Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Best Bullets for 280 Remington

I have used most of the bullets mentioned.

In the Nosler manual #4, there is a load with the 280 with a 160g at 2930 fps, and it works like a champ. My deer bullet for close range is the Sierra BTSP, you get massive internal damage and complete penetration.

Old School hornady 154g Sp shoots holes through both shoulders of very large hogs, impressive bullet rated as a Elk bullet.

I an the family have shot a lot of 139-140g of various configurations with IMR 4350 and R#19, very small groups abound.

You get round 100 fps more out of the AI, and never any case trimming. The AI starts showing out with 175-180g bullets, Now Treat yourself and use Lapua '06 brass for both...the education begins.

John:

Is there a rule of thumb that you use to determine how/when you've loaded to .270-type pressure?

Thanks

Not John but you work up a load in your rifle that gives you the same velocity that you would expect with that powder and bullet weight in a 270.

For examle,if you are using 140 grain ballistic tips and IMR 4350,you can work up to the same velocity levels that one would expect in a 270 or to within 50-100 fps of the velocity that one would expect in a 280AI. Remember to keep barrel length in mind,don't try to get your 22 inch 280 to equal the velocity of a 26 inch 270 or 280AI.

Start with published 280 starting loads and work up in one grain increments watching carefully for sighs of excess pressure. Stop when you reach the target velocity unless you see pressure signs before you get there.

As a rule of thumb,you can get within a couple of grains of the published maximums for the 280 Ackley without issue.

If loading a 140 grain in the 280, i look at 270 data for a 130 and use that data

I have done the same thing but it's a very good idea to start with published starting loads for whatever bullet your using in the 280. When you reach the maximum load for a slighly lighter bullet in a 270,your are in uncharted ground,good idea to get there carefully

My hunting partner has excellent results in a Kimber Mt Ascent 280AI using 7828 SSC and a 150 TTSX.

Sectional density is very close with the 130 grain 270 VS the 140, 280 so not totally in uncharted territory

Yap, that was eventually the same technique I used. The .280 is capable of a little more velocity than the .270 with the same bullet weights, due to the larger bore. One of my ballistic formulas, listed in both GUN GACK I and II, is used in calculating the approximate relationship. I arrived at it by analyzing published data, and it worked out to be another 4-to-1 ration, like powder capacity: Any increase in bullet cross-sectional area results in a potential for about 1/4 as much velocity increase in cartridges of the same powder capacity but different bore sizes.

7mm bullets have about a 5% advantage in cross-sectional area over .270 bullets., and 1/4 of 5% is 1.25%. Add that to the slight increase in powder capacity of the .280, due to the shoulder being moved a little further forward than the .270's (preventing .280 rounds from chambering in .270s) and the .280s advantage works out to be about 2 to 2.5% % in velocity with the same bullet weight, or the ability to push bullets about 10 grains heavier at the same velocity.

Dunno how much all this matters in the real world, though. Have killed a bunch of big game with the 7mm-08, 7x57, .270 and .280/.280AI, and have never noticed any difference in the way any of 'em killed big game, given the performance of different bullets.

Great info from all of you. Thanks for all your help.

The 140 grain Sierra pro hunter is a well constructed bullet. My son used it in his 7mm 08 and killed many deer with it and shot through every one except the one he Texas heartshot. I was having trouble finding an accurate bullet for my Ruger M77 280 until I tried it and it shot great.

Speaking of, check this out.

These offers don't usually last very long. Well, except the .257 115's and 120's. They seem to have quite a supply of those.

The 180 gr. .30 cal. NPT's didn't last long. We'll see how long these last.

https://www.shootersproshop.com/loa...m-140gr-partition-spitzer-blem-50ct.html

DF

140 gr Nos Bal Tip or 140 gr Nos accubond

Nosler 280AI brass 56.2 gr IMR-4166, 3.34", 3110 fps

thank you DF, I got some 140gr NPTs.

I am one of 'those guys' who haven't had best of luck getting Partitions to shoot, but now I will be trying again with a 280AI and H4350 / H4831sc ....

When they do, they do. When they don't they don't....

My .240 Wby HS Precision loves the 100 gr NPT. It's the best shooting bullet in that rifle, like half MOA at 400 yds.

Other rifles, the NPT is down the list regarding accurate bullets.

Seems to me, there's not much rhyme or reason, just is what it is.

DF

Little bit of clarification .. the subject says .280, the text says .280 AI.

When I had a .280 AI, my bullets of choice were the 160 grain Noslers, partition and accubond. I wasn't thinking deer-only, it was more of a general purpose rifle, so deer, cougar, black bear, and elk. Much the same for the 7mm mag and STW.

I haven't loaded for the standard .280. Spent a lot of time with the 7mm-08. Mine liked 140s. For a standard .280 I'd probably split the difference and look hard at the 150 grain partition.

Some people like 140s in the .280, standard and AI. I lean towards heavier bullets .. I preferred 150s and 160s to 130s in the .270 when I was shooting one. My 130 grain ballistic tip load was screamin' accurate but it wasn't what I wanted to hunt game with so I saved the 130s for big varmints. Not meaning to get off track, just pointing out I'm biased towards heavier bullets.

Tom

Same way I worked up a load with the 160 TBT with RL26, using 270 data, QL and a chrony.


For deer, I like the 150 Ballistic Tip out of my 280, shoots great and last buck I shot was around 130 yards and dropped on the spot.

In my first .280 the 150 Partition shot more accurately than the 140 and 160 Partions, so that's what I ended up using.

But in general I have found Partitions more accurate when pushed hard.

Hornady, Interlock, corn pile

140 grain Sierra Game King. Cheap, accurate, and kills chit dead!!!

140 gr. BST.

About (30) Antelope and (5) deer. All 1-shot kills, but they're all small animals, so no surprise.

Bought some Federal Premium 160 gr. TTBBC for Elk, but haven't used them yet. I always seem to grab a 33 or 35 for Elk, but I'm sure they'd work just fine.