Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting .280 fans, let's hear it !!

I've been Jones'n for a new gun/ caliber. So no matter how many 30-06's jump off the rack and slap me silly, I ain't gonna take no more -06 's following me home. Nope, noway!! It appears that as someone else posted elsewhere in the campfire. I've been snakebit!! I'm .280 bound! So now I need some performance stories. Please include bullet weights and gun manufacture. I went down to the gunshop on sunday afternoon and shouldered a Ruger 77 MarkII. It really felt good. Damn good infact. The trigger really didn't feel too bad either. If anyone thinks they can talk me out of it. Go ahead , give it your best shot. If you can't talk me out of it, that .280 will be on lay-away by friday nite!!! Thanks CD

I'm a big .280 fan. Always thought the .280 Rem and the original Remington 700 Mt. Rifle with floorplate went together like peanut butter & jelly. If you can find one of these, that is what I suggest. I hear the newer Rugers are real shooters, so think you would be well off with your choice. I haven't killed anything with mine in a few years, but used to use 150 Nosler Partitions and IMR-4831 for right around 2900 fps in a 22" barrel. I have a load cooked up this year featuring 140 Nosler Ballistic tips and a middle charge of IMR-4831 that shoots 2850 or so and consistently groups under an inch (mostly under 3/4 inch). Plan on using it to chase the small bodied TX deer that I spend most of my weekends hunting these days when I'm not travelling hunting something else.

-Lou

I have two 7x57's so I'm not in the market (yet) for another, but, if I was, the .280 would be it. Several years ago, Jim Carmichel did a two part article on the .270 vs .280. He prefers the .280, and gave away a 7 Mag because the .280 handled things so well, with less recoil and muzzle blast. Have fun!

We have three at my house: a Weatherby lightweight stainless, a Winchester Model 70 Classic Fwt, and a Remington Mountain Rifle. Standard load is a 140-grain partition at about 3,050 (my wife used to shoot Ballistic Tips but insisted on switching because she was ruining too much meat). We mostly shoot deer with them (desert mule deer and Coues whitetails), but my wife did take one Colorado bull elk using a 160 grain Partition. We like them!

Count me in on the .280 fan club. I've had three of them . I am currently in lust with the .280 Ackley Improved. Its even better than the original and in a pinch I can use regular .280 factory ammo.

Good Shooting,
HBB

I'm a fan in training! Right now I'm using a 7mm-08 lam/ss moutain rifle and I just haven't pulled the trigger (pun intended) on gettin a 280.
I'm REALLY wanting a 280AI!! Thankfully no one has offered one in the classified section yet (hint hint)

The quickest and most cost effective way to a .280 AI is to scare up a Remington 700 action and get in touch with Mickey Coleman and let him work his magic on it. Then just shoot and enjoy <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Good Shooting,
HBB

Buy a .280 Remington MN rifle in .280, put a good Leo on it
and sell the rest. Take the money and book hunting trips.
That .280 will kill, if you feel you need more muscle add a .338 to the gun safe for the big critters that bite back.

JUst my .02

I've got a 700 ADL in 7mm Express, with 22" barrel. I've been shooting 140 grain Partitions out of it, pushed by IMR-4350. Deer and Elk go down when hit in the boiler room. The partition makes a mess of lungs, heart and liver, whatever it hits. Thank God I haven't hit a paunch yet.

This winter I bought a 700 CDL in 280 with a 24" barrel. It is the best looking rifle I've ever owned.

I think I'll try 150 gr. partitions, and go Elk hunting!


Sycamore

IMO, buy the .280 and have it reamed to a .280 AI or Gibbs. It'll bump your performance a lot and it will be packable and easy to reload still. It's honestly a 7mm RM that you can put 4+ cartridges in the magazine.

I'm honestly a .30 cal fan but it seems to me that the AI and Gibbs versions of the .280 are a lot more functional than the 7mm RM.

The 280 is fun to shoot. Mine is a pre-64 Fwt with 22" Douglas barrel. It shoots the factory Hornady Lt. Mg. 139 gr. in both the SST and BTSP into less than MOA all day long. Is just a smigen loud on the report with the short barrel but it is great for S.Texas deer and the hogs just hate to see it coming with me.

I'm on my second .280. This after two 7 mm Mags and a 7X57.
What I've learned is with a good 160 gr. bullet, started at a modest velocity, say 2750-2800 fps., you have plenty of power even way out there on the elk class stuff. My secret is to use a premium like a Nosler Partition.
I'm playing with the newer Hdy 154 IB's at present simply because their BC is higher than the Partitions. Less wind drift, etc.
I find I can shoot them better, day in and day out, than I can the faster 7mm Mags.
I'm not going to argue that the .280 is "better" than the 7mm Mags. If you can shoot one just as well, then maybe that's the round for you.
Nor am I getting into the 280 vs. the 06 or the .270. All of them are so close, it doesn't matter.
I really like the Ruger action design, my .280 custom is an older tang safety model. I suspect my next bolt gun will be a newer Mk.II model. E

I use a different set of guns each year for deer season. I've been doing this for years and have come to favor a few cartridges over most others. The .260 Rem and the .280 Rem are two of my all time favorites. I shot two deer last year with a Ruger stainless MKII in .280. It was accurate like a laser. The only shot I had on the first one was about 6 inches of the neck and the head, so I put a 139 grain Hornady Interlock right behind it's ear and rocked it's world, at just over 100 yards. I like the reasonable recoil and accuracy of the .280. I don't see any need to ream to AI. If I were to do that, I'd just get a 7mm RM. The .280 is the perfect balance of power, accuracy, and weight to handle a lot of big game. It doesn't have the horrendous recoil of some of it's bretheren, nor the muzzle blast. It is a mild mannered marvel.

baylor,

How does that 7mm-08 of yours shoot?

I have a Browning a bolt in 7mm rem mag. I've had it for 14 years now and absolutly love it. It is my "long range rifle". I have it set up to shoot out to 500 yards or better pushing a 150 grain pill at over 3000fps. Does heavy damage on whitetail and similar size game. I've had several other .280 size guns for .284 win to 7mm rem mag. I have other calibers as well but this is my favorite.

I've got a soft spot in my heart for the .280. My Ruger 77 was my first bolt action centerfire rifle, and the gun that I took my first whitetail with. I don't use it much for the heavy woods that I hunt, but will never part with it.

Since getting the .280. I have become infatuated with the 7mm. I currently own a couple of 7X57's, a 7 Rem Mag and a .284 in addition to the .280. I know, lots of duplication and overlap, but then who said I had to make sense?

Chris

shoot. i just show the deer my 280 and they just line up... no sense in runnin' <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />
woofer

Sycamore or anyone for that matter, is the cdl chambered in 280 a special run or something?Remington does not have it listed on thier web site. Thanks

Big G,

they weren't on the list when the CDL was first revealed. About 6 months into it, someone on 24hr campfire saw them on it, mentioned it here, and I bought one. Later someone mentioned they were being dropped by Remington.

I finally got my 24" 280!

Watch out for this website, you will find out about rifles you need to have!

Sycamore