Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters 280 Rem and elk

Just picked up a Ruger M77 Mark II in 280 that is a RMEF edition. Never seen one of those before. Have a buddy that has a ton of rifles but they are all chambered in 280. I think he would try to use them on anything that walked the earth. I myself am not so optimistic. I would feel more comfortable yet with my 7mm Rem mag on elk. I'm sure the 280 would do just fine most of the time, but what about a long shot or a shot where the elk isn't in the best position. I would think the heavier bullets and added velocity would shade the 280 in less than ideal conditions. My buddy doesn't think so.

I've never had a problem killing elk with the .280 Remington. Load the 139-grain Hornady Interlocked or, if you are really a pessimist, the 154 Hornady Interlocked and you're good to go.

They simply fall off the canyon wall ... most sincerely DEAD.

Steve

There it is. (The voice of experience)

I've killed elk with both the .284 Win and the 7mm-08 Rem. Both are just a tiny bit less powerful than the .280, but not nearly enough that any dead elk would notice.

Both were one shot kills with no tracking. Ranges betwen 80 - 150 yards.

You'll absolutely never see a difference in performance between the 7mm Rem Mag and the .280 Rem on game. The .280 is totally fine as an elk round. Big, thundering, heavy-recoiling magnum fans notwithstanding, it doesn't take a .338 RUM to kill an elk. All it takes is a bit of good hunting and a rifle you know and shoot well in something like.... .280 Rem.

And, if you forget the hairy chested stuff, you are likely to shoot it better.

Steve

Use 160 grain Partitions. Absolute elkicide. Learned about 7MM rifles with my first Mauser in 1956 and elk are shaking in their hooves.

Wayne

Since the 270 Win is revered as an excellent elk round in many circles, then why not the 280?

Versus the 7mm mag, the 280 will do just fine. Sure! The bullets are slower from the 280, but within all average kill distances for elk and even out to 500 yards or more with the right bullet, I cannot see why the 280 won`t do just fine.

Not so optimistic? Want an example??...... If a Berger (hunting) VLD from a 7mm Rem mag can effectively kill bull elk with enough downrange velocity and energy out to 900 yards (with the right optics of course), as I`ve seen on TV, then certainly a 280 Rem can do the job within all reported (long and short) AVERAGE hunting distances for elk, which are mostly all within 500 yards.

You don`t necessarily have to use a Berger VLD with a high BC, but you get the idea.

My own experience is pretty much in line with the favorable comments regarding the .280 and elk. I have killed a lot of pronghorn and deer with this cartridge, but only three head of elk; however, all three were one shot kills using the 160 Sierra Gameking at about 2850 fps. All three were lung shot, and all were dead within 25 yards or so of where they were hit.

M Bell

The 280 is the ballistic twin of the 270 Win and we all know its record on elk.........I've even killed moose with it and it works just fine.

It's really all about bullet selection.

Nosler Partitions are new a bad choice; neither are Barnes, Trophy Bonded or Swift.

MM

no worries. I have hunted a few different 280s for elk over the years along with one or two elk taken with a 7mag. Never would I say the 7mag was more effective or killed em more dead. My go to now is a 280AI which takes care of bussiness nicely.

In my old Remington 725 .280 Remington, 54.0 grains of IMR 4350 behind a 160 grains Nosler Partition bullet, chrono'd at 2882 FPS, works just fine on elk. And Mule deer. And Black bear.

L.W.

I hope so! If I ever get to elk hunt I'm taking my Ruger M77 Mk II in 280 Rem. so it'd better work!

Friend Steve,

Wow, next thing you know you'll mumble something about shot placement being important, or other such urban legends (grin).

150gr Nosler Part and the 280 Rem seem to be a perfect match.

Sounds like we have a lot of 280 fans out there. Thanks for all the experienced input.

You really don't need all that power and noise for elk.

The 7x57 is plenty medicine for elk.

All I know is that when wifey-poo breaks out her Tikka in 280 and 140 gr. XLC's, I better have the knives sharpened and the back pack ready to go. FWIW, Dutch.

The 280 is an excellent round. In reality, there's really not much a 7mm RM will do the 280 can't, esp when using factory loads in the RM.

I think the 280 and 7x57 with 175 gr. Woodleighs or Noslers is a credible elk rifle depending on where and how you hunt..If you hunt the swamps, black timber where all shots are going away then the big bores like the 338, 9.3 and 375 are much better..If you hunt the sage brush, sidehills, you can't beat a 7x57, 270, 280 or 30-06 or thier ilk...

Elk hunting can vary a lot, careful about stating any one caliber is suitable for all elk hunting, it just isn't the case IMO.

If you couldn't kill the elk with the .280 then you couldn't kill it with the 7MM Rem Mag either.