.243 Ackley Improved

[Baronvonrort]

Any forum members here tried this one?

Are the claims about longer case life and less throat erosion true?

Happy to hear all opinions good or bad.

[Mich]

Hi Baron.

I found the 'benefits' of barrel life and the .243 AI were mostly due to comparing apples and oranges.

The .243 AI has approx 5gr more capacity than the .243 Win. If you put 40gr of Varget behind a 55gr bullet in the .243 Win, and 45gr of Varget a 55gr bullet in a .243 AI it doesn't take a rocket scientist to work out which one is going to create the most pressure and heat (wear). Apples and apples.

Burning heavier charges of slower powders in the .243 AI is where the "improvement" is to be gained. Personally I found it to just be juggling numbers on paper with no practical difference. You had to be pushing the limits of its range with the heaviest bullets for there to be anything noteworthy. I'm talking 1,000 yards.

The .243 Win is already such a versatile and capable cartridge. Between launching 55gr pills at 4,100fps or 110gr bullets at 3,000fps with BC's around a whopping 0.560 how much more can you ask from one cartridge?

Neither are what you could call great barrel life calibres, especially with the fast loads they're capable with. I got about 1,600 rounds out of my .243 AI which is comparable to .243 Win life when demanding accuracy.

If you absolutely have to launch a 6mm that little bit faster than the .243 Win is capable of then the AI offers a "solution". To me it's a solution looking for a problem though.

There will be a few supporters but that's my view on it.

[Mich]

Oh, and not that it's proof either way, but interestingly Parker Ackley himself didn't want to develop the cartridge, and only did because of pressure from customers. He thought the .243 Win was right for what it is.

That was his 2 cents as they say.

[RoginaJack]

243 Ackley Improved then why not the 243 WSM; Both rifles would be hard to find and ammo would be even harder and cost a small fortune.

The slight gain over a 243W comes at a price of extra powder, recoil, muzzle blast etc for what?

Just go with the 243W

Cheers

[Brute]

What appeals to you about it over the standard .243 specifically?

Convenience will be an issue, wondering if there wouldn't be a similar, more popular cartridge that you'd be better off with.

[Broom]

Just go with the 243W

Great all round cartridge.

[RoginaJack]

Great all round cartridge.

Yep, no argument there, spot on!

[Gregg]

The AO cartridges are mostly something to tinker with IMO.

Too impractical for too little gain compared to similar cartridges with better availability.

Personal opinion there.

[paps]

Always wondered about giving the .257 Ackley Improved a go.

Give he old Ruger chamber a ream and see how it goes.

For a project for fun one day maybe.

[Baronvonrort]

What appeals to you about it over the standard .243 specifically?

Availability will be an issue, wondering if there wouldn't be a similar, more popular cartridge that you'd be better off with.

Availability is not a problem,you can fireform AI cases by sticking factory .243w ammo in and pulling the trigger, if reloading they say use a stout load to fully fireform them as weak loads might only do a partial job.

The appeal is something different, the cases stretch less with a 40 deg shoulder, I have compressed loads with 105gr vlds so extra capacity could be something to play with.
I suspect case life could be shorter with bigger loads yet expect slightly longer from similar loads with less case prep.

As pointed out barrel life is similar while using more powder hence more heat and pressure.

[Baronvonrort]

Hi Baron.

I found the 'benefits' of barrel life and the .243 AI were mostly due to comparing apples and oranges.

The .243 AI has approx 5gr more capacity than the .243 Win. If you put 40gr of Varget behind a 55gr bullet in the .243 Win, and 45gr of Varget a 55gr bullet in a .243 AI it doesn't take a rocket scientist to work out which one is going to create the most pressure and heat (wear). Apples and apples.

The .243 Win is already such a versatile and capable cartridge. Between launching 55gr pills at 4,100fps or 110gr bullets at 3,000fps with BC's around a whopping 0.560 how much more can you ask from one cartridge?

Neither are what you could call great barrel life calibres, especially with the fast loads they're capable with. I got about 1,600 rounds out of my .243 AI which is comparable to .243 Win life when demanding accuracy.

If you absolutely have to launch a 6mm that little bit faster than the .243 Win is capable of then the AI offers a "solution". To me it's a solution looking for a problem though.
.

To burn 5 gr more and still get similar barrel life is pretty good IMO,if it was much worse it would be easier to reconsider.

How did you find the brass life, burning 5gr more in a .243 would increase pressures was it on par better or worse?

For me I am curious if it is an efficiency improvement which could be worthwhile.

[Brute]

Availability is not a problem,you can fireform AI cases by sticking factory .243w ammo in and pulling the trigger, if reloading they say use a stout load to fully fireform them as weak loads might only do a partial job.

The appeal is something different, the cases stretch less with a 40 deg shoulder, I have compressed loads with 105gr vlds so extra capacity could be something to play with.
I suspect case life could be shorter with bigger loads yet expect slightly longer from similar loads with less case prep.

As pointed out barrel life is similar while using more powder hence more heat and pressure.

Didn't mean to say availability Edited post.

Convenience, work, cost... Trying to sum those up in a word (and failed )

Yeah you can fireform them. All time effort and money though. If you want to form a few hundred brass it's significant time and a few hundred bucks. And for what?

That was more my train of thought, things you could get that do similar enough work that are an off-the-shelf options.

[Mich]

To burn 5 gr more and still get similar barrel life is pretty good IMO,if it was much worse it would be easier to reconsider.

How did you find the brass life, burning 5gr more in a .243 would increase pressures was it on par better or worse?

For me I am curious if it is an efficiency improvement which could be worthwhile.

Hi there Baron.

Brass life was comparable. I formed 200 brass for the project and had about 1,600 rounds through with those so about 8 shots per case at the time.

I did not anneal the cases and from the the 200 I had 4 cases with split necks and none with head separation.

Not bad.

Over all though, if I had to sum it up in a word and I'm being honest, for the effort involved I'd have to say it was "underwhelming".

Not trying to spoil the project for you but that was how I found it.