Reply With QuoteAt least now I know how to keep my finger from wearing out when I uniform my Primer Pockets.
so ive been back and forth on the AI thing for a year or so and finally decided to go ahead and see whats what for myself..yes im board and ready for some testing LOL
ive read a LOT of mixed reviews on the 260AI and there seems to be about a 50/50 split...a lot of the reviews say they were not getting the claimed AI speeds..others saying its not worth the added work ECT...anyway i figured id start a tread from start to finish,keep it updated as i go and give my thoughts on the subject....for what their worth.
so i sent jim a barrel to have set back in july this year and told him i was in no hurry so when ever he could get to it would be fine...id pretty much forgotten about it and he called last friday very apologetic and said he was getting ready to chuck it up and if i wanted to do anything different...so i told him AI it with .190-.195 free bore and thread it for a break...im hoping to see it by friday(wednesday would be better)so i can get going on this.
i also spoke with Dean(scopeeye)on the phone about this and got some great info from him...thanks Dean!
im going to start on the cheap with this until i decide if im going to stick with the AI or not so heres what i got so far...
barrel...$100 bucks...shilen select match S8 with 2800 rounds throught it...set back and AI'd finished at 26" .190/.195 free bore threaded for a break...this is the first 260 barrel from when i put my short action together...it had a very short free bore so it was never hot rodded and the reason i kept it.
100pcs 243 winchester brass...$54 bucks
redding body die and seater die...$102 bucks
lee collet die....i had but $20 bucks?
JP enterprise recoil eliminator...$99 bucks
i weighed all 100pcs of the win brass looking for the lightest piece and the heaviest piece of the 100...heaviest was 160.4 lightest was 156.3...i then took those two and weighted with H2O and was surprised...the 160.4 piece had and internal capacity or 54.4g and the 156.3 piece was 54.3g before being necked up...260 lapua brass is about 53g so the 243win brass had 1+g more internal capacity before being necked up. i weighed the heaviest and lightest pieces with H2O just to see if there was a big spread and if there had been i would of weighed all with H2O and separated them.
next i measured about 20 neck walls and they were pretty bad before necking up...several were from .0135 up to .015.5 but after necking up they straightened out enough(for now) that im not going to turn them as the came out to .014 to .015 with most being .0145 to .015...the case OAL did shorten quite a bit as most cases measured 2.0345 and after necking up they were 2.0265 which is about right in a 260 but ive heard they shorten with fire forming so i will check after and post what i find...
i use graphite on the necks when i size...works great and no greasy mess to clean up...
i started with a 25cal expander and did 4 cases then ran them through my FL die...then i just ran 4 cases through the FL die...the 4 that went through the FL die only had more consistent neck wall thickness so i just ran the rest through the FL die...before and after necking up...
next i uniformed the primer pockets...i had 15 or 20 cases that the PPs were so tight that my K&M tool took a little off the PP walls near the bottom which made them real hard to hold on to...
before....
after...
tonight i will anneal all the cases so they are soft and fire form well...im going to fire form with 47g of H4831sc,CCI 250 mag primers and 142gSMKs jammed .005 into the lands...my goal is is to get 139g lapuas...140g something or 142gSMKs up around 3000fps accurately.
i will have the dies by tomorrow and hopefully the barrel...im going to use my long action for all of this and if it goes as planed i will order a 260AI reamer and have my barrel thats on my long action now set back and chambered as it only has 705 rounds through it and keep the barrel from jim for fire forming.
Last edited by LongRange; 11-24-2015 at 12:19 PM.
At least now I know how to keep my finger from wearing out when I uniform my Primer Pockets.
The Dunning-Kruger effect is alive and well.
normally i use this drill but the way the case were grabbing the uniformer i did them by hand...and yes a piece of innertube rubber works great to hold cases if doing them with a hand drill....i also use it to anneal and to turn necks...
You are going to love the Ackley. 3000 is doable with the cartridge, but my best and most consistent loads have been in the 2950 range. H4831 and H4350 give great results with H4350 giving the best standard deviations for me.
Will definitely be watching this thread LR. Your write ups are very thorough and have a lot of good info.
Cant wait to see the results.
Scooter
I'm the Boss. I make sure what she wants gets done.
id be perfectly happy with 2950 and i have plenty of both 4350 and 4831...my thoughts right now are that with a slower powder and mag primers i should see some low SDs and good groups with lots of speed if not ill switch to the 4350...and im thinking im going to like the AI as well...thanks stomp.
thanks scooter...problem is i hate typing(with one finger)...some day ill post some of the testing ive done.Originally Posted by scooterf79
Maybe some type of voice recognition would help lol.
Scooter
I'm the Boss. I make sure what she wants gets done.
like dragon fly...ill have to look into that.
so ive got all 101 pieces of the 243win brass ready to fire form...all fully prep'd minus turning the necks...i sent jim an email to see if he got the barrel shipped...hes good about returning emails so i expect ill hear back this morning from him...
my annealing set up with has been pimped all over the board LOL....
this is what i made to dry my cases with as i stainless steel tumble my brass every firing...5mins and they are dry...
101 cases ready to to fire form...
almost forgot....my dies and muzzle break showed up yesterday...all brownells had was the stainless break in stock....
Looks like a cool project. I'm a lazy individual so I stuck with the classic 260.
They who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.
ive been kicking this idea around for a long time and figured with the old barrel set back and re-chambered...a $100 bucks for dies it would be a cheap way to see whats what with the AI and i thought id do this thread to try and help others with the decision of "is it worth it". if it works out i will make the switch...ill order a reamer from PT&G and have a bartlein barrel chambered...at the very least it will keep me busy for a bit LOL.
i just heard back from Jim...he finished up the barrel this morning and will drop it in the mail tomorrow so i should have it next week...i pulled the barrel off my long action yesterday so as soon as i get the AI'd barrel i will get it on and fire form next saturday and start some load development on sunday.
well my barrel has been stuck some where between nevada and shreveport LA since the 27th...if theres no change in shipping by monday ill chalk it up as MIM and order a reamer from PT&G...since im already into this deal that would be the cheapest route for me at this point.
Did you use a flash hole uniformer on the outside (primer side) of the flash hole? Looks like it from this angle. I've never heard of that before, only the inside... just curious.
No...but i have in the past and it made no difference what so ever...i think thats just a shadow,glare or the lighting...i noticed it right after posting the pic and have been waiting for someone to notice...good eye USD
Hah, that's funny. I noticed it the other day, and thought, naaahhh, I'll wait and see if anyone else says anything. No one did, so I couldn't help myself. That's exactly what it looks like though. Weird.
well i talked to USPS this morning and they sent out an E-mail to the shreveport office and CC'd every stop along the route my barrel would have taken and also my local office to see if they can track my barrel down...i doubt they will which isnt a huge deal...ill give it a few more days and see what happens.
LR,
You do know we can just blame this delay on Jim lol? We gotta give the guy a rough time....😉.
Scooter
I'm the Boss. I make sure what she wants gets done.
LOL...id love to but it left his hands so now its on the post office...i did get a call earlier from my local PO saying that they looked around and dont have it but he was going to E-mail the higher powers and try to get some more info so we will see...its my Charlie Brown luck...im use to it.
well i just got a call from my local PO and they found my barrel...i guess it was sitting in Memphis TN all this time...they said its back in route and should be here by tuesday so it looks like this is back on for next weekend.
now if UPS can find my new forster original trimmer and 3 way cutter head LOL!!
Glad they found your barrel, will be watching this with interest.
Me too but now its sitting in Memphis TN and hasnt moved...ill give it until morning and if it hasnt moved ill be on the phone with USPS again as well as send an E-mail to the head post master...the barrel was shipped on 11-27...i ordered a bartlein blank on 12-2 and got it today.
Needless to say im starting to get a little frustrated with all of this.
well it moved from Memphis TN to Memphis TN...at least its moving again so im hoping to have it some time this year or the first part of next year.
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