Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters 280/280AI Pros/Cons?

Nosler 280 Ackley brass is Norma brass. Made by Norma for Nosler.

Shod

I load Norma 280 brass to fireform in my 280AI, 26" bbl. Rem. 700 Sendero. This rifle started as a 25-06, sent to Darrel Holland to have action blue printed, 26" PacNor bbl. with competition recoil lug and a quick discharge brake installed. I have replaced the old trigger with a Jewel HVR. This is topped with a Burris 3-12 Signature scope. I have taken a few trophies with this arrangement and am very pleased, indeed, with my 280AI. BTW, I have necked up 270 Win. brass to .284, fire formed these cases and they shoot as well as any other brass that I load. Again, having said this you must understand that I do all the pertinent steps to customize the brass. I have approx. 500 rounds through this rifle. It will shoot 140BT in a 1/2" group all day. I took a Scimitar Horned Oryx with it in 2011. One shot @285 yard laser ranged. Down for the count. I reccommend the 280AI highly. MTG

Yes it is the same. From what I've ben told, not all Nosler brass is made by Norma, but most of it is. Can't remember who the other one was, but I believe it was one of the domestic brands, perhaps Hornady, but not positive about that. Some folks think that the Norma brass is softer, but I haven't found that to be the case for me. It is very consistent as far as weight as I used to go through the weighing process, but gave up on that with the Norma and Lapua as they both seem to be very consistent. I also believe both of those brands drill the flash holes instead of punching them like a lot of the domestic brands.

People think its soft because they can't stop adding powder or think manuals are lawyer proof.

The 280 Ackley seems to get a lot of emotion from the 270 fans for some reason, but in reality there is little difference on game at most any reasonable distance. There does seem to be a better selection of 284 bullets available for the long distance crowd if that floats your boat, but for me I'm not into throwing haymakers at live game.

For me is was easy.
I had both .280 and .280 AI dies, so I began by sizing the necks of .30/06 brass and chambering the empty cases so I was establishing a crush feel on bolt closure.

Next I loaded a couple sized from each die to see if there was a difference that my calipers could not detect. There was.

The standard .280 dies fire formed with no headspace issue. The A1 dies created just enough headspace that I could see the mark externally and feel the internal partial separation with a bend circlip I have used for around 40 years to examine cases.

After that, it was easy to size the '06 case and generate the false shoulder and test by continually chambering the empty case now and then and confirming the crush fit just to monitor the case prep.

In taking this approach, I lost no cases using the .280 die after that. I would stress that new or once fired cases only should be used to avoid neck splitting using work hardened cases that are already into their lifespan.

The A1 appears to be about 200fps on the Mauser cartridge which is an established proven round. The A1 will for very little extra recoil, deliver a little flatter trajectory and a little more thump at the receiving end. It also seems to be an accurate alternative well worth considering.

John

You guys forgot the most important aspect of the 280AI.The brass looks cool!!!!!

Not a darn thing wrong with the .280 Remington as-is....it's a splendid round and if you really need more step up in caliber as well in powder capacity.

A properly handloaded .280 Rem is right on the heels of the 7mm rem mag......and that's saying a fair amount.

Just get a 270, then there's no con's.... Grin

That statement can probably apply to 99% of what we all would consider deer/elk cartridges.

Right nothing wrong with the 280 Rem as is but 7mm Mag performance can be reloaded to higher performance levels also.Cal hit it about as close as can get. Magnum Man

I built a 280AI for my son because he wanted something different that I built for him. Really nice rifle, octagon barrel, high grade European walnut, 26 LPI checkering. He shoots 120 grain TTSX and kills whitetails with deadly effect, better than a .280; not unless you want something different.

Don't worry about the Nosler brass not chambering. As long as your rifle is chamber to the current SAAMI specs, you will not have a problem.

I have had 2 .280 AIs made in the last 3 years and love both of them. I also have 2 .280s, one is a Browning A Bolt and the other is a Rem 700 mountain rifle. I have had these for a long time. Both are great shooters, but I was never able to load either of them with 140 gr bullets and get 3000 FPS, without pressure. I know many say that they can easily do it. I start showing a bit of pressure no matter what powder, bullets, or primer I use.

I shoot 140 VLDs in one of my Ackleys and 140 BTs in the other, both around 3150 FPS with no pressure signs at all. The Nosler brass fits the chambers in both perfectly with zippo for extra headspace. I can feel an ever slight resistance when lowering the bolt handle.

I almost get the same velocity as I do in my 7 Mag, and no belt to deal with. I had to buy a special collet sizing die to size my brass for the mag after a few firings as my dies wouldn't size the case just above the belt and I started to experience chambering problems.

Go for the AI and don't look back. You will love it

My simple brain breaks it all down like this from 22-24" barrels and handloads in each:

280-140's at 3050
280AI-150's at 3050
7 Rem Mag-160's at 3050.

These are the "pros" and there are no "cons".....There are as many variations on this basic theme as there are hand loaders wanting to hawk their own agenda and favorite bullets....but IMHO the relationships don't change.

What Cal and Mule Deer both say is true because we have invented and re-invented the same ballistics for over 100 years now in different packaging.This creates an excuse to acquire another rifle and cartridge we really don't need...

Bob said it a tad better than I did.....but the reality of it all is simply his last sentence

What the....??? A 270?

JB, I've lost faith in you because of that statement and am sending back your optics book. Be advised that I may be tearing out a couple of chapters first as I haven't finished reading them yet.

To the OP: one benefit of the Ackley version is being able to go with a shorter barrel and not lose anything ballistically. For example, you could run a 22" barrel in a 280AI and you might expect it to perform similarly to a 24" 280 Rem (individual barrels do vary, though).

If you put together a 280 AI the truth is you simply do it just because. There is no miraculous velocity gain however as someone mentioned the fireformed shell looks way cool. Ive had one built and would consider another.

Shod

Bob . . . you know what they say about need, right?

Whelan oh yeah! I am constantly conflicted between knowing I have what I need,and wanting something else...

I have been a good boy mostly but lately have scratched a couple of itches....sigh!