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prusinwj
Guest
I have recently acquired a rifle chambered for 270-257 Ackley improved. Can anyone tell me where I can find ammo or brass for this round?
Dusty Stevens
Hollow Point Dispenser
Sounds like you gotta expand some 257 roberts brass to 270 and fireform. Never heard of that combo!!
I'm sure you can't buy the ammo anywhere. You will need to roll your own starting with 257 Roberts brass. You can get that from several sources. I'd probably start with Midway and/or Midsouth. I haven't looked it up, but if I were doing a project like this I'd get a Redding type "S" 257 Ackley Full length die and get the appropriate bushing for the neck. My personal choice for a Seater would be a Ponseness Warren seater with changeable bushings. You may be able to use a 257 Roberts seater, but I just don't know. If you got dies with this rifle, you will be fine with the 257 Roberts brass and some fire forming.
Rick
Rick
Al,
You could well be correct. It's possible that he will need to have the neck opened up, but I've had success using a type s die with a larger bushing. I do have a 7 BR die that I used for a while to size 30BR brass using a .325 bushing. It's a long way from 270 to 308, but it worked pretty well. I did have to have the neck opened a bit though.
Rick
SGJennings
New member
Some questions:
1. Do you have dies?
2. Do you have load information from the previous owner? That's a cartridge that I've never heard of and you'll likely be out on your own.
3. Do you know the dimensions of the chamber? It might NOT be exactly what you'd expect from the name 270-257 Ackley.
4. What condition is the rifle in? What do you know of its history? Who built the rifle? What do you plan to do with it? Is there any driving reason to leave the rifle as is?
Best regards,
Greg J.
1. Do you have dies?
2. Do you have load information from the previous owner? That's a cartridge that I've never heard of and you'll likely be out on your own.
3. Do you know the dimensions of the chamber? It might NOT be exactly what you'd expect from the name 270-257 Ackley.
4. What condition is the rifle in? What do you know of its history? Who built the rifle? What do you plan to do with it? Is there any driving reason to leave the rifle as is?
Best regards,
Greg J.
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TheoW
Guest
.270/257 Ackley Improved
Hi! I have your answer! I refer you to P.O. Ackley's Handbook dated 1959, where he calls for a 257 Imp. necked up to 270...or...7mmx57 Imp. necked down and all fire formed to do the job.He claimed it had the same performance as a standard .270 but used less powder. A very efficient cartridge, he said.
He published loads, one of which as an example was 150 gr.bullet with 53gr. IMR 4350 (MAX) with vel. of 2849fps.
Personally I would start with fresh 7mm Mauser brass, neck down and fire form.
Wish you well,
Ted..
Hi! I have your answer! I refer you to P.O. Ackley's Handbook dated 1959, where he calls for a 257 Imp. necked up to 270...or...7mmx57 Imp. necked down and all fire formed to do the job.He claimed it had the same performance as a standard .270 but used less powder. A very efficient cartridge, he said.
He published loads, one of which as an example was 150 gr.bullet with 53gr. IMR 4350 (MAX) with vel. of 2849fps.
Personally I would start with fresh 7mm Mauser brass, neck down and fire form.
Wish you well,
Ted..
SGJennings
New member
What are the chances that the IMR 4350 of 55 years ago is the IMR 4350 of today?
There are multiple things going on here.
Caution and eliminating ASSumptions are going to be the plays for this particular game.
There are multiple things going on here.
Caution and eliminating ASSumptions are going to be the plays for this particular game.
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TheoW
Guest
SGJ....Your reply to the thread seems to cast doubts about my answer to Prusiwj's question. Perhaps you missread my answer.
1- I quoted P.O.Ackley"s Handbook, still available from Amazon. It's a good read.
2- IMR 4350 powder has met the same burning rate specification for all these years and as any knowledgeable reloader knows...always start a load 10% below published MAX.
3- I made NO ASSumptions as you insinuated.
4- You said nothing to help Prusinwl with your vast knowledge.
I remain, respectfully,
Ted
SGJennings
New member
Wow.
You made my point for me.
I have direct, immediate experience behind my advising caution with wildcat chambers of unknown provenance. It cost the gentleman the vision in his right eye...with what would have been a good starting load had it been the chamber that he ASSumed it was.
You made my point for me.
I have direct, immediate experience behind my advising caution with wildcat chambers of unknown provenance. It cost the gentleman the vision in his right eye...with what would have been a good starting load had it been the chamber that he ASSumed it was.
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TheoW
Guest
Your point is unrelated....learn to understand the ORIGINAL question before you spout off. I'll say no more ...let the followers of this tread try to follow your illogical comments about my original answer to Prusinwj"s question.
BTW...as long as you're claiming "direct immediate experience" I might add that I loaded and used P.O.Ackley's cartridges 55 years ago with great success.
Ted
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prusinwj
Guest
Yes I have the dies. I have no load info from the previous owner who is deceased. I don't know the dimensions of the chamber. The rifle is in perfect condition. I don't know who built the rifle itself but the barrel is stamped "P.O. Ackley .270-.257 improved" I don't know the maker of the action because the scope and related hardware cover up the name.
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prusinwj
Guest
Guess what? I found a copy of Ackleys book copyright 1962 and it has some load info. I think (with everybodys help) I got this thing figured out. I never had to re-size brass before, all my re-loading experience is with standard size ammo. Thanks for the info. prusinwj
Hang on, is this rifle built on a Mauser MKX action?
Does it by any chance look like this?
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prusinwj
Guest
Yes mine looks very similar to the one pictured. Mine has a 4x scope and checkering on the stock. The left side of the action is inscribed VZ24. Like I said the scope mounts cover a lot of info. I'm going to remove the scope and hardware To see what I can find out. The more I correspond with you guys the more interesting this gets. I'll try to post pictures if I can figure out how.
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TheoW
Guest
Additional info
I sent you a PM. Check your"notifications". I can send you info about the action, chamber measurements and load data. The stamping on the barrel could indicate that the metal work was done by P.O,Ackley many years ago. The action is a military Czech VZ24 that's highly rated among Mauser actions. Because you have the dies you can form cases very easily from 7MM Mauser brass to fire form to 270-257 Ackley. You can, with minimum effort, have a nice gun for large game. Hope this helps you decide what to do.
Ted
P.S. I'm having trouble sending a PM. Sorry.
I sent you a PM. Check your"notifications". I can send you info about the action, chamber measurements and load data. The stamping on the barrel could indicate that the metal work was done by P.O,Ackley many years ago. The action is a military Czech VZ24 that's highly rated among Mauser actions. Because you have the dies you can form cases very easily from 7MM Mauser brass to fire form to 270-257 Ackley. You can, with minimum effort, have a nice gun for large game. Hope this helps you decide what to do.
Ted
P.S. I'm having trouble sending a PM. Sorry.
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prusinwj
Guest
Thanks for all your info. It's a beautiful rifle and I can't wait to take it to the range. All you guys on this forum are really a great help. Bill