280 Remington

I've had a couple of 280's over the years and like the round a lot. I also have 30-06 rifles with too much history to let go. And while on paper the 280 is a little better I simply couldn't justify keeping both. That is the only reason I don't have one any longer.

In reality 270, 280, and 30-06 simply do the same things. If the shooter has the skills any of the 3 are elk rounds out to 500 yards. The magnum rounds like 270 WSM do the same thing 50-75 yards farther down range but at the expense of more recoil.

Factory 280 ammo availability is spotty and most of it is loaded very conservatively. It is a hand loaders cartridge. Brass could be made from 30-06 brass, but 280 brass isn't that hard to find, it is easier to get than 270n WSM. Once you get a supply of brass 7mm bullets and powder are not a problem.

I just sold a stainless Ruger Hawkeye in .280 Rem. Nice caliber but I never could get the gun to shoot as well as I expected, no matter what I tried. I handloaded for it and if I could have found another .280 that would shoot, I would have stayed with that caliber. The only option I could find was the Remington "mountain" rifle, which was heavier than my Savages so I didn't really consider it. I ended up with a Tikka T3x in '06 and haven't looked back.

Like jmr40 said, factory ammo is spotty but not impossible to find. If you're a handloader, the selection of 7mm bullets is outstanding.

The biggest difference between my old .280 and my '06 is felt recoil. Granted, the Ruger (.280) was a full lb. heavier than my Tikka, but that .280 kicked like a full load .308 to me. The '06 kicks noticeably more. So that was in the .280's favor. However, downrange ballistics aren't as superior to the .308 or the '06 as I thought, once I started to load for those two calibers.

If I had it to do all over again, I would have just spent the money on a nice .308 and called it good. It can do anything inside of 400 yards that the .280 or even my '06 can do. The '06 just gives me another 100 yards to play with. That's about it.

BTW, if you do decide to get one and need brass, let me know. I have about 150 .280 cases just laying around.

280 is a fine hunting round and what is overlooked is using the 280 as a long range round. one of my friends moved to Montana and asked me about a long range gun being he could shoot on his property as far as he wanted. He had a couple of savage rifles so I told him to get a 26" barrel in 280 for it and a laminated stock. told him to get the magnificent hornady A max 162 grain bullet BC .625. he was able to hurl that bullet right around 3000 FPS with IMR 7828 . I went out there and it was amazing what that rifle could do. outshoot 30 caliber magnums with a lot less recoil and powder
I think the factory ammo was downloaded cause of the Remington pump and auto rifles. Remington switched it to the 7MM express then back to the 280. If Remington came out with the 30-06 round it would have failed by 1907

The component availability is fine - 4 or 5 brass makers in stock at most places. Bullets in 7mm are very common.

Factory ammo tends to have spotty availability and be weak and light - the 175gr bullets are very useful in .280 but 160 is the heaviest you'll see on the shelf.

Try hard to get a 1:9" twist barrel, not 1:9.5".

[QUOTE="salt&battery, post: 10588356, Remington switched it to the 7MM express then back to the 280. If Remington came out with the 30-06 round it would have failed by 1907[/QUOTE]
Mr. S&B I had to chuckle when I read this, you are spot on and I couldn't agree more. Remington has a habit of virtually abandoning fine calibers like the .280 and more recently their superb .260. They also made a stab at resurrecting the .280 by calling it the 7mm/06. Which also went flat. However, if I had to spend the rest of my hunting days with only one caliber it would probably be the .280. I have a couple rifles in this caliber that have served very well on four continents. (Attached is photo of one I had built on a Pre-64 M-70 Win action.) The .280 is at it's best with 140 grain bullets and I've seen no reason to load anything but the old faithful Nosler Partitions. Which has been lights-out for several medium heavy game such as elk, and African species such as eland, sable, kudu, etc. Barrels on both my .280 have a 1/10" twist, which is perfect.

I've had no problem finding .280 ammo, the problem is the cost of factory stuff, about $1.50 per round. Luckily my friend and neighbor reloads for his 7 mag. All I have to do is put some brass in front of him and he'll load it for me, his bullets, my brass.... at no charge to boot.

Personally I like the .280. I had a choice of it or 06 at the same sale price. I bought the .280 because I've had so many 06's in my life I was just tired of it.

Offfhand said:

[QUOTE="salt&battery, post: 10588356, Remington switched it to the 7MM express then back to the 280. If Remington came out with the 30-06 round it would have failed by 1907

Click to expand...

Mr. S&B I had to chuckle when I read this, you are spot on and I couldn't agree more. Remington has a habit of virtually abandoning fine calibers like the .280 and more recently their superb .260. They also made a stab at resurrecting the .280 by calling it the 7mm/06. Which also went flat. However, if I had to spend the rest of my hunting days with only one caliber it would probably be the .280. I have a couple rifles in this caliber that have served very well on four continents. (Attached is photo of one I had built on a Pre-64 M-70 Win action.) The .280 is at it's best with 140 grain bullets and I've seen no reason to load anything but the old faithful Nosler Partitions. Which has been lights-out for several medium heavy game such as elk, View attachment 237187 and African species such as eland, sable, kudu, etc. Barrels on both my .280 have a 1/10" twist, which is perfect.[/QUOTE]
real nice hunting rig you have. wish I could have hunted the way you did. I never remembered Remington using 7MM-06. well there is a lot I don't remember lol. I remember 7MM express. Remington ruined the rounds you listed plus the excellent 30 AR round which had unbelievable almost 308 power for the AR platform and they beefed up the bolt for it.

Mr, S&B, usually I can't find anything when I need it but surprised my self by opening a drawer in my shop and finding boxes of all three of the .280 Rem. variations. Attached are quick snapshots of the boxes and their related headstamps. Also, in my earlier post I mentioned having a couple of .280's but then remembered having a third one that I had made by the Remington Custom Shop several years ago. I've never shot it because it is too pretty.

Offfhand said:

Mr, S&B, usually I can't find anything when I need it but surprised my self by opening a drawer in my shop and finding boxes of all three of the .280 Rem. variations. Attached are quick snapshots of the boxes and their related headstamps. Also, in my earlier post I mentioned having a couple of .280's but then remembered having a third one that I had made by the Remington Custom Shop several years ago. I've never shot it because it is too pretty.View attachment 237190 View attachment 237191

Click to expand...

I don't know where I was when they named it 7MM-06 lol. best to hold on to that box of 7MM-06.

"...wondering about ammo..." 17 suppliers for Midway. Only two of which, Winchester and somebody called HSM are on No Backorder.
Of the 5 brass suppliers, only Remington is on No Backorder. Winchester is on 'Mixed availability'. Although they say they currently have 50 round bags of nickel plated brass in stock.
Dies are no issue. Hornady currently has a rebate too. Uses are regular .284"/7mm bullets. Lots of those around.
Kind of doubt you'll find .280 Rem ammo, easily, in small places though.
"...Remington has a habit of..." Place is run by marketing MBA's who think nothing of discontinuing stuff with no thought about their existing customers. All the manufacturers will do that though.

Sunray said:

"...wondering about ammo..." 17 suppliers for Midway. Only two of which, Winchester and somebody called HSM are on No Backorder.
Of the 5 brass suppliers, only Remington is on No Backorder. Winchester is on 'Mixed availability'. Although they say they currently have 50 round bags of nickel plated brass in stock.
Dies are no issue. Hornady currently has a rebate too. Uses are regular .284"/7mm bullets. Lots of those around.
Kind of doubt you'll find .280 Rem ammo, easily, in small places though.
"...Remington has a habit of..." Place is run by marketing MBA's who think nothing of discontinuing stuff with no thought about their existing customers. All the manufacturers will do that though.

Click to expand...

maybe easy to neck up 270 brass might have to trim them. I wonder if any one tried it

I've had good luck with the few times I've hunted with Europe's equivalent of the .280; a Ruger MKII rifle, chambered in 7x64 Brenneke. Imo. the .270/.280/7x64 Brenneke are the most versatile cartridges suited for most North America hunting.

salt&battery said:

maybe easy to neck up 270 brass might have to trim them. I wonder if any one tried it

Click to expand...

There's about .05" difference in the shoulder location - problematic since the .280 headspaces on the shoulder. .30-06 is the right base brass for forming .280.

Been a fan of the .280 Rem for about thirty years. Used it on two trips over to RSA for plains game, and on several deer and elk here in MT. It's performed very well for me.
To get the most out of the round, one should really handload it.

Took one of my .280's and rechambered to .280 Ackley improved 40 deg. Added about 150 fps with 160's.

Then again, Take a .270, .280 and 06 and with similar weight, to caliber slugs.....shoot a hundred deer with each....doubt there would be any notable difference.

I reload so ammunition that the stores carry has never been much of an issue for me. Being it came out in '57 and the .270 and 30-06 were many years before it, I really don't understand its point. I've heard better BC, but noticeably? Doubtful. I like it simply because its something different to own.

Llama Bob said:

There's about .05" difference in the shoulder location - problematic since the .280 headspaces on the shoulder. .30-06 is the right base brass for forming .280.

Click to expand...

good info. but I thought most rimless non belted cases head spaced on the shoulder

Mn Fats said:

I reload so ammunition that the stores carry has never been much of an issue for me. Being it came out in '57 and the .270 and 30-06 were many years before it, I really don't understand its point. I've heard better BC, but noticeably? Doubtful. I like it simply because its something different to own.

Click to expand...

remember there is a 260...270...280.. 30-06 but there is room for a 290

salt&battery said:

good info. but I thought most rimless non belted cases head spaced on the shoulder

Click to expand...

That's correct. It just means that you typically can't use fire forming to move the shoulder, because you need the shoulder to be in the right place to fire in the first place.

I love 270, I won't downgrade it at all. But I find many more bullet choices in 7mm.
And lots of them have higher ballistic coefficient. To shoot longer distances
or in cross winds the higher BC in .284 really helps, if that interests you.

If it makes any difference to you 270WSM is a short action cartridge, 280 Rem requires long action.

ants said:

I love 270, I won't downgrade it at all. But I find many more bullet choices in 7mm.
And lots of them have higher ballistic coefficient. To shoot longer distances
or in cross winds the higher BC in .284 really helps, if that interests you.

If it makes any difference to you 270WSM is a short action cartridge, 280 Rem requires long action.

Click to expand...

a few years ago the army team set a 1000 yd record with the 7mm short Winchester mag

mshootnit said:

What do you think in general of 22" barrels vs. 24" for this round.

Click to expand...

Depends upon your use. If you are in tightly confined areas, 20 and 22 inch is easier to manage. No doubt.

If your use requires highest velocity (this cartridge is very capable), one would consider longer barrels for best performance.

You determine your needs and go with the best choice. Each barrel length has its advantages.

mshootnit said:

What do you think in general of 22" barrels vs. 24" for this round.

Click to expand...

I prefer the 24" length; not just for the .280 but for all rifles of its ilk. I've never found an extra couple of inches longer to be that much of a hinderance in most of the terrain that I hunt in and I like the extra velocity and less muzzle blast afforded by the slightly longer barrel. When I do hunt deer in the cedar swamps of Michigan and similar habitat where the cover is heavy and visibility is limited, I use a carbine like the Winchester Model 94, chambered in .30-30, with an 18" barrel or a Savage Model 99, chambered in .358 Winchester, with a 20" barrel; both having Williams receiver sights.

As ants opined, "you determine your needs and go with the best choice".