Gentlemen... I've narrowed down my M1999 long action project down to these two. The rifle will be a long range deer, antelope, caribou, African plains game rig with a 26" (perhaps longer) barrel. The intent will be to work up a good 150gr. Partition load and see what she'll do...

Your insights are appreciated.

Thanks,

.280AI. Plethora of 7mm bullets of any wgt and construction. Standard .280 ammo fairly common. Wby ammo is outrageously expensive and rare.

Why not the 7mm Wby Mag?

[ 02-09-2003, 08:57: Message edited by: Nebraska ]

Nebraska

I agree with you
A 7mm rem mag or a 7mm weatherby would do fine if you are thinking about Africa

/ JOHAN

I didn't list the 7mm's because I already have a 7mm Rem and handloaded, I don't think the Weatherby 7mm has much of an edge.

I agree with the financial arguement that the .280 is much more cost effective. Not only from a brass perspective but from the amount of powder you need to burn to get a fractional increase in velocity.

Jigger 6.5

If you already have a 7 mm rem mag what is the point of getting simular cartridges??

Why not get a 257 wby or a bigger cartridge like 300 wby, 338 win or 340 wby or a 375

/ JOHAN

[ 02-10-2003, 02:57: Message edited by: JOHAN ]

Good point, Johan....

Right now I've got a .300 Winchester, a .300 Weatherby, a .338 Winchester, a .358 Norma, a .375 H&H, a 6.5/06, and am having a .257 Roberts (AI) built... I was lackinging something in .277 caliber and the .270 Weatherby sounded intriguing. But, upon further review it seems like it's much more expense to shoot and with 150gr. bullets, you don't have much performance increase over the .280 AI...

I ought to just consider the medium bores covered and build a .416 Remington!

Do the .270 Weatherby, the cost for cases or what have you is not all that much compared to what you are spending on that rifle. You buy a few hundred from mid way or who ever and you will be shooting for the next thirty years. Once you settle on a load, hell you will not be shooting whole lot, My gess this is going to be a hunting rifle, so you are looking at a few dozen shots a year. Besides, its good to be different. If I was looking for a new toy I think I would do a 270 Weatherby myself. You don't see a lot of them in camp.

Yep, Jeff - I like the .270 Weatherby. You can get cases from Midway, and Federal makes ammo and cases. The .270 Wthby will beat any load from a .280 AI by a bunch of FPS. People find it hard to believe, but I get over 3600 FPS with IMR-7828 and a 130 gr bullet. This is from a 26-inch barreled MKV and has been chrongraphed several times. If you already have a 7mm Mag, why "downsize" to a .280 AI?

And believe me - there are plenty of .277 bullets available to choose from!

If you already have a good 7mm Rem the 270 Wby isn't going to do anything the Rem can't duplicate. I would suggest you make up a nice lightweight 280 or 280 AI. It would fill the gap between the 7mm Rem & the 257 you are building.It would make an ideal deer,antelope,sheep type rifle that would be a whole lot more fun to carry up & down the side of a mountain than a 9lb mag.

Whats the recoil like with that load Calif hunter? Also what model weatherby do you have? and its weight? Thanks

Also my pick is either a .270 wby or a .257 wby.

270 Weatherby. Possibly something in 8mm: 8x68s or 8mm Rem Mag?

Jigger 6.5 I agree with your last post. Build a 416 Rem or a 450 Lott. You got all the small and medium bore stuff covered.
The nice thing about a 458 is that you can have good deer and pig loads with reduced recoil because of the many different [and inexpensive] bullets available.

Boman - I normally shoot an unbraked .300 Wthby, so the recoil seems okay to me. It is my friend's MKV with MacMillen synthetic stock and he has a muzzle brake on it. I'm not sure of the weight, but it seems like 8 pounds - it is not a heavyweight.

I don't see the .280 AI having that much over a regular .280 according to my manuals. (Nosler has the AI rounds' data. I think it is 3100 FPS or something like that with the 150.)

Here is how to save a half pound of rifle weight and $100 at the same time. Build a 270 WSM on a 1999 short action and also eliminate the belted magnum web separation headache at the same time.

If you really want something in .277, why not a 270 Win. Ackley. Saeed uses one extensively and seems to think very highly of the round. Since you already own a 7 mag. a 280 Imp. seems awfully redundent?!
Just a thought,
Elk Country

Cali, I didn't know you were over here too! Hell, let a stranger buy you dinner and he keeps just showing up! LOL

Haven't seen much info on the .270AI but it sounds like it makes sense... not quite .270 Weatherbvy numbers but an increase over the standard version...

The .416 is sounding awfully tempting... even have a nice piece of exhibtion grade walnut to put on it!

The 280AI will not shoot as fast as the 270 Weatherby. But in the accuracy department it will beat it. But then again shooting big animals, such tight groups are not needed.

The .270 Wthby is an awfully good round. So is the .280 Ackley. I have shot and hunted with both a lot. In fact they have been my main deer rounds for years. There is no practical difference in actual use. Of course the .270 Wthby. is faster, but the average deer doesn't seem to notice the difference. There is no difference in accuracy between the two if the .270 is set up right.

Savage 99 - do you have a real problem with magnum case head seperation? I'm not trying to be smart, but I have probably shot close to 100,000 rounds of magnum ammo over the past 21 yrs. and I've maybe had two or three head seperations. I just don't see that as a problem.

Jigger6.5,
Yup, I would also conclude that it seems you about have the medium bore diameter calibers covered. I would seriously vote for the Rem 416 and suggest TO GO BIG ! Sure wish I could get one in that Caliber soon...... Damn the Tax time...
Dennis

I've got the answer! Go with the 460 Weatherby Mag. It will satisfy both your Weatherby and big bore fixes. The ammo will cost an arm and a leg, but looking at what you currently have and what your looking to spend, it's a drop in the bucket. Just get some padding for that shoulder though. Even with a brake, those things kick like a mule.

savage99, "magnum web seperation headache"... Is this something new? I'v been shooting magnums of one sort or another for almost 40 years and have never had a head seperation of any sort. I don't, as a rule, motor my rifles at top end in any calibre but I do lot the cases and shoot them until I start getting neck splits and then trash the whole lot.