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223 or 223AI

Thinking of building a light carry rifle in either 223 or 223ai. Just looking for opinions on on both. Advice is appreciated.Rifle is a hunting rifle.
 
pros of 223 ai : more velocity, no case stretch, fireform loads are accurate enough to hunt or target with. less bolt thrust,and it looks cool also.

cons: got to buy a set of dies, hmmmmm cant think of any more.

pros wins hands down. trust me on this one you will love the ackley. i turned all my old rem. cases that had the hell shot out of them to ackleys and have fired them all probably 5 more times as full load ack. i only neck size them and i have lost 2 out of 100 to cracked necks so far. accuracy is great .3 is the norm at 100 yds. good luck with your decision. greg
 
Heck, if yer gonna build it mights well go AI,
Kinda depends on what twist you'll get, what length the barrel and intended bullet weight used.
I'm told you gain about 200fps.

So alf's question of "Huntin what?" is a good one.
 
If your building it on a Savage action I`ve got a barrel I`ll sell you. When you AI a cartridge you will get an increase in velocity that is 1/2 of the percentage the increase in case volume, at the same presure. That is not much with the 223 case. There is nothing wrong with the 223 AI, but if your wanting more velocity why not just get a 22-250?
 
Fred, the standard .223 is a perfectly wonderful round, in its own right. If I could have only one caliber it would be a .223. Having said that, the Ackley Improved is, indeed, an improvement over the the .223. The brass lasts forever, very little stretching, and the AI will do more with 28 grains of powder than any caliber I know of. 1:12 twist will give you a devastating varmint rig with 50-55 gr. bullets out to 300 yards. 1:9 twist will take your range out to 500+ with 65-75 gr. bullets. Easy on barrels, easy on recoil, easy on powder ... just a sweet caliber.

Enjoy ...

P.S. One of the Tikka T3's is a heck of a "carry gun" that will shoot just about as well as a built one.
 
Rifle would be a turkey - coyote- small game. I was thinking of keeping barrel length short, 22" or shorter to make rifle very easy to handle. Barrel will probably be #4 contour and 8 0r 9 twist. I was thinking of shooting the heavier bullets 70 - 75 grain.
 
I think 22 inches is perfect for what it's for, in an 8 twist.

I wouldn't go over a Remington sporter contour, which is around .650"at 22", to compare to custom barrel contours.
 
Alf is giving you some good stuff. You don't need a super heavy barrel or it will add unnecessary weight. 223 AI is just a cool round & even better coupled with a mini action.
 
I have 3 223 AIs.

2 are 1/14s for 40 grainers and are DEATH on PDs and Jackrabbits and such. The other is a 1/8 for heavy bullets. Much better than a 223 in my opinion!
 
An Ackley is good for 100-150 fps gain over the standard 223.

Only you can decide if it's worth it.........
 

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