The extensive fitting and custom work were readily apparent during functioning, especially later during fast-action function firing. The bolt travel was smooth and tight, but it was still loose enough to prevent any kind of binding while working from the first shot to the last. The trigger on my test rifle proved very repeatable, breaking sharply at just over 3 pounds with no take up and just a hair of overtravel. It definitely helped keep every group I shot under an inch.

McMillan inlets the A5 stock for the Kimber 8400 action and bottom metal, and then Kimber follows up with a hand-applied skim-coat of bedding that extends about two inches past the lug recess. This makes for a perfect union between metal and fiberglass.

As small as they were, I began to notice a bit of a pattern on the paper with several groups, primarily with the heavier loads. The rifle would fire a very tight group, and then I would find a spoiler (or sometimes two) lingering outside the main group. I knew all the screws and mounts were tight, so this continued to puzzle me until the last round was downrange, the sun was setting, and I was beginning to pack up.

I noticed that the gap on the left side of the barrel was about half the width of the right side. On closer inspection, there was just a bit of what looked like finish from the stock rubbed into the left side of the barrel. I came to the conclusion that the barrel may have been coming in contact with the stock at the moment of barrel whip, canceling out some of the harmonics, and altering the point of impact. I'd experienced this once before on a tactical rifle I had just finished assembling.

Being that my test rifle was the first one out of the Kimber factory, it left just before a new step was added to the bedding process. This involves using a temporary spacer around the barrel to equalize the amount of float while the bedding sets. This was unfortunate timing for me because I know that this rifle is capable of even better results than what I produced.

I recently talked to Sgt. Tom Campbell, a certified police sniper with the Cowley County (Kansas) Sheriff's Department, who received his rifle shortly after I got mine. He immediately took his Advanced Tactical to the range and started his two-shot-and-clean break-in process, all the while shooting five-shot groups at 100 yards.

Using Remington 168-grain Match ammo, his last three groups from his first 100 shots--remember, these were groups that were interrupted for a cleaning or two--produced 1/4-inch groups. I've asked Sgt. Campbell to post photos of his groups to the Shooting Times message board here at www.shootingtimes.com.

Campbell, who admitted to having fallen in love with the rifle, was definitely one of the lucky ones who got his order in early. Much like the Desert Warrior, demand for The Advanced Tactical has skyrocketed, and orders are outpacing production by a significant margin. I am just sorry that I have to send this one back; I've really been taken by this little hotrod. It's changed my whole outlook on bolt-action tactical rifles.