223 Ackley Feeding Problem...Help!

[RoyB]

I own a bunch of Ackleys, 6mm, 257, 280 and all of them feed well out of short and long action Remington 700s and Mauser 98 actions.

I just built a 223 40degree Ackley on a SA Remington 700 and try as I might, I can't get it to feed consistently. I've tried vaious followers and even went to a 308 magazine. No joy!

Any hints or ticks you folks might have?

 

[Dennis Sorensen]

It was a .222/.223 receiver to start with? It will not work on a 308 receiver.

 

[RoyB]

Yes, it was a 223 receiver to start with.

But if it was a "308" receiver, as long as it had the proper magazine and bolt, there would be no difference. All the Short action receivers are identical.

 

[Dennis Sorensen]

Yes, it was a 223 receiver to start with.

But if it was a "308" receiver, as long as it had the proper magazine and bolt, there would be no difference. All the Short action receivers are identical.

All short action receivers are not identical. That's why I asked. It should work if it was not a 308 or a magnum receiver.... it is a requirement that the receiver was for the small .222/.223 size case to start with. The feed rails in the receiver are different than the larger 22-250/308 case.

 

[RoyB]

The feed rails in the receiver are different than the larger 22-250/308 case

Interesting......I didn't know that......I just looked at a couple of Remington 700s in 308, 243 and 220 Swift. They look identical to the 223 units I have. The magazine boxes and followers are totally different, but the receivers look the same.

 

[Ackman]

Mine wouldn't feed either and I took it to a very good rifle builder. What was done......

*Chamfer on the inside edge of that chamber recess, the one enclosing the bolt snout.
*Feed ramp polished.
*Front ring of the bolt polished. This so the casehead can slide up easily.
*It has a solid follower which I'd already lowered just a bit.
******Do not alter the feed rails. That's what I was told.

All those mods contribute but I think chamfering the chamber edge is most important. The gun feeds well now. You can't slam a cartridge in real fast, but at moderate speed it works fine. Because of the follower alteration it'll now only feed std. 223 (only time you do that anyway is when fireforming) if there's just one in the magazine....load two or more and the top one will just pop out the ejection port instead of chambering. No big deal, followers are cheap and easy to switch if it ever again becomes (it won't) a std. 223.

 

[RoyB]

Thanks for all of the replies.........

I pulled the barrel and put a small 45Degree chamfer on the chamber edge and I also put a 45 degree angle on the bolt recess. I found a solid follower from a 243 and cut it down in size and modified the profile.

The gun now chambers properly about 90% of the time. But still not great.

I've decided for this weekends cotote hunt I'll reinstall the standard 223 follower and shoot standard 223 ammo. It feeds perfectly in this configuration.

When I get home I'm converting it to a detachable magazine with a Seekins Precision kit. I'll then modify one of their magazines to be center stack and that should fix the problem permanently..........

Here's a few pictures of the finished rifle..........

It started out with a walnut stock, which was replaced with a green painted version and now the green has been camouflaged..........

The bolt head was bushed and a Sako extractor added

A Hollands Quick Discharge muzzle break keeps the target in the scope on firing.

The Camo was accomplished by cutting out a bunch of masking-tape shapes and laying them on the green stock, spraying with Dessert Tan paint, then more Masking-tape shapes and spraying with OD Green.....Came out pretty neat if I do say so myself...

Remington 700 Short Action

Pac Nor Stainless Steel barrel in #3 contour

223 Ackley Improved (40 degrees)

Holland muzzle brake

S&K "Kontoured" scope rings and mounts

Remington ADL modified stock

Remington 700 SS trigger set at 2 pounds

KG Gun-Kote moly polymer finish



Coyotes.......Look out!