Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Custom Rifles & Wildcats .223 AI Holland Approaching Perfection

Here are a couple pics of my .223 AI Holland Smithed by Darrell Holland and friends. Top notch smiths. I wanted something that handled similar to my Borden 7-08 AI shown.

Specs:
Rem 700 SA, Kampfeld Ti Flutes, alloy shroud
Firing Pin bushed by Gre-Tan
Bartlein 5R 1:8T 2.5 contour clipped at 22"
Holland lug
McM Classic
Jewell Trigger
Leupold 4.5-14AO duplex
Talley Lightweights
Black Cera-kote.
8 1/4 lbs as shown

Still need to do the mag box mod and bed.

Sweet...like the stock colors.

Sweet!!

How well do they feed?

Both feed good. The Holland .223 AI has slightly more body taper than std. AI to ensure feeding.

I've been waiting/wondering about this build. Sounds like a top notch build from top to bottom.
I would really like to hear how that barrel shoots.

FVA: I am looking forward to giving the 75g A-maxes a run. How is your .223AI running?

Mine shoots great, feeding not so much. Haven't given up in that regard though. It is also M7 based.

Nice looking AI. Like the colors on the stock.

Grand
Love the colours too
What actual brown is that on the stock and is that white or cream
thanks Jason

Grand, nice looking rifle. Could you give the details of the reamer used or measure a spent case and give some measurements. I'm interested in how much taper it has. Does Darrel have someone else smithing there now?

Thanks guys. Colors are black/tan/medium brown. I keep thinking of a mocha.

7-08 Fan: I don't have a reamer diagram, but a fired case from my standard .223 AI measures .363 OD at the shoulder. A fired case from the Holland chamber measures .360, so roughly .003" more body draft. The Holland shoulder itself also seams to have a slight radius, both of which improve feeding.

As far as I know Darrell is still doing his own work.

Interesting, I measured a case fired from my friend's .223AI, smithed by Kevin Weaver. It measures .369 at the shoulder. Big difference. I'll have to compare feeding of the three.

Grand, a shot case from mine measures .369 also. If I simply neck size them, they don't feed the best. If I squeeze them to .364 using my Redding body die, they feed fine. I'm thinking Holland has the reamer figured out.

My fired 223AI cases measures .368 at the shoulder. Sometimes I get a .369(grin)

Cool build. I am thinking the Holland Improved .223 may be my next.

As for Darrel doing all his own work I know he has other guys doing some if not all of his builds in his shop. My 280AI was built by an Ernie if I remember right. Supposedly all work has to pass Darrels approval.