7mm RemMag vs .280AI as a hunting rifle

J

JDMLandscaping

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So a friend of mine and I were at a local shop the other week talking to the young lady behind the counter about different calibers and such and it came up that she hunts with a .280AI. Later that evening over a few beers we got to talking about it again and before long the reloading manuals were out and a comparison was taking place. On paper it seems the .280AI is touching the same ish velocities and close to energy of a 7mm RemMag (obviously not exactly the same but pretty close) without being a powder hog like the 7RM is.

My go to rifle is a Tikka T3 lite in 7mm RemMag stainless and it is a wonderful rifle. Action is smooth and it prints amazing groups but with the hollow light weight stock it kicks like a mule. A limb saver helped a lot but it’s still a gooder. I was going to upgrade to a thumbhole laminate stock and trade up the scope to something a bit better to help it more. Knowing this my friend said “why don’t you just sell the Tikka and buy another with a better stock in .280AI”.

Looking to get a bit of insight from everyone here. Would you keep the 7RM or switch up to .280AI and why? I reload so I can roll anything I need. One thing though is 7RM ammo is at every shop in case the ammo can falls out the canoe where as .280AI is a little more hard to find some places. Let me know your thoughts!!
 
The 280 AI will never equal the RM but it doesn’t really matter for most hunting.

I wouldn’t trade a 7RM I liked for a 280 AI and vice versa.

Load a regular 280 to same pressure as a 280 AI and you will achieve virtually identical performance.
 
No animal harvested with a 280AI will know it was not harvested with a 7mm Rem Mag.
Remington's big 7 is a great cartridge and works well for all north american big game, save the big bears, but would work in a pinch with premium bullets well placed. Just would not be my first choice for digging a 10' bear out of the brush.
The 280AI will do everything the 7 mag will do, but at slightly less yardage. It will burn less powder in doing so, with less recoil, and the ability to hold a couple extra cartridges in the magazine of your rifle. If you prefer heavier bullets such as the 175 grainers, then the big 7 is the better option. Personally, I like the 160/162/165 gr bullets the best in the .284 cal.
A heavier stock such as you are thinking of putting on your Tikka will help some with the felt recoil.
It would also depend on what you hunt mostly, and where you hunt, as to which cartridge is going to meet your needs. A stock is defintely cheaper than a new rifle!
If you are looking to get a new rifle, then that is reason enough to get a 280AI. There are a few manufacturers offering it, but not as many as offer the 7 Mag.
If you want a more efficient cartridge and like burning less powder and having less recoil, then the 280AI is a good choice.
As a handloader, you have even more options. But as you stated, it is harder to find should you need to in a pinch.

As we get older, a lot of hunters and shooters find that they enjoy rifles and cartridges with less recoil, more. Yes light rifles are nice to carry, but they do not soak up the recoil from cartridges burning more powder like a heavier rifle will.Tikka's are nicelight rifles, but there is a reason why the newer models have stocks that are little more substantial, and why there are lots of used ones in the larger magnums for sale!

I have owned and used the 7mm Rem Maga fair bit, but now have a 7mm-08, a 280 Rem and a 7MM STW. Just the way it worked out. But if needed, I could do it all with either a 280AI or a 7mm Rem Mag. There is no wrong choice here. But I prefer the hunting aspect over shooting at longer ranges. (Guess that is why I bowhunt too! LOL)
 
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I would check your reloading manual and find out what barrel length they were using with their load development. If a 24" barrel was used with the 7mm, and a 26" barrel with the 280AI, then velocities are very close.
 
280AI looks good to reload with as close to 7RM performance without the belt, 7RM easier to feed factory.

Have fun with either!
 
7rm is available in most stores.

280 usually fits 4 in the mag, vs 3 in the 7RM.

Those are the only meaningful differences IMO. Ballistically they're too close for it to matter.

If you're T3 lite is too light why not just to trade it for a regular T3?
 
Both are great hunting cartridges ...for long range the RM does have a slight advantage. For normal hunting ranges it really doesn't make much difference.
 
I would stick with 7mm rem mag. ...especially if you have a shooter( not all rifles are).The 7mm Rem Mag has an edge for all the reasons listed above,and the two calibers are so close- why bother.I have an original Tikka T3 stainless in 7mm from first year of production-for the worst BC weather,and 7mm Sako AIII from early 1980-82,with fancy oiled wood stock for the other Days.This way if something broke( never has) I have a back up that I can use with ammo I already have.Once in a while I get an itch to try something else, but when I shoot these, or compare the Sako to recent offerings from various manufacturers(including Sako) I quickly regain my sensibility.��.In the field you never notice the recoil or noise.Once a year, when I sight in for the season,I notice the recoil on the Tikka, but they shoot so accurately I am done with 2-3 shots!
 
If the rifle is a heavy weight/normal weight either cartridge would work and advantage probably goes to 7mag
If you are going ultralight weight 280ai would be better of two
 
I hunt with 160gr accubonds at 2920fps measured at -10c. It just happens this is from a deep throated 280 and Norma brass. Pick a bullet you like and a platform that will give you the speed you want to get you the energy and trajectory that is relevant to you and forget the rest. Holds 5+1 as well, not that that's important of course.
 
Thanks for all the responses so far! Seems pretty much a six of one half dozen of the other type of situation. My two biggest draws to the280AI is less felt recoil and less powder required for reloading. That being said this is a dedicated hunting rifle that see’s 5 rounds to re sight in pre season then however many shots to take the animals I take that year so maybe another 5 so extra cost of powder is really nothing as a pound would last years. I think I might get the Boyd’s thumbhole lament stock with limb saver, bed it and see what that does for me. If the flinch is still there due to muscle memory (I find myself flinching when I fire now) then I may look at selling or trading up for a 280AI.
 
maybe look at the 7mm-08 if you're flinching with a 7mm Mag. The 280AI will recoil about 20% less than a 7rm, 7-08 will recoil 45% less than 7rm, and 30% less than a 280
 
JDM, I have owned three 280 AIs over the past 45 years or so, and several 7mm Mags. Hunted moose, caribou, and bear with both somewhat, and the killing power and accuracy was essentially the same. One of the biggest moose I ever shot was more than 300 yards away, and fell to a single 140 partition launched at close to 3100 fps from an AI. Of course moose are not hard to kill, but the same bullet at 3200+ would not have done any better.

The longest shot I ever made on a sheep, well past 400 yards, was with a Husqvarna 7X64 rechambered to the standard 280 Rem. The same bullet started at 3000 fps rolled him over in his bed, and he never got up.

The only real difference between the two cartridges is the few grains more powder burning in the 7 mags. However, the panache of the 280 AI cannot easily be discounted among rifle loonies.

Build yourself a nice lightweight 280 AI. Don't worry about recoil. You will carry it a lot more than you will shoot it. :)

FWIW, all that said, I have one 7 mag in the safe today, and no 280s.

Ted
 
todbartell said:
maybe look at the 7mm-08 if you're flinching with a 7mm Mag. The 280AI will recoil about 20% less than a 7rm, 7-08 will recoil 45% less than 7rm, and 30% less than a 280
Click to expand...

20% less recoil, but spits bullets at 10% slower velocity? What am I missing because in my head the math doesn't add up?
 
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