# cartridges



## footprints (Jul 4, 2013)

Anyone out there shoot AI cartridges or get involved with wildcatting?


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## Springville Shooter (Oct 15, 2010)

I shoot them all the time. I love them, but in all honesty they are mostly impractical. If you must get into wildcatting, I would be glad to help you avoid some of the mistakes that I made. The 257 and 280 are good places to start if you want to AI. I have, or have had; 223, 22-250, 6mm, 257, 25-06, 280, 30-06 and 35 Whelen AI. I also like rare proprietary cartridges like those from Dakota and Lazzeroni.------SS


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## Bax* (Dec 14, 2008)

+1 on the Lazzeroni. Way cool proprietary cartridges over there.

I have been aching for a 6.53 Scramjet for years now


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## DallanC (Jan 13, 2009)

The .22-250 AI would be interesting, a reduced case neck angle would certainly make the brass last longer.


-DallanC


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## Springville Shooter (Oct 15, 2010)

DallanC said:


> The .22-250 AI would be interesting, a reduced case neck angle would certainly make the brass last longer.
> 
> -DallanC


Absolutely, I have had brass come up short after fire forming and never make it back to max OAL. If you load medium, the only way to go through Ackley brass is to lose it in the field. Most of mine will be used by my kids after I'm long gone. P.O. Ackley did nothing for the case trimmer industry.------SS


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## DallanC (Jan 13, 2009)

Have you seen the new Hydro brass forming tools? Dont need to fire it in a rifle to get the initial sizing done. Its pretty cool:

http://bulletin.accurateshooter.com...cases-into-shape-with-hornady-hydro-form-die/

-DallanC


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## Springville Shooter (Oct 15, 2010)

That is cool and would save money in components as well as barrel life. I have never really minded fire forming because I usually combine it with break in and the brass lasts forever or until you lose it. Nosler is now making 280AI brass both as loaded ammunition and component. If it does well I would guess that more will come. I bet the 257AI and 22-250AI would be next.------SS


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## longbow (Mar 31, 2009)

I have a 22-250 AI and a 6mm AI. I was shooting my 6mm AI over on the beach the other day and shot 5 groups .25 inch and under. It's shooting 75gr hpbt at 3750. Do I need an AI over a regular 6mm? Nope, just wanted to build one.
I had the same experience as Dallan did with my 22-250 AI. My case shortened and never returned to full length. As long as I keep up on annealing they should last a long time.


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## Utmuddguy (Aug 25, 2013)

I've had a 223 ai,22-250 ai, 243 ai, 260 ai, 280 ai and a 7mm-08 ai. Every rifle I curre toy have is a wildcat of some sort the 338 edge is my favorite.


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## Mauserwonk (Oct 29, 2013)

I have a 257 AI and it is pretty sweet. Matches 25-06 velocities. But in all honesty I kind of wish I would have just made it a standard 257 Roberts, because they are plenty fast and fireforming can be a time consuming pain in the butt. But I do kind of wish my 7X57 was an AI. 

The truth is there are so many chamberings on the market today that Wildcatting doesnt really make sense anymore, in most cases you can accomplish the same thing with standard brass, dies etc for less $$ and wildcats resale value is not so good. But sometimes we just gotta scratch an itch..


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## Critter (Mar 20, 2010)

All you need to do to fire form the AI round is to shoot standard .257 Roberts loads in a rifle that is chambered for the AI, at least that is all that I did to get my AI rounds. Accuracy was not that bad either with the standard round but the AI gave the extra velocity.

Now if you are shooting a true wildcat then the fire forming can be a pain in the rear. Been there done that.

Top of page, top of page


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## Mauserwonk (Oct 29, 2013)

That is true critter. But with the cost of components thesedays and considering the time I spend working up a pet load, I would prefer to spend the powder, bullets and time doing it only once to find the right load as opposed to twice. I do like the way the brass lasts longer in an AI though. I dont regret having an AI, they do have their perks. Im just giving my .02c. for others to consider.


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