Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters What's wrong with the 280 Rem?

And if you had either of the others, you wouldn't need any of the others...

Then a Sako in 22 Hornet should be able to run 65k psi too?.......

You obviously haven't read the other posts on this subject.

No XXX XXX, the 280s pressure limit was set for the auto of yrs past. It wasn't set for the cartridge itself. Do some homework.

edited to add:

Now, it's 2:00 pm cst. With less attitude, I refer you to P.4 of this thread and read Bighorn's and Foxbat's posts.

In bolt actions the 280 is/should not be limited to the pressure limits of the auto and especially the Rem 740.

Honestly, there is no reason any modern bolt aciton 280 can not operate at the same pressures of the 270.

This really is not new news!

Extra dough? Sorry but in this economy I forgot what it's like to have anything left after bills.

Love mine to death, shoots small groups with 140 grain TSX, and everything I've shot with it has fallen down promptly.

Have a good friend that probably owns a dozen rifles and they're all chambered for the 280. The only one that isn't is a 243 for his daughter. You'd think he would want to try something different but he won't be swayed.

There is a pretty big gap between them two.You best get a 280 to fill it!!!

The only advantage to a 270 Winchester is it's easier to find ammo. Performance wise... no one with a 270, 280, or 30/06, has enough reason to replace one with another... Purchase and enjoy your good fortune!

What's a 280? Oh wait I'll check the history books.

It was my dad's favorite non-short action cartridge. I bought him a rifle for Christmas many years ago and told him he could pick any standard production rifle in any caliber. He chose a Ruger 1B in .280 Remington.

the biggest advantage that the .280 has over the .270 is that, in most shooters minds, the 25-06 is too closely overlapping the .270 to own both... the .280 not so much...

most any 7mm owner can also find a place for a quarter bore in his line-up...
thus the seed of wisdom is sown....

+1

280 runs lower pressures than a 270 Winchester.

There is a great write up in Ken Waters "Pet Loads" explaining the virtues of the 280 and how it excells over the 270 Winchester.

Some years back in the 60's, family found a real killer load in the 7 Mag with 61g of IMR 4831 with a CCI250 and a 160g Sierra BTSP with turned out to have a velocity of 2950 fps.

I duplicated the load in a Rem 700 with a 24" barrel with a load of 58.5g of IMR 7828 with a Fed 210 and 160g Sierra BTSP at 2940 fps(this load is right out of the Nosler Manual). This bullet/load combo just drops deer in thier tracks in either the 280 or the 7 Mag, and is one of the all time really great loads that I have seen used on deer by many hunters.


For guys that like the 7mm 140g Bullets, the std 280 will do a much better job than the 270 Winchester at coming up with many load combo's at higher velocities, and once again, you will see that the 280 runs less pressure than the 270W.

The BC of the 7mm bullets you just have to like.

I have two 270W currently and I would have liked to turn them both into 280's until recently when I found a load in the 270 for the 110 tipped tripple shock at 3550 with 57g of R#17 with a federal 215...that load is nothing to sneeze at with 2" groups at 300 yards with a 3.5-10 Leupold. Deer do not stop the 110g Tipped tripple shock when shot from any angle...very little recoil from this round; compare this load to a 257 Weatherby.

A few years back, I came up with a load for the 280 using a 120g Barnes X with 50g of R#15 at 3240 fps, really flopped deer and exits from any angle. 49g of C2 was another good load for the 280 with the 120g X bullet at 3160...very little recoil.

If the 280 had been introduced about 5 years ago combined with the powders we have today without all the old pumps and autos out there, you would see some astounding numbers not heard of today. The Ackley Improved version of this cartridge is one of the very best Ackley's I have ever worked with, which will be right on the heels of the 7 Mag with the 140's, but the 7 Mag(especially in customs) will stomp all over the 280 AI with it's capacity to handle slower powders with the heavier bullets.

In short nothing. It has had a couple of issues that have hurt it. #1 the 270 was already well entrenched as the lighter 30-06 alternative. #2 it was always under loaded a bit below it's potential plus the 7mm mag was pretty fresh at that time and everyone was moving into magnums. I actually think it would be a great one gun choice even though I have never had one.

The 270 could NEVER equal a 280.

Remington must have sprinkled pixie dust on the 740s that are chambered in 270 as they seem to be able to run the 65k psi that SAMII has spec'd.

For those so enamored,a 140 AB in 270 has a BC of .496;the bullet easily moved at over 3000 from the vastly inferior 270...

The same weight and style in 7mm goes .485 BC and is started at the same velocities;generally I have gotten 3050 to 3080 from a 22" tube in the 280...in contrast to 3100 or more from 130's in the 270.

All of Noslers figures for the 280 are from a 26"tube;those for the 270 from a 24"....personally I run 22" in both.

BC's for the 150's in both are too close to call,as are velocities.

So....if you see a large difference between the two,on the range,or in the field on animals,you might also beleive in the Easter Bunny. Having shot oodles of both,and hunted with them both as well,my suspicions are long since confirmed.The reasons that I read these highly amusing reports on the 280's "vast" superiority for home entertainment value, only.

Anyone really paying attention, will notice that the real "magic" in 7mm comes with bullets 160 gr and up...and for my tastes,the 280 with those weights, while useful,gets completely smoked by the 7mm's of true magnum capacity.

If I am going to make the leap over the huge chasm that is .007 inch,I am not going to house it in a case of stingy capacity,and run it through the roof in a 24" tube.....I'll take the magnum hull,start the heavies really fast in the same barrel.

THAT is where the difference lies...this will be borne out in the field and the range.You will see it, if you look.

I like the .280 over the .270 simply because i can shoot 175's at useable velocities. A .280 shooting a 175 at 2600 fps will do anything a 30-06 will do with a 180 at 2700 fps.

For deer they are equal but if an elk is on the list then I believe the .280 wins easily.

What would said 280/175 do that a 270/160 will not?

Nothing wrong with the 280, will do the job the 7x64 do since 1917 and is not far from your 30-06 in most standard loadings. Most of good knowledgebable of your gunwriters think the same. Its only problems: it's not a former US govt caliber, never was pushed by proeminent writers like O'Connor and is not magnum...For the rest it kill, and well if bullets are adapted to game and placed where they need to be!

Bob - Very Well put, accurate assessment, & chronos will verify.

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