCH provider has agreed to test, FOR FREE, a spare set of original Kimber rings I have to see how they turn out given my question about their composition. Since nobody has screws for these Kimber rings I have to make them myself.

I've also decided that it will be scoped with the brand new for 2012 Leupold VX2 3-9x33 EFR Ultralight in gloss. I will probably send the scope to Leupold's Custom Shop for a M1 turret on the elevation.

Karnis here is going to fit the buttplate, grip cap, swivel bases and give the stock a complete refinish.

Excited, hell yes!

Good call on the scope.

I agonized over the scope choice but a call to Leupold Tech helped me to decide.

Tough to beat the looks of a properly inletted steel but plate such as the Neidner or the Biesen. Leaves more wood to look at. I have a handful so done. Good choice.

Be careful with doing the rings I had a set of Talleys done for a Cascade Arms rifle they came out a brown gold. Wonder if thin metal is harder to do. I always liked the red pads but hard to find a small one for a 22. Does the rifle shoot well? Some of the barrels aren't the highest quality.

Bh, I don't even have the NIB unfired barreled action in my possession yet, just the stock and the accoutrements.
The BA was shipped by KoO as a BA and never stocked.

I do have concerns about the rings but my CCH provider is going to run a test on a spare set I have to alleviate those concerns.

The question of accuracy is a good one. My Hornet, though absolutely stunning to look at with quarter rib, gorgeous wood, checkered skeleton grip cap and the like was marginal in the accuracy department and had excessive head space to boot. Quality of the KoO guns was definately hit and miss with a fair amount of misses. I swapped into my rifle from a KoO collector in Odesssa Texas. He was very knowledgebale on them, owned a bunch and had many stories to tell. Hopefully yours will be a shooter. Assume you will post the photos as it all comes together?

Believe me, I'll post plenty of photos!

Crappy ones as per my usual but photos nonetheless.

Screw it go all out like I did. Custom Bat action, Shilen barrel, Jewel trigger, Talley rings and Swarovski Glass.

wow... is that a 22LR?

Yeah, is that a .22LR?

WOW!!!

Its a 20 Vartarg. 221 Fireball necked down to a 20. Shoots 32gr bullets at 3700fps. Tack driver round. Pretty much a 22 no recoil at all.

After looking long and hard for perfect optic for
my Kimber I found a Leupold M8 compact 6x AO gloss.
It fits the lines of the rifle perfectly. At first I thought 6x would be a little much but I've come to like it very much. If you can find one its a gem.

Hi nsaqam, I found a picture of the case color hardened Warne rings and thought you may want to see it. These were done by Turnbull's. As you can see the color's are there but certainly not as vivid as some case coloring you've seen in the past.



Terry

Thanks Terry!
I will have no problem if my rings turn out like those. A bit more vivid might be better but I'll certainly take that.