Ackley

Foxshot

Well-Known Member
Hi everyone, I was just wondering wether any .243 barrel can be re chambered into an ackley? And if so how much would the work cost?
 
Technically, a competent riflesmith could run a AI finish reamer in and that's the job done.
But this can only be done if the headspace on your rifle is pretty dead on.
If it's not, the barrel needs setting back a little so that the new reamer cuts a new chamber, not a modified standard one. This would be done to get headspace correct.

The AI series was designed specifically so you could just run a reamer in.

Cost at would be the price of the reamer, about £150, and the time of the 'smith which would vary depending on which method needs to take place
 
Technically, a competent riflesmith could run a AI finish reamer in and that's the job done.
But this can only be done if the headspace on your rifle is pretty dead on.
If it's not, the barrel needs setting back a little so that the new reamer cuts a new chamber, not a modified standard one. This would be done to get headspace correct.

The AI series was designed specifically so you could just run a reamer in.

Cost at would be the price of the reamer, about £150, and the time of the 'smith which would vary depending on which method needs to take place

What about proof costs and custom die costs? Regards JCS
 
If you're talking about a factory rifle barrel, 99% of which are hammer-forged these days, very few gunsmiths will undertake such work. This is on two counts - (1) such barrels are very hard (a result of the hammer forging work hardening the steel), so there is a fair risk of the machining going badly ruining the barrel (and worse the reamer as it's worth as much as or more than the factory gate price of a typical mass produced sporting rifle barrel); (2) a reponsible gunsmith will tell you that if he has to buy a reamer for the job and charge you accordingly, the cost of the work, reproofing - you'd get better value by starting with a new barrel blank and rebarrelling.
 
I forgot about proof costs JCS.

I didn't factor custom die costs in as it's not a gunsmithing cost. It should be taken into account mind.
Redding do a die set, about £72 plus post. So about £100.
 
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What is wrong with the cheaper dies?

I think you need to do some more research and enclose a couple of links to read.

Bullet seater for Ackley Improved
243 Win Cartridge Guide within AccurateShooter.com

To clarify, I bought a second hand 243 Ackley Improved off this Forum. It was in excellent condition. I didn't have access to the original chambering reamer. I went to Hornady for a full length resizing die based on fired brass. If I ever get another Ackley, I would probably go to Whidden for a full length resizing die based on fired brass.

Regards

JCS
 
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How about getting your standard .243 die reamed with the AI reamer??

Probably not cost effective...
 
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I believe the perception that converting to an Ackley chambering is as simple as opening up an existing chamber with a stock reamer and with little if any other consideration may be traced to Lysle Kilbourn who was responsible for the craze of converting the standard 22 Hornet to one with pronounced shoulder and often c/o somewhat less refined approaches to the engineering required to get there!

Sorry, any excuse to mention the Hornet but this is my understanding even if we are talking about a concept conceived 4 generations ago.

K
 
How about getting your standard .243 die reamed with the AI reamer??

Probably not cost effective...

Dies are surface hardened after machining, so that's not usually an option I'm afraid. It's also one reason for custom dies being so much more expensive than factory jobs. Die 'blanks' are readily available and with a suitable die (as opposed to chamber) reamer, a gunsmith has no trouble in machining / polishing one. The hardening process is a specialist acid bath treatment of some sort and I'm told suppliers charge a 'job rate' irrespective of the number of items that go in. It costs the same to do one die as 100 (or 500?), and so whilst the unit cost is small for the large scale producer, heavy for the custom die producer with modest numbers, it's ruinous for the gunsmith producing a two or three die set for a customer.
 
Hi everyone, I was just wondering wether any .243 barrel can be re chambered into an ackley? And if so how much would the work cost?

I had mine done for somewhere around £250. It was a remmy 700 with stainless fluted factory barrel if that helps.
 
For anyone wanting to load an Ackley on the cheap then Lee Collet Dies work with the Ackley Cases.

I have run a 30-06 AI for years and have never needed to Full size a Case nor have I ever Trimmed one.

Yorkie.
 
Spot on Yorkie. I have run a 6mm06AI for 8 years. Most accurate rifle I own and once fire formed properly and trimmed once brass never has to be touched again.

I'm not sure you get an Ackley for the extra speed. OK, 100 fps is nice if you achieve it, but a deer at normal ranges will not tell the difference between an Ackley and a non Ackley. I love them because of the accuracy I have experienced from these cartridges, they are a bit different to you std calibre and they make you learn about reloading, accuracy and ballistics.

Nothing wrong with liking something a bit different. If we all had .243's, .270's and .308's the world would be a very boring place.
 
I agree wholeheartedly with your closing paragraph (NigelM).

Whether it is worth it in a stalking rifle is questionable and mindful some will swear that feeding can be compromised.

K
 
Spot on Yorkie. I have run a 6mm06AI for 8 years. Most accurate rifle I own and once fire formed properly and trimmed once brass never has to be touched again.

I'm not sure you get an Ackley for the extra speed. OK, 100 fps is nice if you achieve it, but a deer at normal ranges will not tell the difference between an Ackley and a non Ackley. I love them because of the accuracy I have experienced from these cartridges, they are a bit different to you std calibre and they make you learn about reloading, accuracy and ballistics.

Nothing wrong with liking something a bit different. If we all had .243's, .270's and .308's the world would be a very boring place.

Ackley cases are not more accurate than non Ackley versions. Because many people have custom rifles built for their Ackley rifles, the quality of the build will dictate the accuracy. I have built many Ackley Improved rifles and still have a 30-06IMP. I agree that there is nothing wrong with 'something different' -Lord knows I've gone that route a lot in my life- but in a high intensity cartridge you really only use more powder to get a marginal increase in performance. Ackley himself has said that he wouldn't "Improve" a high intensity cartridge.~Muir
 
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