Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Custom Rifles & Wildcats What's your favorite Ackley caliber and why.

You hit the nail on the head.

I guess this is the reason I like the '06 Ackley. 277 Yards, 150gr Nosler BT ....10 ring ....boom splat. Regards, Rick.

Nice buck - congrats!

KDK - good choices.

The 223 AI necked up to 6, 6.5 and 7mm have done well for me in the past

You mean one of these?

Prezactly!

Favorites are the 308 NAI and 270 NAI... that's the 308 Non-Ackley Improved and 270 Non-Ackley Improved.

Great rounds...

Boar-ring.....

Ya my oldest 223AI junk RP brass has 20+ firings on it now without a trim. I guess if it ever gets to the point it does need one I'll just toss it and FF another 100 cases and figure that I got my moneys worth out of it.

Not even gonna waste my time to argue about using .224's on deer as its obviously a waste of time with you and something that's way over your head. Your comment is laughable at best.

I did a 30-06AI about twenty years ago. As Ackley himself stated, the '06 improved is a waste of time except with heavy bullets and slow powders. With 180's and 190's over H4831 it is a pretty darn good thumper. On both ends!

I kind of, might have, a jones-ing for a 25-06AI, but it would be hard to justify on my budget with a 264 Win mag in the stable.

So my favorite is my 22-243AI. It is done on an old Savage 112 22-250 varmint rifle; 26 inch, single shot, factory barrel. But it will still print into a half inch at 150 yds with moly'ed 60 gr Hornadys at 3900 fps plus.

I am working on burning up this barrel so I can try a 9 inch twist.

While I have had a 257 AI, 30-06 AI, 338-06 AI, my favorite is the 35 Whelen AI.

Why, because of all the riles I have had that had an AI chamber, the 35 shows the least difference in point of impact shooting both standard and AI loads. So, I have all the advantages, real and perceived, of an Ackley chamber but if I happen to need to substitute a regular ole 35 Whelen round my point of impact doesn't hardly change at all.

So, something that on paper gives me little or no advantage can still be useful to me.

That's got to be a true "Rifle Loony" deduction there.

BTW, I blame Mule Deer and Grasshopper for most of this because they sold me the dies for it and the rifle. Never mind Mule Deer told me it was a fruitless endeavor, he enabled me when he sold the dies so cheap.

He should have stuck with the obvious winner, the 280 Remington, which he must have worked with extensively before moving on.

My favorite is the .257 Roberts Ackley. I started varmint hunting with it back about 1968. Thought my first few kills were misses until I found a little thumbnail size piece if skin and a tail. The rest was painted on the log where it had been standing. Needed a paper towel to be sure the pinkish spots were wet or not. Gruesome is good in squirrel splattering.

Love those Barnes 80 grain TTSX's on the little rats. Such as this one, where something is missing, like the gut strung out on the flora, and little red pieces of performance art speckling the landscape.



Or maybe this one that appears to have lost a bout with a blender.



How about three blind rats all in a row at 200+ yards. The arrow points to the smallest rat I ever connected with - it folded inside-out.



All of which proves that homogenizing varmints is more fun with an Ackley improved anything. My new .22-250 Ackley awaits the spring. Now if Barnes only made a Varmint Grenade in .257" life would be ideal.

I've got AIs in 223, 243, and 280. Fave is the 223AI, and yes, it does quite well on deer, as do my vanilla 223s.

I still have a hankering for a 250AI and 25-06AI, but would probably build another 25-284 first.

WranglerJohn,

How fast are you getting those TTSX's to go? Tried some in my standard Bob but not seeing the velocity yet.

Thanks!

25AckleyKragImproved.

I have as many Ackley Improved, reamers, as the parent calibres. With a 280 Rem. AI 35 Whelen AI switch barrel rifle, I can dispatch about any critter, I care to hunt.

Welcome to the fire 440dodger.

243AI because it's a great deer/predator combo rifle. No trimming is always a plus, and you can't legally hunt deer in the commonwealth of Virginia with a 223AI!

I like them all. I hate case trimming.
Not looking for magic velocity increases

Favorites -
.280AI (Original Non-SAAMI, what were they thinkin?),
6mmAI, 22-250AI

.338-280AI and 6.5-280AI are both intriguing cats

I always enjoy answering this one, no matter where I see it.
My favorite AI may not be considered an Ackley. I call it Gene's .25x2. I took a .257AI Roberts reamer and short-reamed by 1/4". The rifle is an M98 Mauser with a 20" barrel, and a 2-7x Widefield scope. It does anything I could ask, as I would a .250AI Savage.
I also have a Silhouette rifle, M98, chambered for the ".30 GBS" which is an Ackley .30/06 short-reamed by 1/4". It works great as a target rifle, but would make a fine hunter, too. Both of these rifles don't need to be trimmed after the first sizing after fireforming.
The last is a .375/348 AI in an M71 Winchester that I built for walks down by the river, when I lived in Alaska. I fear nothing as I walk the valley in the shadow of the Brooks Range, as I've the baddest carbine here.
The Hornady 300gr soft pointRN at 2250fps from a 20" barrel is enough fo ME.
Have fun,
Gene