BillPa: great post, sir. Nice photos, good information. Thanks for taking the time and effort to share with us.

Heard how good the Ackley conversions are and have often wondered about them. Now I know. Might well be a consideration for a project gun in .243 Ackley.

Thanks for your awesome post BillPA. The pics showed me exactly what the cases and rounds look like, much better than an explanation ever could. However, your explanations complimented the pics excellently.

I agree with Dallan. With your knowledge and ability to put it on paper it would be great to see an article.

Thanks mate, I am a more knowledgeable man now.

Cheers, Vince

Actually the posted "exploding gun" referenced as being the work of MB is actually a .444 Marlin. The end user handloaded his own ammo which, in and of itself, takes a significant amount of the liability off the shoulders of MB. No lawsuit was ever filed and no exchange of funds was ever made ...this may give some new light to that situation.

Current Ackley chamberings I have worked with .223 AI - 22-250 AI and my 6mm 30-30 AI. All have proven to be excellent performers and I would recommend those for rechambering.

Concur, the barrel was in fact a .444 and the individual had loaded his own ammunition. People need to remember that the Contender, even the new G2 is not and was not designed for anything but "LOW PRESSURE" cartridges and small footprint cartridges. As far as improved cartridges go, David White did some experimentation with these cartridges in a barrel without a frame to see if they would stay chambered upon firing to test the theory that the improved case with little taper decreased "Back Thrust". In his experiment the improved cartridges had "0" Back Thrust.

See this link for his results.

www.precisionriflework...c.php?t=10

Follow Up: I have exchanged a few emails with Mike Bellm in which his case head expansion figures were cited and questioned. Mike has been courteous enough to reply and clarify his proceedures and processes. IMO, the questionable figures are related to definitions. His use of the word "web" from where the case head expansion is measured differs from mine and other handloaders.

This underscores the need to fully understand the terms others use when describing load development in general and wildcatting in particular. Using single sourced information can be hazardous and any experimentation or information about experimentation is best verified by two or more sources.

Definately, when reading the information all of the information needs to be taken in its context. Dealing with case expansion requires the use of a graph also in order to see the change point. Also in addition to the case expansion measurement there is another item that is also very important to look for that is very specific to TC Contenders. Mike also stresses it in his writings and a long time back @ 1978 when TC came out with the .35 Remington I was able to talk with Larry Kelly of Magnaport. I lived in Mt. Clemens when he started the company and he put me in touch with JD Jones. All three of these individuals stress looking at your primers (works only with large rifle). You should also use @ 5 - 6X magnifacation to look for any indication of the primer flowing into the .22 RF Firing Pin Hole. "IF YOU OBSERVE ANY PRIMER FLOW INTO THE RIMFIRE FIRING PIN HOLE YOU ARE AT OR ABOVE 45,000 PSI AND NEED TO REDUCE YOUR CHARGE TO STAY WITHIN THE LIMITS OF THE CONTENDER FRAME!"

When I used the case expansion method for finding the max in my Contender I observed flow into the RF firing pin hole before I got to the end of my testing so I backed off 1gr. I have no more indications on the primer and my cases fall out of the chamber and shoot sub MOA from a secure rest if I do my part. The quarry doesn't know the diffrence.

Hi Handloader...can you clarify the actual differences and what Mike Bellm
was describing??

SHOOTIST

Shootist: please check your PM. Sorry, if you get it more than once.

Handloader

I wonder sometimes if the gains are worth the expense. Just an observation, not intended to torque any one off.
Most shops charge a good bit more than the job is worth to open a chamber up.

Crackshot: in terms of being more lethal on game or more accurate, probably not in the strictest of terms. Wildcats simply involve their owners in a more personal way for their care and feeding, and offer marginal gains that, for some of us, are worthwhile. That said, one of the reasons I love the Ackley series is simply the aesthetics of the cartridge; they have no slouchy shoulders or feminine taper, rather they are straight and tall with manly shoulders that command instant appreciation.

Didja know that many, many research projects (too numerous to even mention) have shown Ackley owners possess IQs that average 17% higher than owners of rifles in standard chamberings? Ackley owners are more handsome, always truthful, better hunters, better lovers and, often, more modest as well. Got Ackley?

It only cost me $60 Australian to get mine rechambered and then there was $19 for Postage and handling, and it has improved the rifle in every respect.

cheers

please send any load datta on 338 win short mag ackley imp. to 2tdanno @ gmail.com

The pictures are no longer available, too bad. Lots of good information here.

Never heard of a 338 WSM AI. If you took the 300 WSM and necked it up to 338 it would have a 35* shoulder and a very low body taper already. There would be no advantage to making it an AI.

Are you sure you don't mean a 338 RCM?

Now you can AI a 338-06.