HONEST. 280 Remington load data

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ackertjosh

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So i have been looking a lot online at the 280 Remington for load data including my books.... one thing that seems consistent is the decreased pressure for the autoloaders of the past... I have a Rem 700(1997 Made) with i believe is a 1-9.25 ROT and a 22" tube. The bullet I'm using is the 160gr Federal Trophy Bonded Tip that will be a combination bullet for deer and moose here in Ontario. I have just finished making my first test loads and i went with IMR 4831 cause i have it on hand and i know it works well in the 30-06 as well as the 270.. So my question for all you experienced .280 rem loaders.... With the powders i have on hand, have you ever tried them and how did they work out??

Here are the powders i have on hand... IMR 4831, IMR 4007SSC(worked very well in the 30-06 with 165gr bullets) so hoping for some info on this as i have 13 pounds of it lol, Varget, H4895 and H4350. Im not really interested in paying for new powders when i have this on hand.. Im looking to try and get an honest 2800-2900 FPS with the 160gr bullet.

My Current test loads(yet to try them) with IMR 4831 start at 52gr and work my way up to 52.8gr going in .2 gr increments as I'm already above most listed max on all my books.

Thanks everyone in advance.

Josh
 
Josh I have a 280 Rem Express 22 "for some time and have tried many powders but hands down the most accurate loads one is 53gr imr 4831 with 150 gr Nosler ballistic tips for deer, wolf etc sized animals. 3 shots at 100y all touching. For a Moose load IMR 4831 Nosler Partitions max+ load
just under 3000 fps a couple over chrony above 3000 1/2" at 100 y. and moose are toast.
Never used heavier bullets.
But I just worked a load for a friend max load of RL17 in a 270 win 140 gr accubonds deadly accurate 3k fps
good luck with getting 160 gr
 
Thanks manitou. I do have 139gr GMX I use in my 7-08 with 4007SSC at an honest 2950fps over the crony. I was thinking of using the 139gmx but the design of this federal trophy bonded tip really intrigued me. They make a 140 variant as well in the 7mm line th up that I may move to after the GMX are used up. But will see. The other option I was going for was the 150 swift scirocco that I really like. Will see how i can get these 160gr to group. Sounds like I’m on track with the IMR 4831 but would really like to hear how 4007 works if anyone had used it.

Thanks so much
Josh
 
ackertjosh said:
Thanks manitou. I do have 139gr GMX I use in my 7-08 with 4007SSC at an honest 2950fps over the crony. I was thinking of using the 139gmx but the design of this federal trophy bonded tip really intrigued me. They make a 140 variant as well in the 7mm line th up that I may move to after the GMX are used up. But will see. The other option I was going for was the 150 swift scirocco that I really like. Will see how i can get these 160gr to group. Sounds like I’m on track with the IMR 4831 but would really like to hear how 4007 works if anyone had used it.

Thanks so much
Josh
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I too like the Scirocco, their weight retention is top notch for a high BC bullet. I'm planning to get a 7mm08 in the near future and that's the bullet I'm going to start with.
 
Suther said:
I too like the Scirocco, their weight retention is top notch for a high BC bullet. I'm planning to get a 7mm08 in the near future and that's the bullet I'm going to start with.
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Suther. I used the 150 swift scirocco in the 7-08 and they shot very well. Unfortunately on game i cannot comment as they shot so well i ended up using them for target shooting when i didn't have my target loads loaded up.... they quit making it but 4007 was a winner in the 7-08... the Swifts i got to 2800FPS in Lapua brass and a Rem 9 1/2 primer. infact i like 4007 so much i bought over 20 pounds at one point. i used it with 140's and up with excellent accuracy and velocity. 160gr HPBT game kings from sierra @ 2650 and still had more room to go but accuracy was amazing so stopped there.

Good luck with the swifts.. take a look at the Federal TBT(trophy Bonded Tip) they pretty much guarantee over 90% and there BC is also good and there 44.95-49.95 for 50.. so about the same price as any of the other premium bullets.

Thanks again
Josh
 
The max safe chamber pressure is regulated by the oldest or weakest action the cartridge will be fired in.

The .280 and 30-06 have a max chamber pressure of 60,000 psi, "BUT" the .270 Winchester max chamber pressure is 65,000 psi.

Both the .270 and .280 started as wildcat neck down 30-06 cases and any modern bolt action like the Remington 700 can handle 65,000 psi.

EPcuYSG.jpg


Cartridge Pressure Standards
http://kwk.us/pressures.html

Simple Trick for Monitoring Pressure of Your Rifle Reloads
http://www.hodgdonreloading.com/reloading-education/tips-and-tricks/simple-trick-monitoring-pressure-your-rifle-reloads
 
I did not... When they send the bullets they have a card inside with load data on there. when i seen that i assumed that was all there load data.. and they only had RL19 and 22 Listed. Thanks and after looking at that im pretty confident i can try these and if there are no signs of pressure i will continue on with there data and see where that takes me... much appreciated.

Josh
 
140 grain Barnes TTSX at just over 3000 fps using a slightly over charge of Re19.
Under 1" at 100 yards from a Remington 700 BDL SS with a 24" barrel.

 
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I have a 280 Remington made on a Winchester Model 70 action as well as an older model 700 that is stamped 7MM EXPRESS.

I only picked up those two rifles over the past couple of years along with another that was sold as a barreled action.

Because I KNOW the Remington and Winchester actions are chambered for the 270 Winchester's higher pressure levels I started with 270 Winchester loads.

We're only talking about .007 inches of diameter difference.

This should actually mean the 270 Win load should develop less pressure in the larger diameter 280 Rem barrel.

I must caution though. If you are shooting this fine cartridge out of a Remington semi auto rifle, I would stick with published data.
 
Of your powders listed, 4831 is the best choice. It is almost ideal for 280.

Of the powders on my shelf, I would go a step slower with RL22.

I would say that 2800 fps is about max for 60,000 psi. It might take 65,000 to get it.

I think 2750 is a more reasonable objective. Find the accuracy node around there, and nothing you hunt will be safe.
 
I use RL-22 for 2875 fps with a 162gn, and 2725 fps with a 180gn bullet in a 23" bbl 280 AI

2800 fps for a 160 class bullet seems to be a good operating limit for a 280.
 
160gr 280 Rem, 22" barrel, 62,000 PSI

IMR 4831 - 2813 fps
IMR 4007SSC - 2781 fps
Varget - 2773 fps
H4895 - 2778 fps
H4350 - 2800 fps

Find some RL26, RL22, RL23, Magpro, IMR 7828ssc - 2900 fps will be attainable

I'm pushing 160gr Nosler Accubonds to 2950 fps from a 22.5" 280AI with 60.0grs RL26
 
Thanks all for the replies.. just got back from the range and im overly pleased with the results. Velocity is faster then my hornady books portraid but not quite on par with the online federal load data off there site... out of the 4 i tried the best group was 3 shots in 5/8"@100. This load was 52.3 gr of IMR 4831 and velocity was 2650. My Hornady book is Max 51.7GR for 2800fps and im already 1 full grain below that on my test loads and only yield 2690 fps. Im going to jump up to 54 grains and work my way to 55 and see were that takes me.. over all the rifle seems shoot well and the accuracy is there.... Thanks all again.

todbartell... thanks for that info.. was there an approx GR of powder for the 4831 and 4007 to get me to that pressure? thanks in advance
 
Just remember to chronograph whatever load you settle on again in the fall at the temperature you will be hunting in. My friend was quite surprised how much slower his imr 4831 150 btip load in his 280 was at 0C vs 25C.
 
kman300 said:
Just remember to chronograph whatever load you settle on again in the fall at the temperature you will be hunting in. My friend was quite surprised how much slower his imr 4831 150 btip load in his 280 was at 0C vs 25C.
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Thanks Kman. I usually check each rifle a couple weeks before the season to make sure all is good to go. When i had my 6.5x55 4831 was my go to powder so am familliar with the temp changes... thankfully here in my area of ontario the last couple years have been warm for the November hunt (1 week long) so temp changes from now until then may only be 10 deg difference. who knows. it could play out like last year where i filled my tag with a nice 3 year old 8 point buck with the bow so the rifle mostly sat in the closet all week unless dad wanted to go out.. i think last year near the end of the week it got cold and a bit of snow but usually its 10 deg+

thanks again
Josh
 
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