I have a friend looking to build a 250 imp. where can I find information? He has planned on using a short action rem700. I would like to get as much info as possible on all aspects from barrel twist to chamber specs.

thanks
Dick

Ackley's books, the Wolfe Wildcats book, do a search on this site, and the reamer manufacturers should have specs available. Great crtridge by the way. - Dan

I've been thinking about a super-light weight rifle in 250 AI, but other than references to its improvement over factory 250 savage performance I can't find any specific ballistic data on it.

How fast will it push 100 and 115 gr. bullets? How is it on deer-sized game? I'm thinking 115 partitions or 100 gr. X-bullets for whitetail load.

Mark

Mark at Kailua Custom Rifles builds these and is a big fan of the cartridge. He says that with a 20" barrel, Lake City .22-250 brass [rare stuff, I believe] and 4350 powder [if memory serves] his 20" barreled rifle will give 3200 fps with a 100 grain pill. That is impressive, to say the least. Everything I've read says its a great wildcat. Myself, I went with the .257 DGR [.260 Rem necked down to .25 and blown out]. The case is formed 90% by the FL resize die and it has a couple grains more capacity than the 250-3000 AI. The neck is just right---you seat a 100 grain bullet to the base of the neck and end up with a COL of just under 2.80". Also, I can use Lake City National Match .308 brass and hopefully get some very good velocity.

Jordan

BTW: "DGR" is an abreviation for Duane's Gun Repair, aka, Duane Spooner.

Belaw:

Look up Duane's Gun Repair on the web. Duane Spooner is a gunsmith from South Dakota who designed this case. The intent was to duplicate the 250-3000 AI without much fireforming. It's very well thought out design. The neck length is perfect for 100 grain bullets. The case is 90% formed or better by the resize die and the case holds a few more grains of powder than the 250-3000 AI.

I built mine on a Kimber 84M action with a 20.5" barrel. I also had the heighth of the magazine reduced a little over .200" so the distance from the top of the receiver to the bottom of the floor plate it is a little more proportionate to the Kimber receiver's small diameter.

I hope it is a decent shooter. If you are interested in having one built, I have a reamer, which I got from JGS [or maybe it was Dave Manson?] with Duane's permission. But the specs are proprietary and I think I would need Duane's permission to rent it to someone.

Jordan

Outstanding cartridge. I plan to build one for my little girl in a few years. Oh course I will have to field test it several times to ensure that it is up to par.

Contact John Lewis. Here's a link to his site: http://www.cprifles.com/

He is a big fan of this round and can answer any of your questions on a 250 Savage AI.

C-ROY

the 250/3000 ackley is great. it is everything P.O. said it was. i hope i can respond to your questions. every rifle is different! use any short action you choose. mine is a ruger #3. my 24" barrel is 1 in 10" and i'm getting 3148 to 3207 fps.(average of 5 shots chronographed). you mentioned brass availability. i use 22/250 brass necked up to 250/3000 and fire form with a middlin load of IMR 4350 and 100gr bullets. once fireformed i full length size in redding 250AI dies. i won't share specific loads because of the inherent differences in rifles. but i will tell you that my rifle loves alliant RL 15 and sierra 90gr HPBT bullets (.292" 3 shot group at 100yds).
the new sierra manual has extensive load data for several of the ackley cartridges including the 250/3000 AI. a good way to start load development is to use 250/3000 maximum loads + 5% and work up from there. good luck and good shooting!!!

Thankx guys, hope there is more to come. this looks so interesting I may think about building one my self. BTW Duane Spooner is From Tappen, NORTH DAKOTA, dgrbek@bektel.com, at least it was his email address.

Thankx again
Dick

The newest Sierra reloading manual has load information on the 250AI. I have one built on a VZ24 action, and it performs great. I know a long action is not exactly the thing for a short round, but it was such a great deal that I had to overlook that. Anyway, look at the information, and choose what is the best fit. Duane is a great person to deal with, and you would not be making a wrong move by doing business with him. Good luck.

I have the first 257DGR Duane built for a customer back in 2000. I had it built on a Nesika Bay K action (repeater). I am going to have another built on a Rem 600 action I have in my gun vault (I have twin boys so they will both need one). It is my go-to rifle.
I use 100gr Nosler BT's @ 3150fps for deer/antelope and 85gr JVB (Jeff's Varmint Bullets) I make myself for varmints.

There is no problem getting 3200fps with 100gr bullets in the 257DGR (my rifle has a 24" barrel) and I have run them up a little over 3300fps but the accuracy dropped off in my rifle.
I have also used a few 70gr Starke RPVB's that I had no problem getting over 3700fps but the 85gr RPVB's and JVB's shoot much better in my rifle. All of my loads give excellent brass life, which to me anyway, is a good indication I am not running excessive pressure.

I really like not having to fireform (I have had enought fireforming with my AI's) to get the added case capacity and the 257DGR feeds from a Rem (or Nesika) short action magazine like butter. Not something I can say about the AI rifles I have/had. (2 - 243AI and a 22-250AI).

You can find a bit more info on the 257DGR on my web page:
http://www.anglefire.com/nd/243ackleyimproved
then follow the link to the 257DGR reference data.

IMO it is the perfect all around cartridge, for North Dakota at least. Puts deer down really fast and makes a mess of PD's ;-). It is however not a fur hunters round, it is a bit hard on fox and coyote and if they ever get to be worth anything again I will have to dig my 17 Mach IV back out.

I also like the 250 Savage and 25-06 so I guess I am a bit biased to the 25's. You can't go wrong with one of the short 25's (250 Savage, 250 AI, 25 Souper, 257DGR,....)

Good Hunting
Jeff in ND

Jordon I hope that is not Mark Pinkston at Kailua custom guns in Coquille Oregon. That guy is a real hack! I had him do some work for me install a recoil pad on my Weatherby fibermark it looked like he had used a grinder tore the hell out of the butt of the stock. At the same time he rebarreled the gun to 30-378 the head spacing was off and he chip the crap out of the stock and did not make it right. So he took my $1000. Weatherby add $700. worth of damage and it took me another $600. to have a real gunsmith fix his mess but the stock still looks like shit!!! I know three other guys that has had problems with his work. I now go to Darrel Holland.

JoeCool
So you got a bad deal with a smith- what does that have to do with my question?

Dick, go for the 250AI, you will not be dissapointed! I get approx. 3200fps with IMR-4320 and Hornady 100gr Interlocks out of the 22" barrel on my ULA Model 20. Groups are under an inch. Brass is not hard to find. Remington makes a special run every year and there is always new brass for sale on Auction Arms or Gunbroker. Besides, how many different times are you going to need to buy brass? As a bonus, you can still pick up 100gr factory ammo to use as a backup or to fireform. Factory ammo opens up my groups to 1.5 inches, but that's still more than acceptable for hunting purposes. 3200fps is about 20fps less than 25-06 factory loads and I get it in a smaller action, with less recoil and a shorter barrel. It's all you'll ever need for any deer that walks.

Dick- if you are going with the 250AI buy your brass first, measure the base and advise your reamer maker of the average of 10 or so cases. SAMI specs call for a datum line (.200 from the base) dimension of .470-.472- most of the brass will spec at around .464-.466- you don't want that much expansion.
Manson Reamers is the source for the 257DGR reamer to date I have not released the specs to any other reamer makers.
I personally have a 250 Sav, 250AI and of course a 257DGR

JoeCool:

I think its the same guy. Kailua has not done any gunsmith work for me and I know he has had some serious health problems, so I don't want to disparage the man. He did speak highly [and knowledgeably] of the .250-3000 AI and also sold me some rare Lake City .22-250 brass. I went with Duane Spooner's .257 DGR rather than the .250-3000 because of the slightly greater case capacity and the fact that there is minimal fire-forming. With the .250-3000 AI, there is alot of fireforming to get a full capacity case.

The ballistics on the .257 DGR and the .250-3000 Ackley should be nearly identical, with the .257 DGR having a slight edge. I can't wait to get mine shooting. It has a Lothar barrel and was assembled by Greg Tannel, with Duane Spooner graciously allowing me access to the reamer specs, even though he did not build my rifle. [Thanks Duane!]

I did alot of research on various medium capacity quarter-bore cartridges before deciding on Duane's .257 DGR. I looked closely at the Roberts, the .257 Roberts Improved and the 25-08. I also looked long and hard at the Rem .260. I wanted a good compromise with a short barrel [20.5 inches]. I did not want to blow alot of powder out the muzzle, but I wanted to maximize velocity. My goal is 3000 fps with a 115 grain bullet. We shall see whether Lake City .308 brass helps achieve that.

Jordan

There is a .250AI on AUCTIONARMS built on an
Arisaka rifle, not a bad looking gun, built by
Ackley himself, probably go into someones collection, rather than a shooter.