I was fortunate enough to win a Rem. .280 tonight at the Rawlins Wy. RMEF dinner. I have never had much exposure to this round before. Any thoughts on this round? This is my first Remington....plenty of Brownings and Win.'s...This Rem. kinda makes me feel like in need a bath

Great round. What the .270 Win was meant to be (but Big Green's marketing department got in the way -- introduced in pump and autoloader platforms so reloading data has to be kept low.) If you handload the variety of bullets and potential to tweak out your own loads in a bolt action rifle are satisfying. You can go up to 175-grainers, depending on what your rifle "likes". I have had more than one .280 Rem and the 7x64 Brenneke which preceded it in time ("European .280") uses the same load data BUT the brass is not interchangeable. My 7x64 in CZ 550 format, that is. Enjoy!

It's a great round with advantages over all it's relatives.

DITTO what has already been said. If the 280 had been introduced in the M700 bolt action instead of a pump & semi auto the future of the 270 Win would have more than likely been rather bleak. Jackass Conner or no Jackass Conner.
End of story.

Well said, Humbarger--especially about jas o'c

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This Rem. kinda makes me feel like in need a bath

Well, if you feel that way, you can send it to me. I'd give it a good home where it would feel appreciated.

Seriously though, when I decided to have a full blown custom rifle build, I went with a 1909 Argentine, 24" Douglas barrel (I like them) a beautiful piece of walnut and chained my gunsmith to his work bench. What cartridge? Why the .280 Remington of course.
I'm in the process of working up loads with various 160 gr. bullets and will most likely take it on my elk hunt come December.
I've used the .270 and the 30-06 and we all know what those two will do. With the .280 in the middle, how can it go wrong?
Paul B.

Thanks for all the comments and advice. Here is my plan....I am going to pimp this rifle out to the nines. Before I pick it up I will have the bolt face trued and the action bedded.

For optics still undecided between Huskamaw or something nice from Europe.

Got a nice Ebelestock pack to tote it in, so I am about set for Elk for a while.

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Originally posted by Cheshire:
Thanks for all the comments and advice. Here is my plan....I am going to pimp this rifle out to the nines. Before I pick it up I will have the bolt face trued and the action bedded.

For optics still undecided between Huskamaw or something nice from Europe.

Got a nice Ebelestock pack to tote it in, so I am about set for Elk for a while.

If you have the bolt face trued you will also have to havs the barrel set back & the chamber recut. UNLESS the headspace is on the minuim side right now which I doubt.

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Originally posted by Cheshire:
Thanks for all the comments and advice. Here is my plan....I am going to pimp this rifle out to the nines. Before I pick it up I will have the bolt face trued and the action bedded.

I encourage you to put off the metal work and simply bed it and shoot the rifle. Most Rem700s will shoot just fine (1 MOA or less) with a bedding job and handloads. My M700 Mountain Rifle in .280 will easily group 5/8" for five shots @100 with ease, hot barrel or cold. It has only been bedded in the original stock.

Truing the action and keeping the original barrel is a waste of time and money in my opinion. But to each their own. Good luck.

If it doesn't shoot as is then true the bolt face AND have the bolt lugs lapped to the reciever lugs while you're at it. The rear face of M700 lugs are usually rough as a cob as they come from the factory & at best MIGHT have 50% lug contact.

I would like to mhear a report on the rifle out of the box before you fix it up much.
The 280 is a good round , but i like the 7x57 so well, i don't have a 280.

Have it bedded, trigger to a nice crisp 3#. Shoot it and see how it does. Have you had your Brownings and Winchester actions trued and reworked before checking the accuracy? In 30 years in the gun business I have seen very few out of the box rifles from either company that will shoot "better" than a Remington.

I have had two remington 700s in 280. The first was one of the most stable rifles I have ever had putting 139hornady, , 162 hornady and 175 gr power points into a inch and a half group at 200 yards. It was so good I wore out the barrel. The second is a 280 mountain rifle which is less than a one inch rifle. These were untouched except I had the triggers lightened to 3 and a half lbs. I have never had a remington which wouldn't shoot well without work except the trigger.

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I encourage you to put off the metal work and simply bed it and shoot the rifle.

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I encourage you to put off the metal work and simply bed it and shoot the rifle.

+1 I've always loved the 280 over the 270. But there probably isn't a dimes worth of difference.

Hell I would pick it up, clean it mount a scope and shoot it to see what you have.
Why on earth would you start bedding and trueing and such on a rifle if you don't even know if it shoots great now?
I've seen plenty of rifles Win, Rem, Ruger that shot great sub MOA and some half that right from the factory. If it shoots like that what would you hope to gain?

I agree with Snellstrom. Shoot it. If nothing else, you'll have a benchmark against which to compare.
Take it apart, clean it good, and shoot it. Unlike your Brownings and such, Rems are noted for shooting well right out of the box.

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But there probably isn't a dimes worth of difference.

About 25 grains worth of difference last time I checked....(factory loads)

When one is looking at a "semi marginal" (for large game) caliber that 25 grains looms large IMO...

As a deer rifle the difference is zero....but as an elk/moose cartridge the difference is well worth the extra available in the .280.....

great american version of the 7x64 --

no practical difference between the 2... or the various other 7s .. until you hit heavier bullets.

most 280s are exceptionally accurate.

great win.. in my not so humble opinion, it is one of the best mediums.

quote:

Originally posted by D Humbarger:
DITTO what has already been said. If the 280 had been introduced in the M700 bolt action instead of a pump & semi auto the future of the 270 Win would have more than likely been rather bleak. Jackass Conner or no Jackass Conner.
End of story.

Really!! You would think that after 55 years some part of your ststement would be true. I like the .280 I think its a great round, but the above has no merit.

Hell, the WSM was introduce barely 10 years ago and "blew" by the .280

Even better advice today and I'm going to take it. One because it is good advice and the other is because I bought a LH Mauser in .300 win Mag. today! and if I slip that by the boss with little to no grief I am getting the same in .375 H&H. Pretty sure those will keep me busy until Archery Season kicks off. Thanks to the Lefties here at AR. The Zavasta's will be in in mid May.

So with all that my daughter has laid claim to the "pretty" Elk Gun, so it will get some nice glass and the adjustable trigger will be parked at an even 3#.

Not really meaning to bash Remington I am just one of those guys that when I find what I like I stick with it....(26 yrs with same boss/wife) always drive Fords....When you find perfection kinda stick with it. My thoughts of Pure Perfection Pre '64 Win in 30-06 be tuff to beat. Like a 16 Ga.Parker just can't be beat.

Hey Jon. The 270 was not much and a jonnie come lately as compared to the elder 7x64. Copycant

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About 25 grains worth of difference last time I checked....(factory loads)

Let's see only rifle I own that shoots factory (other than 22lr) is my Dakota Model 10 in 25-06. It puts silvertips in sub .75moa groups with 85s and 115s less than an inch apart.

First rifle I ever built was a 280rem. After months of study I felt the 7mm gave me a touch better balistics than the 270. At the moment my mind can't remember owning a 270. However I have loaded for a number of them. Hard to go wrong with either. Or Jeff's 7x64.

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Originally posted by jeffeosso:
Hey Jon. The 270 was not much and a jonnie come lately as compared to the elder 7x64. Copycant

Only by a few years, I suspect that Winchester didn’t have a metric slide rule, or the patience to train his machinists, it was America back then. Even still, the 7x64 suffered the same fate as other inferior cartridges.

No really, on another note, I would love to have a 7x64, especially in the Sako Bavarian, but lack of factory ammo kills that deal.

Jon
I know you are joking. Lack of factory ammo? Go to grads.com and type in Hornady brenneke
3006 brass is easy to form and the throat + twist make it ideal for heavy for caliber bullets. It's laughable that Winchester was unaware of one of the premier hunting rounds in Europe, an they were certainly aware of metric bullets. Heck.348 bullets. ONE cartridge used that yeah?

Further iirc the entire .277 bullet evolved from British experiments.

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Originally posted by jeffeosso:
Further iirc the entire .277 bullet evolved from British experiments.

Yep we have the Brits to thank for that bastard bore size.

on a dead man's grave?

You guys need professional help

friar

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Originally posted by friarmeier:
on a dead man's grave?

You guys need professional help

friar

Cabin fever, plus this forum has been a bit soft as of late. Sometimes you just cant help yourself when someone tosses a juicy pitch right down the pipe.

But seriously, the .280 really doesnt start to gain any speed unless you "improve" it!

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jeffeosso

I dont reload, therefore I need factory ammunition. I have too many other hobbies.

Growing up my dad hunted with a 7x64 open sights and I think a mauser?. His dad brought it home from WWI. It had since left the family, but I have always wanted one.

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the .280 really doesnt start to gain any speed unless you "improve" it!

I have a 270 Win and a 280 Rem. The HUGE advantage of the 280 Rem is that it is a "true" 7mm unlike the 270 Win.

What does that mean?

Well it gives a much greater range of bullets, inclusing the "exotic" European TIG and TUG type bullets, it also, the one BIG advantage gives 165 and 175 grain bullet weights.

Not so important? It is in some European countries where a legal minimum 10 gram bullet weight is LAW for some game...and 10 gram is exactly 154 grains.

So the 270 Win (except where SAKO made, specially, a 156 grain bullet) can't achieve that with reasonable priced "cup and core" offerings.

As others said I'll add. The 270 is a great cartridge....it would just have been more verstatile in .284" calibre.

The 280 Remington, for those that need that flexibility, offers that desired .284" calibre. But if you shoot bullets of less than 150 grain then the 280 Rem offers no real gain over the 270 Win.