Thread: AI switch barrel rifles

Hi Guys ,

I thought posting this as a thread would be of help to more than the one person I had ask me about using one AI rifle for multi- calibre's , in this case , a 338LM & 308 .
Accuracy International now make 3 different actions & 4 different rifles .

1) A short action , used on the short action AX rifle , and the AT ( basically a old AW rifle with the new QL , quick lock barrel ) , so 308 class calibres using a 10rd AW mag

2 ) A long magnum action , used on the AXMC , optimised for the 338LM round .

3 ) A 50 BMG action , for the AX50

If you use a AXMC in 338LM , you can run , 308 , 300WM & 338LM , all require the correct barrel , bolt & magazine , and in the case of the 308 , it needs a mag well adapter as well as the above .

Why , AI designed the AXMC due to a US requirement for a special forces multi calibre rifle , being able to use 308, 300WM & 338LM , and it does not need to make sense , its what they wanted .

So I was asked what I thought of getting a AXMC in 338LM & the required kit to be able to use 308 ammo as well .

I will post some pics of some of the AI rifles I have that are similar , I will do that later .

For now , its my opinion that , instead of getting 1x rifle & all the kit to enable use of a 308 ammo , I think the best course would be to buy 2x AI rifles , a AXMC 338LM in 338LM , and a AT in 308 , in simple terms the price difference would be very close , I estimate , around 1-2k over the price of 1x rifle & a 308 barrel kit .
So it is a bit more expensive , but a far better solution in all ways other than cost , and thats reasonably close .

Later Chris

If you want a switch barrel the AI
Would be a retarded choice.

No doubt about it, the AI are a very accurate and reliable system.
They should be however, role specific as they would have to be the dumbest choice for any green role employment.
Far better options in that regard imo and as a huge blaser fan I would not give them a look either unless it was based off a sporter weight and profiled system.


Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk

It s funny how the concept has existed for a while now, at least from the early 90's! Maybe not marketed the best at the time, or they were to much ahead of their time:
PGM precision:
PGM Précision
https://m.youtube.com/watch?list=PLy...gI&mode=NORMAL
PGM would give AI a run for their money easily!
ERMA. SR100:

ERMA SR100 .338 LAPUA & 300 Win Mag for sale (937017440)

RE: PGM , I think the PGM uses AI mags in both of its versions , 308 & 338 , also , I think the 338 rifle uses a Aluminium receiver and not a steel one .

Anyway , here are some pics of my AI rifles , the new current QL ( quicklock ) actions are basically the same as the AW & AX338 actions with the addition of a " H " cut in the bottom half of the action , its easily seen , with out removing the 4x bolts and seperating the action from the alloy chassis stock , sort of like the split clamping on the AI spigot muzzle brake , thats sinced up with a allen head bolt thats accessable on the outside of the rifle on the RH side .

Here's pics of the AI AW 10rd mag & the AX338 10rd mag , similar but bigger etc , the bolts are from the top , AX338 , AWM & AW , why because the new AT rifle uses the short action of the old AW , but has 6 lugs instead of the 3 lugs of the old AW rifle , and as the AWM ( 300WM ) has 6 lugs , thats why that pic is there .
The bolt dia on the AW , AWM & AWSM is 20mm , the AX338 is 22mm .

Actually , the German rifles are interesting , for Germany like the USA , really hate to use gear thats not designed and made my them selves .
As far as I know , the Germans really wanted a German rifle , but trialled the AI almost under protest in the 2nd round trialls in 95 in 30WM , the 1st round trials where 308 and in that trial the 2x AI AW where purchased & trialled & un-offically from GSG-9 sources say the AWs were the best weapons tested to date .
Anyway , in the 95 trial , they shoot the Mauser SR93 sort of a German AI chassis rifle , Keppeler KSII & Erma SR100 , once the dust settled the winner was the AI AWM in 330WM .
RE ; the Erma SR100 it lives on in the Bulpup version made by AMP DSR-1 , and both of these rifles use a Aluminium action receiver , and thats fine for a unstressed part , But one area on a Aluminium action that does not stand up to use is the actual cocking cam/area of the bolt , and on these rifles you will see a little steel plate insert above tha bolt handle to take the wear .
In German service are at least 3 AI rifles , the G22 ( AI AWM 300WM ) , the G24 ( AI AW50 in 50BMG , KSK ) & the G25 ( AI AW covert/suppressed ) .
In US Delta used the AI AWM 300WM , in the recent PSR trial , the AI PSR/AXMC rifle was not chsen , instead the remington entry won , big surprise , I hear the actual end users of the Rem PSR rifle are unhappy with it , Opps .


Back later after tea

Reports on the AXMC magazine adapter block are not so good , the 1st ones are a nylon/plastic & allowed the AW mag to move up into the action too far sometimes as it had no height stop compotent , the new ones are machined out of Aluminium and have steel fingers that prevent the magazine from riding up too high into the action body .
Also realise that the 10rd 308 AW mag was designed for the AW short action & the 20mm bolt , and not the 22mm bolt of the AXMC 338 rifle , or the bolt throw etc .
I donot know for sure , as I have not used one , & its too early to hear end user feed back on the reliability of running 308 in the AXMC 338 rifle , but think it maybe not be as smooth or as reliable as running a AW/AT short action AI rifle when using 308 ammo .

So to me the using the AXMC 338 rifle in 308 is not optimised for the 308 , where it is for the 338LM round if that makes any sense .

Cheers Chris

Just 2 other things , in all the pics of the conversion kits the bolt assembly is not fully complete , its missing the firing pin assembly , so you would have to check when ordering if thats the case ( you need to factor that extra cost in as well ), also the AX & AT rifles have a aluminium mounting rail , and on the AT its quite high so you can mount forward NV , sporting services does make a rail thats much lower , and that is a better option than the std AI rail if you run just day optics .

The guy wanted a AI sniper rifle , and not a sporting rifle , he also has a requirement for AI threaded barrels & brakes etc , if that makes any sense at all .