223 Ackley Improved

[Catfish]

Critch,
You are not going to get much increase in velosity with the .223 AI over the plain old .223. The velosity increase is 1/2 of the percentage of volume increase. I would guess that you would get a max. of a 4% increase in volume and a 2% increase in velosity. Hence if you can push a 55 grn. bullet at 3,200 fps. with the .223 you should get around 3,264 with the .223 AI. The .223 case is pretty well at max. efficientcy as is. Where you get a big gain by AI`ing a round is with the older designed rounds with alot of body taper. The .223 AI is a good round, but it`s not worth the extra expence of building one to me. I`ve built a .257 AI and it gives me .25-06 velositie with less powder, because the .25-06 is so over bore, but you could still say that I will not save enough in powder over the life of the gun to recover the extra expence of haveing one built, so I guess it really just what you want. If your looking for a flat shooting varmint rifle though, take a look at the .204 Ruger. Flatter than the .22-250 and the .220 Swift. Unless I run acrossed a rifle that is just to cheap to pass up, the .204 will be my next rifle.