223 Ackley Improved

[Critch]

Well, now I've found out about another round that might be a better idea for me than a 220 Swift. It's the 223 AI, it would definately save money on extractor's, mag followers etc.

Now, is their really a big difference between the 223 and 223 AI?

What about case life? Barrel life (I suppose any speeds under 3900fps will not tear up the barrel.)

My problem in life is that I would like to have them all, the money to shoot them and the time.

[Andy L]

I got one and love it. Its nipping at the heals of a 22-250 with less powder, less recoil and less noise. Nice little round. Mine likes a 52gr AMax with a Rem 7 1/2 primer and 26.8gr of H335.

Case life is excellent. Doest flow very bad at all. I can load many times before trimming, actually I just fire form some more and keep loading because the brass has been loaded so many times by the time it needs trimmed.

I dont know about barrell burn, but I would think it would take forever....

Another cool feature is you can shoot standard 223s just as accurate, normally, when fire forming and it doesnt hardly change your zero at all...

Kinda cool to watch stuff go poof in the scope... :)

Andy

[Catfish]

Critch,
You are not going to get much increase in velosity with the .223 AI over the plain old .223. The velosity increase is 1/2 of the percentage of volume increase. I would guess that you would get a max. of a 4% increase in volume and a 2% increase in velosity. Hence if you can push a 55 grn. bullet at 3,200 fps. with the .223 you should get around 3,264 with the .223 AI. The .223 case is pretty well at max. efficientcy as is. Where you get a big gain by AI`ing a round is with the older designed rounds with alot of body taper. The .223 AI is a good round, but it`s not worth the extra expence of building one to me. I`ve built a .257 AI and it gives me .25-06 velositie with less powder, because the .25-06 is so over bore, but you could still say that I will not save enough in powder over the life of the gun to recover the extra expence of haveing one built, so I guess it really just what you want. If your looking for a flat shooting varmint rifle though, take a look at the .204 Ruger. Flatter than the .22-250 and the .220 Swift. Unless I run acrossed a rifle that is just to cheap to pass up, the .204 will be my next rifle.

[Rocky Raab]

I agree with Catfish.

The 223 AI is a nice little round, but what it gives you over the regular 223 may be a bit exaggerated in print. The problem with most of the Ackley Improved cartridges is that it's extremely hard to read pressure signs on them. So reloaders just keep cramming in more powder, thinking there's something magic that keeps the pressures low. There isn't. The pressures climb with frightening speed; you just can't detect them in the way the case looks, or the bolt turns.

If I needed more than the regular 223 (and I don't think I do), I'd just get a .204 or a .22-250.

By the way, it isn't bullet speed that burns out barrels. If that were true, barrels would wear out at the muzzle. They don't. It's the mechanical and thermal effects of funnelling a big load of burning powder and gas through a little hole. The more abrasive powder kernels (which means the bigger the cartridge case) and the smaller the hole (the caliber) the more erosion and wear you get with every shot. Lots of shots in a short time magnify the problem as the barrel steel heats.

Which again explains why virtually every serious prairie dog shooter uses a 223 or smaller round like a 221 or 222.

[Burnt Powder]

I got to pretty much agree with Rocky about the pressure thing and all the guys that think the 223 I is a do-all, end-all chambering. Most of the folks who get fantastic performance out of any Improved chambering are fooling themselves. Few exceptions are the 6 mm AI, and the .257 AI. There just isn't that much extra room for powder in the 223 case after it is "improved". Heck, I can overload the std .223 and get it to do what the 223 Improved lovers are doing. There is just no free lunch in life, and the .223 Improved is no exception. If you are getting the 3900 fps performance out of it, you are greatly over loading the little trooper to do it. If you really think it is on the heels of the .22-250 you ought to overload a .22-250 to the same pressures you are loading the .223 Improved and see what you get with the .22-250 AI.

Notice I've not called the .223 Improved an AI. Ackley never "improved" it! That's someone elses improvisation.

Only real reason I see for a .223 Improved is because everybody else doesn't have one! That it's self is good enough for me!

BP

[Rocky Raab]

You're right that good old Parker Otto never laid hands on the 223. But having a cartridge "Ackleyed" these days is as generic as having something "Xeroxed." Both of them started out as identifiable trade names until they achieved such common use they morphed into generic terms.

Others are kleenex, scotch tape and manbeef. Okay, just kidding about that last one.

[Burnt Powder]

Rocky;

I don't dispute that it has become a generic moniker, but that doesn't make it right! I guess I'm just a bit anal about things like that. :rolleyes:

A rose by any other name is still just a rose!

BP

[Rocky Raab]

No sweat, BP. I'm anal about spelling, punctuation and grammar.

Sew ewer knot, two Bad;

:rolleyes:

[Burnt Powder]

Rocky; I try to be too, but it has been a long time since school. Don't even ask me to diagram a sentence! An adverb?? What is that??

I do find it amazing at the word usage on many of the posts folks make on these forums. The whole world must have go to a spell check program? They don't know the difference between wine, whine, to, too, two, weather, whether, I could go on and on! The one that really gets me cranked up is folks who, "could care less"! For crying out loud, think about it! It's: "I couldn't care less!" I guess that is just another one of those thing I have to deal with?

BP

[Rocky Raab]

Adverb is easy.

Try defining a gerund! Or give an example of past pluperfect tense. Ha!

[Burnt Powder]

Can I call my Brother in law for my Lifeline??

He has taught High School English since about '71!

My wife was the Nebraska state spelling champ in about '64. The trip to D.C. and all! Talk about being anal about spelling and grammar!?! :rolleyes:

BP

[Rocky Raab]

AAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!

Time's up.

OK, here's a sentence with both a gerund and the past pluperfect tense:

Shooting is such fun that I had planned to do more of it.

[Burnt Powder]

Sounds Nordic to me!

BP

[kentlock]

I have a NEF HAndi rifle in 223. I am considering giving it the Ackely treatment. When I "K'd" my Hornet barrel for the Handi rifle I got an improvement in accuracy.

I have heard it is common to set the barrel back one thread when Ackley improving any chamber and then re-headsapcing. With the Handi rifle setting back the barrel is not an option. I was wondering if the Improved chamber would need headspaced in a Handi rifle?

My reason for wanting to go 223 AI is; I think it might stop the occasional case that wants to stick in the chamber after firing? OK, and I like the extra speed idea too :)

I am new here. I miss the H&R talk BB, big Mortie and his green box bollits went troll hunting and killed off the hunting party.