7mm RemMag vs .280AI as a hunting rifle

JDMLandscaping said:
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.
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I doubt you'd find much difference in recoil with similar rifles at similar velocities. A 280AI will not cure a flinch over a 7mag.

You will have to either reduce the recoil on the 7mag with a brake, by adding weight and or shooting lighter bullets or a combination of all three.

Maybe a smaller, lighter recoiling rifle (not 280AI) is in order.
 
Why not? said:
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
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Ted,

which caliber did not work with you?
 
I know this has nothing to do with the thread , I have taken bull moose with a sporterized enfield 303 at 600 yds bang flop , my go to is a Kimber Adirondack 308 and a tack driver and I would not hesitatate to take 500 yd shots in the right circumstances for al North American big game excluding nasty bears where I would limit my range . Whatever makes you feel confident with and can shoot well is a good caliber . Does not matter the caliber (3030 trappers have taken everything this continent has) as much as shot placement and confidence that comes from time at the range and experience .
 
bushawg said:
I know this has nothing to do with the thread , I have taken bull moose with a sporterized enfield 303 at 600 yds bang flop , my go to is a Kimber Adirondack 308 and a tack driver and I would not hesitatate to take 500 yd shots in the right circumstances for al North American big game excluding nasty bears where I would limit my range . Whatever makes you feel confident with and can shoot well is a good caliber . Does not matter the caliber (3030 trappers have taken everything this continent has) as much as shot placement and confidence that comes from time at the range and experience .
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If you can shoot 600yds with an Enfield sporter than you should get a 7mag! You'll be bang flopping moose at 900! :rolleyes:
 
Nothing against either of the two calibres, just never jumped on the chance to get one. Although, my Daughter does have a 7mm Mag so I picked up a set of dies and a quantity of brass at local gun shows so I can do some reloading for her. I do have a couple 7's however. A 7x61S&H in a Schultz & Larsen as well as a couple of 7x57's with full wood. One is a is a Lipsey Ruger RSI and destined to be my Vancouver Island Deer rifle.
 
If you already have a good 7mm rem mag there's no need to replace it with a 280 AI. What we want and what we need are two different things. Sometimes just wanting is a good enough reason.
 
OP hows the balance on your rifle? If it's front heavy, removing the recoil pad and filling the hollow stock with silicone might help add weight and balance it better.
 
To resume your situation, you already have a 7mm rifle. An excellent cartridge that deliver great ballistics and has lots of energy.
It is a hunting rifle
You might be shooting it only a few times a year

Don't waste your money. Keep your nice tikka for hunting and spend the money you saved on fun range stuff.
 
The idea of basing your hunting rifle on the premise of walking into a store and being able to buy ammo because of ???? Is just so wrong . Also 50 ft per second up or down Is meaningless choose the rifle that suits your needs for your type of hunting light weight medium weight compact what have you . 280 rem 280AI or 7 rem mag are all equal to 350 yds .
 
struff55 said:
The idea of basing your hunting rifle on the premise of walking into a store and being able to buy ammo because of ???? Is just so wrong . Also 50 ft per second up or down Is meaningless choose the rifle that suits your needs for your type of hunting light weight medium weight compact what have you . 280 rem 280AI or 7 rem mag are all equal to 350 yds .
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Totally disagree. I forgot my ammo can once. Was 2am, 5 hours from home when I realized. Had to wait till Canadian tire opened before I could hunt but that sure beat driving home and back.

Edit - to be fair, the CT I went to (Vernon) probably had 280ai on the shelf, they had a very good selection compared to my local stores.
 
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JDMLandscaping said:
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!!
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its a good question!
alot of 7mm RMs here in nz,..... i agree powder hogs they are...
you;d even be better served with jus a 270... or even a 30-06 n shoot 150grainers in it...... same same for out to 300m ...... the 7m rm bein a bit faster n flatter, but not much!?
 
Suther said:
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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You're forgetting to add the weight of the powder charge to the bullet in your recoil calculation. Powder and bullet are counted as the "ejecta".
 
There's quite a bit you can due at the reloading bench to get some recoil relief. I'll just use example loads out of the Nosler manual, a seven pound rifle, and a 160 grain bullet for the purpose of illustration. If you're willing to lose a little speed to lose a lot of recoil it might be an option.

70 grains of RL 25............70 grains................3066 fps........33 fp recoil
63 grains of IMR 4831.......63 grains................3008 fps........29 fp recoil
53 grains of IMR 4064........53 grains...............2908 fps........24 fp recoil
 
I would keep the rifle you own There’s no difference between the 7mag and the 280AI performance wish or otherwise. I would suggest a combination of a new stock and some handloading as described by dogleg above. Gaurunteed if you had a better fitting stock, maybe with some added weight, you wouldn’t recognize the gun.

I have a 280Rem Mtn rifle which with the factory stock I could barely shoot. Everytime I pulled the trigger the comb would bite me under the cheek bone quite aggressively. I ordered a Mcmillan stock with a bit denser fill, a slightly longer length of pull and a cheek piece on the comb. The rifle has barely any felt recoil now, either from bench or in the field.

At the same time. You are the only one who really knows how much you’re affected by the recoil. So if it’s more of a problem than some of us are thinking then be honest with yourself. There’s plenty of lighter recoiling rounds out there that will take 95% of the game you’re gonna come across.
 
Had both, and both were great cartridges matched to great rifles. I have a soft spot for the low recoil and lethality of both the 280Rem and 280AI but I really appreciate the convenience of buying ammo off the shelf so for that alone my vote goes to the 7RM. I guide new hunters towards the 7RM as a general purpose, do it all cartridge. It's too bad the 280Rem did not gain a strong foothold in its early days. Part of my wants to build another 280AI lightweight.

But, all that said, I sold or traded my 280s and 7s and own several 270s in both the original 270Win or a WSM. I find that my Finnlight 270wsm has very little felt recoil, about equivalent to my previously owned 280, and significantly less than my 7RM, and in my opinion, better ballistics. Just my choice and not intended to knock the 7RM.
 
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