Another noob/dumb question...

[BarrelNuts]

Looking at going full-bore on changing my .25-06 around a bit (bit by the bug) and am reading a lot on the AI's... not finding a ton of load data for a .25-06 AI but I know it exists.
Basically how much extra "bang" do you get for the (what seems like) minimal pain of new barrel/chamber and having to fire form regular cases and then neck size? Is there going to be that much more powder capacity/velocity from the AI vs the regular case... in essence is the juice worth the squeeze?

[darkker]

in essence is the juice worth the squeeze?

What NO ONE but you can answer is that troublesome wording you used: "Worth it".
Without having my info infront of me, is an additional 10-ish grains "Worth" 100 fps to you? To me it is not. That minor additional velocity isn't going to extend practical hunting distance, for what 99% of hunters are actually ABLE to shoot to anyhow.
Again speaking in Generalities, MOST people have scopes with less than stellar optics, adjustment range. MOST people can't ACCURATELY make shots much beyond 300 yards without some form of bag/bipod/etc. They DON'T know trajectories very well at all. They DON'T understand bullet operational velocities, they DON'T accurately judge distance, or adjust for conditions. This is all evidenced by the stunning numbers of BDC scopes sold, and then the flood of questions about "Hey I didn't know that when MY specifics are different, that this thing won't make me a superstar".

None of that may apply to you, maybe some of it does. But without knowing specifics, only you can say if you WANT it.

[BarrelNuts]

Very true... for some the definition of "worth it" is different than for others. My normal hunting range is max 300; looking to push that further with LOTS of practice. I do agree with your point about knowing trajectories and ballistics; the vast majority of folks tend to drastically over-estimate ranges and take what comes off the box of ammo they picked up at the local gun shop as gospel when it comes to trajectory and velocity. Most of my shooting experience outside of hunting was service rifle competition; so reloaded a lot of 5.56 and spent a lot of time fiddling with A2 style sights peep sights; instead of upgrading glass I was getting smaller rear sight apertures. Taking that experience and transferring it over to optics and the huge array of available cartridges is something new. If you are pushing a 100gr at 3400 fps with an AI vs. the same projectile at 3300 then you are getting 71 extra ft. lbs of energy with .81 inch less drop at 400 yards based on some fuzzy math; in that case I would say no; you aren't gaining enough extra "juice" for the squeeze of having to fire-form cases and never having the convenience of using factory ammo again. The root of my question is more of the performance gain seen by those here who actually load the AIs vs "standard"

[foxx]

I like AI cart's, and, if rebarreling, will consider the AI version, but I don't think any barrel is worth converting to AI if it still has life in it.

So, is it "worth it"? I don't see how it is worth the hassle or the effort or expense. However, if you are getting a new barrel anyways, I gotta think it's absolutely "worth it" because there's no real downside to it, assuming it feeds alright. OCCASIONALLY they don't feed as well.