Currently fire forming

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What rifle, what brass are you using

I just bought the Kimber 84 hunter, stainless 24 inch barrel. I

 

Just an ordinary 280. Not AI. It's one of the Ruger 77 Hawkeye's that CDNN had on close out. I love it.
It didn't do well with 140's and 150's. I tried the 160 Accubonds with a load of Varget about 1.5 grains off of max published data and they shot great.

 

I had a 280 in a Remgington 700 mountain rifle. I was shooting wild boar by the truck then on depredation permits.

I was using a .270. a 7x57 and the .280. The .280 offered the most one shot kills of the three. Later i went to my 35 Whelen and 338 wm.

I was still using lead core bullets then,,,i belive the Hornady 154 graon spire pointi

Normally the boar left the barely ranch by dawn.

I was scouting well after first light when on a major trail with hundreds upon of hundreds tracks,

I looked out in the barely and saw a huge set of ears coming right to me.

I dropped flat and a second later the biggest boar i ever saw was coming sraight to me.

His jaw blocked a chest shot,,,the head is so slanted that shot could be iffy so just as his jaw dropped to breathe i shot him right down the throat.

He rolled over and spouted blood into the airs like whale. JUST DEAD.


Dressed him out, the bullet went straight into his lungs.


He was the biggest ever taken on the ranch. Live weight was guessd by weighing the quarters and head on the ranch scale , figured around 450 pounds.

 

280Ack Hart barrel, Pierce Ti action, Manners stock, Razor LH. I load Nosler 280Ack brass with H4831 and 168 Berger Classic Hunter. I am very proficient out to 600 using the hold over reticle at the range. Funny thing is while this rifle was being chambered I picked up a Kimber Mountain Assent in 30/06 and have hunted with it for the last few years and have never carried the custom rifle.:doh:
I like that Kimber so much I plan on getting another one in 280Ack. Money for money that Kimber is hard to beat.

 

I have 3 kimbers and 2 are Assents so I had the 03 barrel and action coated in satin black Cerakote.

 

My Kimber ascent in a .280 Ackley has been with me on over 20 hunts in the last
five years. Love the gun. I initially intended to reload for it but found the Nosler ammo in 160 partitions shot so well I never looked elsewhere.

 

We've got a ton of new powders on the market that should make that cartridge really sing. Getting good published data might be slow in coming so you'll be on your own. Hodgdon data is all new with loads listed in PSI. Problem with it is, it list none of the Reloader series of powders which should really do well. RL-22/23/25/26 are all worth trying. They should all push the 160 Accubond above 2850 fps.

 

The load I am wanting for elk will be 150 grain Tipped TSX going 3100 feet per second.

At 500 yards ir will still have 1500 pounds of energy go 2100 feet per second for expansion

A Barnes 150 grain bullet if worth 10% addition over lead core minimum. That would make it at least the equal of a 165 grain bullet in the 280 AI.

When I look at the photos in posts 13 and 33 of the .270 thread i started,,,that is why i will not use lead core again.

Plus it will kick less, shoot flatter, kill better

 

I won this at the state DU convention. I got to choose any cartridge i wanted. I picked the 280AI. I just haven’t gotten out to see how it shoots. The barrel was broken in by nosler the guy i talked to when I picked it up recommended 140 gr accubonds. I need to get some dies ordered so I can roll a few of my own.


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That’s a beautiful rig!


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Got a 280 AI built off a 700 action benchmark barrel and Bell and Carlson medalist stock. Shooting 175 grn matchkings with 52.0 grains of imr4831. One of the most accurate guns I own. Low recoil too.

 

Custom built based off the Rem 700 receiver. Using would be an understatement. I've been working on a load for it way too long.


The stock is a Manners, olive green with black webbing ADL style, with a Limbsaver pad
The receiver is a Remington 700 stainless long action
The bolt is by PT&G with a three position style safety and hollowed bolt handle, spiral fluted with an AR style extractor
Barrel is a 24" Broughton Stainless #3 (I think) and chambered in 280 AI
Shilen trigger set at 2#
Topped with a Leupold Vx3 3.5-10x40mm
Metal work treated with Cerokote.


I need to get back to load development.

 

Works for me. Kimber hunter

 

Desert Bighorn your approach reflects the improved bullets we have available these days as in less can be more.
I will use essentially the same load in my 7MM Mag for Elk If I get drawn in California and feel very confident in it.

 

Good luck on your California draw attempt...whate zone/hunt are you trying for?

When the first mountain men headed west into the Rocky Mountains they carried 45 caliber muzzle loaders.

These eastern deer rifles were near useless for the Grizzlies they encountered.

So they went up to .54 and even .58 caliber round ball muzzle loaders.

I bet that when they saw the first 45-70’s, they thought: We already tried that,,what a pipsqueak!

Next when 45-70 crowd saw such rounds as the .348 Winchester they thought, what a pipsqueak.!

Then when the big bore lever action guys saw the first smokeless powder rifle calibers like the 30-30 and the 30-40 Krag..they thought: What pipsqueaks!

Riding up San Juan Hill in the Spanish American war Teddy Roosevelt and the Rough Riders armed with their 30-40’s and big heavy round nosed bullets face yet another Pipsqueak! The 7x57 mauser with spitzer bullets cut our boys to shreds.

Because of the bigger is better bruised ego, our American military gave us the 30-06. Later they went down to a big pipsqueak with the 7.62 ( .308 ) then a tiny pipsqueak with the 5.6 mm (.223).

Super fast lightweight pipsqueaks rule,,,,just like Bruce Lee ruled.

What really changed out hunting game was when we started getting faster lighter bullets, that do not discard their weight like a stripper getting rid of her clothes.

Producers of bullets like monolithic Barnes X bullets had a learning curve to go through,,,,and,,,,that is now over,,,has been for many years.

Barnes bullets just do not loose the bullet weight which kills. They are faster, lighter, kick less, use less powder and are so much cleaner,,,non toxic and are not seasoning our food with the world most omnipresent nuero toxin,,,lead,,in tiny easily digested pieces that go so far and so deep they never get washed out,,,just eaten and replace the critical calcium in our nervous messaging system with lead.

They often require that we go through reloading learning curve. One thing I learned is too never scrub out all the copper. The Barnes bullets need a little guilding left in the bore. Untill then they will not shoot their best.

I learned that from ther former,now retired, head ballistician. That is where reloaders can go crazy and get discouraged,,,first few shots are cookoo rthe barrel gets hot,,,more poor groups

Once we go through that reloading learning curve their accuracy is superb and with complete comfort we can feed meat from game animals shot with them to our children, grandchildren and pregnant wives.

Heck,,,one good things about all those slow moving old big heavy lead bullets was that they did not leave hundreds of little pieces of lead in the meat.

Enjoy your 7 mag, Hope you draw,

 

I shot a Kimber Montana in .280 AI for about a year before giving up on it. I never could find a load that would consistently shoot well. It also kicked a bit, enough that for me it'd get caressed in the forehead with the scope about 10% of the time. I sold it. I still have my brass and dies. I'm waffling between selling them vs buying another rifle that is heavier or wears a brake. It is a good cartridge, comes within 25 - 50 fps of a 7mm mag while burning a good bit less powder.

 

I did a test in October with 3 Rifles ,all were Christiansens arms .Two were newer high end 7mm ultra is an older carbon one .The guns are set up really close except the 7rem mag has a 56mm scope but still can use medium rings.Ok my test was with a 280ai,7rem mag and m ultra.All three were set at 2.5 +@100.Using 140,150,160 AB'S.Used 4831 For first two bullets and 7828 for all three for the 160AB.About 10 grains difference per loads.350 yards it was splitting hairs for all three,450,the 280 was lower than the 7mag,7 mag was lower the ultra mag.moved out to as far as we could shoot that day 618 yards or 621 yards depending on the two rangefinders we had,What we saw was fairly consistent ,280 was about 14"lower than the 7mag ,and the 7mag was 8" lower than the ultra mag.I shot a really heavy cat motor flywheel for a hillbilly energy test and you could definitely tell what an extra 10 Grains of powder can do .Fps might only be 100 difference +-.We have 5 ,7mags they shoot really well ,two of them are spooky accurate .25-.33 .Have a feeling the 280 ai is going to be eye opening with a few more experiments.I have two huge rubber maid totes of once fired 7mag brass ,wish I had the same for the 280 .But do have as much 30-06 to for to 280 Ai.Just splitting hairs extra powder might be more horse power ,but may not need it.All Guns have brakes recoil is very tame .The ultra mag is a pound more.All have Carbon wrapped Barrels.For a deer hunt any of them would be fine for giant Mule a Deer I would use the fastest hardest hitting Gun I have which would be the ultra mag.But if I hunted Elk they would stay home since I have way better choices but they are heavier ,I don't have any light 30 Cal .Magnums .But if I did not have any 30 cal Mags ,would I use the 7mms ....yes.I only Bow hunt but if I ever draw a tag for something special I would like to have something that shoots further than 60 yards.This was just a test nothing matters except what works for each of us. .But it was as even match up .All three are fairly light weighted rifles but not in the mountain rifle class like 6lbs or less .But they are much lighter than the others I have .Like I said this was just a test not scientific at all .what about a 280 vs 280 Ai comparison ?whoops .Can a worms

 

I built/bought a 280AI on a 700 action, 25” barrel and am getting great results with 168gr VLD’s, 63gr Retumbo, BR2 primers in Norma 280 Brass. I was going to use Lapua 30-06 but I already use it with my 06 and do t want one of my boys to chamber the wrong round and I didn’t want to mess around with removing the stamp. I’ve reloaded the Norma brass 6-8 times with zero issues at all.

Shooting 2940fps and it shoots well out to 1K. I’ve killed 3 or 4 elk and several deer with it with great results.

 

I just got my Kimber 280 AI a few days ago. I am quite impressed. Really is a scaled down pre 64 model 70 winchester action. The trigger is crisp,,,seems under 3 pounds and the safety is smooth positive and quiet.

I bought dies, nosler brass,,,on sale too,,,and 160 grain round nosed Lapua non lead bullets were given to me as a gift from a good friend. I will buy some 150 grain barnes TTSX with super high BC

The recoil pad is thick and soft,,,good thing,,this gun weighs 5 pounds 12 ounces.

Not sure of scope yet. Probably leuopold 2.5 to 7. On low rings it is saddle scabbard friendly.