My 280 Remington

bruce moulds

AH legend
Joined
Aug 10, 2018
Messages
2,871
Reaction score
4,793
over the years I have tried many cartridges and rifles for different jobs.
in the end I became torn between the 30/06 and the 270 as a rifle for game from goats up to all deer but sambar deer.
the obvious compromise was a 280.
easy to shoot many shots in a row, with the trajectory of a 270 and a bit more of the whallop of a 30/06.
study showed that factory loads were loaded to relatively low pressure, so being a handloader had more advantage than just saving money and using a bullet of choice.
for smaller game up to fallow, the 140 gn nosler partition was chosen for its ability to blow the nose off like a varmint bullet with side on chest shots, while still being able to handle angled shots.
it proved to be less of a bullet than swift aframe, but for culling is a lot cheaper.
yesterday I was doing some brain work with the rangefinder trying to keep a picture of different distances for use in the field.
it is amazing how different terrain registers range differently in the mind.
in this instance I was looking across a valley previously unseen, guessing distances, and then ranging them to correct.
I was having a particularly hard time with the valley being clear and a pine forrest partly on the other side at the top.
my first range was 185 yds, and I thought it somewhat further.
then I looked at a shed around to the left thinking it to be 300, but it was 260.
need more practice, but when you go to flat land it is different again.
just have to do it as much as possible.
then it came to me just how good that 280 load is at right on 3000 fps.
it is zeroed 2.5" high at 100, going 3" high at 150, dead in about 250, and roughly 4" low at 300.
it was close to dead on at the shed, a little high at the 1st range, and 50 yds past the shed (what I would call a really long shot) just aim up a little bit.
this trajectory is adequate for a 9" deep chested animal with margin for error.
in that valley, just aim dead on and forget the range.
for donkeys and bigger a 160 gn bullet is better at 2800 fps.
wont shoot as flat as the 140, but you can hedge it a little by sighting 3" high at 100.
still flat shooting enough.
the rifle was a dream rifle, put together on a Dakota 76 action with a shilen no3 profile barrel by a benchrest gunsmith.
it is now on its second barrel.
I remember killing the first one with a swansong of 120 rounds straight when culling goats.
it has a jewell trigger bought before 9/11 direct from arnie jewell himself, and is bedded in a brown precision stock , made when pete brown was still alive.
scope is a 2.5 - 8 leupold which is mounted as low as possible.
this rifle never changes zero, even if not used for a couple of years.
I have recently been asked to cull some fallow, and it was just like meeting an old friend using it again.
bruce.
 
nkawu,
the barrel is 24" long to get good ballistics.
part of the intent of the rifle was to be light enough to carry in steep country, but still with enough weight to be shootable.
it worked out well that way.
be aware that different brand barrels have different numbers for their profiles.
bruce.
 
Sounds really nice, Bruce! Very satisfying to know and trust a good rifle that well. Hopefully the fallow are a bit gentler on the barrel than the goats were! Estimating distance across a dip in the land is difficult.
 
ben,
nothing about this rifle is radical, other than perhaps the trigger for the average hunter.
it is a little lighter than an average rifle but not much.
it is just that it suits me.
length of pull, balance, goods delivered for recoil and trajectory etc.
it is said that when pete Grisel designed the action it was heat treated before machining.
this made it so that you only had to screw a barrel into it properly, and never need to true it up.
it has mauser breeching, but the rest is m70.
the m70 weakness of gas in the left raceway is well dealt with by the bolt release, where the mauser would use the flange at the rear.
my action is true control feed, in that you cannot snap the extractor over the case rim, and I like that.
another bullet I like is the old nosler solid base.
it is a far superior bullet to the newer ballistic tip, but does not appeal to wankers, so is now unavailable.
I still have some hundreds of them thankfully.
this rifle being non radical has proved one thing to me, having built a few radical ones previously, and that is that the modern hunting rifle like the m70 and rem 700 have evolved well.
their basic concept is for anything other than specialized use pretty much as good as it gets.
more modern designs than that seem to be a step backwards in some ways, as priority has been put on manufacturing costs more than function.
bruce.
 
Carried a Douglas barreled .280 on a Ruger 77 action for years. Never had much luck hunting with it, but it did net me a couple of wins at Sporting Rifle High Power matches. It smoked with 57 grs of IMR4350 behind a Speer 145 flat base spitzer. Speed was about 3000 fps. That particular rifle with its 24 inch barrel would safely drive 160 Noslers to just over 2900 fps, and 150 Noslers to over 3000 fps. 140 Sierras would manage near 3150 fps. I shot the snot out of it.
I now have a recently acquired Remington model 725 in .280 that I am playing with, so far so good.
Also a big fan of its metric equal the 7x64, in fact not sure which I like better as my CZ 550 LUX 7x64 is probably the most accurate sporter I have ever owned.
 
Carried a Douglas barreled .280 on a Ruger 77 action for years. Never had much luck hunting with it, but it did net me a couple of wins at Sporting Rifle High Power matches. It smoked with 57 grs of IMR4350 behind a Speer 145 flat base spitzer. Speed was about 3000 fps. That particular rifle with its 24 inch barrel would safely drive 160 Noslers to just over 2900 fps, and 150 Noslers to over 3000 fps. 140 Sierras would manage near 3150 fps. I shot the snot out of it.
I now have a recently acquired Remington model 725 in .280 that I am playing with, so far so good.
Also a big fan of its metric equal the 7x64, in fact not sure which I like better as my CZ 550 LUX 7x64 is probably the most accurate sporter I have ever owned.

Another 7x64 fan here
 
7B3F2752-D8B1-4F95-B7BF-0BBBCC35D064.jpeg
Agree that the 280 is a very versatile round. Have taken several mule deer with it using 140 grain bullets and recently this hog using 175 grain round nose handloads.
 
I have killed a lot of animals with a 280 Rem. and never found it lacking. It is my wifes only hunting rifle. I have now acquired a CZ 550 Lux in 7X64. The rifle is very accurate now I just need to find a load for 160gr. that brings it up to 280 specs.
 
My 7mm SAUM is a close cousin to the .280. Lethal round indeed. I'll finish my info on this rifle used in my most recent african hunt soon. Yours sounds like a real winner!
Bruce
 
I have killed a lot of animals with a 280 Rem. and never found it lacking. It is my wifes only hunting rifle. I have now acquired a CZ 550 Lux in 7X64. The rifle is very accurate now I just need to find a load for 160gr. that brings it up to 280 specs.

I am keen to try 160gr Nosler Accubonds in my 7x64. You CZ probably has a ~1:8.7 twist so should like the heavier bullets.

ATB,

Scrummy
 
And yet another 7x64mm fan here.

For an "obscure" cartridge it seems to have fairly solid support ??
 
ben,
nothing about this rifle is radical, other than perhaps the trigger for the average hunter.
it is a little lighter than an average rifle but not much.
it is just that it suits me.
length of pull, balance, goods delivered for recoil and trajectory etc.
it is said that when pete Grisel designed the action it was heat treated before machining.
this made it so that you only had to screw a barrel into it properly, and never need to true it up.
it has mauser breeching, but the rest is m70.
the m70 weakness of gas in the left raceway is well dealt with by the bolt release, where the mauser would use the flange at the rear.
my action is true control feed, in that you cannot snap the extractor over the case rim, and I like that.
another bullet I like is the old nosler solid base.
it is a far superior bullet to the newer ballistic tip, but does not appeal to wankers, so is now unavailable.
I still have some hundreds of them thankfully.
this rifle being non radical has proved one thing to me, having built a few radical ones previously, and that is that the modern hunting rifle like the m70 and rem 700 have evolved well.
their basic concept is for anything other than specialized use pretty much as good as it gets.
more modern designs than that seem to be a step backwards in some ways, as priority has been put on manufacturing costs more than function.
bruce.
@bruce moulds
As you know I'm a,25 and Whelen guy but if I could only have one rifle it would be the 280 or 280 AI. It's a beautifully balanced cartridge.
I would love a,280AI on a Ruger No1 with a 26inch barrel.
Bob
 
I have killed a lot of animals with a 280 Rem. and never found it lacking. It is my wifes only hunting rifle. I have now acquired a CZ 550 Lux in 7X64. The rifle is very accurate now I just need to find a load for 160gr. that brings it up to 280 specs.
I have killed a lot of animals with a 280 Rem. and never found it lacking. It is my wifes only hunting rifle. I have now acquired a CZ 550 Lux in 7X64. The rifle is very accurate now I just need to find a load for 160gr. that brings it up to 280 specs.
 
So I found my load for my CZ 7X64. 160 gr Nosler Partition and 54.5 grs of IMR 4350. Shoots under an inch at 100yds under 2" at 200yds right at 3" for 300 and 3.5 " at 400. Only shot 2 shots at 500yds and hit the 8x8" gong both times. Chronos at 2850fps. Done and happy.
 
I think it's great seeing members like @sestoppelman and @Graham Hunter have achieved muzzle velocities near 2900 fps with 160 grain projectiles in .280 Remington and 7X64mm cartridges. It certainly lends credence that the Norma factory load with the 160 Tipstrike projectile at a published muzzle velocity of 2920 fps and the Geco factory load with the 155 grain Express projectile at a published muzzle velocity of 2904 fps are certainly reasonable (both companies under the RWS umbrella).
 

Forum statistics

Threads
53,619
Messages
1,131,301
Members
92,675
Latest member
jhonmark007
 

 

 

Latest posts

Latest profile posts

Impact shots from the last hunt

Early morning Impala hunt, previous link was wrong video

Headshot on jackal this morning

Mature Eland Bull taken in Tanzania, at 100 yards, with 375 H&H, 300gr, Federal Premium Expanding bullet.

20231012_145809~2.jpg
 
Top