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

Bob,

I posted early on in this thread that "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." But apparently the Tongue-In-Cheek Font didn't work that day....

I sometimes wonder how some guys come to such absolute conclusions about one cartridge in such a crowded field....curious.

LMAO.....


Gimme a break....

Well bob, when you're done laughing clean the beer off your belly and tell me what is a better cartridge.

A 30-06? I've got one of those that collects dust in the locker. 300mag variety? Had about a half dozen of those filter through. 7mm-08 or 308? They'd do ok if you're shots were <300yds. Powder burners and pop guns.

I posted my opinion in a way to rile people up enough to hopefully come up with an informative response, and perhaps even suggest a more well rounded cartridge for North American game. I also knew it get a lot of responses from people who don't like the 280ai but couldn't come up with a better cartridge.

I like the ai. I like a lot of cartridges. Liking something a lot does not make it exclusive and paramount.

.30/06.

Just cause you have one in your gunsafe that collects dust does not mean it's not a better cartridge.

So 160 NAB in a 280AI smokes a 140 NAB in a 270 by 1" of drop, 1" of drift, 53 FPS and 278 FPE at the 500 yard line.


That's smoking....

The 280ai is quite possibly the ultimate North American hunting cartridge. From the plains to the mountain range, and from western blacktails to the speed goats of the prairies, the northern whitetails, Utah bull elk, right up to the Alaskan moose, it is at home. It might not be a first choice for a 1000yd gong shooter, but as a practical hunting cartridge I can't think of a better all round cartridge. There are a few that would fit the bill, but when you average the trajectory, with the kinetic energy, felt recoil, bc and bullet selection, if you reload there isn't a better cartridge. If there is id love to hear what it is?

The 280ai is quite possibly the ultimate North American hunting cartridge. From the plains to the mountain range, and from western blacktails to the speed goats of the prairies, the northern whitetails, Utah bull elk, right up to the Alaskan moose, it is at home. It might not be a first choice for a 1000yd gong shooter, but as a practical hunting cartridge I can't think of a better all round cartridge. There are a few that would fit the bill, but when you average the trajectory, with the kinetic energy, felt recoil, bc and bullet selection, if you reload there isn't a better cartridge. If there is id love to hear what it is?

RBO: How would you expect anyone to respond to this?

Your post sounds like the add copy for some new Nosler cartridge in the back pages of Petersens' Hunting......You can't really expect me t take any of what you wrote seriously can you?

If you want a (partial) list of cartridges that will and have accomplished all the same things that you say the 280AI is suited for we can think about the 270, 7x57, 280, 284, 7SAUM,7mm WSM, 270 Weatherby,7mm Weatherby, 7mm Rem Mag , 7x61 S&H,7mm Dakota,28 Nosler, 30/06, 300 WSM, 300 H&H, 300 Win Mag, 300 Weatherby,30 Nosler, etc etc.

I'd toss in the 338's. They can do the same things but I always regarded them as specialized sluggers in a different category.

I didn't include the 6.5's because the list would start to get ridiculous and you have to draw the line somewhere but obviously many of them are capable of taking exactly the same game you mentioned and at the same distances as well. An old now deceased acquaintance of mine killed a couple of grand slams and all the African plains game with a 264 Win Mag....so.......

If you want to talk about wildcats the list gets longer and the low pressure fire form loads for my 7mm Mashburn with 140 gr bullets easily equals the performance of the 280, and at less pressure,...... while leaving the 280 AI completely in the dust with anything from 140 to 180 gr bullets with full house Mashburn loads. That's from rifles with the same action length and a 24" barrel weighing 8 pounds and under. The 7mm Weatherby, 7 Rem Mag and STW will do the same things.


Some of these cartridges are a bit slower in velocity than a 280 AI, some are a bit faster with the same or heavier bullets and have the case capacity to meet or exceed 280AI velocities very easily....and with heavier bullets to boot, but all kill the same animals in much the same fashion if you pick a good bullet and place it right.

So...in all those categories you mentioned, I could just as easily apply a 30/06, 7 Rem Mag, 300 Winchester mag,270, 280, 7mm Mashburn or Weatherby..... or any of the others mentioned above and stack animals on top of one another from one end of the continent to the other. I could do the same thing with a 280 AI but there isn't anything particularly distinguishing about it except in the bowels of the imaginations of fans like you.