Has anyone here reamed their 24 to 30-30 Ackley Improved?

My BIL had his 30/30 start popping open when he was experimenting trying to get max velocities. I would think you may have that problem with the Ackley. There have been several new powders come out since then (10-12 years ago) so your results may vary if you can find a lower pressure powder.

If you are a handloader, then the single shot it a very good choice for experimenting with bullet choices. For hunting, picking the appropriate bullet construction that will open up yet hold together at the 30-30's velocity is very important. Most .30 caliber pointed / spitzer designs are manufactured for higher velocity, so do your research.

For paper shooting - doesn't matter worth a hoot so if it shoots accurately - mark that page !

Good shooting.

Recently, there was an article (danged if I can lay my hands on it...maybe it's the one that stimulated this query?) about PO Ackley and his improved cartridges.

As I recall, most provided only minimal improvements, some only plus-100 fps or so. Two that demonstrated marked increases in velocity were the 280 Rem and the 30-30. I don't know you'd get "a few dozen extra yards" with a Improved chambering, but you'd get a few more. Most gun loonies convert to an Improved chambering to get more ft/lbs. (thus "more deadly") with the same bullet.

Because the 30-30 is designed for (and mostly fired in) the Win Mdl 94, which is a rifle that has an inherently weaker action than, say, a typical bolt action. Ergo, the 30-30 AI also must not have too much thrust, or damage to the action would occur. I trust most recipes in the various handloading manuals reflect this reality.

I doubt the Sav 24 is much stouter than the Win Mdl 94, but I'll bet it probably isn't any weaker either. The one thing that would bother me is that a break-action firearm has no gas relief port as do bolt actions. When one fires a too-strong charge in a weaker break-action firearm, one is confronted with an action that "self-opens" and the drift of consumed powder wafting wayyyy too close to one's nose (yup...I speak from personal experience). Damage to the action could occur.

Consequently, I concur with the suggestions above to utilize some of the recent improvements in lever action loadings. The first year Hornady came out with their 160 gr. FTX LEVEREvolution cartridge, I hesitantly put aside my usual hand-loads. With my vintage Win Mdl 94, I shot my usual spike buck from my usual spot (about 75 yds in the wet woods of western Washington.....hey, not all Western bucks are shot at 1000 yds over vast prairies) and it dropped satisfyingly with the one shot.

It should be noted that when I sighted in that cartridge, it shot about 4" higher at 100 yds than did my RNFP bullet handloads and was also 150 fps faster. That's AI performance just by using Hornady's pointy 30-30 bullets and whatever secret powder they're using (I can't seem to duplicate Hornady's velocity using their bullets and my powders).

Still....it sure is fun to experiment....

Thanks Wilyote. I've been shooting Hornady's LeveRevolution ammo in both my Savage 24 and my Marlin 336. It groups pretty well from both guns, and the deer that I have shot with it have mostly dropped in their tracks, with one just running a few yards. I don't really need a performance increase in my ammo. I just thought that a 30-30 AI would be a fun project.

I have read that handloaders have had difficulty duplicating LeveRevolution velocities, even when using the Hornady bullets and powder. Starting with an AI sized case would probably help, but the improvement may still be small.

Again, this would not be an economical route for me, and a performance improvement of 200fps may be a pipe dream. It still seems like a fun project. Right now I'll just keep researching and dreaming about it.

As stated above with your break-open action you aren't limited in your bullet selection to round nose or flex tipped. Spitzer bullets are not used in tubular magazines because the pointed tips could set off the primers of the forward rounds in the magazine. That would make for a VERY bad day. Spitzers provide much better down range ballistics and will definitely increase your range.

tru dat

There’s probably some differences in velocities with different chrono setups? I can tell you what I found with the 2-94 angle ejects that I somehow ended up with. I got actual advertised velocities (out of my 20” carbine barrels-not using the “optimistic” velocities from 24” barrels). So, I got a real 150-200 fps gain over recommended safe loads out of one of my unmodified .30-30’s. I stayed clear of the Ackley recommended loads as they seemed a bit hot for me. I have another nice AI in .257 Roberts AI that is a real performer also. I have heard that the .30-06 AI might get less velocity actually. I only know what I have seen with my own eyes. Another proven performer for me is th K-Hornet, regardless of what some keyboard commandos would have me believe. I don’t know the reason some people say that there is not much performance increase when my .30-30’s seem to indicate otherwise?