loading for25-06 Ackley

[quartermaster]

I just had a 25-06 Ackley made. I had to turn the neckes in order to chamber for fire forming and all was fine. I used all Norma brass and fire formed 20 to start.

All went well with no signs of case separation, but I am finding 1 problem arose. I knew the case length would shorten, but I didn't expect them to shorten .025-.030. Like all cases that you buy now a days, they were right at the trim to length dimension and now that they are fire formed, They are way too short. The fact that I use bushing dies and never run an expander through the necks and that they are Ackley cases, I feel that they will never gain the length that they should be.

Do you think that they will shoot accurately despite their length?

I'm thinking that the balance of the brass which have not yet been fire formed will be saved to shoot in my regular 25-06s. My thoughts now lead me to believe that I should start out with .270 or .280 brass with longer necks to get a better finished case.

Am I correct in this assumption?

I appreciate any thoughts and comments

 

[hntbambi]

Re: loading for25-06 Ackley

What is the total neck length? I <span style="font-style: italic">prefer</span> neck length to be at least one bullet diameter, but that is not hard and fast rule. The SAAMI lengths for 25-06 Rem are:
2.494" -0.20" from case head to end of neck
2.1858" from case head to end of shoulder
This gives neck length of .288"-.308", so even if you are .030" shorter you have a neck length of .258" which is enough for good bullet tension and stability.

You can get some -06 basic brass from Z-Hat, its not exactly cheap, but it will fix your problem.

 

[MALLARD]

Re: loading for25-06 Ackley

i agree starting with longer brass will probably solve your problem.

.025-.030 is allot but i think you can still shoot good groups.

i agree your brass will not strecth .025 in a reasonable amount of time , maybe like 8 firings or more. Ha , do you really want it to strecth that much ? i'd feel better if they didn't.

 

[BuzzBoss915]

Re: loading for25-06 Ackley

As a matter of fact, I run 270Win. brass in my 25'06Ackley, which does have a tight neck. I would not worry very much about the short overall length. It has never been a factor in my loading, but I use Wilson dies custom cut to the dimensions of my chamber using the same reamer.

Ackley brass never seems to grow in length anyway? At least I have never had to trim, and I use 22-250AI, 223AI, 243AI and 25'06AI. Never trimmed to length for any of them. I attribute this to the 40 degree shoulder, which arrests brass flow in the neck area? The worst I have ever seen is 220Swift; always needs trimming to length. Look at the shoulder for the reason.

My guess is; for the same reason why it is recommended to trim 10 thou under, it doesn't matter if the necks are marginally shorter. I assume Ackley chambered rifles are primarily used for hunting, not benchrest, so I think there is no reason to worry that the length may be a bit too short. BB

 

[steve123]

Re: loading for25-06 Ackley

If you used 270 or 280 brass you would still have to trim it to a certain length so it would fit in your chamber. How much length you would gain is the question because once it was fireformed it would still shrink back.

I mostly shoot wildcats and have never worried about the length lost after fireforming. I also discovered that when I neck down with repeated steps the new case lengths vary quite a bit so I have to trim all the brass back the same length anyway to get consistent neck tension.

Let us know what happens please.