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.30'06 Ackley Improved
Fred in Boise
Member Posts: 5 ✭✭
Know this has been a topic before, but cannot find it on this site....
Have a M70 with a BOSS. This leaves about 22" of barrel.
For Elk beyond 300 yards am thinking of rechambering to AI.
Can I reasonably expect to get 2900 fps with a 180grain bullet?
Have had 250-3000 AI and 280 Remington AI previously with mixed results.
250 was a mess--EXTREMELY sensitive to any change in bullet shape or size. Example: a load that was fine with 100 grain spitzer blew primers with 90 grain hp. Can't be that much diff in ogive surface. Fire formed cases using necked up 22-250 brass.
The 280 was a blast (pardon the pun). Had a very crude, end of war Czech 98, a WWI 7mm barrel with a slimmed down military stock. Shot great and weighed about 7lbs with scope. Messed up and traded it off.
Anyway....M70 shoots great; get 3/4" 5 shot groups with 180 grain nosler partition spitzers, Win brass, CCI primers and 56 grains of IMR 4350. The BOSS thing really works; you can move POI all over target by adjusting it. Muzzle break makes recoil like a 243. Just don't stand beside it; in back is ok. Am finding longer shots are needed than in past.
Don't want another 250 experience and don't want a magnum--just 2900fps.
Comments???
Have a M70 with a BOSS. This leaves about 22" of barrel.
For Elk beyond 300 yards am thinking of rechambering to AI.
Can I reasonably expect to get 2900 fps with a 180grain bullet?
Have had 250-3000 AI and 280 Remington AI previously with mixed results.
250 was a mess--EXTREMELY sensitive to any change in bullet shape or size. Example: a load that was fine with 100 grain spitzer blew primers with 90 grain hp. Can't be that much diff in ogive surface. Fire formed cases using necked up 22-250 brass.
The 280 was a blast (pardon the pun). Had a very crude, end of war Czech 98, a WWI 7mm barrel with a slimmed down military stock. Shot great and weighed about 7lbs with scope. Messed up and traded it off.
Anyway....M70 shoots great; get 3/4" 5 shot groups with 180 grain nosler partition spitzers, Win brass, CCI primers and 56 grains of IMR 4350. The BOSS thing really works; you can move POI all over target by adjusting it. Muzzle break makes recoil like a 243. Just don't stand beside it; in back is ok. Am finding longer shots are needed than in past.
Don't want another 250 experience and don't want a magnum--just 2900fps.
Comments???
Comments
Start loading with RE-17. You should be able to work up to 57-58 gr. of that behind a 180 gr. bullet. Start at 53 and work up. You'll get 2900 out of that bullet with that powder. If you start seeing a big flame at the end of the barrel when you shoot you just won't get there. With a 30-06 AI you could.
In retrospect with the .250 AI, I don't know your reloading techniques and the temps you shot it at but that doesn't seem right. Whenever I've pushed the pressure limit in .25 cals with heavier bullets there hasn't been your issue with lighter bullets. The two you mention specifically I haven't had that issue. However, the Ackley are known for not showing pressure, not showing pressure...then bang you've blown a primer. My opinion is that the sharper shoulder intensifies the ignition and also limits the flow of pressure from the case somewhat. Ackley called the .250 his greatest success. Anyhow, who knows, could've been something else you didn't see. Like the rest of us who've lost half a set of matched cases without seeing the damage we did to them.
Edit:
The real solution here would be to go to a longer barrel instead of a new rifle. 4-6 more inches of barrel is about what you'd need. And, you can have the throat cut a little longer so you can seat the bullet out a bit more.