Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Custom Rifles & Wildcats For those of you with .223 Ackley

I see postings of 223 AI rifles that are BDL feed. I have had people say they can't get them to feed due to the short case and sharp shoulder angle. However, I see tons of them on here.

Are there any special mods to make these feed? I have one that uses AI mags, but I don't really care for that long of a mag. Wish they made a 5 rounder

Anyway, how do ya'll get them to feed?

Thanks in advance
Brad

I have an ADL that feeds fine. Factory follower and spring and 1/4" piece of aluminum bar stock fixed to the back of the mag to allow longer COL.

I have another varmint rifle that takes the AI mags.

I'd think a BDL feeds same as an ADL (same lips, same follower) and I haven't had any problems. Both of mine are 700's.

My follower spring needed an adjustment. Had to experiment to get the proper pressure on the case head. Haven't had a problem since.

I have had a few, and none fed poorly

I have three of them now and I get them to feed by putting cartridges in the magazine and cycling the bolt�.


Didn't know there was a difference between ADL,BDL, and CDL feeds�.


Learn something new every day.

I bought a 223AI reamer 7 or 8 years ago and built a few for friends. Finally built one for myself one day by rechambering a factory 700 223.......built another one with a heavy stainless barrel on a 700......then I discoverd this little known chambering and wondered what all the fuss over the 223AI was all about.......

Thats too many numbers to remember�.it'll never catch on.

Explains your aversion to a 22-204....

mine feeds by just closing the bolt. never had an issue.

Mine is on a 700 with a .25" aluminum bar-stock spacer in the back. It feeds from the magazine just fine, provided you don't creep the bolt forward, allowing the round to pop up, then trying to chamber it. Even cycling the bolt slowly will allow it to feed fine. The gun does not like a round dropped into the action, as it will often balk when the round is entering the chamber. It works best to just shoot from the magazine, as that aligns everything correctly. Cycling through a full magazine of SAAMI and AI dummy rounds, there is no difference in feeding.

Thanks to all that pointed out that closing the bolt make them feed. Guess I hadn't considered that.

Thought I was fairly clear in my post by saying I have had people say they can't get them to feed due to the short case and sharp shoulder angle.

I have a .223 AI but it uses the AI mags. I was wanting to do one with a BDL set up.

I have had two different gunsmiths tell me they have never been satisfied with how they fed. Both of these smiths are well known here at 24hr.

I thought I read once about a mag mod for the 223 AI with an internal mag design.

Guess I was mistaken

I've only had a problem with one but that is on a M7. For what it's worth, it was a problem before it got punched.

A new spring and some bending got it working fine.

This is why I mention that mine doesn't like to feed reliably if you just dump the round in the port and try to bolt it home. It's likely due to the case shape. Placing the round in my BDL magazine aligns the cartridge so that it enters the chamber correctly. It will feed just fine, cycling through a belly full of rounds. The only modification was the removal of the factory mag box spacer and the installation of a .25" spacer.

That's my take on it. You asked about feeding and folks told you how things worked when they closed the bolts to cycle ammo into the chambers. Most would call that "feeding". Maybe some folks were trying to be helpful but did not understand what it is you are looking for?

I would say the 223 Ackley can be a bit finicky on feeding in a Rem 700, but a regular 223 isn't the best at feeding in a 700 either. I've never had a Rem 223 that I would consider a 100% feeder without some tweaking.

A few bends here and there in the mag box, replacing or re-positioning the mag box spring, or replacing the follower will help if you're having issues.

It will feed, it just may need a bit of work.

I've had the best results from the AICS mags. Really wish they made a flush fit 223 mag.

JPro, I wasn't referring to your post. I found it quite helpful




Thanks PG, I too wish the made the AI mags that were five rounders or like you mentioned, flush. They feed so smooth.

Thanks for your reply

I had one Rem 223 AI that fed pretty well, and one that was a real bear. The latter eventually came around, but was really frustrating.

In other words, it seems like some rifles feed fine right off the bat, some don't. For the rifles that don't feed well, the situation is fixable.

I have a turn coming up to bat in March with a well known and respected smith. My barrel is a 12tw ( I already have a 223AI that's an 8tw)so I wanted to shoot the 50-55 gr bullets. Wasn't sure if these bullets being shorter (shorter than the 75 Amax I shoot currently) and the sharp angle would make it not feed very well. Smith says he doesn't think I would be very happy with the feedeing. Stock is already inletted for BDL. I may just stick with plain ol 223

I shoot one with a 1 in 12 twist and the 50-55 grain bullets. I seat them out so they just fit in an unmodified magazine, and rock on.

Can't help with the 223AI feeding issue (I'm in the process of gather parts for my 1st so no experience) but I sure would like to echo the above thoughts!!! For 223 & 308 mags!

Factory ADL and BDL is same/same as far as feeding. Same follower. Same spring. Same feed lips on box. Only difference is that ADL box is longer and held to the action with a screw. I'm using factory 223 follower and springs on mine.

If you use the google 24-hr search tool, you'll find a lot of info about mag mods for 223AI. But the mod is to the length of the mag to be able to load longer COL's. Not to the feedlips or spring. Any 700 may meed minor tweeks to spring or lips to feed better. Most don't.

I did the length mod on a 25-204 and a 223AI. I posted a pic of it I think it was in the 25-204 thread.

ETA: I guess I deleted those pics on my photobucket account. I can take more if that's the mod you're referring to.