Re 8mm-06 Ackley Improved:



Lengthen your magazine as far as you can with some good file work and maybe a touch off of the bolt stop. Take the rear wall down to about .060" and take another .010" or maybe a little more off of the front. You should get about 3.39" I.D. for the magazine.



Have your chamber and throat set up for 3.34" O.A.L. with Nosler 180gr BT. This will be about the longest O.A.L. required for any bullet. You can then load any other bullet "just off the lands" and still fit into the magazine with room to spare.



180gr Balistic tips or 175gr Sierras should get about 3000fps, 200gr Partitions about 2800-2850fps with a 23 1/2" barrel.



Performance will be about 200fps better than the 8x57. I have never been able to get more than 2600fps from the 8x57 with 200gr Partitions.



If you don't try to push the Mv beyond these levels, you should get excellent brass life. Say 12-15 loads from a case, maybe more if you anneal the necks every 5-6 loads. This is one of the real advantages of the "Improved" version. The brass seems to take the higher pressures in stride, with trimming seldom needed.



Be careful when necking up your brass. Don't "bump" the shoulder back. I put about .040" shim under my sizing die. It will make fire-forming falling off a log simple if you still have the "crush fit" from the "06" shoulder. (Make sure that the "smith" cuts the chamber properly to allow this!)



The 8mm 180gr Ballistic tip will literaly suck the lungs out of a Whitetail @ 3000fps Mv when a clean broadside hit is made. I've seen it @ 50yd and 240yd impacts. When the bullet did not hit the large bones, the deer were DRT and I found pieces of lung beyond the animal.



The 8mm-06 A.I. is right there with the 300 Win Mag with a lot less powder and less muzzle blast.