Where is the .280 Remington been hiding

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huntersmith

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Just aquired a .280 remington. Remington 700, action 21" Shilen barrel. Not really thinking about a 1000 yard gun here. But is this cal being used a lot I'm hoping for a long range hunting gun/cal. Not a lot out there for story's and posts.
Anyway what is everyone using for a load ? What's the best load going ?
 
I once saw a box of the stuff down in washington at a bass pro shop. It's more of a hunter reloader special type of round. If I'm not mistaken you should be able to rework 30-06 brass if you have 280 dies.
 
280 is not as common as 270/30-06, but still well represented on the market in 2016. Ammo from Winchester, Remington, Federal, Nosler, Barnes, Hornady. It's not very common in new rifles, but they're out there (Browning Xbolt comes to mind)

I just bought a m700 280 this winter, it's off getting cut & recrowned @ 22" (was 24") and cerakoted. I have some Hornady brass and plan on loading the 160gr Nosler Accubond & the new Hornady 162gr ELD-X over Alliant RL26
 
There is a little "off the shelf" ammo for these but another one of those calibers where the pre-rolled stuff is limited and they charge a premium for it.

I have a very nice looking Browning X-Bolt on the gun rack at work chambered in 280 Rem. It keeps telling me to take it home but since I currently use a 7.08 as my big game rifle it's tough to justify.

I did give the caliber a hard look and if I ever do pick it up I would, at least initially, work up the same 140 grain bullets that I shoot with the 7.08 - they would just be "supercharged" a bit. An 140 A-Frame, Partition or decent bonded bullet (accubond or scirocco) over top of some 4831 should leave the barrel at close to 3000 fps and still be packing almost 1000 lbs of energy out at 700 yards - very under-rated "non-magnum" caliber.
 
I have used a 280 since the late 70's and have settled on 150-160 gr bullets for hunting. Recently I have been using 160 partitions with 57 gr of 7977 for 2850 fps , I got just shy of 3000 fps with 61 gr but accuracy wasn't as good . My barrel is 25" and is a Shilen #2 contour. Though not as popular as it once was it is a good cartridge but not significantly better than a 270 or 30-06.
 
It's a great hunting cartridge, sort of a 7 Mag lite. Good sectional density bullets available, enough case capacity to run them at decent speeds for reasonable ranges, but not much recoil. I have a 725 in the caliber and a couple of improved versions as well (280 AI and 7mm Gibbs.). Think of it as a 7mm-06 if it helps. - dan
 
I have had a Remington 700 BDL SS since 1998.
Used Speer 160 grain Mag Tips for a number of years and about three years ago bought a Leupold VX-6 2-12 with the CDS.
Switched to the Barnes 140 grain TTSX with the intention of loading Re19 and getting past 3000 fps.
Once that was attained, sent the particulars to KORTH for the turret to be cut.
With my load it should still be over 2000 fps at 450 yards.
I had a 270 Winchester and 30-06 when I bought this one and it is now my go to gun.
 
For some reason the 280 Rem or as it was first called 7mm Express Remingon, is a fantastic cartridge. It isn't nearly as popular as it should be though. That being said, it isn't made in regularly scheduled runs in any great quantity. There was even a rumor it would disappear from the manufacturer's lists altogether. That was only a rumor though. It just slightly follows the 7mm Rem Mag in almost all bullet weights. Of course the Magnum really shines with the 160+ grain bullets.

A few years ago I picked up a Winchester Mod 70 deluxe in 280rem. It had a 26in medium profile Hart barrel and was a joy to shoot offhand. It turned more than a few heads with the cream and coffee swirled Walnut stock and very nice accuracy given by the pointability of the heavier barrel. Anyway someone decided they absolutely needed it more than I did and gave me a whole lot more money for it than I paid for it so my mercenary ways crept in and I sold it minus the scope.

No matter where I looked I couldn't find any brass. I even had difficulty getting a set of dies and settled for a very old RCBS set that was labeled 7mm Rem Express. So, 270 brass is the same length and only has to have the necks expanded by .007 in. You don't even have to use a different expander ball. Just make sure you lube the inside of the necks when you resize them. If the brass is new all you have to do is run it through your sizing die for full length sizing. The shoulder of the 270 is about .050 shorter but it will fire form to your chamber after the first shot. You will also find that the case mouth will not be concentric and will need to be trimmed enough to clean this up.

Sounds like a lot of work but you only have to do it once.

If the brass is used, it may be hard and may need the neck shoulder annealed.

Whatever, it is a great cartridge and well worth the effort if you come across a rifle chambered for it and reload.

I am presently building a 280 rem on a Ruger #1 that is now chambered in 338-06 which I can't tolerate the recoil on any longer. I am looking forward to getting it together for an Elk hunt next fall. My favorite load was 53 grains of H414SL10 which is a surplus powder slightly slower than W760. It gave me an average 2950fps with 145gr Speer Grand Slam bullets. I also used CCI 250 primers. Accuracy was as good as could be expected from those 15 year old bullets.
 
todbartell said:
It was originally called the 280 Remington, 22 years later Remington renamed it, for a 2 year span.
Click to expand...

...and it wasn't very popular amongst the masses no matter how many times Remington rebranded it and reinvented it. :)

It's a good cartridge but not markedly better than a dozen others that are more readily available. The .280 Rem is an excellent choice for a reloader but maybe not for someone who relies on factory ammo.
 
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Ok so I reload and ordered a set of dies, is the 280 considered a long range cal these days or has the Mag's takin over that role ?
 
jethunter said:
...and it wasn't very popular amongst the masses no matter how many times Remington rebranded it and reinvented it. :)

It's a good cartridge but not markedly better than a dozen others that are more readily available. The .280 Rem is an excellent choice for a reloader but maybe not for someone who relies on factory ammo.
Click to expand...

It isn't remarkably better than any cartridge in the standard length actions. The nice thing about it is that you can utilize 270 and 30-06 brass to make it up. Also it doesn't have that silly rim which needs a larger bolt face etc. In modern strong actions, not the Remington pump or semi autos that it was released in, this cartridge can be loaded to its full potential. IMHO Remington made a mistake keeping the pressure limits down by loading it down for the weaker actions.
 
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