How much do we really gain from the A.I. rifles.

[wildcat westerner]

Hello,
I believe that in today's world, with all these powders and burning rates available any AI improvement ona case should result in increased performance. I have had a 6mm Improved and honestly admit it was a loser for me despite quality components. it took increased powder to get back to the standard 6mm performance and crazy pressures to better than. Partially that is because 4350 works so well in this case,a perfect marriage.
When Ackley made his comments it was long ago, when powder availability was largely old 20mm cannon powder, namely 4831. You crammed all you could into the case and it was so slow you could not blow it up! Thats what made the .257 AI work so well. That plus the fact Remington screwed that case up worse than any other in history by releasing it in a pump rifle and reducing the pressure of the loads. Winchester then came out with the .243 loaded hotter then previous standards in a bolt action rifle and the result was the eclipse of the .257 Roberts,a fine cartridge in a bolt action rifle, the AI version even moreso.

 

[sureshot21]

I am having a 6.5 Swede built and go back and forth about AI'ing it. This will be a hunting rifle with a 22" barrel. If I AI'd this rifle from what I have read, it will become slightly more efficient thus allowing a slower pressure curve and extending brass/barrel life?

I built a 6.5 X 55 AI ( not really an Ackely since he never did the Swede)
I can comfortably and accurately push Hornady 120 grn ELD's to 3100 and 140's seem to plateau at 2900 no matter what.

Well above standard US loading for the cartridge.

But it is well known that the standard Swede can be loaded well above factory loads, and I cannot compare as I never had the rifle in the standard chamber.

But I did have some 40 rounds of old Norma Ornx loads gifted to me that I used to form my initial AI cases, and they cronyed at around 2850 with a 160 grain bullet.

Hot load! And factory ammo at that.

I still wouldn't change anything, I just love having somet that is not the same as everyone else's.

 

[ragsflh]

extended brass life.don;t have cases stretch,fast bullet speed,my favorite ai are 223ai,243ai,308ai,280ai,35wheelen,7.62x39,best of all.built a 280ai this year for white tail hunting,learned that it a bad rd.put a hole like a 338 magnum shot it.if you dont like ai dont ,but i will keep mine

 

[Hookturnr]

I had a 280AI built for several reasons. I wanted to get into the neighborhood of 7 mag performance with dealing with a belted case. I wanted to shoot the 180gr. VLD. I wanted good brass life.

I got all of this in spades and then some! I had Kevin Cram throat the barrel for max case capacity with a 180 VLD just off the lands. It's just shy of 2800fps with single digit s.d and e.s. and shoots bugholes! Easiest load development I've ever done and it's a brutal bitch on deer sized game. I've taken 2 antelope and 4 whitetails with it as well as a few coyotes and it just hammers whatever you shoot with it.

 

[Dano1]

I have 3 Ackleys, a .243AI, a 6.5-06 AI and a .30-06 AI. My favorite is the .30-06 AI and with it I'm shooting 2 loads, a 168g Berger VLD at 3100FPS and a 190g VLD at 2900FPS using H4350 out of a 26" bbl... the .243 AI shoots 100g Sierra GKs using H414 at 3100fps out of a 22" bbl (this is primarily for the kids to hunt deer) and the 6.5-06 AI is shooting 120g Hornady SSTs and Interbonds at 3200Fps using RL-22. I have the parent cartridges as well for both the .243 and .30-06 and there is a bit of gain from going with the Improved version.... I've always liked the Ackleys and will probably build others....

 

[ragsflh]

pic 280 ai whitetail

 

[Legionnaire]

Interesting thread; thanks. I'm waiting on my first Ackley: a 700 SPS Varmint I'm having trued and rechambered in .243 AI. Looking forward to seeing what it will do.

 

[MudRunner2005]

Interesting thread; thanks. I'm waiting on my first Ackley: a 700 SPS Varmint I'm having trued and rechambered in .243 AI. Looking forward to seeing what it will do.

Just some help, go with slower powders in the AI's, to take advantage of the added capacity. For the .308 sized cases, CFE-223 is a good one. And believe it or not, Hornady LeverEvolution powder is almost the same burn rate as Varget and CFE-223. It's also pretty cheap and found everywhere because it's not very popular. The only thing that sucks, is that it's a spherical ball powder, so it will stop-up an automated charging machine, like the Chargemaster 1500. You have to use it in a powder trickler like the Hornady Quick Trickle.

 

[Capt RB]

In the 243ai if running heavy bullets H1000 and Rl26 will add 30-50% to your barrel life over 4350 and similar speed/burn rates.

 

[Legionnaire]

Thanks for the tips!