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Gentlemen, I will admit I have a problem with the Ackley Improved line...
I have 13 rifles in AI and still not happy, I always seem to want more.
I just got my latest reamer in from Pacific just this week......7mm STW Ackley Improved. I cant wait to see what I can do with it!!
Hate to drag everybody back to the original of this thread, but I' toss my hat in the ring for the .250-3000 Savage. So much so that I started a thread some months ago asking what the ideal North American cartridge would be, and finally revealed my choice while making a good case for the .250. (Adequate power for everything up to elk, and more importantly an INSTRUCTIONAL cartridge that can teach anybody complete confidence and trust in their gun).
Actually, maybe the.250 doesn't qualify for this thread's criteria, since anybody who's ever shot one harbors immense respect for it.
So, with a penchant for all things quarter-bore, my pinch-hitter would be the .256 Winchester Magnum. Talk about lack of respect! Even some self-described gun looneys don't even know it exists. (Existed?)
Left to right: .256 Winchester Magnum, .25-35 Winchester, .25 Pronghorn Pursuit Cartridge, .250-3000 Savage, .257 Roberts, .25-06 Remington
I would submit the .45 Long Colt. I've only recently become acquainted with it, but it is such a versatile round. Outside of the Cowboy Action world, it seems like it's just known as "that other thing you can fire out of the Taurus Judge besides .410". You can get light recoiling cowboy loads, premium defense loads, and +P "bear" loads that pack a BIG wallop, especially out of a rifle. You also have the interoperability with .410, .454 Casull, and .45 ACP in certain firearms.
I think one thing that hurts it is the selection of firearms chambered in it. Obviously there are the Judge/Governer revolvers which I think give it a bad reputation for accuracy due the the inherent issue of such a long chamber that's necessary for the .410 capabilities. Then there are the single action revolvers, which many people (not me) view as "old man" or "wanna be cowboy" toys. I know at least Ruger makes a double action revolver but I've never seen one. Last, the lever action rifles seem to do ok, but are usually hard to find. Say what you will about the Judge, but I think that gun has done more for this cartridge than anything in a really long time. The only thing I currently own for it is a Rossi single shot pistol that has a screw-in straight-rifling choke tube to keep the .410 shot patterns somewhat under control. I definitely plan on picking up a dedicated revolver at some point though.
To those who have more experience/perspective, why isn't .45 Colt more popular? Is it the fact that revolvers in general aren't considered "cool" like they once were? Is it that .357 mag/.38 spl or .44 mag/spl offer more versatility?
The .256 performed on this Pronghorn buck just as it has on anything else toward which it has been directed: one shot, one kill. The buck was quartering toward me at 85 yards, the 75g Hornady V-Max (modified by buffing the polymer tip to allow fitment in the Marlin 62 magazine: produces a frontal profile not unlike a Remington Power Point, with no loss of accuracy) entered left of center on the buck's brisket, destroyed the top of the left lung, ruptured the heartsack, penetrated the bottom of the right lung, broke a far rib, and was found perfectly mushroomed just under the skin. At the velocity generated by the .256 case (2360fps muzzle), the "varmint" bullet assumed perfectly the role of a big game bullet: expanding but retaining integrity and penetrating.
The Goat did what all big game animals shot in both lungs do (regardless of what they're shot with): He stiffened, turned, stumbled about 25yards, circled, went down, kicked, and was dead.
My year-plus of education and experimentation with this gun and cartridge I documented in an essay for publication, and in inexperienced exuberance I supplied that essay to Terry Wieland (Wolfe publishing) when I learned he was speculating about a Model 62. I will be diplomatic when I say he "borrowed heavily" from my work when Jim Scovill (editor) later published Wieland's compositon. (Scovill had rejected my .256 query on the basis of having "salaried/retained" writers 6 months previously). Gunwriter journalism has a measure of cutthroat aspects to it, I learned.
As to the .25 Pronghorn Pursuit Cartridge, its origins and parent case are easily deduced by looking closer at the name I selected for it. It is merely the 6mm PPC necked up to .257 caliber. With a nod to Palmisano and Pindell, hence the moniker I assigned it.
This idea was as a result of my encounter with the Mini-Mark X Mausers (the early ones, so well finished and accurate), and then discovering they were also offered in 7.62x39. Not precisely the identical bolt face as the PPC would require, but so close as to requiring no alteration there. Also no magazine or follower alteration was necessary when I had Dennis Olson of Plains, Montana rebarrel a brand new Mini-Mauser (in the Commie Cartridge) with a Lilja barrel in the .25 PPC. I thought I had broken ground, but when ordering custom dies, was told that one gentleman somewhere in Nevada had ordered a set prior. I named the cartridge anyway, with consideration toward my original purposes:
I believed this arrangement would be capable of duplicating the seminal .250-3000 velocity: an 87 grain bullet at 3000 fps. My chosen bullet for Antelope in all my .250's is the 85g Nosler Ballistic Tip. Chronograph results happily confirmed my speculation: the little gun easily matches the Savage holy grail.
I asked Dennis to contour the barrel to precisely fit the original barrel channel on the stock (since the wood was so good; fiddleback European Walnut), and yet dispense with the somewhat severe taper toward the muzzle that exists on the Mini Mausers. I also asked for a length of 21" (as compared to the original barrel at 20"). I supplied a preliminary "fabricated" cartridge with the 85g NBT seated to a maximum length to allow reliable fit in the Mini-Mauser magazine, and Dennis agreed to throat the chamber according to that precise sample. (You will note the length of the bullet exposed beyond the neck in the picture, but it is NOT seated shallowly at all: plenty deeper than the rule-of-thumb "seating depth should at least match bullet diameter").
The result is a tiny gun that (even with a Leupold 3x-9x Compact AO) weighs significantly less than my Featherweight Savage 99 (MUCH lighter than my EG's and 700 Classic)and can match them toe-to-toe for performance. My method of Antelope hunting involves doing nearly all of it on foot: I find the animals less disturbed, I meet them on their own terms, and the sense of achievement rivals that of a hard-exertion Sheep hunt. The PPC rifle carries like a wisp on the shoulder strap or in the palm of the hand during long treks, prolonged dog-trots, or brief sprints to position for a shot.
"I never would have figured the .256 could get to .250 territory. So, when are you gonna sell me the Levematic(trade for a Saiga? Ha!)? I honestly now must have one. My back would LOVE that rifle."
NO! NO! The source of confusion is my responsibility. The .256 lounges around at 2300-2600 fps (depending on bullet, etc.). It is the .25 PPC that matches .250 velocities.
And another error on my part: it is Dave Scovill. A guy that knows his stuff when it comes to cast bullet/revolver stuff, but a crusty, close-minded guy when it comes to articles about cartridges lost to the ages.
I would submit the .45 Long Colt... I know at least Ruger makes a double action revolver but I've never seen one.
+1 on the Hornet and the .280 Rem! Also I'd like to throw the .6mm Rem. into the mix, it makes the .243 look like a sissy, if it wouldn't have been for American shooters and gun writers hating anything with millimeter attached to the name at that time, the .243 would have faded, and not became quite the darling it did. And the .25-06, now there's an underrated cartridge.
Something about the 25-06 makes me giddy. I also agree with you on the .244, that's a screamer and fun to load.
.30-06 AI is to. 30-06 as .35 Brown-Whelen is to. 35 Whelen. In other words no appreciable gain. Nowdays it is hard to find something that really buys you an advantage over a factory cartridge or even rifle for that matter. To me unless it's a 350 fps gain or so, honestly, why bother?
In the article, it is stated that the .30-378 has 120 grains of case capacity(WOW!). Does anyone know the comparable capacity of the 7mm STW?
BTW, Gun Tests is a poorly unappreciated magazine. For the uninformed, Gun Tests have never had a single advertisement. Unlike the other mags, their reviews have nothing to do with who bought the most ad space, but what in fact are the better firearms, ammunition and accessories by merit. They are guilty of sometimes being a little boring, but knowing that they are backing a product not because of money, but because of results is worth a lot to me.