P. O. Ackley Explained

Parker Otto Ackley
Birth Date:25 May 1903
Birth Place:Granville, New York
Death Place:Salt Lake City, Utah
Nationality:American
Alma Mater:Syracuse University
Known For:Ammunition designs
Occupation:Gunsmith, author

Parker Otto Ackley (May 25, 1903 – August 23, 1989)[1] was an American gunsmith, barrel maker, author, columnist, and wildcat cartridge developer. The Ackley Improved family of wildcat cartridges are designed to be easily made by rechambering existing firearms, and fireforming the ammunition to decrease body taper and increase shoulder angle, resulting in a higher case capacity. Ackley improved not only standard cartridges, but also other popular wildcats, and was the first to create a .17 caliber (4.5 mm) centerfire cartridge.[2]

Biography

Ackley began gunsmithing full-time in Oregon in 1936, but was interrupted by World War II. In 1945, he established a new shop in Trinidad, Colorado, and soon became one of the largest custom gunmakers in the United States. He was also on the staff of the magazines Guns&Ammo and Shooting Times, and was an instructor at the Trinidad State Junior College from 1946 to 1951, where he did much experimentation in the field of firearms.[3]

Wildcats and Ackley Improved Cartridges

The following is a list of Ackley cartridges, both "Improved" versions (requiring only fireforming) and more complex versions involving case length reductions or caliber changes. In addition to being easy to form, firearms chambered for the "Improved" cartridges could fire standard factory loaded ammunition as well, allowing a shooter to use commonly available ammunition if the wildcat loads weren't available.[4] [5]

Other research

Ackley was not just a wildcatter but a researcher as well, often testing firearms to destruction in the search for information. He also produced a number of experimental cartridges, not intended to be practical, but rather to test the limits of firearms. One of these experimental cartridges was the .22 Eargesplitten Loudenboomer. This humorously named cartridge was developed by Ackley for Bob Hutton of Guns & Ammo magazine, and was intended solely to exceed 5000ft/s muzzle velocity. Ackley's loads only managed 4600ft/s(Mach 4.2), firing a 50gr bullet. Based on a .378 Weatherby Magnum case, the case is impractically over-capacity for the bore diameter, and so the cartridge remains a curiosity. The advent of new slower-burning smokeless powders may have changed the equation.[8]

Further reading

External links

Notes and References

  1. https://www.deseret.com/1989/8/26/18821327/services-planned-monday-for-gunsmith-parker-ackley Deseret News | SERVICES PLANNED MONDAY FOR GUNSMITH PARKER ACKLEY
  2. .17-Caliber Ultra Bomb! . Dave Moreton . May 1968 . Guns & Ammo . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20071228023724/http://www.gunsandammomag.com/classics/bomb_1007/ . December 28, 2007 .
  3. Book: Handbook for Shooters & Reloaders . P. O. Ackley . 2011 . Plaza Publishing . 978-99929-4-881-1.
  4. Web site: Wildcat cartridges . ReloadBench.com.
  5. Book: Cartridges of the World, 10th Ed. . Krause Publications . Frank C. Barnes, ed. Stan Skinner . 0-87349-605-1 . 2003.
  6. Web site: Pumping up the .223: experiments with a self-loading .223 Ackley Improved . 2008-06-10 . April 2003 . Dave Anderson . Guns Magazine.
  7. Web site: 270 Winchester Ackley Improved.
  8. Book: Ackley , P.O. . Handbook for Shooters & Reloaders . 12th Printing . vol I . 1962 . 1927 . Plaza Publishing . Salt Lake City, Utah . 442 . 978-99929-4-881-1 . 2008-02-13 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170708215841/http://www.gswagner.com/bigreloading/refmaterial/ackley.html . 2017-07-08 . dead.

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