260 AI vs 260 Remington Advantages

[slickyboyboo]

Are there really any major advantages in a 260 AI over a 260 Rem other than case life? I've heard that velocity gains are little to none. Looking at building a lightweight SA 260 eventually, for hunting, and was wondering if it would be worth going the AI route. Planning on shooting 140 gr bullets

What are y'alls thoughts?

 

[MudRunner2005]

There's a few advantages to AI cartrides. For example, the AI design won't stretch as much as a standard bottleneck. Also, you'll gain some velocity thanks to added case capacity. And you also get that cool and unique factor.

All I've been told for years is that the .30-06 AI isn't worth the headache, but when KC ran my load and rifle specs through his QuickLoad program, it's showing a significant velocity gain over a standard '06 with the same load. But only a chrono test will prove if the QL program is accurate on its estimate or not. I'm hoping for 2900 fps, but we shall see.

 

[benchracer]

I am having a 338-06AI built right now, so I am not against doing the Ackley thing.

However, it only really has advantages with cases that have significant taper. Going with an Ackley on a .308 based case has never made any sense to me. There really isn't much to be gained from giving the Ackley treatment to a case that is already very close to being in an Ackley configuration.

The only room for gains from a .308 based case is by changing the shoulder angle and shortening the neck. Seems like a lot of trouble to go to for a very small gain in case capacity.