Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles .280rem

.280rem shooters,

Curious what your favorite handloads are for use in the .280rem. And what kind of velocities are you getting.

Thanks

3000 fps/139-grain Hornady / IMR4350 57 grains/ CCI200 primer. Bolt gun only.

The 120 BT and TTSX with H4350 get an easy 3300+ and shot boringly well. 150 BT with 60.5 of H4831 was a winner right of the bat. Those have been my go to loads as of late.

I run an improved chamber FWIW. Standard will see a hair less obviously with a slightly smaller capacity.

I've used a bunch of powders in the .280, but if colder temperatures might be encountered prefer H4831, which works just as well as it does in the Winchester "imitation .280" they call the .270. With 140's I generally use around 60 grains, with 150's 58.5, and with 160's 57 grains. These aren't found in published loading data, which is pressure-limited due to pump and semiauto rifles, but they've worked fine in several bolt actions.

Wby Mark V UL 280 Remington
140 AB/55 gr H4831SC/2920 fps
140 AB/50 gr Imr4350/2840 fps

Both of these loads shoot under 1/2"

All these loads are good in my Ruger M-77 tang safety with 22" barrel. Your results may vary. All are in R-P brass. All shoot into 1 MOA or less. Bolt actions only. Approach these loads with proper care.

140gr BT, 57.0gr RL-19, CCI-200, 3.333" OAL, 2852fps. Killed lots of deer and antelope with this load until I got a chrono and was surprised by the moderate velocity.

160gr Nos Partition, 56.0gr IMR-4831, CCI-200, 3.321" OAL, 2848fps. Excellent and proficient slayer of elk, large deer, goats, hogs, and such. Will quickly dispatch any North American game except the large bears.

140gr BT, 58.5gr RL-19, Rem 9-1/2, 3.330" OAL, 3025fps. Right at max load in warmer weather. Fantastic load for deer, antelope, goats, and such.

140gr BT, 56.0gr Hunter, Rem 9-1/2, 3.330" OAL, 2949fps. Right at max load.

140gr BT, 57.0gr Superformance, Rem 9-1/2, 3.330" OAL, 2951fps. Max load in Hodgdon manual.

140gr Combined Technology (CT) BT, 58.5gr H4831SC, WLR, 3.330" OAL, 2851fps.

140gr CT BT, 56.5gr Hunter, Rem 9-1/2, 3.330" OAL, 2962fps. Just a little below max.

140gr CT BT, 59.0gr H4831SC, WLR, 3.330" OAL, haven't chrono'd this yet. Have tried this with 59.5gr H4831SC and think this is right at max in this rifle.

154gr Hornady Interbond, 57.0gr Winchester Magnum Rifle (WMR), Fed 215, 3.330" OAL, haven't chrono'd yet. Great performance on a 300+lb northern Missouri whitetail this year.

140gr Sierra flat base Pro-Hunter, 57.0gr RL-19, CCI-200, haven't chrono'd, but ungodly accurate.

Hope these help.

140gn Nosler Accubond and 57.0gns RL19.....2903fps

140gn Nosler Accubond and 58.5gns RL22.....2935pfs

140gn Nosler Accubond and 56.0gns IMR4831..2940pfs



Ruger M77 Mk1 .280Rem 22" bbl

280 AI


160 gr AB. 2975 fps...

24" factory Rem. 700

162 Amax @ 2800 via H4350...

I primarily use three bullets in my 280 Remington 700:
154 Hornady, 162 Hornady, and 150 Nosler Partition. The partiton narrowly gets the best accuracy. Not much differece though. Just under 1 MOA with full power loads. I like Hodgen Powders but the IMR4350 works well, too. I normlly use the 280 for Fall hunting in SD with temps generally < 32 and > 0 degrees F.
I had a 280 on a Mouser. It had too long a throat and too slow twist. It liked heavier round nose bullets best.

Shag,

My .280 handload is a Barnes TSX 140 gr., ahead of 55.0 gr. of IMR 4350, CCI 200 primer, for a MV of 3050 fps out of a 22' PacNor barrel. Very accurate load.

My favorite load in my 7mm Express which I purchased new in 1979 is 57.0 grains of H450 with a Nosler 175gr partition. I get 2800 fps with this load and it is very accurate.

55 gr. of IMR 4831 and a 150 gr. Ballistic tip. Nothing fancy and not too awful hot but it does the job.

Do not overlook IMR 7828.

Been awhile since I had a 280 but when I did, a charge of RL22 and 140's got to 3050 or so pretty easily.

Shag: My custom 280 Remington LOVES the wonderful 140 grain Nosler Partitions.
And I love the terminal performance of these bullets on all manner of game.
Last time I ran my handloads over my Oehler Chronograph they averaged 2,930 F.P.S.
This is a moderate load/speed but the accuracy is such I won't change anything.
Good luck if you decide to try the Noslers.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

Nosler 150 Partition with 58.5 grains of H4831SC. VERY consistent in my rifle, 2925 fps average. Gonna be playing with IMR 7828 in the hopefully-not-too-distant future, though. If it doesn't work out, okay.

55gr of IMR 4350 with the Hornady 139 BTSP gets about 2850 in my 22" Rem700 MR and has delivered sub MOA groups for twenty years.

That's the best shooting load in my 280

Just got great result from 140 grain Nosler Solid Base and 57 grains Ramshot HUNTER. No speed yet...

In my old, now sold Sucks with a 24"bbl, I ran 59grs R-19 with a 139 Hornady at 3150. Was very accurate and great on deer.

Ran 154 Hornadys with 58grs H4831. In that gun they ran 2950ish. Also was very accurate and tough on deer.

Current .280 is a new custom job from Hill Country Rifles that I don't have much data with yet. Im currently shooting 58.6grs H4831 and 150 Nosler Partitions. Running 2870ish. (The last load I chrony'd was 58grs at 2825, so I'm guessing a little at the velocity) Accuracy is good at MOA, but not quite what I'd expect from a custom rifle. My brother convinced me to come off the lands a little from the test loads HCR did, and I worked up about 4 or 5 grains of powder too from their loads which was very accurate. Still some work to do on loads, and may have to send it back after deer season (they guarantee 1/2 MOA with factory pills and said if it was finicky with handloads that they probably needed to look at it), but that's the load I'm currently hunting with, and have taken 3 deer with it since end of last season and beginning of this one. Longest shot was 245 yards.

What this guy said.

anybody using a Magnum primer for the Ramshot Hunter in 280?

I pretty much use .270 data. Currrent load is the CT 150 grain silvertip over 58 grains Of H4831sc.

Yes. Or Win LR.

I was helping a friend load his 280 last weekend, had IMR 4831, IMR 7828 and could not get either of those to come close to a group at a 100 yds with nosler 160 partitions. Had a jug of IMR 4451 and voila, finally a decent group. Did not try H4831, maybe that would have worked.

Yup. My standard load is 60 grains H4831 with a 140gr TTSX for 3050 fps and very nice accuracy.