I did some horsetrading and ended up with a couple Montanas, a .223 and a 280ai.
Was wondering what high b.c bullets you guys have found that work in the Montanas short mag length?
Will be trying 7828ssc in the 280 and Tac in the .223
Thanks

Well you ended up with two nice rifles anyhow!!!!

You might be tight but I would think you could fit 162amax's in the 280AI. The 75amax's may not stabilize in the 223, you won't know till you try - if not the hor 75hpbt's will. The mag box on the 223 can be modded to hold as long as you want.

Edit - https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbth...9028746/Re_Montana_tinkering#Post9028746

David

I'd be looking pretty hard at 168 Berger Classics and 150 Skinners....

Tanner

Tanman, what is the usable COL for an 84L MT?

Have you been able to lay hands on the 150 Skinners? I've yet to see them anywhere.

David

I have not seen 162 Amax in a long time around here.
I do have some 168 Berger classic hunters, and 168 nosler ablr

3.365"

I have one box that rosco gave to me. I haven't shot them much at all.

Tanner

Tanks man.

The Hornady 75 hpbt "might" stabilize. Mine won't.

70 grain VLDs in the 223.

I haven't owned a 280 AI in a Montana, but 140 Accubonds made for a really nice combination of speed and BC in a 7mm-08 Montana. The 280 AI could get away with the 160 class bullets while maintaining a flat enough trajectory to not dick with scope settings for a long ways out. I think if I were to mess with a 280 AI again, the 150 Ballistic Tip or 162 Hornady BTSP would be would two bullets I would look at. Dober and clan have used the 150 Ballistic Tip to good effect, and I've plunked the Hornady through a bull bison and seen them used on bull elk, where they worked quite nicely.

The Amaxes are too inconsistent for an all around bullet IMO, and Bergers can be a little funky when presented with less than ideal shot placement, especially on game larger than deer.

Time for a new barrel in 8" twist....

David

The Kimber Montanas I am hunting with this season are the 7mm WSM loaded with the 168 gr Berger VLD and the 270 WSM with the 150 gr SST.

Both are very accurate.

I seat the bullets only as deep as necessary to feed well and they fit just fine.

Very relevant.

I don't think the 8400 has the same mag restrictions that a 84L has.

Oh well, headed to the Bozeman gunshow in search of some talley lightweights for the 2 new to me rifles.

I was being sarcastic.

That was directed at the poster above you, I got your sarcasm.

I'm sure you've heard of point shaving. I think '99 is into a point missing scheme.

He's into something that's for sure.

I can get a kiss with the Berger 168 gr Classic Hunter and they are very accurate.

I will definitely give the Classic hunters a chance in the 280ai.
What kind of speeds are you getting?

I picked up a box of Hornady 75gr hpbt yesterday to try in the 223.
Looks like I should be able to get around 2800fps.

Give the 70 grain VLDs a look. They can be run at mag length, and have the potential for 3000 fps.

I looked for them yesterday, there was not even a space on the shelf for them at Sportsmans or Bobby Wards.
3000fps sounds fast for 70gr in a 22inch

Third Gen and Graf & Sons have them. 3000 is certainly doable in a 22� barrel; check out Ramshot�s data.

Looks like 2950 in a 24in barrel for a 68gr horn in vanilla .223
at 54,000

Will the Montanan withstand the .556 loads at 62,350 psi?
Seems you could really get the heavies moving at those pressures

I�ll just say that I�ve shot the 70s at 3000 fps in a 22� barrel and felt pressure was fine. Though a hundred feet per second isn�t going to change much, so if a guy stopped at 2900 he really wouldn�t lose anything. If I had several rifles I was interchanging ammo between, stopping around that 2900 fps mark could be a prudent move.

As for the 5.56 pressure levels in the Kimber; plenty of folks are rechambering their Kimber 223s to 223 AI and they seem to be working fine. The velocities increases seen in the AI over the standard 223 is primarily due to increased pressure, since the case capacity increase is quite small. Some of the 223 AI data is rather brisk, to put it nicely, and the Kimbers seem to be surviving nicely. At least I have not heard of any issues. So I suspect that many of the 223 AIs out there are running at 5.56 or higher pressure levels.

mine does. it is one of the AI'd ones, and I feed it nothing but 5.56 pressure loads.

I had a Kimber Montana 223 AI for a bit. It was fed loads with pressures estimated to be in the 5.56 range, and worked fine. Nice little rifle.

The 150 ABLR might work nice in the 280 AI !

I am hoping to use 168 class bullets, but the extra speed and shorter OAL would be nice...
I will try the 168 Classic hunter and the 168 ABLR
Both are supposed to work well at SAMMI length

I'm running the 168 ABLR in my 280 Ackley with Ramshot Magnum...getting about 2960 fps in a 26 inch barrel...they are lethal on elk !

I get around 2920 with 7828.