Hello everyone, I am new to the forum and to custom rifles as well. I have always shot factory rifles and ammo until I moved here a couple of years ago and made friends with someone who builds custom rifles. Last year I had a 300 win mag built and I really like it. Extremely accurate. Now I am looking at building something lighter. I have a win mod 70 featherweight in 243 that I am looking at building it on. My freind really likes the 250 ackley and has built several for people. He killed a deer at 600 yards with his last year. I would like to hear any and all opions! I am looking for something that has long range capacity but a kid can shoot as well and is a good deer load. Which way do you guys think I should go?
250 Ackley improved?
- Thread starter jwltx
- Start date
popeyespappy
New member
.260 Remington would be relatively easy to do on you existing 243 action. I’m liking the 6.5 mm rounds lately. 260 Remington, 6.5x55, 6.5x284 or even a 264 Win Mag all look good to me for various reasons.
I think maybe you are re-enventing the wheel. Have you thought of the 257 Roberts (Ackley) improved?
It shoots the same bullets at the same velocity as the 250 Ackley (250-3000 Improved).
The differance is you can shoot 257 Roberts in the Roberts Improved if push came to shove and you had to buy ammo.
You can pretty much find the Roberts ammo anywhere but not so the 250-3000 or the improved version.
But if you like wierd stuff (and I do) and reload, by all means go for it.
I'm a big fan of the 257 Roberts, its my main hunting rifle for deer and Antelope. But if I was gonna go for long range hunting (which I don't) I think I would move to the 270 Win.
It shoots the same bullets at the same velocity as the 250 Ackley (250-3000 Improved).
The differance is you can shoot 257 Roberts in the Roberts Improved if push came to shove and you had to buy ammo.
You can pretty much find the Roberts ammo anywhere but not so the 250-3000 or the improved version.
But if you like wierd stuff (and I do) and reload, by all means go for it.
I'm a big fan of the 257 Roberts, its my main hunting rifle for deer and Antelope. But if I was gonna go for long range hunting (which I don't) I think I would move to the 270 Win.
.300 Weatherby Mag
New member
If I was going to build a 25 caliber wildcat other than a .257 Roberts Ackley Improved, it would a 25-08.. As much as I like the 250 savage, I would do a 25-08 or .257 roberts AI before I tried to hot rod the savage... But this is my opinion, do what you want..
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"The differance is you can shoot 257 Roberts in the Roberts Improved if push came to shove and you had to buy ammo."
You can shoot the .250-3000 in a .250-3000 AI chamber also. That is supposed to be true of all of the Ackley Improved cartridges. The parent cartridge will chamber and fire safely in the improved chamber.
"You can pretty much find the Roberts ammo anywhere but not so the 250-3000 or the improved version."
I doubt seriously you would find any AI ammo on a retail ammo shelf between here and the moon. The .250-3000 is hard to find. (Now watch, someone will post where he saw some .30-30 AI commercially for sale. I suppose it's possible.) Also, I wouldn't exactly call .257 Roberts plentiful anywhere you look for it.
I've been curious to try the .250 AI. I believe it was one of the top "gainers" from Ackley's AI scheme. The main advantage is brass life, so handloaders get an advantage, but it isn't the most cost effective way to "soup up" an existing chambering.
A deer at 600 yds with a .250-3000 AI? That is fantastic and I mean that.
The 250 Savage ammo is hard to find, but 243 ammo is not. I think that the 243AI would be a fine round for the rifle that you are building.
http://www.6mmbr.com/243win.html
http://www.6mmbr.com/243win.html
Personally I wouldn't mess with too many AI cartridges, the performance gains just is not there. Certain cartridges do benifit from the AI chamber .30-30, .30-40, .250-3000, and .300 H&H are some of the best performers with the AI. Some of the worst are .30-06 and .308 based cartridges if you expect any thing else other than increased brass life.
I agree with taylor. The best candidates for improving are those with more body taper, and from the group you are considering, the .250 savage and .257 roberts are good choices. (Although they shoot just fine as they are.) The .250 savage would probably give a better increase in performance and you don't have to get into the long/short action question, as you would with the roberts. Brass for the .250 may be expensive and hard to find, but it is occasionally available from midway. Of course, .22-250 brass is readily available just about everywhere. All you need (in addition to .250 dies) is a 6 mm expander plug, and you can make all the .250 savage brass you want with two passes of the die. It is kind of ironic that the wildcat is more available than the parent catridge.
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@ltdan:
I don't know of any on-line source, but the .300 H&H ackley improved is mentioned in Handbook for shooters and reloaders, vol 1, pages, 438 & 440, by (of course) P.O. Ackely. Unfortunately, ackley didn't give any load or velocity data. He just said to use .300 weatherby load data. No pictures, either, but from his description I would guess that it turned out to be pretty much a .300 weatherby without the radius'd shoulder.
I don't know of any on-line source, but the .300 H&H ackley improved is mentioned in Handbook for shooters and reloaders, vol 1, pages, 438 & 440, by (of course) P.O. Ackely. Unfortunately, ackley didn't give any load or velocity data. He just said to use .300 weatherby load data. No pictures, either, but from his description I would guess that it turned out to be pretty much a .300 weatherby without the radius'd shoulder.
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I just did a search on TFL for "Ackley Improved" and got 31 returns. It is great reading if you're interested.
Listen to taylorce1.
I have a .30-30 AI and I love it, BUT it is a little H&R single shot and it was a simpler job, in details, than is needed on a quality bolt gun. I knew if it was a mistake, I was not out an expensive barrel. I don't think I would do it again looking for a performance gain. You can talk yourself into it. I did. But the expense of doing it doesn't really justify it.
Listen to taylorce1.
I have a .30-30 AI and I love it, BUT it is a little H&R single shot and it was a simpler job, in details, than is needed on a quality bolt gun. I knew if it was a mistake, I was not out an expensive barrel. I don't think I would do it again looking for a performance gain. You can talk yourself into it. I did. But the expense of doing it doesn't really justify it.
It dan, hammie basicly has it right the .300 Weatherby and .300 H&H AI are the same. Don't quote me on this but I think I remember reading somewhere that you can make the Weatherby brass by firing .300 H&H in the Weatherby chamber. I wouldn't rechamber a perfectly good rifle to the H&H AI or Weatherby round.
I once was considering a custom barrel for an Encore from EABCO or Bullberry. I was looking for a light recoiling and efficient round for my boys and I am not a big .243 fan. Also, being an ordnance officer in the Army and having been downrange, life on the line with the less than impressive 5.56 as my only option, I also wanted to research a higher velocity option than 6.8x43the Army was considering. I see the realtively low velocity 6.8 as not a big upgrade. I did quite of bit a research and analysis, really concentrating on efficiency (defined as the most kinetic effectiveness for the least amount of powder burned). Recoil and throat/barrel life was important (thus disqualifying the .243 for the military application.) It was informal, but my results netted the .250 Savage A.I. as the winner for both needs. It is an incredibly efficient little round, capable of delivering .25-06 / .257 type performance much more efficently than they do. Twist rates and barrel lengths have to be optimzed for the bullet you wish to use, but it is a great round. So if you want one, go for it.
lefteyedom
New member
Model 70 then do a 25/06
If memory serves all model 70s where the same length. If that is the case then rebarrel it to 25-06. You will get all the performance of the Ackley without the headaches.
If memory serves all model 70s where the same length. If that is the case then rebarrel it to 25-06. You will get all the performance of the Ackley without the headaches.