SNAP nothing wrong with a 280AI. Stuck between a 280 and a 7 Rem Mag is a good place to be.Obviously, it's a good cartridge.How could it not be with ballistics comparable to the other two?
But say on here that you never had a reason to buy one ,because you had a 280, and a 7 Rem Mag (everything all around it), and it is just duplicitous,and everyone thinks you hate it.
Nope....if you've used a 280, or a 7 Rem mag,to kill any number of animals, at some point in the ballistic life of both, you've used a 280AI....just depends a bit on distance.Any ballistic table tells us that.
This is the modern difficulty with having so many cartridges to choose from,and having so many so closely bunched together in the same caliber,in terms of their velocity. In comparing them,you bump into quantum over lap.
In answer to the OP's question, I don't think it matters whether you get a 280, or a 280AI. I'd pay more attention to which rifle I liked chambered for either one.
