30-06 Ackley Improved-2023

[450 Fuller]

The 30-06 Ackley Improved has been with us many decades. Nosler provides some interesting reloading
data as does Sierra. Your rifle will decide which is the better loading data. I have a custom 98 Mauser
which is well built as a classic platform. I tend to use slow powders like H-450 and IMR 4350. While this is a long range
forum, most of my deer, elk and Alaskan Moose have been taken at around 100 yards. The 30-06 AI will definitely
outshine the 6.5s and 270s on large game. It will also allow you to use standard 30-06 cartridges, while immediately
providing you Ack Imp brass. Less case trimming and improved performance. A .308 neck sizing die and a slightly larger bullet seating die will get you started, UNTIL you get a set of 30-06 ACKLEY IMP dies. RCBS still makes them with 40 degree shoulder.
My rifle came with this chambering, so no extra work or expense.

MY RIFLE will shade some 300 H&H velocities but not all
rifles so chambered will do this. Think long and hard before converting your standard 30-06 rifle.

My Mauser 06 AI likes 180-200-220 gr heavy bullets. Accurate and reliable. The custom Mauser or pre-64 Model 70
Winchesters work well. I also have pre-64 Model 70s in 338-06 and 35 Whelen-so the 3006 Ack Imp is a snap to reload and shoot.
As a hunter, I still like to get as close as I can-and then a little bit closer. Most of my efforts result in one-shot kills.
I like that. And-since I am neither Apache nor Lakota, I use rifles-older Mausers and Winchesters that are hard to come by.
Stay safe and squeeze your trigger with the right sight picture.

 

[crystalgayleguy]

Please induce yourself on the member induction forum

 

[Ruger4570]

I too have a 3006AI. I have on a left hand zastava 98 action.I normally use 165 gr on imr 4451.

 

[lancetkenyon]

When you said "I tend to use slow powders..." H4350 and IMR 4350 did not come to mind.
I was expecting to see at least H4831SC, RL23, H1000, IMR7828Ssc, etc.

Not that the 4350s won't work, and work well. I just don't really consider them a "slow powder" for rifle cartridges.

Welcome to the Long Range Hunting forum.

 

[Ruger4570]

When you said "I tend to use slow powders..." H4350 and IMR 4350 did not come to mind.
I was expecting to see at least H4831SC, RL23, H1000, IMR7828Ssc, etc.

Not that the 4350s won't work, and work well. I just don't really consider them a "slow powder" for rifle cartridges.

Welcome to the Long Range Hunting forum.

I agree thoses powders are considered slow now. But if you go based on case size. They are. The 06 case is not a good case for the really slow stuff

 

[lancetkenyon]

I agree thoses powders are considered slow now. But if you go based on case size. They are. The 06 case is not a good case for the really slow stuff

I run RL23, H4831, and even H1000 in a lot of 06 based cases, including AI versions. RL23 is probably my favorite for best speeds and good temp stability. From .25-06AI to .30-06 SPR. And especially in .280AI cases with heavier projectiles.

 

[yobuck]

The 30-06 Ackley Improved has been with us many decades. Nosler provides some interesting reloading
data as does Sierra. Your rifle will decide which is the better loading data. I have a custom 98 Mauser
which is well built as a classic platform. I tend to use slow powders like H-450 and IMR 4350. While this is a long range
forum, most of my deer, elk and Alaskan Moose have been taken at around 100 yards. The 30-06 AI will definitely
outshine the 6.5s and 270s on large game. It will also allow you to use standard 30-06 cartridges, while immediately
providing you Ack Imp brass. Less case trimming and improved performance. A .308 neck sizing die and a slightly larger bullet seating die will get you started, UNTIL you get a set of 30-06 ACKLEY IMP dies. RCBS still makes them with 40 degree shoulder.
My rifle came with this chambering, so no extra work or expense.

MY RIFLE will shade some 300 H&H velocities but not all
rifles so chambered will do this. Think long and hard before converting your standard 30-06 rifle.

My Mauser 06 AI likes 180-200-220 gr heavy bullets. Accurate and reliable. The custom Mauser or pre-64 Model 70
Winchesters work well. I also have pre-64 Model 70s in 338-06 and 35 Whelen-so the 3006 Ack Imp is a snap to reload and shoot.
As a hunter, I still like to get as close as I can-and then a little bit closer. Most of my efforts result in one-shot kills.
I like that. And-since I am neither Apache nor Lakota, I use rifles-older Mausers and Winchesters that are hard to come by.
Stay safe and squeeze your trigger with the right sight picture.

On display in our PA camp are a Grizzly, a bull Moose, and a Dall sheep.
All shot by my father in 1952 while on a 30 day Yukon hunt.
The 30 day guided hunt by the way cost each hunter $1500.
About the same price as a new Chevy in 1952.
Two other hunters on the trip also shot the same animals.
All the animals were shot including the sheep, at distances that didnt exceed about 100 yards.
All 3 hunters used the 30/06 cartridge.
My fathers animals were all killed with one shot from the 30/06 using a 180 gr. round nose Hornady bullet, loaded with 50 gr of 3031.
So my question would be, if were going to be hunting with an 06 at close range, why do we need it to be an AI version?

My guess would also be that if the 300 Win Mag were available in 1952, my father and his friends would have probably all had them.

 

[450 Fuller]

In the older Jan-Feb 1981 issue of Handloader Magazine, E. Etter has written one of the
best articles ever written on the 30-06 Ackley Improved cartridge. His results mirror mine pretty much, EXCEPT the age
of powders now available. In that you have to start slow as you get closer to maximum loads, a good idea, anyway.
The 30-06 AI is NOT a 300 H&H cartridge, but the interesting point is that it will reach 300 H&H velocities
using less powder.
I have tried H-450,H-4831 SC but the current 4350 series like AA 4350 and IMR 4350 produce the highest
SAFE velocities, while delivering excellent accuracy with 180 or 200 gr Nosler Partition bullets. H-450
will work, but both accuracy and velocity were not impressive in my rifle. Both IMR 4831 and IMR 4350
produced the best velocity and accuracy. With 180 gr Noslers, velocity reached approximately 2950 FPS
using both IMR 4350 and IMR 4831... and those results with a 22 in barrel in the article.

The powders a lot of folks miss are MRP and H-205. The 30-06 case is not that long, but the 06 AI case
adds another 10% of available powder space, and a possible boost of 5-15% extra velocity with the same bullets
like 165s and 180 grainers. Again, depending on the rifle. Etter used a 22-in barreled M-700, indicating a tight chamber to get his results. He used an Oehler chronograph to confirm his velocities and measured cases to indicate pressures.
My Mauser came this way, built in the early 1960s. But each rifle is an individual and produces unique results.

 

[Ruger4570]

On display in our PA camp are a Grizzly, a bull Moose, and a Dall sheep.
All shot by my father in 1952 while on a 30 day Yukon hunt.
The 30 day guided hunt by the way cost each hunter $1500.
About the same price as a new Chevy in 1952.
Two other hunters on the trip also shot the same animals.
All the animals were shot including the sheep, at distances that didnt exceed about 100 yards.
All 3 hunters used the 30/06 cartridge.
My fathers animals were all killed with one shot from the 30/06 using a 180 gr. round nose Hornady bullet, loaded with 50 gr of 3031.
So my question would be, if were going to be hunting with an 06 at close range, why do we need it to be an AI version?

My guess would also be that if the 300 Win Mag were available in 1952, my father and his friends would have probably all had them.

You really do not. It does help with accuracy and case life as it does does not stretch much. It look pretty fast

 

[450 Fuller]

John Barsness in a 1999 Handloader article : "One rifle-One load" years ago made a believer out of
me on the 30-06 . He used the Nosler 165 gr Partition bullet with IMR 4350 handloads- for along trip
hunting plains game in Africa. That bullet can be moved along pretty well and does'nt give up much to the 180s.

This Mauser rifle I have has its own story, as it is accurate and the owner out West had never shot it-it sat for years. He had no idea it was a wildcat chambering in Ack Imp. He figured it said 30-06 on the barrel: that since a new set of custom dies; the B&L scope was askew bad-that rather than have me send it back; gave me a generous credit to more than make up for it. The immigrant German riflesmith just left it that way-never stamped the barrel after "30 Govt 06".
Counting a M-1 Garand, I have 4 rifles that handle the 30-06 cartridge. Don't need the Ackley, but it might just go to Africa, or my homestead place in Alaska.

But-the pre-64 Model 70 Winchesters would be last to go out the door. They don't make rifles like this anymore.

 

[Mark37082]

I think most of us long in tooth hunters have owned a 30 06. The only AI I've owned is the 280. The good thing about the 280AI is brass and die availability. I think back in time and a Savage 110 in 30 06 was my first deer rifle. It got the job done just fine.
Welcome to the forum.

 

[QuietTexan]

So my question would be, if were going to be hunting with an 06 at close range, why do we need it to be an AI version?

At that point why do you need anything more than a 308? 7-08? 243 Win? 223 Rem?

Heck why not a 22LR? An old rancher told me that if God didn't want us to shoot deer at night, he wouldn't have made their eyes shine. Those big bright eyes make a great target for a 22 - those old timers got away some some stuff back before WWII.

I like the AI designs with steep shoulders and less body taper. I like the Gibbs designs that shorten necks. I like overbore things like the 26 Nosler. Nothing in modern hunting rifle cartridges come from a place of need, it's all about want. Shoot whatever you want because need stopped somewhere around the Remington Rolling Block.

 

[yobuck]

At that point why do you need anything more than a 308? 7-08? 243 Win? 223 Rem?

Heck why not a 22LR? An old rancher told me that if God didn't want us to shoot deer at night, he wouldn't have made their eyes shine. Those big bright eyes make a great target for a 22 - those old timers got away some some stuff back before WWII.

I like the AI designs with steep shoulders and less body taper. I like the Gibbs designs that shorten necks. I like overbore things like the 26 Nosler. Nothing in modern hunting rifle cartridges come from a place of need, it's all about want. Shoot whatever you want because need stopped somewhere around the Remington Rolling Block.

Well i certainly agree with all that.
But it dosent answer my question about an 06 at close range.
Maybe a better question would be, how many would pay to have their 3006 improved upon, if the improvement increased the velocity by (maybe) about 100 fps?
Im old enough to remember people i knew who sent their 06s and 300 H&H magnums out to Roy Wetherby for rechambering. But then were talking about more than 100 fps.

 

[QuietTexan]

how many would pay to have their 3006 improved upon

I wouldn't pay anything to change what I have.

But I think that's because I guess I don't view it this way - with barrels being commonly available and easy to source, it's not a choice of improving what I have but rather choosing something improved to start with at no extra cost. All else being equal the benefits of the AI design are worth the drawbacks of choosing it over the standard design.

I've never improved an existing chamber, it's always been fresh blanks getting cut. So I don't see a reason to NOT get the 100FPS because it's no extra cost.