Alright guys, someone school me on the AI. I just bought a 280 AI Kimber off of a member here on the 'fire. Now, where do I go from here?
Should I buy 280AI ammo, or buy 280 Rem ammo and fireform, or??
I do reload several centerfire cartridges, so I will be loading for this as well, at some time. What's the best route to take?

Buy some nosler brass and a set of dies and you're off and running...it's a great chambering...enjoy!

I just got one too. If you buy .280 ammo to fireform in it, make sure you get it all from the same lot otherwise the brass might vary.

I bought some Nosler AI brass and some .280 brass, both work well. Nosler's expensive but really consistent and straight, and you don't have to fireform.

The Nosler 140gr Accubond factory stuff is pretty good in my Montana, around an inch for the couple groups I have fired..

If you don't want to reload right away, you don't have to.

Regardless, I would use correct headstamp.

I got a Kimber Montana last spring.

I thought I'd use some new WW '06 brass I had on hand but it didn't work out. I've done some fire forming like making 7mm STW cases from WW .300 H&H. Used the same process ... false shoulder, bullet into the rifling, tight enough to be a bit of a crush fit, but for some reason I never figured out all of my new "AI" cases exited the chamber on the hairy edge of case head separation.

Rather than fight it I picked up some Nosler .280 AI brass and never looked back.

I've been loading using Nosler, not Hodgdon, data. My best accuracy has been ... 120 VMAX / max load of H4831, 140 Accubond / max load of RL22, and a half grain under max with IMR 7828 behind a 160 grain partition.

Tom

captbutch,

As others have already hinted, Nosler brass is very good, and these days usually more consistent than Remington .280 brass.

Hello friend, congratulations on your new rifle. At one time, I had a 280 AI. I had to FF the brass to reload the ammo. I would make a load that shot well, used it for fun stuff like yotes and rocks. I really liked the round, it's great. I'm sure you will like it too.
If I were you, I would buy Nosler AI brass.

Take care.

OK, I think I got the hint;-) Nosler brass++ I just ordered some (Wow!! they're proud of it) also set of dies and a couple boxes of Green box Rem 280's (for fun ya know) to play with. What's the bullet of choice? Any pet loads? Thanks for all the help!

Cap,
My bullet of choice is Barnes 150 ttsx as an all-a rounder. 62g of RL22 gets me 3050 fps out of my 24" barrel and great accuracy.

Lapua 150 and h1000

I used Norma 280 REM brass , nosler was just to much money for something I can make with the wonderful joy of shooting.

My Montana loves Remington fire-formed and Nosler brass, Fed 210M, max load of Re22 for warm weather, max H4350 for cold weather behind 140 TTSX.

Load development over!

I also have been trying to use up 6 pounds of IMR4831 behind 140 grain Nosler BTs. They shoot almost as well and make for excellent practice and antelope loads.

Ramshot Magnum and H4831sc have been very consistent in my 280 AI..

captbutch,

The Nosler brass is pricey, but one advantage of their .280 AI cases is unless you abuse them, by trying to turn your rifle into a 7mm magnum or resizing them too short, they'll last a long, long time, since any sharp-shouldered round doesn't stretch much at all.

Thanks Mule Deer,I'm not a hotrodder so they'll probably last a long time for me. Ordered some Remington factory ammo also just to see how that works out. Kinda retired now and have some time to play.
fredIII, i would be real happy with that kind of results with anything I would put together! Some good trigger work too!

I would say to buy the Nosler brass also. I use H4831 and 140 VLD Bergers. I have 2 of them and use the same combo as mentioned above with slightly different loads. Both shoot lights out. Love that caliber!!

Besides super accuracy the VLDs are devastating on game

My primer pockets are holding up well and the Nosler brass is very uniform, both neck thickness wise, and weight wise. Pricey but will last a long time IMO

Good luck with your rifle. You won't have any regrets

89,
How far are you jumping the 140 VLD Hunters in your 280 Ackley?
I use the same powder and the same bullet and they do very well.

Thanks,
Dave

in 34 degree weather using factory Nosler ammo

...............Claimed.....Actual.........spread..... diff
140 ABs........3150........2983............49.........-167
150 LRABs......2930........2904............10.........-26
160 NPs........2950........2736............31.........-214


IMR 4350 and 145 LRX



IMR 4350 and 150 TTSX is also sub half inch too

Taco,
Where you at on the IMR 4350 (grains) with the 145LRX's?? Using what primer??

Thanks,
Dave

55.5 and fed 210

For what ever reason my 280AI really likes the slower burning powders mag pro, h1000, imr7828 and IMR 7977. I tryed RL 17 and h4350 with OK results but the .4 and .3 are with the slow burns.
I also really enjoy a 160 Accubond at .75 for 5 shots with 59 grns of IMR 7828 and CCI 250 in Norma brass.
Another good one was 150grn seirra GK with 57grns of mag pro shoots in the .3 for five shots. I will try to find pics of the targets.

RaceTire
One is jumped .015 and the other .025.
3075 FPS on one and 3135 on the other

140 Accubond
63 gr N165
CCI 200
3/8" @ 3200 fps

You are going to love the 280AI. Awesome round and very accurate!

JD338

captbutch, looks like you got lots of good info but I will add a couple of things that might help others, and ask a question. If wanting to fireform from other headstamped brass, use .270 as it will make your brass long enough, but there will be another step needed as you will have to neck up and then down to get the false shoulder. Lee expander rods have a taper that expands your .270 to .30 caliber easily, and you can do it in a Lee universal decapper. How would you mark the base of your .270 cases to make sure they are noticed as something except .270? I am thing of just coloring the base with a magic marker, but am open to other suggestions. miles

You will like the .280AI, get a Nosler reloading book and a chronograph if you don't already have them. And, a Lee collet die. Also, you are likely to see some wild ass velocity claims on the net so be careful because the pressure to achieve such speeds may put you and your rifle at some risk.

55.5 IMR 4350, Fed 210, 145 LRX only gets me 2970 from a 24" but I don't care. Too accurate to let that bother me.

Fire forming is good shooting practice...do some off hand shooting and such...

How are things down on the border?

Had a bunch of 280AIs and this current one in the SAAMI version is the best of the bunch. Nosler data has been good for this rifle running book speed or slightly higher with book loads.

Things are just a whole lot easier w/nosler brass. Anneal and they last a long time. Pretty much stick with 140s for everything it gets used for.

tag

I used once fired .30/06 brass but had a few potential separations resizing the false shoulder in the A1 dies so changed to using standard .280 dies for the shoulder forming and that proved easy.

No issues after the first firing and it permits cleaning up the surplus bullets on the reloading bench with range time.

The most difficult task for me is deciding on a bullet from 110gn TTSX through to 175gn ABLR's or Partitions. I have 14 different 7mm bullets on my bench.
John

I have two 280 AI's, both remarkably accurate. My Nosler 48 consistently shoots Nosler Factory 140's into 1/4 inch 5 shot groups, and my Kimber Mountain Ascent digests handloaded 160 AccuBonds into 5 shot 1/2 inch groups. I've long been a fan of 7mm's, and own several 280's, 284's a couple of 7x57's, and a 7mm SAUM, all fine calibers that have performed marvelously in the field. This year I took a Kudu, Gemsbok, Impala, and Warthog with the Nosler 48 and a nice bull elk and mule deer buck with the Kimber. I can't imagine a better caliber for all big game in N. America, except maybe grizzly and brown bears. You've purchased a great caliber, have fun.

And here I was thinking they were the same caliber...

Now, now. He's the FNG here....be nice

I started with Norma 280 brass and fireformed using 140BT atop 56.0 gr. of IMR4831. These shot exteremely well, enuf to take down a Scimitar Horned Oryx at 200 plus yds. and win some egg shoots in the past. I have now loaded some Nosler 150 gr. Accubond LR, Nosler 160 gr. Accubonds, Hornady 162 gr. SST and some Berger 168 gr. VLD hunting with Retumbo. These I will take to the range over the winter to chronograph and fire for groups. My 280AI has a PacNor 26" SS match bbl. and is an accurate rifle as long as I do my part. Try 270 brass necked up to .284 and fireform. These I have found work well. BTW, I neck turn all of my brass regardless of manufacturer, debur the flash holes, uniform the primer pockets and chamfer the necks inside and out. At this point I have so much 280AI brass I will not run out in my lifetime. You will like the 280AI. MTG

Muley Crazy -

Some of us make the distinction between cartridges and calibers.

W E L C O M E----to the Fire.


Jerry

Few folks seem to concern themselves with the distinction 'twixt caliber & cartridge.

Called it illiteracy when I went to school.

I appologize to those for my mistake. Likely no one else has ever made a mistake on line. It makes one feel so welcomed to this campfire when some feel compeled to correct a newby. Let's hope for a world where mistakes will never happen again.

Fingers crossed here!

Don't take it personal.

Most here will just let it slide, because they know what you mean

Words mean things....

Fixed it for you

Zing!

Nouns are words................

But all words aren't nouns

(Philosophy/Logic 101)

No worries. I was just thinking that a rifleman as accomplished as you seem to be would appreciate the difference between cartridges and calibers.

That just means that all words aren't nouns.
Doesn't change the fact that all nouns are words ; which is what I said....

62g of RL22 with Nosler Brass and Nosler 140g Ballistic Tips has been my most accurate load so far. I will find a load that works with 160-168g bullets soon and hopefully have all my bases covered. 150 TTSX's are tempting also.

Wow, a lot of great info here! Thanks! Can't wait to try some of these loads. Merry Christmas everyone!

I am seeing that you just have 3 posts. That is quick to be acting all butt hurt and everything. People here are quick to take advantage of such things. They do this with other than newbys. miles

I was thinking that a good way to be welcomed to the campfire would be to provide some useful information in response to the OP's question, rather than making it all about yourself, all the rifles you own, how accurate they are, and all the animals you've killed with them. That sounds blowhard-ish to me, which is the only reason I took the opportunity to correct the obvious mistake.

Following it up with a whine makes me glad I did.

Well done. Parsing posts is a good start to becoming very fine mother some day.

Now that I have parsed your post and the rest of the grammar squad's, it should be noted that the 7x57 is the caliber and the rest are just more cartridges.

And to add something to the original, RL22 & MRP also works well for me with 140s. Got the best speeds, along book guidelines, with RL19. N165 also very accurate. Tough to go wrong unless you pull a picky barrel.

What? You parsed my post? I feel so unwelcome. Perhaps you should parse this.

Is the plural of newby newbys? Or newbies?




P

Innernet speak does not require spelling accuracy.

Welcome to the campfire.

Many dismiss this cartridge as an unnecessary improvement to the 280Rem. I have found that it shoots best with near max loads and hits a velocity/ recoil sweet spot for what I hunt.

7-08, 7x57, 280, 280AI, 7SAUM, 7WSM, 7RM, 7Wby, 7LRM, 7STW, 7RUM, 28 Nosler, whatever else...

lot of unnecessary cartridges there but sometimes we just want something different. The AI is best of course

It certainly would be if it was necked up to .29 caliber....

Always wanted to neck down the .280 Rem to oh say,.277". Then push the shoulder back a wee little bit.

Ahhh.....someday.

Sounds gay....

Could name it the .270 Ingwe Improved.

But if it was " Improved" it damn sure wouldn't be a .270.....

Words hurt...

Please don't report me to the Cyber Bully police!

I can't be bought,but can be bribed.

Stop that.

[quote=Muley_Crazy]I have two 280 AI's, both remarkably accurate. My Nosler 48 consistently shoots Nosler Factory 140's into 1/4 inch 5 shot groups, and my Kimber Mountain Ascent digests handloaded 160 AccuBonds into 5 shot 1/2 inch groups.

I use these two examples cited earlier as proof that the 280ai is the most amazing cartridge ever

Good thing you didn't say "caliber," I'd have been all over that.

+1

Nothing to really add here until I do some load development in my own 280AI.

But a +1 gets me one step closer to my Guide/Bwana/Kahuna merit badges

The firearms industry uses 'caliber' to denote cartridge.

Jerry

Yes, I know and they do it because using the correct terminology, "chambering" is confusing to some people.

When you sell that Nosler rifle, the ad should read...." The World's Most Accurate Hunting Rifle..."

The 280 Ackley already is a 270 Improved....

Exactamundo!

O'l Stick used to say that the 280 Ackley was the best thing ever to happen to Springfield brass.

chambering is GAY - AFAIC

We shouldn't condemn those who use caliber for the cartridge, after all rifle makers do.

I don't think I've ever seen a rifle box that used caliber for the actual caliber.


Jerry

Semi-custom hunting rifle that consistently shoots 5 factory rounds into .25" should be immediately put in a firearms museum and never shot again.

or the book.....Ripleys Believe it or Not...

Perhaps it's bore was impregnated with Unicorn antler dust?

Talking about impregnated bores and unicorns in the same sentence makes this sound like a .270 thread. The .280AI has NOT caught the gay.

Unicorns have horns, not antlers........


Think caliber/ chambering.....

Yeah,sure it is.

A Horn. At least here unicorns have a horn.

My dog dragged one of those big two-horned things into the yard that you put a pic of up. Pointy--you can't leave them laying around.

Jerry, FWIW I agree, we shouldn't "condemn" anyone for that, and I don't believe my comment went that far.

As I explained earlier, the only reason I made the flippant comment was, the guy's post struck me as being blowhard material. For the reasons stated. He also made a very similar post on the .257 Wby. thread " I have one, it's uber accurate, and I killed some great animals with it."

First two posts, all about me and my rifles and how accurate they are and all the animals I've killed. If he'd waited until the third or fourth posts, I wouldn't have said anything but I can't stand a blowhard.

If he'd taken it and come back and told me to GFM, I would've respected that, but he chose to whine so he gets no relief from me.

Plus, commenting on his use of the word "caliber" was more polite than calling BS on the consistent 5-shot 1/4 inch groups from a factory rifle with factory ammo., as others have pointed out.

I suspect there are plenty of people in the Forum that have experience with killing Unicorn. Perhaps they can weigh in on the structure of the horn/antler as well as the level of rifle accuracy required to take one.

I don't know what the 7LRM is or what it was based off of, but the 28 Nosler does offer something the other hyper-velocity rounds don't in that it works much better in standard LA rifles (magazine length) being shorter in length while still offering max powder capacity. Brass quality, according to John B, is supposed to be very high too. Downside is the price of the brass. When making a rifle based off of something like the 28 Nosler, I just accept the fact that it is a specialized rifle and concessions will need to be made.

Hey Smokey - I did't see your response yesterday, don't know how I missed it. Haven't been ignoring you.

Okay - I can see some of ALL this. I didn't read all of the 257 WBY thread so I haven't compared his posts.


I only noticed he is 'new' here and try to give newbeys a little wider birth than us OLD hands. (I'm not sure how to spell newby - newbee- newbey ?)
I haven't searched his posts but I haven't noticed him posting after his response.

Thnx for your answer. Sorry I missed it.


Jerry

edit to add: I just checked his post count and it's STILL 3.

No worries J, maybe I was just being a d***. I promise to cut the new guy some slack, if he decides to post again.

I was just having fun with the 1/4" 5 shot groups. If true I want that rifle.

My 280ai is built on a ruger action with a 1-9 26" tube. I tried lots of bullets and powders but it just didnt really like anything i tried. My fireform loads shot awesome with 175 sierra spbt. so i tried some 180vlds with some old h-870 i had lying around and found a charge of 60gr shot a ragged hole at 100yrds thought it was afluke so loaded it up some more and it loves that load. Not sure on the speed never had the chrono out. but i went up to 66gr and that was max and the accuracy fell off after the 60gr load.

I replicate antlers for a living and have never been asked to replicate unicorn antlers...just sayin. :-)

I've shot my beloved 280AI for about 30 years now, and am continually blown away with the accuracy of my fireforming loads...crazy ain't it?