30-06 Ackley Improved, anyone converted one over?

[archangel2003]

I have a questions about it.
1: Has anyone converted a 30-06 over to Ackley improved?
I'm curious because while researching the Ackley improved, at first it looked fairly simple, but when I looked into the Reamers for it, there seems to be 20 or 30 different versions, but only a few (supposedly of the same dimensions) Reloading die sets.

[Char-Gar]

If somebody has a 30-06 and wants a souped up 30 cal., sell or trade it and get a 300 Win. Magnum.

[Winger Ed.]

When I re-barreled my Rem700 with a short chambered .30-06 Shilen barrel from Midway back in the 90s,
I was considering doing the Ackley thing too.

For what & where I shoot, it wasn't worth the extra trouble for the slight improvement in effective range.
I decided if I ever wanted to go above and beyond a .30-06, I'd do it right and get a .300WinMag.

[zarrinvz24]

I feel like 30-06 is about as perfect as it could possibly be, AI seems kind of unneccesary for it. Not to say Mr. Ackley's work wasn't interesting and impactful. . . I feel like the .300H&AI (sometimes called .300AMU) is a significant increase in performance, and I actually prefer this cartridge to the .300Wby - not because of any increase in performance, but the AI sharp shoulders tends to make brass last longer than the double radius Weatherby case, or the long taper of the original .300H&H.

[376Steyr]

I will offer this defense of the 30-06 AI: If you do get one, at least it will keep your super-duper high performance handloads from chambering in firearms that are not well suited for above-standard pressures, such as the M1 Garand and the Remington 740-742 autoloaders.

[Winger Ed.]

If you do get one, at least it will keep your super-duper high performance handloads from chambering in firearms that are not well suited for above-standard pressures

Hmmm. I never thought of that.
That would be a perfect safety feature for those who have more than one .30-06 (for example), start at max. loads and work up.

[dh2]

I have done a few rifles in AI rounds but not the 30-06, I have had a 300 Win Mag for many years so there is no need for it.
I have a 25-06 AI that I built on a Mauser 98 action using a short, chambered Adams & Bennett barrel, it preforms wonderfully and gives me greatly improved brass life,
I did a 280 Rem AI after Nosler made a factory cartridge out of it but in this case as with round with Nosler's name on it the pressure limit was greatly increased. but again, I was chambering a short, chambered barrel.
the 22-250 AI is just starting load work up, it is the only factory rifle that that I have reamed out and set the barrel back one thread.
the 30-06 the only way that I would consider doing it to be chambering a short, chambered barrel, because 30-06 brass is easy to get so brass life with the low pressure is no issue. and the case capacity is not greatly increased, So I will stick with the 300 Win. Mag.
and my 03 Springfield will stay as it is,

[Char-Gar]

Back in the 50's everybody was chasing the Holy Grail of velocity as if that would solve all problems. Seems like every round was either "improved" or "blown out" in pursuit of the goal. Every gunsmith has his own line of improved cartridges. To make these rounds seem important they were loaded to giddy pressures and often inflated claims were made.

Winchester brought out it line (300, 264 and 458) line of short magnums designed to work in standard actions. Remington brought out the 7mm Mag also a short magnum round and even Norma had it's 300 short magnum. These factory rounds killed of most of the improved wildcats and good riddance. I don't know why anybody would still chamber a rifle for one of the old wildcats...I guess the unusual has now become the Holy Grail.

[ShooterAZ]

If somebody has a 30-06 and wants a souped up 30 cal., sell or trade it and get a 300 Win. Magnum.

I believe that this is a very good answer to the question posed. The 30-06 is probably the most popular big game cartridge ever used for North American game. The old warhorse is very hard to beat for most hunting applications. Even the 300 Win Mag gives only a modest improvement in ballistics, while burning a lot more powder. That said, it's your rifle and of course do what you please with it. Please keep us posted on your project, if it becomes one.

[zarrinvz24]

Believe it or not, the M1 Rifle is probably one of the strongest actions out there. The torture test it went through was described in detail in Hatchets Notebook. I wouldn’t stress about the action. The op-rod is the Achilles of the Garand rifle.

[Mk42gunner]

While I can see some benefits for a very tapered case such as the .250 Savage, I don't think there is enough volume difference between a standard .30-06 and an improved one to make much of a difference at sane pressures.

My personal thoughts are if you feel you need more power than a standard .30-06; you need to go up in bore size, not just case capacity.

Robert

[rockrat]

Ran an '06 AI reamer in a 308 Savage heavy barreled gun. 168gr and near 3100fps afterwards

[LAH]

To me the "improved" 06 isn't black magic or a magnum. It is a different take on the same case. It is said to make brass last longer & take less trimming. About all your longer range bench rest rounds use less taper & sharper shoulders so there must be an advantage of some kind. I have a 257 Roberts with 40 degree shoulders & love it. I didn't want a 257 Weatherby, just a nice cartridge which it is.

A friend shot an improved 06 in IBS 1000 yard & did quite well but alas, it's no match for the magic 6s.

[archangel2003]

For me I like the idea of the brass lasting longer while still being able to shoot the (relatively still affordable) factory brass the first time around.
I'm also not about squeezing every last FPS out of the round.
Still, before I go ahead and do it, I'd still like to find some brass examples.

[ShooterAZ]

You can always post a WTB/WTT in S&S for your 30-06 AI brass.

[Texas by God]

Aside from a slight velocity gain, an advantage is that you can still shoot regular '06 ammunition in it. Voila- 30-06 Improved brass. One of my brothers killed elk with 8x57mm, 30-06 Imp, .300 Weatherby, and 8mm Remington mag.
He said that inside of 200 yards he couldn't tell much difference between the 4 cartridges.

Sent from my SM-A716U using Tapatalk

[white eagle]

If somebody has a 30-06 and wants a souped up 30 cal., sell or trade it and get a 300 Win. Magnum.

anybody can get one of those
what fun is that?

[RickinTN]

And hope it will cycle in your action smoothly. A regular old '06 is really tough to beat.
Rick

[MT Gianni]

I think the AI make sense in a few cartridges, 257 Roberts, 6.5x257, 250 Savage, 280, 338/06 and perhaps 30-30. I see the main advantage in 30-06 in driving 200 or 220 gr bullets faster. It would fill a very small niche.

If you're having troubles making 06 brass last 10 firings, I doubt you will get many more out of the improved.

[Bigslug]

I have a heavy long range competition rifle built up in the '06 AI with a 31" barrel that was made with the goal of sending 175 grain MK's out at 3000 fps with H4350. It did that, but grouped better with 190's at 2950 using H4831, so that's what I settled on. Won a couple of 600 yard matches with it once upon a time.

It really comes down to what you're trying to do. In a more standard length barrel, you'll probably pick up 150 to 200 fps over the unmodified round. My Pop and I did a handful of different AI's in our Highpower days. If you're shooting a lot and have time to shoot once to blow the cases out, then reload them to work up the load for the Improved case, then load them AGAIN for final production. . .well, you may have noticed that premium, factory, jacketed bullets are experiencing a bit of a shortage of late. . .

Then there's things you can do with the standard round with a longer throat. This was how my hunting 30-06 came from Remington luck of the draw and the magazine + throat allow me to seat my .470 BC 168 grain Barnes TTSX's well out of the case and run with a healthy dose of H4350 that is off the reservation for "standard" COAL's. That's running at 2975 fps and I don't feel disadvantaged about it not being an Ackley or a .300 Win Mag.

I went through the "new hunter" phase of envisioning cross-canyon shots at flyspeck-looking trophy bucks, then realized that my deer were getting shot at under 200 yards. The 24" .30-06 with the 4.5-14 is now an 18" .308 with a 2.5-8. Your mileage may of course vary.