I just quired my first 280. It is a Ruger M77 MII in a Hogue full lenth aluminum bedded stock. I am putting a Pentax Game Seeker 4-12x40 on it.
While I have read a bunch about the round and it sounds like a perfect all in one caliber. What do you all like about it? Have any of you used 100 -115 grain varmint loads? How about heavy 175's for big game? As you can tell I am pumped about it and want to know more.

I built my first rifle as a 280. Like you I felt it was a good all round rifle. Then I went ahead and filled the safe anyway. I used a 280 and the Speer? 115 HP as a varmint rifle for a couple years until I could buy a 22-250. Turned Jackrabbits into a red haze. I prefered the 160s as a heavy bullet in my 280 and now in my 280PDK. Excellent downrange performance.

I love the 280. I mainly hunt deer and antelope with mine. Stick with a 140gr bullet for this and you will fall in love with the 280. The 139 Hornady is a bomb.

ddj

The 280 is my fav. 06 based cartridge. I have one for deer/antelope, but it makes a good combo deer/elk round w/ a 160grNP @ 2800fps. You can go to 175gr bullets @ 2700fps but I'm not sure you gain much. The 160grNP will penetrate very deep, easily make pass thru broadside shots on elk. Here is mine:

My rilfe likes slower powders for 140-175gr bullet wts. My fav. is IMR7828sc. I haven't played w/ any bullets lighter. The bbl. on mine is too light for serious varmint sessions & it is already sighted in for 140gr.

quote:

My rilfe likes slower powders for 140-175gr bullet wts. My fav. is IMR7828sc

Very nice looking rifle. First 2 elk I shot were with a 280 and 140Part. I prefer the accubonds now.

I never used 7828 in mine. But I did use a lot of MRP which would be very close if not the same as RL22.

I have two 280s and both love the 140 grain Accubond. I have only used them on big whitetails but all 5 shot were impressive one shot kills. I use H4831SC with Rem brass and Fed 210M primers. I load to about 2900 FPS and the guns are a pleasure to shoot. I planned to try 160s but never found the need yet. If I were hunting elk, I would try the 160 grains. If I could only have one gun, it would be my 280.

Picked up one in a Ruger Hawkeye this summer. Played with 150 grain bullets and had ok results.Tried 160 Accubonds over IMR7828 and Bingo!!!!! small groups and more than flat shooting enough for me. So far this year two Deer and one black bear with this rifle. I have never even run the load over the chrony and might never as it works so well I do not want too loose the magic this load is giving me by seeing the numbers. What a sweet combo of case, powder capacity and bullet diameter. Should have had one many years ago. Really excellent cartridge that is not as popular as others, chambered in few factory rifles. When you are in between the 270 and the 30-06 life is going to be hard and that's a shame for such an excellent cartridge.

I also love the 280/7mmx64 Brenneke. I believe it really starts to shine with 140 grain through 175. Very versatile cartridge and one of my favorite 06-based cartridges. The others would be the 25-06 and 35 Whelen. Lou

The .280 is among my three favourite cartridges and I am on my third custom one now, with a Brno 21 action and light Kreiger tube being kept for a custom build of another.

I load 150s some, 160s mostly and some 175s, I prefer the 160s over IMR-7828 or H-4831 and the 150s over RE-22. This round is close to "perfect" for most hunting where I live and deserves much greater popularity, IMHO.

My 7MM Express is on a pre 64 fwt with douglas XX 22" barrel, Mickey stock and Leo MX8 6X42 scope. Love to hunt the big S. Texas bucks with this rifle shooting, yes, factory 139 gr Hornady Lt. Mags. It shoots the BTSP into less than 1" all day every day. Same thing with the 139 SST.

I do reload but with this bullet with this accuracy I have just left this one do its thing.

The 280 is one of my favourite cartridges. I have taken quite a few mule deer and whitetails with it. I usually shoot 139 grain Hornady InterLocks over WXR. I have recently worked up loads with the 140 grain Ballistic Silvertips which work quite well.

I bought my 280 as a "do all" as well. As of yet it's only taken whitetail, but its going with me on my next elk hunt and to Africa with me in 2010. Properly loaded, I would not hesitate to take any animal in North America with it, big bears being the exception. I'm toying with the idea of getting one built so I can have two!!

I have a standard M70 Featherweight in .280 (push feed) that I have hunted with for many years. I have taken 4 elk, kudu, springbok, reedbok, warthog, several whitetails and mule deers along with pronghorns.

I shoot 150gr Nosler Partitions and am switching to 140gr Triple shocks - all Federal factory loads. It shoots about 1 1/2 to 2" at 100 yds. I like it, it is light and I shoot it well.

i am taking mine hunting this weekend so i don't know if the loads i cooked up work on game yet.when i get back i will let you know,this is it's first time off the rangeit didn't like the light bullets so i went with 150 gr. and 175 grs.

quote:

Originally posted by ramrod340:

quote:

My rilfe likes slower powders for 140-175gr bullet wts. My fav. is IMR7828sc

Very nice looking rifle. First 2 elk I shot were with a 280 and 140Part. I prefer the accubonds now.
I never used 7828 in mine. But I did use a lot of MRP which would be very close if not the same as RL22.

Thanks! I tried RL22 & vel. & accuracy were lacking. H4831sc is also very good, but for my rifle, 7828sc gives me the highest vel. w/ best accuracy especially w/ 160gr bullets. With 139-145gr bullets, I could shoot either 4831sc, 4831 or 7828 w/ equal success, then, my 280 isn't finicky, shoots everything well.

What velocity/bbl length are you boys running with 7828?

quote:

Originally posted by nyrifleman:
What velocity/bbl length are you boys running with 7828?

Mine has a 23" Pacnor. I get 2800fps+ w/ 160grNPs & 3000fps w/ 145gr SpeerGS or 140grNPs.

If I had to give up all of my rifles but one (heaven forbid) there would probably only be a 280 left.

For hunting in NA the one gun hunter couldnt do any better.. Especially if you are a handloader. They are more versatile than a 270 OR a 30-06 because it will do the same as either..

Heres mine, 280 remington built by Don Geracy 22 inch lilga #1 contour. built to be a light mountain rifle. Gun weighs less than 6 pounds with plenty of muzzel flip and recoil, but will shoot 1/2 inch 3 shot groups at 100 with the 140 grain balistic tips. The accuracy gods shine on the 280 rem.http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm32/zdrive/280002.jpg

Well I wish I could get one here in England! A Remington CDL with sights. Can't see the point of a 22" tube on either a 270 or a 280. Might just as well shoot 7-08 in that case!

enfieldspares

7x64 Brenneke -- the European .280!

(I have both.)

A 280 is my next build project. Smith already has my donor 1903 action on hand waiting. Not sure exactly how we are going to proceed, but likely a 23 or 24" barrel, Timney trigger and B&C stock, all on a matte black finish. Already have dies and several .284 bullets to try out. I'm really looking forward to this rifle, maybe even more then my fancy schmancy ultralight he is building!

love my 280!
sold it once,got a 338 win.
cost me 150$ but own it again!
would take on anything with it,but the big bears,here in N/A.have taken deer and bear with 140,s.i cannot say enough great things about it!
especially now that i going to start reloading!
mine is just a boring old browning a-bolt,with a 3-9x 50 on it.

I was wandering around a gun show a few years ago and a fellow had a 1909 Argetine mauser with a barrel chambered to .280 Rem., a raw stock blank and a Timney trigger to go on the gun. Asking price was $600 and I offered $300. The next day, Sunday, as the show was closing, he still hadn't sold the package so I once again offered him the $300 and he took it. I took it along with a Niedner grip cap and Albrite trap door butt plate to my friendly gunsmith and had him put it all together for me. The gun came out a bit heavier than I care for for use in high country but I tried one box of factroy ammo and one handload. The factory went into groups slightly under one inch and the handload, a 175 gr. Hornady pre-Interlock over a charge of Winchester's WMR powder did three shot cloverleafs that looked like three leaf clovers. I shot four such groups with the rifle and called it good. It cost $300 to get the package and $1,300 to finish it off and I couldn't be happier. Nice Fleur de Lis checkering at 22 LPI, and the stock in true classic style had a lot better looking grain than showed up when it was a plank that looked like a 2x4. Guess I kind of lucked out on that deal.
Paul B.

Indeed, 280 Remington Ackley Improved that is. Turns an already very good cartridge into a great one IMHO. Either 280 or 280 A.I. are great all around rifles which could reasonably be expected to kill any game on the planet if need be.

I also use 4831sc and 140 grain Accubonds. The A.I. boosts the 140's over 3100fps and I used the combo to kill two South Dakota bucks at 350 and 276 yards. Both went pretty much straight down and I got pass throughs on both.

The .280 Rem is one of my favorite rounds. I seriously started being a gun nut in the 80s and the .280 was the "in" cartridge back then. All of the gunwriters were campaigning for it. I've owned a couple, but my current is my favorite. It is a custom rifle built by Dave Gentry for gunwriter John Barsness. It is a lightweight 700 with 3 position safety, trimmed up action, and Garrett acculight stock. I think the .280 (and .270) are about ideal for medium game. I prefer to load 140-150 gr bullets around 3000 fps and have not seen anything better for medium game.

Lou

quote:

What do you all like about it?

The .280 Remington is the only non magnum cartridge that can stand toe to toe with the .30-06 in terms of overall usefulness. A great round!

I'm building one now on a VZ-24 action and it should be shooting in a month or so.

I like that its not a 30-06 and not a 270 lol best of both worlds IMO, and possibly even better then those two! Heavier bullets then the 270, less recoil and flatter trajectory then the 30-06, and you just can NOT knock the absolutely HUGE range of bullets you can load for it.

I also agree that it's a GREAT round and NOT an 06 or .270!! I use 150 Noslers almost excusively. My pair of .280's one a rebarreled Rem 700 26" bbl the other a Wby Ultra Lt Wt have taken eight or ten elk. All with the 150 NP's at about 3,000 fps. All but one were one shot kills. The 3 shot bull stood there at 395 yds after the 1st shot, so I stuck two more in him. He never moved,until he dropped over.

Have taken a dozen? Maybe fifteen... deer and a few antelope ...all one shot kills. Several RSA antelope from Impala to hartebeest...again all one shot kills.

The Rem 700 was recently Acleyized simply as I've always wanted SOMETHING AI'd. Shot my whitey this year at 395 yds. Bang...Drop.

With todays bullets a VERY capable ctg.

FN in MT

I got mine about a month ago.I haven't even shot it yet let alone use it on game but I have no doubt it's one of the best ever.

The .280 is very close to the perfect all in one caliber. I love it in the AI form for general purpose Africa and 175 gr. Recoil is a little heavy for sustained varmint shooting.

It's on my list of rifles to acquire. Congratulations on a fine gun.

I have 2 of them,140 gr and IMR 4350 for me !

the 280 is just about perrrfect
mainly shoot 140's in mine but I have kicked a few other's down the barrel
the 140 is to the 280 like the 130 is to the 270win
I have gone ahead and re barreled my current 280 win mod 70 to 280 ai

quote:

280 Remmington fans out there?

not just yes but HELL YES!

The 120 Hornady SP @ 3200-3300 fps will absolutely smoke ground squirrels and works great on coyotes. I've shot more Hor 139 BTSP Interlocks through my M700 SS Mountain Rifle than any other bullet. 10 shot 3/4" groups with IMR4350 at 2900 fps. 150 Partitions worked well too. I bought my .280 because it isn't an '06 or .270 as well. I'm a Mopar guy too. BUT. That can bite you, and did it to me one out of state hunt when the airline lost my bag but the rifle made it. The all night Wally World don't carry .280 ammo.

Ive got a 280AI.

Trued and rebarreled with a 26" #5 lilja. got a a NXS 5.5-22X50 in nightforce rings and bases.

cruising 162gr A-Maxs at 2900FPS. an absolutly amazing bullet for deer! never used better.

fantastic set up doubt i could beat it! maybe a 3.5-15 ontop....

I have had a few 280's and 280AI's. I barrel my own rifles and have both reamers. I've barreled a few 280AI's for others also. I have a Sako AV at the 'smith right now getting it's CM PacNor blued, it's standard 280 at 24". The AI chamber gets you about 100-150fps at sane pressures so I went std with the Sako. However I might do another AI also, I have a stainless 7mm bore #1 blank ordered from a great barrel maker and a Sako 75 stainless in 270 in a McMillan stock that would make a nice 280AI...or I might just sell the Sako75 and build it on a stainless 700 in 30-06 that I have here....
I like both the 280 and the AI version..won't own a 270 any more...have a 708AI too

My wife gave me mine in 1990 and at that time I didn't know anyone else who had one. It is the most under rated caliber out there IMO. Mine does well with Hornadys, 139-164 grain with IMR 4350 or RL19.

My .280 is a Remington 700RS from the late 80s. The solid synthetic stock is a little on the heavy side but the deminsions are dead on. I love it. The only load I've ever tried is 140 grain NBT over IMR4831. I've killed lots of whitetails and mulies with it. Bang-Flop.