I've been pondering(again)the idea of wildcatting my Sendero. I've done just about all I can do with the .25-06 over the last five years, and I think it is time to take this thing to the next level. I read the post about the .240 Gibbs, and went to Clymer's website and got some dimensions. It looks like the Gibbs has a little more capacity, but is harder to form than the AI. Can anyone tell me advantages/disadvantages, of the Gibbs over the Ackley and would it be worth the extra trouble? One plus for the Ackley is that a person could shoot regular .25-06 Rem. in it in a pinch, does that hold true for the Gibbs?

Eric J

The Gibbs cartridge is designed to wring the maximum potential out of a .30/06 case. That said, you would probably only get 50 to 100 fps more than the .25/06 AI.

The brass is definately more difficult to fireform, but it is not a huge job, especially with this chambering.

You would not be able to fire .25/06 factory ammo out of a Gibbs, as it would have excessive headspace. If you take the factory .25/05 ammo and pull the bullets, then reseat them so they engage the rifling, it works just fine. As far as I know this is the quickest way to fireform the .25 Gibbs.

With the .25 Gibbs you should be able to get 3500 fps out of a 100gr bullet.

Canuck

Eric I doubt you will see much of an increase from either the 25-06 AI or the Gibbs when you compare it to the std 25-06.If it was mine I would go with the Ackley for the ease of forming cases. Make sure you chronogragh your best loads in the std chamber then let us know how much of an increase you really see. I recently had a 30-06 rechambered to the Ackley imp version.Spent all summer working up new max loads etc. The biggest vel gain I received was about 60 fps with a 180 gr bullet.Most were in the 30 to 40 fps range.At least it was fun doing it.

Eric -- Rechamber in .257 Weatherby and forget all the thinking. I love mine shooting one hole groups with a 120 gr. Nosler Partition at 3500 fps. Good shooting.

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If I stop thinking about gun/cartrige combos I will DIE!!!! Just told a guy the other day, when he asked if that was all I thought about,that most of my waking hours were spent thinking about shooting, about to think about shooting, or just finishing a thought about shooting. By the way,now that I think about it, I think I will leave the doggone thing alone and just shoot it. Using very slow powders I'm getting 250 to 300 fps faster than anything I've seen anywhere anyway! I'm getting 3450fps with 100 gn Ballistic Tips and 3675 from 75 gn V-max's both with >.500 groups (5 shot). These results didn't come overnight. Lots of little tricks go into each round. I can't ask anymore out of a "stock" rifle/cartrige combo. Thanks for your input guys. Oh yeah, I may be a neat freak but I like square corners and I don't like those unsightly belts, and at $40 a box for factory stuff, 100fps extra just doesn't seem worth it.

Eric J

[This message has been edited by Eric J (edited 12-31-2001).]

I'd go the Ackley route in a heartbeat! The 25/06AI is a screamer if you spec it right! This means at least a 25" barrel. Most of the naysayers of Ackleys gave a half-hearted attempt and formed their opinions. Powder choices do matter. As for barrel wear that's bull also if you know how to go about it. I own 2 Ackleys and am building a third. Brass for the Ackley will be far cheaper than the Weatherby and barrel life will be longer too. Oh and recoil will be far less in a lighter rifle to boot! sure-shot

A number of years ago my favorite gun shop was going out of business and Nick, the owner gave me a box of 264 Win mag cartridges. At the time I was using a Mark X in 25-06 to hunt groundhogs and had a serious case of the velocity bug. Seemed to me that there was not a lot of bullet diameter difference between the 25-06 and the 264 but bunches of case volumn difference.
Now if I was going to make a conversion I'd go with a 25-264 Win mag. There's lots of room to play with.
Jim