Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics what scope for a 280 remington?

Depends on the rifle it's going on imo....tried a vx5hd 2-10×42 on a Rem 700 mtn rifle .280. Perfect mag range but being 30mm tube was too big for my tastes...so I just traded back for a like new, never mounted, VX3, not the 3i, in 2.5-8×36. Darn that scope fits good. Hate Leupold or not, this combo works. Btw, haven't checked out in person the new VX3i, but the scope I had before was a VX3 2.5-8×36. Very pleased with it and glad I found it.

🙂. Sounds like a fixed 4x or 6x with LRD’s, or 2-7x (2.5-8) or at most a 3-9x. You don’t need an elev turret to 300 but if going beyond, it helps.

For ex with a 6x LRD, you can kill a whitetail at 50 or bang a gong at 500. Simple, solid, light.

At 300 yards or less, the extra magnification isn't gonna do much other than help you see holes in targets. I'd get the 3-9x of the two listed choices.

My Mauser actioned 26" Shaw heavy Sporter barreled .280 sports a 3.5-10x40 VX-3i. Hate Leupold or whatever, I have no issues with it what so ever. Inside 400 yards there's no need to do any knob twisting. I set mine at the range and use Hold Over and Kentucky Windage. I've got some Berger 168 grain VLD hunting bullets that mine shoots real well over 53 grains of IMR 4831. I haven't chronographed that load yet but it's inside 1 MOA at 100 yards. That's plenty good out to 300-400 yards. It's a real sweet rig with that scope.

I have a 3.5-10x40 Leupold VX-3 with a Boone & Crockett reticle on my Rem 700 Mtn rifle in.280. So far it has worked great. Shoots sub moa as far as I want to shoot which is around 400 yards max.

Just ordered up a Zeiss V4 4-16x44 with a Z-MOA reticle for my 280AI. 😎

400 yards twice & 300 yards comfortably, without hesitation. That was with my 280 Remington. My 280 AI pushes 140’s to 3200 too, but I have yet to air it out on a field target. Shot 500 yards at the range.

I have a 2-10x and a 3.5-10x on my .280s...those selections just reflect my own preferences. I could get by with a 4.5-14x, a 6x, a 2.5-8x, or even a 4x or 1-4x. A 6-18x or 6.5-20x would be ridiculous in my opinion, but if that's how a guy wants to roll then I say that's what he should use.

À chacun sa vérité.

I'd get a 3-9X for your .280. It's a bit lighter in weight/length and doesn't have an adjustable objective to worry about in the field.

The 3-9X is as accurate and should do everything you want to do, include spot antlers, if necessary, before the shot.

My 280 has two scopes set-up for it: Vortex Razor AMG 6-24x50 and SWFA SS Ultralight 2.5-10x32. It is not a super light rifle, but it is very accurate so I like to shoot pretty far out with it when I practice. I like the idea of having a lot of trigger time with my rifle, hence the crossover precision scope (AMG), that works very nicely on 6x. However, the tiny 2.5-10x32 does exceedingly well on it out to 300 yards and if I did not spend a lot of time shooting beyond 600 yards at the range, I would probably just keep the Utlralight on there. For shooting offhand, the lower magnification the better for me. I shoot notably better offhand on 2.5x than I do on 6x.

That brings us back to your original question. I would probably lean toward the 3-9x36, unless you plan to spend a lot of time in low light, where a 50mm objective of the 4-12x will have an advantage.

ILya

I’m currently running 4 different 280s. 3 wear Leupold VX3i 3.5x10x50mm, the other a Zeus’s Diavari 3x9x42.