.25-06 Ackley Improved

.25-06 Ackley Improved

- R.H. VanDenburg, Jr.

R.H. VanDenburg, Jr.

The years following World War I may well have been wildcatting’s Golden Age. Opportunities abounded with quite a few holes in the lineup of factory cartridges. On the other hand, smokeless powder was still in its infancy and choices were few.

Parker O. Ackley was a custom gunsmith and an exceptionally active experimenter. Prior to World War II, he operated out of Trinidad, Colorado, but his most known address in the postwar era was Salt Lake City, Utah. He had more cartridges with his name attached than any other known wildcatter in his era. Despite the distance of time, some of his developments – notably the .30-30 Ackley Improved, the .257 Roberts Ackley Improved and the .280 Remington Ackley Improved – enjoy considerable popularity today.

A wildcat cartridge is one that is not chambered by major manufacturers nor is loaded ammunition available from major ammunition producers. They can generally be divided into three categories. The first involves the changing of the neck diameter, up or down, but nothing else. The .308 Winchester is an excellent example. It has been necked to .22 caliber by several people, but none of the resulting cartridges really caught on. Necked to accept .243-inch diameter bullets, it became the .243 Winchester; necked to 6.5mm, it became the .260 Remington. Wildcatters necked the cartridge to accept .284-inch bullets, resulting in the 7mm-08 Remington. With .338-inch bullets, it became the .338 Federal. Winchester modified the case to take .358-inch bullets and gave us the .358 Winchester. All these variations began as wildcat cartridges.