CMA,
I've had very good luck with Douglas barrels. I think they are the equivalent to the shilens and Kreger's I've used.
I like the matte stainless with matte blued reciever as well. But for this project I want gloss blued. Personal taste.
Whitehorn,
Ackley Improved generally speaks of pushing the shoulder forward, increasing the shoulder angle, and minimizing the body taper of the cartridge. Most if not all Ackley's can be fireformed by shooting factory ammo for the parent cartridge in the "improved" chamber. Afterwards you size your brass with a "improved" sizer and now you have a case that has more case volume which in theory should allow more powder and greater velocities. The beauty is that if you must it is perfect acceptable to simply fire factory ammo through the "improved" rifle, so in essence I would have a 25-06 & a 25-06 A.I. all in one rifle.
I own a 280 and it has been my long time favorite cartridge. I've thought multiple times of rebarreling it to the "improved" chamber, but never have. I've also had a affinity for the 25-06, So in a brain storm I thought it would be a perfect oppurtunity to build it as well as My Ackley Improved rifle. Its a strong belief of mine that my gun cabinet isn't quite full because I don't have an Ackley cartridge in it.
Please don't ask what I intend to use this rifle for. Because I just don't have a good answer. I have other rifles that are equal if not superior to it for almost every quarry. I'm sure my wife will ask that dreaded question at some point. So between now and then I may need some help coming up with a good answer. So far all I've come up with is: "because (our son) took my 270 WSM." Never mind that I didn't need the 270 when I bought it.
