243 AI

[tyates1980]

New to loading for the Ackley Improved so need a little help. Can someone walk me through the brass forming and first loads. Do I have to have a reg 243 win die for original loading before fire forming and then use the 243 ai die after the brass is fireformed. I guess what i am saying is do i have to buy both dies for forming.


Thanks Taylor

 

[RonAKA]

You have at least three options. One is just buy factory .243 ammo and shoot it, if the factory brass is what you want to use. Second you could load it with a fire forming load, and no bullet. You don't need any die to do this, assuming you are starting with new unprimed brass. See this link:

http://www.6mmbr.com/243win.html

Last I think (but have not done it), you could get away with using a .243 AI seating die to seat bullets in a regular .243 case. The only trick is to get the cartridge overall length correct. I would expect the AI die would have enough adjustment range to do this. You want to use a full pressure load for the standard .243 case for this method.

I think the cheapest overall may be to just use the fire forming loads with no bullets.

 

[jerrschmitt]

I can't fire standard .243 ammo in my rifle. I have to put a false shoulder on a .243 case because my chamber is too deep. If your gunsmith did a proper job you won't have this problem. I haven't got around to buying AI dies yet for my rifle. My standard die neck sizes just fine and my seater die works on AI brass. Sometime in the future, I'll have to buy an AI sizer die to bump the shoulder back.

Just buy the AI die. It's all you should need.

 

[chadjamesr]

When I was fire forming my rounds for my .243AI, I just loaded standard .243 rounds with my .243AI dies with no problem. These rounds turned out to be very accurate and formed the brass with no problem.

Note to use .243 load data with .243 brass as .243AI loads can cause pressure problems.

 

[tyates1980]

Ok thanks to all. I bought my 243 ai die set the other night and was worried that i would have to load with 243 die first then after fire forming swith over to the 243 ai. I am just going to try to fireform with 243 win loads. Hopefully this works ok. I have read about the fireforming with no bullet and cram of wheat. Think I am just going to load reg loads and then have all of my fireformed brass. Thansk to all again.

Taylor

 

[LWolken]

Just load 243 loads with your AI dies. Fire forming loads can be just as accurate as full house loads. Make sure you check your head spacing bolt should close tight on a factory case with a stripped bolt both ejector and firing pin.

Lance