[Reloader77]

As some of you may know, I am a bit wacky and only want to buy odd firearms. Im not really a main stream follow the masses type person. So my new Want vs need lol is an Ackley Improved rifle.

I don't really know which caliber is better than another or which i should buy. That is where you guys come in. I do shop on Gunbroker which has a few in various calibers. Some are inexpensive and some are crazy expensive.

No purpose for the weapon as i have almost every possible use covered already.

Anyone have an A.I. that they like or dislike and why? I will put a few links to some in gunbroker later to see if you all think this is a good buy or not!

I do reload so ammo is not an issue. If anything it is the reason i look for obscure calibers!

 

[raymeketa]

If you want an obscure or odd caliber, then an Ackley Improved is not what you want. Ackley chambers will shoot factory ammunition as well as the Improved cartridges and they are very common. I think what you want is really a rifle chambered for a wildcat cartridge.

Ray

 

[Dollar Bill]

I have a 30-30 and 280 Ackley Improved chambered rifles and find them very useful.

The 30-30 version has much extended case life and the 280 pushes 140 Nosler Partition at near 7mm Mag velocities. Waiting to try some of their 150gr Bonded bullets.

 

[SansSouci]

Dollar Bill,

What size barrel do you have on your .280 Ackley? What velocity are you getting with 140 grain bullets?

 

[SansSouci]

Reloader77,

What will be the intended use for your rifle?

While not really an obscure cartridge, were I looking to go off the main trail, I'd look for a .300 H&H Mag.

The .45/70 Gov't would be an excellent choice, except it's probably more popular now than it's ever been.

I wish that the .280 Rem were more popular than it is. I could see me selling all of my rifles and everything that goes with them for a Sako .280 Rem with a VX-3 2.5 x 8 atop it. Heck, I probably could be talked in to selling my circa 1969 Belgian Browning .338 Win Mag for the right .280 Rem.

 

[broom_jm]

Two of the more popular AI'd cartridges are the 280 Remington and 257 Roberts. Both are very practical adaptations and I believe Ackley himself felt the 257 was among the most useful of his endeavors.

Basically, any cartridge with way too much case taper and a too-shallow shoulder angle (<20 degrees) is a candidate. Also, there are plenty of wildcat rounds out there with "Improved" geometry that aren't necessarily accredited to Ackley.

 

[Reloader77]

I was looking through the list of calibers that are A.I. and the 257, 280, and 30-06 interest me. I am willing to look at others. Not sure im ready for full-on "wildcat" having to possibly neck down or neck up cases and items like that are not my cup of tea right now. I do like the idea of fire forming brass with mild loads in the AI.

 

[Tnhunter]

FWIW, the .280 AI is also now available with it's own brass and ammo. I agree as to it's usefulness and versatility.

 

[Bong Son Buck]

Problem is,---The Nosler ammo costs about 50 bucks per 20! I fire-form 280 Rem. cases to get mine. As to velocity, Sans, I get 3140fps from mine with a 24 in. barrel! The load of IMR4831 is WAY over max, but it's shown no pressure signs in my rifle.

 

[CCAguns]

Ackley Improved Rifle

Problem is,---The Nosler ammo costs about 50 bucks per 20! I fire-form 280 Rem. cases to get mine. As to velocity, Sans, I get 3140fps from mine with a 24 in. barrel! The load of IMR4831 is WAY over max, but it's shown no pressure signs in my rifle.

I've gotten similar results, Bong. But after trying the Nosler cases, I'm getting significant head expansion on the third reload - primer pockets are considerably oversize. No problem whatsoever on the first two.

I'm wondering if Nosler brass is too soft. Haven't had that issue with R-P cases, but haven't loaded any more than 5 times.

I like the .280 AI, and recall Ackley's pleasure with the 257 Roberts AI. A great cartridge as a combo varmint/deer/antelope round would be the 6mm Rem AI. As broom jm stated, any cartridge with a lot of taper and a shallow neck angle should show great improvement.

 

[raymeketa]

. . I do like the idea of fire forming brass with mild loads in the AI.

For best results, the factory case should be a crush fit in the Ackley chamber and a full power load should be used for fire-forming.

 

[MontyF]

Another vote for the .257AI

 

[jim love]

Right now I am shooting a 25-06 AI and a 280 AI.I think the 280 is one of our most useful rounds.This is the 3rd one I have owned,all have been very accurate,less than 1 minute of angle.The 25-06 AI gets a small increase over the 25-06 std,but easy to load for and much less brass stretch,but it will never catch up to the Weatherby,but the barrel last much longer.I have owned the 243 AI the 257 AI four different ones and two 30-06 AI and the 7X57 AI maybe the best of the bunch.

 

[Bird Dog II]

I read once (and the article had supporting data) that no round has a better increase in performance with the Ackley treatment (on a percentage basis) than the .250 Savage. I assume this is due to the large case taper. Once straightened, it adds considerable capacity. The article was on a Eabco barrel site and it claimed that this round was near perfect in efficiency as measured by converting y grains of powder to x velocity vs other rounds in its class (.243, 6mm Rem, .257 Roberts, .25-06)

 

[Tmygun]

I want an Ackley Improved 300 RUM. It needs a little more case capacity.

 

[old roper]

I was looking through the list of calibers that are A.I. and the 257, 280, and 30-06 interest me. I am willing to look at others. Not sure im ready for full-on "wildcat" having to possibly neck down or neck up cases and items like that are not my cup of tea right now. I do like the idea of fire forming brass with mild loads in the AI.

There is only one SAAMI spec Ackley and it's 280AI. Most Ackley's kept same throating/OAL as parent case.

Easy one is 280AI and most important is you have loading from Nosler and Hodgdon. You can take started load for 280AI and fire form brass or buy Nosler brass. Nosler use 26" barrel for their data and Hodgdon used 24"

Nosler has loading data for 257RobertAI in appendix section of their reloading manual.

Got two 280AI,35 WhelenAI,243AI,223AI,222AI. If your looking for something low recoil or just fun to shoot 257 Roberts AI be a good one.

 

[Dollar Bill]

Dollar Bill,

What size barrel do you have on your .280 Ackley? What velocity are you getting with 140 grain bullets?

I'm was just barely under 3000fps with my original load of 60 gr of 4831, but this is an old Remington Mountain rifle with a 22" tube I had rechambered back in the early 80s. I started out with 4350 as I always have some on hand. I got better accuracy with the 4831 so I stayed with that.

It wasn't until about 6-7 years ago I chronographed the load. Then my brother suggested RL22 and that's been the hot ticket for my rifle, pushing that 140 Nosler up to 3040 @ 45F, according to my notes.

 

[Reloader77]

What do you guys think about this ackley?


Winchester 17 Enfield USP 1917 30-06 Ackley Impr : Bolt Action Rifles at GunBroker.com

 

[broom_jm]

IIRC, the 30-'06 was one of the cartridges that wasn't found to benefit much from being AI'd. The rifle looks nice enough but I'm not sure this particular round is going to give you the unique experience you were looking for in an Ackley cartridge.

 

[Reloader77]

Perhaps this could be what I need???

Savage Custom 257 Roberts Ackley improved A1/ 26" : Bolt Action Rifles at GunBroker.com