243 or 243 AI

[Hugnot]

My next re-barrel might be a .243 AI, 8 twist, 5R McGowen, #5, 26. This will be for my single shot push feed. Speed with reasonable accuracy is my goal. Being a single shot COAL greater than 2.8 is no concern. My experiences with the .243 show short barrel life & much case stretching/trimming; hopefully, the 40 degree shoulder will help. If I did not want speed I would go for the 6mm CM. I have a 6mm AI and like the advantages of the AI form.

 

[SkipB]

My next re-barrel might be a .243 AI, 8 twist, 5R McGowen, #5, 26. This will be for my single shot push feed. Speed with reasonable accuracy is my goal. Being a single shot COAL greater than 2.8 is no concern. My experiences with the .243 show short barrel life & much case stretching/trimming; hopefully, the 40 degree shoulder will help. If I did not want speed I would go for the 6mm CM. I have a 6mm AI and like the advantages of the AI form.

Will an 8 twist shoot the lighter bullets, and thats the barrel I am thinking about a #5 in 26 inches

 

[SkipB]

What twist and bullets do you want to run?

I am thinking an 8 or 10 twist I want to shoot bullets up to 100 grain I`m shooting Georgia whitetails and coyotes

 

[P7M13]

A thread on the performance enhancements on different cartridges when Ackley'd.

6.5x55 Ackley

Does anyone have any experiance with this Cartridge? The performance over the standard case?

www.longrangehunting.com

I am thinking an 8 or 10 twist I want to shoot bullets up to 100 grain I`m shooting Georgia whitetails and coyotes

With an 8 twist, you'll top our around 105 in a hybrid, depending on your velocity and the conditions. With a 10 twist, your stability is iffy above 90gr.

 

[dogz]

I`m getting ready to rebarrel my older 243 and I am either going back with a McGowan 243 or 243 AI. Is the Ackley that much better than the standard 243?

Real world, the one and only reason to AI a round is to reduce trimming.

If you run it and the regular 243 at the same pressure levels there won't be much of additional speed. No of course it one hammers on the AI one will get additional speeds and that happens a ton load with AI's.

Side note as well and there is zero getting around this but the Ai will not feed as slickly as the standard round will. Unless of course one is feeding them straight line out of a magazine. And yes a lot of people will say "my AI feeds just fine"...and yes you can make them feed a round but no where nearly as slick as the standard round end of story.

I'd say that unless you're going to be shooting mass volumes of the round then I'd not go there.

(I like the 223 AI for my PD rifle because of the volume of shooting we use it for.

Hope this makes sense, best of luck to you.

I'll end with a question, what will you be using it for on a yearly basis and to what ranges?

 

[SkipB]

Real world, the one and only reason to AI a round is to reduce trimming.

If you run it and the regular 243 at the same pressure levels there won't be much of additional speed. No of course it one hammers on the AI one will get additional speeds and that happens a ton load with AI's.

Side note as well and there is zero getting around this but the Ai will not feed as slickly as the standard round will. Unless of course one is feeding them straight line out of a magazine. And yes a lot of people will say "my AI feeds just fine"...and yes you can make them feed a round but no where nearly as slick as the standard round end of story.

I'd say that unless you're going to be shooting mass volumes of the round then I'd not go there.

(I like the 223 AI for my PD rifle because of the volume of shooting we use it for.

Hope this makes sense, best of luck to you.

I'll end with a question, what will you be using it for on a yearly basis and to what ranges?

Whitetails and coyotes from 50 to 400 yds. I can step down to my 22-250 or 220 Swift for coyotes or up to my 25-06 or 7mm-08 for deer but I have always had a soft spot for my 243, it was my first rifle and kind of like a young boys first love. I want to pass it down to my grandson one day

 

[dogz]

Cool-I'd go 8 twist and get some barrel weight out front.

 

[xsn10s]

I am thinking an 8 or 10 twist I want to shoot bullets up to 100 grain I`m shooting Georgia whitetails and coyotes

How far a shot? When I was stationed ar Ft Stewart I didn't see many areas except on base where there were long shots. I'd think a standard 243 will do just fine.

 

[QuietTexan]

I am thinking an 8 or 10 twist I want to shoot bullets up to 100 grain I`m shooting Georgia whitetails and coyotes

I'd get the 8 twist, or at least nothing less than a 9.125 varmint twist if you want to shoot anything over 90gn. Mine is a 9.125" and I've never once wished it was slower, even shooting the 58gn V-Max.

 

[SkipB]

How far a shot? When I was stationed ar Ft Stewart I didn't see many areas except on base where there were long shots. I'd think a standard 243 will do just fine.

I live about 30 miles from the back gate at Stewart

 

[xsn10s]

I live about 30 miles from the back gate at Stewart

So most shots probably won't be that far. Maybe 300 yards in a clear cut? Either 243 standard or AI should work fine. And if the deer are like when I was there they're not that big. I'd get either one. If you get a standard I order X Dies to cut down on trimming.

 

[SkipB]

Yep some of our peanut fields are about 400 yds max and a 200 lb deer is huge but we do have some nice size hogs down in the swamp. A 454 Casull will calm them down though

 

[Seabeeken]

I like my 243AI. Ive never had to trim the brass. Accurate. Can fire standard 243 if needed. It really likes the Sierra 85 HPBT. Easily makes 300+ yd hit on grounghogs.

 

[xsn10s]

Yep some of our peanut fields are about 400 yds max and a 200 lb deer is huge but we do have some nice size hogs down in the swamp. A 454 Casull will calm them down though

That's much bigger than the hogs that came into our tent one night.