Kimber 280 ackley improved

I

islandhunter

CGN Regular
Rating - 100%
132   0   0
Location
princeton b.c.
Just thought I'd share my latest experience in fire forming brass for this rifle:

First off, I bought the wrong dies-LEE 280 Ackley(old version 280ai)
I ground 14 thou off my shellholder to make them work


After establishing that a factory 280 rem load is a nice tight crush fit in my chamber I deemed it safe and fired it, It flattened the primer and showed obvious case stretching at the web. Go figure, wont do that again.

I pulled the bullets and loaded 15 grains of unique then filled up to the case neck with cream of wheat. I plugged the neck with a wad of toilet paper. I loaded and fired the rifle in a somewhat vertical position and fired. The result was a well formed shell with no signs of case stretching.

Next I ran a 30-06 case through my die adjusting it till I had slight resistance closing the bolt, creating a false shoulder. I loaded the same 15 grains of unique with cream of wheat. Results were again a nicely formed case but noticeably shorter neck.

Hope this helps, as I found a lot of contradiciting info on the web for this
Please share any info you have, as I am new to this
-joe
 
Spewing that the Case crush fit an blew the web out a bit!

I like the Idea of having a AI chamber, but using Factory ammo in it with good accuracy for general hunting applications! but in the end you would end up with perfect formed brass .. :D

in fact- that would be a dream come true..

thanks for the info though,
 
Hey Island hunter.
I did some some brass up for a friend.
What length did the 280 brass come out at after fireforming COW method
I had some 270win Rem cases I messed around with that started at3.530 and I put in false shoulder with 30-06 then sized with 6.5 -06 turned out 1 1/2 turns.
I used 16,17, 18 and 19 grs unique and found 18 grs did the trick using a precision mic measuring the shoulder.But not saying that a person should start at 18 grs as every case and chamber are different. I ended up with 3.525 after fireforming.I sized them then I shot them with a bullet and mid range load of imr 4350 and checked shoulder again and it only moved a mark on my mic and no signs of the web stretching so was happy with it.
I had some Rem. 280 rem case's that were shot and formed to 280ai so I trimmed them and the ones I made out of the 270,h20 measured them and they are just about exact right around72.7grs capacity.
I measured a couple nosler 280 ai and they are around 73.5 grs capacity so they come out great and I am happy with them.
I would like to try some new 280 rem cases with the COW method.The shoulder is a bit shorter on the 270 case but with the false shoulder mine stretched with no problems.
We have only fired them a couple times and so far so good but the 270 cases were fired a few times before I fireformed to the 280ai so might not get as many firings on them. They were annealed after fireforming .
I have bin forming 22-250 and 243 cases for the 6.5 creedmoor also and has bin working great also.
All fun learning something new.
 
With my Kimber 280 AI, I simply used a book max load for the SAAMI 280 under a Speer 145 in a bunch of Winchester 30.06 brass that I necked down to create a false shoulder. And then went out and shot them. Averaged around an inch or so at 100, and got perfectly formed brass. Nothing for recoil, and was a great way to get to know the rifle and smack some rocks out there a ways.
 
WhelanLad said:
Spewing that the Case crush fit an blew the web out a bit!

I like the Idea of having a AI chamber, but using Factory ammo in it with good accuracy for general hunting applications! but in the end you would end up with perfect formed brass .. :D

in fact- that would be a dream come true..

thanks for the info though,
Click to expand...

I should be more specific that the "crush fit" was the shoulder to neck junction on the case was making contact at the throat
I understand that most like to load moderate loads with bullets tight to the rifling, but I thought I'd try doing it without having to waste bullets.
OAL of the cases after firing were 2.480" for the 30-06 and 2.531" for the 280 rem.
A nosler 280AI loaded round has a case length of 2.526"

What problems could arise, if any from the short 30-06 fire-formed neck length? This is obviously the most economical solution.
 
We have shot some that were around 2 ,500, and they were fine for accuracy,I think there should be no problem shooting the shorter ones but I am not sure how short you can go with them.Maybe someone will chime in.Thats the reason I went with the 270 cases was to keep the length the same.
 
I shot some factory .280 Rem in my Cooper 52 and they did not show signs of excess pressure..the shoulder slope looked different from the .280 ai factory brass but they reloaded and functioned fine
 
After a little more work with the 30-06 brass, I'm finding that the necks are get slightly bent when creating the false shoulder. They come out straight after firing but.... If You really want to use '06 brass I think it would be best to size them in a 280rem die where they are fully supported unlike the AI die.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom