30-06 AI

[msc8127]

Hello everyone. I came across this site a couple of weeks back and have been reading through a lot of posts. There's a lot of great information here.

My (awesome) wife bought me a nice 44 mag revolver last summer that I ended up doing my deer hunting with this season. I really enjoy(ed) hunting with the revolver as it presents its own set of challenges along with its own set of benefits. But, now with deer season behind me, I've been looking at both of my Handis, .270, and .30-06 and looking through what is needed to make them both shoot a little better. The .270 shoots 1.5" groups at 100 yds with factory loads (best of 3 different loads we've tried) and the .30-06 shot closer to a 2" group on average with the best factory load we found for it.

Anyhow, since running into this site and reading through a lot of the information on improving Handi accuracy, I have floated the forend on the .30-06, worked over the trigger to get it down to 2.5lbs of pull, and adjusted the fitment of the forend cap. I have ordered the material to bed the rear portion of the forend, but just got around to ordering the stuff a couple of days ago, so it isn't here yet. Without the bedding work I was able to pull my groups down to just over 1.25" with the factory loads. The factory loads that the rifle prefers (so far) are the federal vital shock 165 grain partitions. In addition to re-testing with these rounds, a friend of mine that reloads put together some loads that he shoots in his Handi and set them with me to test out. They are 180 gr. accubonds with IMR 4350, but I don't know the details on the powder charge. He did say that they are by no means a maximum power load as his Handi did not like the hotter loads. Anyway, with these hand loads, the group dropped down to just under 1"...pretty good gains so far!

To get to the title line of the topic. I'm interested in going to the AI chamber on the .30-06 having read through reloading data and seeing that there is some extra performance available there, albeit requiring fire-forming brass, etc. My question is, can the .30-06 Handi be reamed to .30-06 AI without requiring having the barrel set back, and opening up a big can of worms that create other problems?

If it's just a matter of renting a reamer and re-working the chamber I think it might be worth pursuing. But, if it is likely to be a situation where things "snowball" and become a real pain in the neck, then the ends probably don't justify the means.

Anyhow, I'll get after the .270 in the meantime, making the same changes to it as the .30-06 has so far undergone, and seeing what can be gained with it.

Thanks for any input!

[quickdtoo]

Welcome! See Handloading for an Improved Chambered Handi in the FAQs and Help sticky, there's a lot more good stuff in there if you take the time to read it all.  There's no way to ream a parent round chambered fixed barrel to Ackley Improved, that meaning the parent round being able to be fired in the new chamber since the barrel can't be set back, but you can rechamber it, then reface the chamber face to zero headspace, then fit the barrel to the frame again with a shim or to another frame, I've done both, easiest is to just fire form the brass first, you also gain a little case capacity with an improved version over the Ackley.

Tim

[D Humbarger]

Ditto what quick just told you although you could rechamber it to a 30 Gibbs.  No barrel setback is required.

Read about it on this link.   http://30gibbs.net/

[msc8127]

Thanks for the input!

The 30 gibbs round is pretty appealing from what I'm finding about it while googling it. Looks like brass forming on the gibbs might be a little more eventful than AI (though I understand is not an option) modifications, so I'll keep looking for info on brass preparation and see what else I can find on the process.

Back to reading for me...

[necchi]

I just want to say Thank You for reading,,
Sounds like you've done the research and have reaped the benefit,,Good for You!!

[briannmilewis]

OK Tim, this is another dumb question. I compared the 30-06 and 30-06 Ackley drawings from Steve's Page, I can't see why it would not work.

Please enlighten me.

[quickdtoo]

When the improved reamer cuts the new chamber, it moves the neck/shoulder datum point forward slightly to clean up the old shoulder.

Tim

[D Humbarger]

When you rechamber to ANY AI cartridge the "GO" headspace gauge becomes the "NO-GO" gauge. The chamber is shortened by .004 (four thousanths of an inch).   The reason for this is to make certain that when you chamber a factory round in the improved chamber the base of the case is held back firmly against the bolt/receiver face when the case is blown out to fit the improved chamber.   The only way for this to happen is to set the barrel back.  If you don't you wil have excess headspace & thus seperated cases.

[briannmilewis]

When the improved reamer cuts the new chamber, it moves the neck/shoulder datum point forward slightly to clean up the old shoulder.

Tim

Tim, I was just making lunch when that dawned on me. The rounds with a rim can work because the rim prevents the case from sliding too far into the chamber. Well Derrrrr! Taking up more reply space than I should. Sorry about that.

[max1138]

since youre looking at reloading for an AI or AI-improved version already why not take the plunge early and start reloading for the 06 you have, lots to be gained accuracy wise there in itself, youve  already discovered the 165 grain sweet spot in factory ammo, reloading with the bullets set out closer to the rifling should improve accuracy, handis are known to have long throats which can be detrimental to accuracy. with the bullets set out to 10-20/1000 from the leads you should pick up a bit of accuracy. youre at 2 moa now if you can drop that 1/2 moa you are in good company as far as handis go and I suspect it will do quite a bit better than that.

To quote a  line from  Jack O'Connor - if an '06 won't shoot 57 grains of 4350 with a 165, you need an excorsist , not a gunsmith.

its worked for lots of folks, try it and see

[msc8127]

I can definitely get some time in at the reloading bench playing with different loads to try to continue improving on the rifle as it is. I certainly don't "have" to make any chambering changes to the rifle, and picking up the supplies to do some load testing isn't something that will break the bank by any stretch of the imagination.

I will try different stick-outs (for lack of a better term) and see what can be gained in the experimenting.

....hopefully no exorcist will be needed.