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

You said magnums hold no advantage inside 600 yards. What am I supposed to interpret that as meaning? That's what you said. Read it.

Is the 280AI the ONLY rifle you own? Haven't you ever taken 2-3 rifles to the range? Say a 223, a 280 AI and a 300 Winn Mag? Do some shooting with each one?

Point being you don't need to shoot 100 rounds (or even 50) in an afternoon to be proficient with a 300 or any heavy recoiling rifle. This is just urban myth. Mix it up to get past the recoil issue.

You don't shoot strings of shots at BG animals in the course of a season. The recoil of a 7mm or 300 magnum should not be a major issue if you practice intelligently with either one. I would not be so insistent on this issue if I had not shout thousands of rounds in magnum chamberings over the years.

We aren't offering alternatives to your opinion because there isn't any single one"best" choice.Some of us have figured that out. We all have our favorites, and our opinions but that's about "it".

You're entitled to your opinion but you aren't entitled to your facts.

Five cartridges I'd pick for general BG hunting on this continent are the 30/06, the 7mm Rem Mag,270 Winchester, 300 Win Mag, and 375 H&H. I'd squeeze a 338 in there if there were room. I don't have to explain those cartridges to you....do I?

In a wildcat cartridge I'd take the 7mm Mashburn Super any day of the week. The FF loads are really a "280AI" if I want to hunt with those, and I can move 175 gr bullets close to 3100 fps if I want. With 160's it leaves the 280AI way behind.Those will work on anything.

Yes, it burns more powder and kicks a little more....LOL who cares? See above.

In less "common" chamberings I'd take a 7mm Weatherby before a 280AI.

Hell I think I named 8! The 280AI won't even make Top Ten!

Case capacity is not that much greater than a 270 or standard 280. Reference the Nosler Manual. With a 150 gr bullet seated the 280AI holds 64.8 gr of powder,and a standard 280 holds 62.5. Top loads show 3100 vs 3020. Not much "Improvement" there.

It's mostly a fad.

Yep.




Nope. If it was, it would be dead by now, not standardized.

Too much effort about the ass end of a cartridge and not enough on the front.

WWPOD?

Well....we'll see where it goes. I don't see rifles and ammo commonly available at any of the biggest stores back here. There was ONE 280AI at Kittery Trading Post yesterday.

Federal loading for it yet? Winchester or Remington? It;s mostly just Nosler far as I know.

I think the WSM's got way more traction in just a few months than the 280AI has had....and the 7mm WSM is about dead, except on here.

The CF is the Nirvana of dead and obscure cartridges.

The guy on the left wins. Is that RBO on the right?

That's BS Jordan and you know it. The guy on the left has better trajectory, but the splash marks clearly show the guy on the right with more retained energy, even though you can't see the headstamp.

Bob, I guess what I meant was that out past 600yds is where you will see the advantage of a magnum cartridge over a non magnum cartridge.

Of your top 5 I would take a 280ai over the 30-06, 270, 7rem mag, and a 338 as an all round rifle, and if it's in a lightweight platform I'd take it over the 300mag as well.

What are "my" facts? Are you suggesting that a 7-08 will outperform a 280ai? I used the example of the ttsx because it just so happened to be the bullet that particular rifle liked best and when I was presented with that particular shot I was able to put the bullet where it had to go, I knew it wasn't an ideal range but to be quite honest I thought it would have preformed a bit better. Given the exact same circumstances with a 7-08 it would have been work. It's all fine and dandy if your 7-08 likes heavy bullets, what if it don't? I also said that the 280ai's recoil is under the proverbial 20ft lb mark, which is said to be the point where recoil starts to subconsciously affect a shooters accuracy for the average shooter.

I know how things work, as soon as soon as someone doesn't agree with your opinion they go on the attack, taking everything that is said as literal and gospel to push their opinion. I don't mind other opinions, as a matter of fact I've been challenging others to give theirs, and by the way I do appreciate your responses, even though I disagree with some of what you say. They tend to be a bit more on the educated side than the critical side which helps add to the thread rather than take from it.

Taking opinion out of the mix, how does that 7mm 140 TTSX @ 3,100 compare to the .277 129 LRX at 3,100?

Or did we already go over this?

Classy Jordan, it's hard to believe how your head has swollen over the years, you used to respond with class and be informative, maybe that's just when you knew who you were talking to can have the same conversation to your face.


Maybe I will, you can pee on my boots then.

Oh please, somebody say it.......I can't bring myself to plagiarize...

That's kind of my point. ALL things are never equal. Every chambering has trade offs. If you want to compare efficiency, the 7-08 is superior. It accomplishes the same things at a lower cost. Recoil, noise, and powder consumption are all greater with the .280AI. Rifle length, weight, and handiness also suffer. If you want to compare performance, well then the 7WSM, 7RM, etc will outpace the .280AI with a minimal addition in recoil, noise, and powder consumption. The 7SAUM has essentially identical usable powder capacity (<1gr difference), but comes in a smaller action/stock package. Barrel life is essentially a wash, and brass life is too, if effort is made to keep necks from splitting. Difference in recoil is negligible, and is affected more by stock design and fit than any perceived difference between the two chamberings.

At the end of the day, they ALL have trade offs. Sure, the .280AI is one of the best all-around BG hunting rifles that exists, but so is the .270 Win, 7-08, 7RM, .30-06, 7WSM, etc. A guy simply has to decide what trade offs matter most to him. How much performance does he need, and how much recoil, noise, powder consumption, barrel life, cost-effectiveness, and rifle handiness is he willing to give up/accept to get it. Bullets make a much bigger difference than the name on the headstamp. Nobody is offended by your opinion, but your arguments behind the opinion don't hold up, as several here have pointed out.

Good point. That stream must have more retained energy and be of larger caliber. Where are the judges???

No offense intended. There are several guys on here that I consider friends, and we've occasionally disagreed and debated back and forth. If a guy can't dabble in a friendly pissing contest without getting offended, maybe he needs to re-think things a bit...

What you say about me may be true, but over the years I've developed an inability to suffer people pretending to speak with authority with no substance to back it up.

I don't think anyone will report you

Ok, I'll do it....


"


You couldn't pour piss out of a boot......

I don't know what it is about this cartridge that gets people so emotional. Guaranteed, if the OP had said "I want to build an '06 (or .270, or .260, or .243) this thread would've run its course long ago.

30-06 = Boring
270 = Gay
243 = buy a Creed
260 = buy a Creed


Easy pattern.

It's the unreasonable claims that people make. No different than "The .270 is clearly superior to the .30-06 as an all-around BG hunting cartridge", or "Barnes bullets are better than Nosler bullets, no exceptions", or "Leupold scopes suck. Vortex is better", "PF actions aren't suitable for serious hunting rifles, CRF is the only way to go", etc.

That's what I like to see, a guy with all the answers.

Thanks!

Well, my mom does make the best fried chicken.