30-06 AI

Captain_coues

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I’m thinking about getting the Savage Impulse in 30-06. I would then get it reamed to Ackley Improved. I already have plenty of sporting rifles and don’t really need another one, but you know how it goes. The reason I am thinking about the 30-06 AI is because it should shoot a 168 grain bullet around 3100 FPS and with Superformance, the 180 grain is up there too. Does anyone out there have a 06 AI that can comment on velocities in a 24” barrel? Not a whole lot of data out there. If not, how about the 30 Gibbs?
 
I’d say a 300 Sherman is what you should rechamber it to!?
It will push a 200gr bullet almost 3000FPS. Rich even rents his reamers out and sells brass.
 
My bro shot one for years (the '06 cartridge. Not the brand rifle).
He killed lots of sh!t with it but it finally lost precision accuracy. I bought the action and now it's my 280 AI.
Both are great cartridges and edge out their parent rounds.

Now to your question, I'll ask him what his velocities were if I remember to.

Zeke
 
I was looking into an 06 AI and decided otherwise. Based on everything I read I think a 26" barrel will gain you 100 fps or something along those lines. The H&H and Win mag are a better off the shelf choice.

Now the 280AI, thats border line a phenom.
 
Once I decide my RUM kicks my a$$ too hard, I really think the .30-06 AI and the 166 is going to be my next rifle. mtmuley

I like the 280 AI. Dads Montana rifle throws the 143 Hammer around 3200 and recoil (with their muzzle break) is about that of a .243. It's like a 7mm mag "Prius".
 
I like the 280 AI. Dads Montana rifle throws the 143 Hammer around 3200 and recoil (with their muzzle break) is about that of a .243. It's like a 7mm mag "Prius".
The .280 AI is a great cartridge. Steve at Hammer built one for himself. I'm a .30 guy, especially for elk. Always have been. mtmuley
 
You Ackley experts correct me if I'm wrong....I've always heard that the Ackley Improvement does the most for the 257 roberts, second to the 280 rem and lastly the 3006...?

I know there are more than that but these three are certainly the most common....
 
You Ackley experts correct me if I'm wrong....I've always heard that the Ackley Improvement does the most for the 257 roberts, second to the 280 rem and lastly the 3006...?

I know there are more than that but these three are certainly the most common....

That mirrors about what I've read on the internet which is a little dicey. I think both the 25 and 30 06 are something like a 25 -50 fps increase with a 22"barrel and another 25 fps. per inch of barrel after that.
 
The .280 AI is a great cartridge. Steve at Hammer built one for himself. I'm a .30 guy, especially for elk. Always have been. mtmuley
Amen to that. I shot the 300 Weatherby for a few years and picked up a Fierce 300 Win mag. Other than my old 300 H and H the Win mag is really all the gun I would ever need for anything I'll hunt. Throws 200 gr Partitions @ MOA or slightly better and will shoot just about any factory ammo better than 1 1/2". Surprisingly pleasant to shoot in comparison to the Roy. Not so much recoil but it feels like a bomb is going off in front of you face everytime you pull the trigger (Muzzle Brakes and More 4 port Super Baby Beast)
 
Amen to that. I shot the 300 Weatherby for a few years and picked up a Fierce 300 Win mag. Other than my old 300 H and H the Win mag is really all the gun I would ever need for anything I'll hunt. Throws 200 gr Partitions @ MOA or slightly better and will shoot just about any factory ammo better than 1 1/2". Surprisingly pleasant to shoot in comparison to the Roy. Not so much recoil but it feels like a bomb is going off in front of you face everytime you pull the trigger (Muzzle Brakes and More 4 port Super Baby Beast)

But this 6.5-06 I just picked up is pretty badass also.
 
Amen to that. I shot the 300 Weatherby for a few years and picked up a Fierce 300 Win mag. Other than my old 300 H and H the Win mag is really all the gun I would ever need for anything I'll hunt. Throws 200 gr Partitions @ MOA or slightly better and will shoot just about any factory ammo better than 1 1/2". Surprisingly pleasant to shoot in comparison to the Roy. Not so much recoil but it feels like a bomb is going off in front of you face everytime you pull the trigger (Muzzle Brakes and More 4 port Super Baby Beast)
I have a 22 year old love affair with my .300 RUM. mtmuley
 
Once I decide my RUM kicks my a$$ too hard, I really think the .30-06 AI and the 166 is going to be my next rifle. mtmuley
I had a RUM but I figured out quickly that it was too much for me. It was my all time best used rifle purchase. I had it built into a 300 WBY and it feels better.

I have a few AI rounds but I don’t think I know enough to make any sort of claims. I choose them more as a novelty than anything else. I have the 280 AI and 338-06 AI. It’s been years and I recently moved so I don’t have the load data for either, but I do remember them being around 50-60 FPS faster than we expected. I was talking to a gunsmith a few days ago and he has a 270 AI and I saw his data. He was shooting the 140 grn bullet a little over 3200 FPS it looked like it was around 3219 with only about 10 FPS SD but it was a 26” barrel and a heavy gun. He doesn’t lug it around hunting anymore.

I have heard from many that the Roberts is a great AI.
 
I had a RUM but I figured out quickly that it was too much for me. It was my all time best used rifle purchase. I had it built into a 300 WBY and it feels better.

I have a few AI rounds but I don’t think I know enough to make any sort of claims. I choose them more as a novelty than anything else. I have the 280 AI and 338-06 AI. It’s been years and I recently moved so I don’t have the load data for either, but I do remember them being around 50-60 FPS faster than we expected. I was talking to a gunsmith a few days ago and he has a 270 AI and I saw his data. He was shooting the 140 grn bullet a little over 3200 FPS it looked like it was around 3219 with only about 10 FPS SD but it was a 26” barrel and a heavy gun. He doesn’t lug it around hunting anymore.

I have heard from many that the Roberts is a great AI.
I've got a shot out 300 Weatherby Mark V in need of a new barrel.....if it weren't for the mag bolt it would be a 338-06. Still not sure what to do with it.
 
You Ackley experts correct me if I'm wrong....I've always heard that the Ackley Improvement does the most for the 257 roberts, second to the 280 rem and lastly the 3006...?

I know there are more than that but these three are certainly the most common....
I looked at a 25-06 AI for a long, long time but never did it. As I recall, it was very near to the 257 wby without all the brass brain damage.
 
The good thing about the 280 AI is that it’s a recognized cartridge now and you can buy brass for it. We were real lucky with the 338-06. A Square made the non improved brass years ago and my dad bought 300 pieces of them. I only used about 60 pieces so far. They still need to be fire formed, but at least you’re close. I’m waiting to use the other stuff until I get my an annealer. It will help with my fire formed 22K Hornet too.

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In 2006 Shooting Times Magazine took a 22" 30-06 factory Winchester rifle and shot it as a 30-06 , rechambered it to a 30-06 AI and then rechambered it as a 30 Gibbs. they shot it with different bullet weights and averaged 66 fps better with the AI. and 104 fps with the Gibbs. Case capacity went from 70.1 for the standard 30-06 to 73 for the Ackley and 76.3 for the Gibbs.
 
In 2006 Shooting Times Magazine took a 22" 30-06 factory Winchester rifle and shot it as a 30-06 , rechambered it to a 30-06 AI and then rechambered it as a 30 Gibbs. they shot it with different bullet weights and averaged 66 fps better with the AI. and 104 fps with the Gibbs. Case capacity went from 70.1 for the standard 30-06 to 73 for the Ackley and 76.3 for the Gibbs.

Very cool....I would like to read that article. That's about on par with what I've read on the internet. No beef with the 06 but I if 30 cal is the question I want a Win mag.
 
I was looking into an 06 AI and decided otherwise. Based on everything I read I think a 26" barrel will gain you 100 fps or something along those lines. The H&H and Win mag are a better off the shelf choice.

Now the 280AI, thats border line a phenom.
That isn't true. My 26" '06 ackley is doing well over 100 fps compared to factory 30-06 ammo. Just while fireforming factory ammo my barrel is averaging 100 fps over stated factory velocities. That should not be the case at all, it should be slower due to the fact the brass is expanding as much as it does to form to the larger chamber. The only thing I can attribute that to is that it is just a fast barrel.

My '06 ackley handloads beat the H&H and comes very close to FACTORY .300 winny loads.
 
That isn't true. My 26" '06 ackley is doing well over 100 fps compared to factory 30-06 ammo. Just while fireforming factory ammo my barrel is averaging 100 fps over stated factory velocities. That should not be the case at all, it should be slower due to the fact the brass is expanding as much as it does to form to the larger chamber. The only thing I can attribute that to is that it is just a fast barrel.

My '06 ackley handloads beat the H&H and comes very close to FACTORY .300 winny loads.

Factory ammo I would probably agree though don't shoot much factory and havent chronographed to verify.

With my reloads, the 06 out of a 24" model 70 throws 180 gr Barnes around 2850. My 26" Win mag throws the 220 gr ELDX at 2850, though that was plenty hot.

I would be interested to see what your AI gets with 180 gr reloads. Especially if it's out of a newer rifle that can be pushed a little harder. One of my 06 is a '40s Eddystone and the other two are 1950s model 70s. Don't care to dump RL26 into them like the Winny.
 
Factory ammo I would probably agree though don't shoot much factory and havent chronographed to verify.

With my reloads, the 06 out of a 24" model 70 throws 180 gr Barnes around 2850. My 26" Win mag throws the 220 gr ELDX at 2850, though that was plenty hot.

I would be interested to see what your AI gets with 180 gr reloads. Especially if it's out of a newer rifle that can be pushed a little harder. One of my 06 is a '40s Eddystone and the other two are 1950s model 70s. Don't care to dump RL26 into them like the Winny.
I can get 3,100 with a 180. My rifle is a push feed model 70 Westerner that I bought back in 1987. I had it rebarreled two years ago by Shaw. They screwed up the chamber on the first barrel but replaced it and it's a shooter now.

I bought the rifle when I was 16 for my first deer hunt. It's been through a lot including flying out my window and bouncing down the dirt road along with my Ruger blackhawk when I rolled my four month old Ford Ranger end over end three times out by Motoqua in 1990. I was in a hurry to get in an evening deer hunt after work. :eek:

I'm not done working up loads and I don't have my load data right now because my basement flooded when we got 4" of rain in 24 hours last month and everything is still stacked up until I get it refinished.
 
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I can get 3,100 with a 180. My rifle is a push feed model 70 Westerner that I bought back in 1987. I had it rebarreled two years ago by Shaw. They screwed up the chamber on the first barrel but replaced it and it's a shooter now.

I bought the rifle when I was 16 for my first deer hunt. It's been through a lot including flying out my window and bouncing down the dirt road along with my Ruger blackhawk when I rolled my four month old Ford Ranger end over end three times out by Motoqua in 1990. I was in a hurry to get in an evening deer hunt after work. :eek:

I'm not done working up loads and I don't have my load data right now because my basement flooded when we got 4" of rain in 24 hours last month and everything is still stacked up until I get it refinished.
So your 30-06 Ackley shoots 180 grain bullets at 3100?!?
 

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