.250 Ackley Improved

Kilo Charlie

Kilo Charlie

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I have a Savage Model 16 that I want to have rechambered to .250 AI.

How many users do we have on site?

My reading indicates that the performance level is about identical to the .257 Roberts AI. I do have a Roberts but don't want to Ackleyize it; it's a vintage Remington 722.

The Savage should give me abundant performance for my wants (deer at ranges not exceeding 300 yards; in fact I have never shot a deer past 175 yards.) and be an interesting rifle to play with. I do realize that either my regular .250 Savages or my Roberts will do the trick at that range but I just want to do something different.

If anyone has load info I'd be interested to read it, though lots is out there on the net and the powders I presently use for the 250 Savage (Reloder 15 and VV N140) should do fine.

If anyone would like to recommend a gunsmith who has done this rechamber and may have a reamer already, I'd be grateful for the info. I did already e-mail Jennings Outdoors based on recommendations from the "Recommended Gunsmiths" sticky. Today is a Sunday so I hope to hear back fairly soon.

Regards,

Kevin
 
I have never had or used one, but it is about the only AI cartridge that I like. I have the reamer, gauges and dies and plan to build one at some stage, just don't know when. I think it's very optimistic to think it will equal the 257AI - maybe the standard 257.

For a smith I would see if guntech has the reamer.
 
I've shot big bodied AB MD + WT with the regular .250 Savage out to 300 yards and got about a foot of penetration broadside with 100gr Sierra handloads.if you want an AI go for it but a lot of people end up going back to the regular cartridge after the honeymoon period is over somewhat disenchanted..........Harold
 
double gun said:
I have never had or used one, but it is about the only AI cartridge that I like. I have the reamer, gauges and dies and plan to build one at some stage, just don't know when. I think it's very optimistic to think it will equal the 257AI - maybe the standard 257.

For a smith I would see if guntech has the reamer.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply. I was quite surprised at the performance but numbers indicate the .250 AI well exceeds the standard .257 Roberts and is about equal to, certainly not less than, the .257 AI. Mind you, that's on the Internet. Reality may be different.
 
I came very close to doing a 250AI with the action, barrel blank and stock in hand but realized that the numbers didn't give it any advantage over the std 257Roberts I already owned so I scrapped that thought. If I didn't already own the 257R I would have completed that project and had a very useful deer rifle indeed.

My 257Roberts was going to be a 257AI some day, but I've found the 100gr @ 3000-3100fps that the std 257R offers works very well w/o any need for more FPS. If longer shots were the norm and more velocity needed, I would buy a 25/06 or 257WBY.
 
Kilo Charlie said:
Thanks for the reply. I was quite surprised at the performance but numbers indicate the .250 AI well exceeds the standard .257 Roberts and is about equal to, certainly not less than, the .257 AI. Mind you, that's on the Internet. Reality may be different.
Click to expand...
Where were those numbers found?
 
IMHO, if you want more, rechamber to more cartridge, if a .250 Savage isn't enough try a .257 Bob, the the Bob is lacking try a .25/06, if the .25/06 doesn't cut it there's always the .257 Weatherby. Don't get me wrong, I like the idea of the 40 degree Ackley shoulder, I like the idea that standard ammunition can be fired in an Ackley chamber if you didn't get to the loading bench, but what I don't like is the short lifespan of modern brass. Given full powered loads, 5 loads is about all you can count on from a modern piece of brass, before the primer pocket gets loose. If one firing is used to reform the case, you only have 4 reloads to take advantage of the Ackley performance. That said, I have a rifle being built in .280 Ackley, and a new to me .25/06 that I think might benefit from an Ackley chamber, but no sense of urgency has fallen on me just yet. The advantage I have when considering an Ackley cartridge, is an abundance of .30/06 and .270 brass to draw from. To say the price of Nosler's .280 Ackley brass is intimidating, doesn't begin to describe it. If you happen to have a thousand .250-3000 cases in a Rubber-Maid, go for it.
 
SuperCub said:
Where were those numbers found?
Click to expand...

I did find a couple articles similar to this. Obviously written by a fan of the cartridge, lol!

https://www.americanrifleman.org/ar...while-wildcat-the-250-savage-ackley-improved/


One big change, though, is the high velocities people are getting in the Roberts using Hybrid 100V powder. 3000-ish fps with 120's and 3200-ish with 100's. About what the .250 AI will do. I bought some of this powder and I'm going to check the velocities in my .257 Roberts when my chrono gets here. Wholesale Sports sent the wrong item. It does make very accurate loads in my .280 Remington.

I will say one thing that makes me want the .250 AI is that I've owned several .250's, mostly Savage 99's, and several Robertses. I have always found the .250 easier, less "fussy" to reload in my rifles.

I still may just stick with the plain .250 if I can get some really good loads in my Roberts.
 
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Kilo Charlie;
Good evening to you sir, I hope the day treated you acceptably well.

For all the years she hunted, our youngest daughter used a .250AI put together on a 722 action with a Ron Smith stainless barrel. I want to say it's one of his gain twist barrels going from memory - but anyway it does shoot.

250AI2.jpg


She shot an even half dozen mulie and whitetail bucks with it using 100gr Hornady Spires and another couple using 80gr TTSX.

To ascertain reasonable velocities in any wildcat, I use the 4:1 ratio that's been proven in all cartridges regardless of shape. That is for every 4% increase in case capacity we can expect a 1% increase in velocity if we keep the pressure levels the same.

That means that in the real world a .250AI will be identical to a .257 Roberts for all intents and purposes because the capacity is pretty close.

I will say this about that - it's got a tad less muzzle blast than a similarly loaded .243, but otherwise it's a twin to that round too.

They do work on deer sized game for sure - it might "rock" a buck a wee bit less than say a 130gr from a 6.5x55, but the bucks died with the same speed in our experience.

Oh, her's liked WW760 quite a bit.

All the best to you this summer, please feel free to ask if you think I can be of any further use.

Dwayne
 
BC30cal said:
Kilo Charlie;
Good evening to you sir, I hope the day treated you acceptably well.

For all the years she hunted, our youngest daughter used a .250AI put together on a 722 action with a Ron Smith stainless barrel. I want to say it's one of his gain twist barrels going from memory - but anyway it does shoot.

250AI2.jpg


She shot an even half dozen mulie and whitetail bucks with it using 100gr Hornady Spires and another couple using 80gr TTSX.

To ascertain reasonable velocities in any wildcat, I use the 4:1 ratio that's been proven in all cartridges regardless of shape. That is for every 4% increase in case capacity we can expect a 1% increase in velocity if we keep the pressure levels the same.

That means that in the real world a .250AI will be identical to a .257 Roberts for all intents and purposes because the capacity is pretty close.

I will say this about that - it's got a tad less muzzle blast than a similarly loaded .243, but otherwise it's a twin to that round too.

They do work on deer sized game for sure - it might "rock" a buck a wee bit less than say a 130gr from a 6.5x55, but the bucks died with the same speed in our experience.

Oh, her's liked WW760 quite a bit.

All the best to you this summer, please feel free to ask if you think I can be of any further use.

Dwayne
Click to expand...

Very nice rifle, Dwayne!
I also have a 722; a .257 Roberts in a 700 BDL stock. My .250 is a Savage 16 Weather Warrior. A great shooter!
I am starting to think that given my Roberts I may not want the .250 AI, but I have considered selling the Roberts if I like the .250 AI.
What I may do is continue some load development and see from there. I do prefer my well-adjusted Rem 722 trigger to the Savage accutrigger.
 
Kilo Charlie;
Thanks for the reply sir, I appreciate it.

The trigger on that rifle is one I picked up from Dennis Sorenson - guntech - an older 700 trigger that he'd set and cleaned up a bit. There was a bit of filing needed on the bottom of the tang to clear the safety, but otherwise it went right in. We changed it out as the 722 trigger was actually a tad too light and didn't want to be set to 2½lbs where she wanted it.

If you've been shooting a Roberts then I'd be surprised if you saw any difference in field performance.

About the biggest advantage I've seen with the two AI rounds I've played with most over the years - the .22-250AI and her .250AI is that they don't need case trimmer very much if at all.

Otherwise there is the bit of cool factor having an oddball round, but I'd never say it's any better than a Roberts for sure.

Dwayne
 
Win 760 and mag primers shoot great in the .250 Savage so no reason it won't work in the AI version........Harold
 
I had Guntech put together a 250 AI on a 700 action. Shoots like the dickens. :)

250Ackley1.jpg


I shoot 75 V-max's and 100 B-Tips exclusively in the rifle.

250Ackley.jpg



75 V-Max's in action

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Haven't chronographed anything yet but pretty sure it won't give up anything to my 257 Bob.
 
I dis a massive ammount of research and looking as I wanted a new deer gun. Although the 270 is already perfect, the 250 savage I think is the greatest short action, low recoil caliber ever. My dream is to build one on a savage 99. But a year into my search and I haven't found a perfect gun to turn into a 250 ai. And out of all the ai calibers, the 250 sav can add up to 300 fps and I think is very worth while. I'm currently searching for a left handed rem 700 cdl in 308, 243 or 22-250 to build into a 250 ai. I don't think you can go wrong. You have mighty fine taste in calibers!
 
So I did order tooling for the rechamber. I did finally get a chronograph as well. This morning I tried N140 powder and the Speer 100-grainer. The stiffest load showed no pressure signs and averaged 2966 fps from a 22" barrel. Makes me realize I don't NEED the extra performance. So I shall wait and decide whether to bother. I don't intend to chamber a 99 in the AI; just my Weather Warrior.
 
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