280 ai
- Thread starter CrewSafeBC
- Start date
Sure, providing you can find the 280 Remington brass. I see no stock at X-Reload. Nosler also makes 280 AI, but it tends to be really expensive, and hard to find as well.
To hold the case in place while form firing you should use a medium load, and seat the bullet to a solid jam in the lands. The other option is to use the Cream of Wheat method.
Thats my issue with the AI brass is finding it,,,280 Remington is easier to find and Ive seen a fair bit of it in my travels
Yes, any 280 Rem ammo can be used. Try to buy one bulk lot so you have the same lot of brass. You'll feel quite a bit of 'crush' as you close the bolt as AI has a slightly tighter shoulder so that you can safely load a regular cartridge. But don't worry about that, it's normal for all AI.
islandhunter
CGN Regular
- Location
- princeton b.c.
I've been experimenting with this lately and started a thread about it a few days ago. I fired a 280rem factory load in my Kimber 280ai (new saami chamber) And found obvious signs of case stretching, even though it was a tight fit. I had success doing the cream of wheat method with 280 and '06 brass though
There is a bit of a quirk with the 280 Rem AI chamber to be aware of. There is the original wildcat AI and also the newer Nosler AI. They are not the same. It may not be safe to chamber a Nosler AI in an original AI reamed chamber. See this article for more info.
If you have a true 280 Ackley Improved chambered rifle then firing factory ammo is exactly how one goes about getting the correct brass and was how PO designed his reamer so as to tightly headspace on factory cartridges. To say that Nosler has a longer 280 AI chamber is a totally incorrect use of the term "AI", which means Ackley Improved and as such has a very definite set of dimensions. If a chamber is designed longer in the base to shoulder dimension than Ackley designed his, it is no longer an "AI" chamber, it is just something else with a 40* shoulder. If one blows out the shoulder on any cartridge to 40* without adhering to all the other dimensions of the Ackley chamber it becomes a 40* Improved cartridge but not an "AI" cartridge. Too many people call all 40* Improved wildcats "Ackley Improved" when in fact they are nothing like the AI other than a 40* shoulder. This is not correct and there are several features to the Ackley cartridges, that if not adhered to, exempt others from actually being AI cartridges. One of these features is the ability to fire factory parent cartridges in the AI chamber without excess headspace.
I tried to fire form .270 but the resultant cases were no at spec.
islandhunter
CGN Regular
- Location
- princeton b.c.
The new nosler(saami) chamber is actually .014" shorter than the original Ackley version, I wonder why my factory 280 rem's still had case stretching? they were a tight fit
IH.........what indicators are you using in saying you are getting case stretch? Yet you say the bolt is closing snuggly on the factory 280 round.........this is very odd. What make of brass is it? When you say factory 280s are you talking factory loaded rounds or are you talking handloaded new factory 280 Rem brass? Can you section a case and post pics of the stretched area? What you say "flies in the face" of everything one learns on how to set up a cartridge to correctly headspace in ones rifle and eliminate or minimize case body stretching.
I suppose that in the case of headspacing on the neck/shoulder junction (as the Ackleys do for fireforming), the case could do all it's stretching at the web to move forward and fill out to the 40* shoulder, but this too would be odd, as it would mean that thicker, and supposedly harder brass in the web area, was stretching before the thinner, softer brass in the forward body and shoulder area............
I suppose that in the case of headspacing on the neck/shoulder junction (as the Ackleys do for fireforming), the case could do all it's stretching at the web to move forward and fill out to the 40* shoulder, but this too would be odd, as it would mean that thicker, and supposedly harder brass in the web area, was stretching before the thinner, softer brass in the forward body and shoulder area............
Ackley shoulder/neck junction is supposed to be set back a few thou compared to 'normal' cases as a safety feature to ensure there is safe headspace. I was told by my gunsmith when I picked up my custom Ackley that if I loaded a standard cartridge, I will feel a crush and that it is totally normal and spec to all Ackley shoulders. Which is what you said earlier... When I've fireformed with loaded cartridges, my case length increased or stayed the same. When I fireformed with COW, my case length actually shortened. Not sure what I'm contributing here but it is my sense that with COW, brass gets pulled 'down' from the neck to fill out the shoulder. With a full charge cartridge, the body would fill out the shoulder.
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islandhunter
CGN Regular
- Location
- princeton b.c.
I am having a hell of a time trying to get into photobucket now, so cant get pics on. They are factory loaded Winchester ballistic silvertips with nickel cases. You can see cracking in the plating at the web, and after cutting it in half you can see thinning in the brass there.
Thank You,,,,I will double check with the gunsmith that chambered this before doing anything..
