Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles 280 AI......I want one. Tell me all about it.

So. I have inherited my Dad's 280 Rem Browning A bolt. It's a shooter even without the silly BOSS thingy on it. Yes, I have screwed it off and shot good groups without it. I just had to try it. He always wanted to make it an AI but never got around to it. So, I have researched the 280 AI some and now I want one. I have the Abolt and a Ruger Hawkeye in 30-06 that could be donors. I'm going to put a 24" 280 AI on one of them but would like to hear from those of you who have a 280 AI. From what I see the 280 is one of the better AI's not saying the 280 is a slouch. Perhaps a 280 AI and a 30-06 AI.

The bulk of the 280 AI's velocity gain over its parent is the higher pressure; only about 75-100 fps comes from capacity. I've had one and as much as I like the Ackley shoulder I'd probably stick w/ standard if I were to do it over again.

That having been said I'd leave my dad's rifle alone and use the Ruger. I'd make sure to get a fast-twist (1-in-8") SS tube and a chamber that lets me seat 162 AMax (ELD) to less than mag box length. That's where the 7mm's strength is IMO.

Good luck with the build! It's a great deal of fun with a lot of enjoyment there!

I have owned 3 different 280AI on an older Ruger 77 and 2 on Mausers.All seem to be more sensitive to the distance the bullet is of the lands.If you decide to use one of the other actions measure the magazine box to make sure you can seat the bullet about .030 off the lands.sometimes this won't allow the loaded case to fit into some magazines.
I have shot a lot of 140 Barnes TTSX which are long for the weight,but overall I think the 160 Nosler Partition is better.

Send a pm to hillbillybear.

Mine is built on a 700 , I like the 280AI cartridge it outperformes the 7mag. by a good bit .

I just had to say that .laf kidding of coarse.

What's not to like -great middle of the road cartridge -not overbore -good brass [nosler] , basically you can forget about trimming brass .
Mine was built by Nathan Dagley @straight shot gunsmithing , have shot 1" groups at 300 yards on a good day.
It loves every bullet I've fed it 162 amax/162hornady bthp/140nbt/160 accubond those combo's cover a lot of ground.

Get the Browning done -your Dad wanted or wants it that way .

I had a 280AI built this past spring using a pre 64 model 70 action, Bartlein barrel, Timney trigger and McMillan Sako Hunter stock.

I haven't seen enough (accurate) velocity increase over standard 280 to justify the AI. If I had to do it over I'd go with a 7mm Mag.

Gee...what a revelation.

I could not agree more.

2012 called, they want their cartridge of the year back. Doesn't everyone want a kreed these days??

If you want 7 RM velocities that's the way to go but not everyone needs them. Not to mention the standard bolt face the OP is starting with. As someone already said, the AI occupies a nice niche, and is very versatile. Very little you can't do with the AI. Even if the A-bolt doesn't have the 24-inch barrel you (the OP) wants, if it were me I'd just re-chamber it to AI and blaze away. You might decide you don't need a 24" barrel.

Yup.

Just never thought much of the cartridge.

Wouldn't bother with a 30-06AI. Been that route and not worth it IMHO.

At least the 208AI is popular!

I like the AI for it's longer reach potential.

I also like it because it doesn't kick (to me) like a 180 in my 06.

In fact I had a 270, and 30-06.

Now the 270 is a 9.3x62

And the 30-06 is getting rebarrelled for 280AI

Unless your shooting 160's, it's pretty much just an ugly 270.

280AI is a great caliber, but then so is the standard 280. There is a very, very small difference between the two on paper, and zero difference in the hunting fields.

A Ruger 30-06 is a reliable, rugged tool that will perform as well or better than a 280 with good bullets and handloads. Re-barreling a 30-06 to 280 is just spending good money to take a giant step sideways.

If you want to play around with a 280AI I think it's a better value just to buy one, then you end up with another rifle, but if you are not going to handload I wouldn't bother with a 280AI, and I wouldn't build anything on a Browning.

Most of this stuff just boils down to personal preference and doesn't really make much difference to the targets...but that's not a real good sales pitch.

As much as I love the .280AI I would not recommend rechambering a Browning ABolt as they can be a real pain in the ass to get factory barrels off the action.

With the boss system on a 22 inch barrel you will also wind up with a very short barrel (i.e. 20 inch range)if you have a thread cut off and set back during the rechamber process as it should be done to do correctly.

If you have a hankering for a .280AI I would suggest you have a good smith build a good rifle using good parts.

Ballistically, the .280AI is about the most bang for the buck you can get in a non-belted case.

I have two loads worked out for mine. It is the wildcat version rather than the Nosler SAAMI version and neither load is a gross overload trying match the 7Mag.

One is the 120 grain Nosler BT at around 3325 fps for use out to 500 yards and the 162 AMAX at 2850 fps for use beyond 500 yards. Both give superb accuracy and the 120 NBT is a deer slaying machine.

The 162 load could be run a bit faster but the accuracy is so good that I never chased more speed and it just plain works on targets or game.

The .280AI brass also seems to last forever with no trimming needed.

Aught6,

I've owned two .280 AI's and fooled around extensively with another. It's a great cartridge, in fact it's just as good as the .270 Winchester and .30-06 Springfield--except for the fact that you can't buy ammo everywhere.

They will get very close and sometimes equal to a 7 mag, especially when comparing to factory loads. They love a full case of slow powder like RL22

Ahhhh, scratch what I said earlier. Never had an A-bolt re-barreled, but that's why I like this site, always someone who has.

Another option to consider is a Kimber Montana chambered in .280 AI. Mine shoots great, as do all the others I've heard about. They are a joy to carry and shoot. And if you re-barrel a decent donor, you'll have about the same money in the rifle. If you go that route, check with "Shortactionsmoker" of Whittaker Guns on this forum, he has really good prices and great service.

Thanks for all the insight. Thinking I might just buy a rifle in 280AI instead if dicking around with trying to make one. I will probably thank myself later for going that route.

Aught6, I really like my two .280AI's and will finish my hunting career with them. I am a loony and small, read unimportant, details mean a lot to me. In the real world, with your dad's .280 and the M77 30.06 you've got the bases well covered. If it's a new rifle you want and you're not a loony, buy or build a 7RM. P.S. Don't tell BobinNH I said this because I've been trying to convince him he needs to try a .280AI.