You'll probably hear this more than once, but here goes. When Ackley was developing his process, he recommended setting the barrel back on the action one full turn, then reaming the chamber to have about .004'' crush on a factory loaded round. After firing, the case was then formed to the Ackley configuration. It is pretty well impossible to set the barrel back on a handi, so the Ackley route may or may not work for you on a 243, just depends on the depth of the chamber from the factory. With the handi's reputation for generous chambers, it is not highly likely to work out very well. You can ream a 243 to the 6mm Rem Ackley Improved. This is a longer case than the 243, and will both clean up the chamber and re-establish head space. I had a handi barrel which was done this way, but I sold it to another member here before I ever shot it. He reported that it worked out great for him, but reloading dies, etc; are pretty expensive for the 6mmAI. If you are set on a 243AI, you could also run 243 brass over a 6.5 mm or 270 expander ball, and then resize in a 243 die to form a false shoulder to headspace on and fireform 243 AI brass that may be just a tad longer than spec. You can then use 243 AI dies to just barely bump the shoulder back when you resize. The first time is the pain in the posterior, after that it is just regular rloading, with extra care not to set the shoulder back. I have one of the deep chambered 35 Whelen barrels that I have to reload this way. Not really a big deal, you just have to realize what you are getting into up front. Hope this helps, Danny.
