Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles 280 AI - SAAMI vs Original - Fire Forming?

Simple enough question: If one orders a 280 AI with a SAAMI spec chamber, no thanks to Nosler, can brass be fire formed from standard 280 Rem, or not?

I started looking into it after hearing a rumor that it couldn't be done. Didn't believe it, figured I could find the answer pretty quickly. Good joke. There is so much nonsense and argument about it out there, right now, there's no way to be sure.

I figured I'd post it here and hope someone has actually tried it in a Nosler or Kimber, or other SAAMI spec rifle.

So, any of you guys have a SAAMI spec chamber 280 AI and try fire forming with standard 280 brass? Results?

Thanks!

Best -
Andy

No question at all that it works. Especially if you are talking brass vs. Loaded factory rounds. You could always run them in the AI size die if the crush fit was too tight in the chamber.

Thanks, that's what I figured. Wanted to hear it from someone who'd done it. There's a lot of suspect stuff making the rounds on forums in regard to the change and the two different sets of dies, fire forming, impossible to chamber factory 280 ammunition anymore, et al.

I'd be doing it with both. I've got 360 pieces of brass and 80 rounds of loaded 280 Rem that I'd rather not bother to pull and reset with.

Much appreciated, Ken!

Best -
Andy

Haven't fireformed but a couple of thousand of em over the 30-something years I've been shooting my 280 AI. No problems here.

The only hiccup I've noticed with the 280 AI, is don't expect to be able to take another guy's once fired AI brass, resize it, and be able to use it in your rifle. About 90% of the time, it just doesn't work. Any time I've had my AI rebarreled I usually end up throwing my old brass away....just happens that way.

Best of luck!

I do not have one, but if it is a true AI, you should be able to shoot the parent shells, and fireform your brass. Other ways to do it too, but it should work. miles

Yep, I know how "conventional" AI fire forming works, which is what prompted the question. There's a bunch of yapping and fussing going on about how the new SAAMI version of the 280 AI set up by Nosler is just enough smaller/different than the original Ackley version that standard 280 Rem loaded ammunition will not chamber, not even firmest crush fit.

Equally loud is the accompanying rumor that brass formed or sized in the original version, then fired in a SAAMI version chamber will have headspace issues. That is more concerning from a safety standpoint, of course, though it has no bearing on my post.

Redding and RCBS both make two different dies, labeled differently to accommodate older wildcat chambered rifles and new SAAMI chambers.

Now, it might all be rumor started by folks looking to make some money by cornering the market on brass and new SAAMI chamber reamers and dies and so forth, or more likely by well meaning, properly cautious types who haven't done anything but worked things over with a micrometer. But, practically speaking, if it's true that 280 Rem loaded ammunition will not chamber, then that completely negates one of the established and perennial side benefits of an AI'd cartridge and rifle.

So, I was trying to get to the bottom of it with someone who has actually fired standard 280 Rem ammunition (or tried to) in a SAAMI chambered rifle.

Thanks for the input, gentlemen! I appreciate the time and thought.

Best -
Andy

My opinion only, but if you can't use the parent cartridge in it, they should not be allowed to call it an AI, just an improved. In fact my 7mm08 dies and rifle chamber are marked 7mm08 Improved, not Ackley although they fit the criteria. Ackley never did a 7mm08. miles

For anyone tracking this thread looking for the answer: I picked up my rifle, today. SAAMI 280 AI chamber. Factory loads, leftover hand loads with neck sized brass from my last .280 Rem, and fired brass from the same .280 Rem. All chamber just fine, no strain, no trouble, no concern.

Best -
Andy