Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles opinion of 280 rem. vs 30-06

Absolutely.

I've owned both. Gave my 280 to my son when he moved out to Washington and replaced it with an 06. Love them both, but lean more toward the 06 today because factory ammo is more available.

Hey Jeff,
Your barrel actually gives above book loads if you're getting 2800fps with a 180gr bullet using factory max loads out of your 22" barrel. The Sierra manual shows a max of 2800fps using 4" more barrel!

I hate reading ballistic tables,but looking at those in the recent Nosler manual,and comparing 140-7mm AB's at 3050-3100 (280),to 165 AB at 2900,and 180 AB at 2800(30/06),pretty clearly establishes the 280 is the flatter shooting of the two cartridges clear to 500 yards.

This squares up with my own experience shooting the two cartridges,and it's easy to see why: the 30-165AB and 7mm-140AB have pretty similar BC's but you can start the 140 from a 280 faster than you can the 165 from the 30/06.And yes the Nosler manual shows one load for the 06 that gets to 3000 with the 165,but IME that is pretty hard to get from a 22" tube;it also shows one load for the 280 that gives 3150 with the 280-140;also IME pretty hard to get.

This is what I have noticed for years shooting the two cartridges.None of this is spot news and the facts are the facts;the 280 shoots flatter,and the 30/06 has the edge in bullet weight and frontal area.I doubt you can see a difference in effect on most game given similar bullet construction.

A 7 rem mag leaves them both gasping to catch up,mostly due to the higher velocity which is easily reached in the slightly larger case,and if I'm forced to carry a 24" barrel,that's what I'll reach for over either of the other two.But that's just me....

Bob... dude... You're gackin'! A moment of weakness? :-)

It's probably a function of coming up in a different era, due to just starting hunting 10 years or so ago... but I don't really pay much attention to how "flat" something shoots at long ranges, within reason, because one way or another, I will be compensating for it. As long as they are in the same ballpark...

The similar BC's (in the example you cite) will yield similar wind drift numbers, and I have come to pay a LOT of attention to that, as that's the thing that still kicks my ass as far as first-shot hits way out there (on targets).

I would take any of the three cartridges you mention, and in a good rifle, be happy as a clam. My next hi-powered rifle will be a 7-mag. Can't believe I haven't had one yet. Very cool cartridge, probably should have gotten my Sendero so chambered but 300 WM doesn't suck, either!

I have taken white tail with both calibers. I like the 140gr BT in the 280. And in the brush I used the 06 with a 150gr PSP . But it your choice.

on my old remington 700 classic 30-06 i had a cryogenicly stabilized super conductive mercury plasma vortex anti gravity field generator mounted just behind the muzzle. it was powered by a ray-o-vac 9v cell.
when shooting flat based bullets of any sort, the 30-06 sucks so badly that the cavitation formed in the bullets wake draws the null grav field along the bullets flight path, in effect extending the nullified gravity zone of the generator. in this manner i can load a 220 gr partition to approx 2100 feet per second which gives full penetration and expansion. bullet speed does not remain constant, but the null grav field negates bullet drop and i could shoot without holdover to any range that the bullet will give sufficient penetration and expansion.

i was developing a vacuum projection device to eliminate the air around the bullet which, due to friction slows the bullet, even in a null grav field. the technical glitch was that the vacuum projector negated air cavitation behind the bullet and the bullet failed to suck sufficiently for extension of the null grav field...

i was working towards a resolution of the matter when i spotted a nifty savage 111 .223 package at a gun show and traded the null grav remington off.

I just bought a 280AI,to me an even better choice.

so, john....

why'd you trade off such a cool rifle???

it seemd a bit light in the muzzle...

Could have added a little gravity to the butt... Duh...

Jeff: Sometimes gack is required;but I knew the answers already,having traveled this path before.

"Flat" is good,cause animals don't always know they need to stay still long enough to be lazed;and the diff between a 30/06 and a 7 mag may not be much,but can save your bacon sometimes

And when approaching the 400 yard mark, the difference is more than a little bit.....

Both are great cartridges...I am a bit more a 280 fan myself

Bob,
I don't own either currently, but I think that, even for elk, I would take the 280 with a good bullet over an ought six.





I will duck now...

Tim: 7 Rem mag, or WSM if you are a short action kinda guy...

the 280 is very good,but the velocity will come easier with the larger cases.And reccoil is still very manageable. I like the 7 mags like RM,WSM or Weatherby over either 280 or 06.JMHO

Bob,I guess if I really want a 7mm, I should just go for a 7mm Rem mag, since everybody seems to chamber for it!

Seriously, the more I look at the ballistics of 7mm hunting bullets, the more I am tempted to try another 7mm at some point.

Sir, I bow to the overwhelming logic of your argument.

Both great. The 30-06 could be pressed into service for big bear with 220 gr loads, so is a tad more versatile from that perspective. On the other hand, the heavy .284s have a slightly higher ballistic coefficient than comparable .308s. That said, my 280 has been the go-to deer rifle for years.....until that upstart Kimber Montana in 7/08 came along.

No contest.

7mm by default,as per always.

Tim: There just is not much done by a 30 today that can't be accomplished with a 7mm (assuming equal case capacity),using good bullets in both,and with less recoil and rifle weight.If I can't do something with a 7mm,I'm going clear to 375,and skipping all the stuff in between

Hear hear!