280ai starting over with new rifle

[CTK]

I am a month or two out from delivery of a new 280ai hunting build. Have owned 3 other 280ai rifles. Have thrown out all old brass and am ready to start new. This will not be super light for a hunting rifle but would be light by most competitive and long range shooters posting on this site. Guessing 7.5ish lbs for bare rifle. Will have a 24” Bartlein 2b 8.7” twist barrel. Is being built by Jon Beanland. I do not know what throat length he uses. I plan to build a purpose built long range hunting/fancy plinking rifle in the future. Realistically I will probably never take a shot over 500y with this hunting rifle. Would like to find one perfect load for all medium game, get a custom turret made, load a hundred rounds, and be done messing around with this rifle. Looking for some suggestions as I have not had a 280ai in a few years.

Would the 175 Berger Elite Hunter be overkill for a <500y rifle? If not, what velocity should I be able to reasonably see out of a 24” barrel? Assume RL 26 or 23 would be good places to start with this combo?

For a standard hunting scope with added custom elevation turret, is the Zeiss Conquest V6 a solid choice? I really do not want to spend Swarovski Z6 level money. Have owned Z5 previously and looking for something different. Any other sub 2k scopes that should be considered?

Thanks!
Craig

 

[dthomas]

Take a look at leupold vx5hd & vx6hd and see if that is something you would want. I have a vx6hd and really like it.

 

[Hohn]

Your 280ai should comfortably exceed 2700fps with a 175gr-class bullet according to the Hornady load data.

I'm not an expert on hunting bullet selection, but I get the feeling that you want to match bullet to game AND range, not just range. What are you planning to hunt? Unless specially throated for 175s/180s and such, the 160gr-class range will likely be better for your rifle.(think 162 ELD-X, 168 Accubond LR, etc). I'd recommend you stay with hunting bullets proven on game to have a fairly rugged construction. I assume that with a 280ai you are interested in up to Elk-size game. IMO, you want a tougher bullet than any Berger. Think something like Woodleigh Weldcore, a Speer grand slam (or the new Gold Dot), a Nosler AB or Partition, etc. Think bonded bullet or monolithic.

If you are going after thinner skinned game, then a lighter bullet and a lighter-construction bullet is appropriate. Drop down to the 140s and such and maybe a Nosler BT or a Hornady SST. This is where I'd consider a Berger or a Sierra that I otherwise wouldn't.

I think you'll find that a Zeiss has excellent glass (of course) but gives up a lot of field of view. (FOV is IMO one of the single most important specs in hunting glass!). Leupold VX6HD gets rave reviews. The SWFA ultralight hunting scope is very good for the money and as the name suggests, it's nice and light.

Personally, I really like a medium mag fixed scope like a 6x42 or such. No need to fiddle with zoom, no worries about zero shift or POI shift. Just point and shoot.

 

[JEFFPPC]

I am a month or two out from delivery of a new 280ai hunting build. Have owned 3 other 280ai rifles. Have thrown out all old brass and am ready to start new. This will not be super light for a hunting rifle but would be light by most competitive and long range shooters posting on this site. Guessing 7.5ish lbs for bare rifle. Will have a 24” Bartlein 2b 8.7” twist barrel. Is being built by Jon Beanland. I do not know what throat length he uses. I plan to build a purpose built long range hunting/fancy plinking rifle in the future. Realistically I will probably never take a shot over 500y with this hunting rifle. Would like to find one perfect load for all medium game, get a custom turret made, load a hundred rounds, and be done messing around with this rifle. Looking for some suggestions as I have not had a 280ai in a few years.

Would the 175 Berger Elite Hunter be overkill for a <500y rifle? If not, what velocity should I be able to reasonably see out of a 24” barrel? Assume RL 26 or 23 would be good places to start with this combo?

For a standard hunting scope with added custom elevation turret, is the Zeiss Conquest V6 a solid choice? I really do not want to spend Swarovski Z6 level money. Have owned Z5 previously and looking for something different. Any other sub 2k scopes that should be considered?

Thanks!
Craig

I shoot a straight .280. I have had several. If your talking deer I would go with what the gun tells you it likes. I have shot 500 yd whitetail and mule deer with 139 Horn Spire Points, Swift Sirocccos, Speer 160 gr BTSP (over 700 yds.), and 168 gr SMK. All 1 shot dropping in there tracks or within 25 yds. I use 4831SC most of the time but with the 139 I have also us RL19. Use what it shoots well, lots of good bullets for deer. If your moving up to elk you might want to look at a bullet of stouter construction. Lots of choices today. Personally I use 6.5 x 20 Leupold with target knobs and click to the yardage. Have shot everything at 12x or less but most at 12x. I left one of my .280s in Idaho with my son, he quit loading , uses Federal Fusion. Has killed deer, bear, and elk with it.Grandkids with .243s using Federal Fusion have multiple deer and elk kills also.

 

[FryeGuy]

I bought a Cooper 280ai last fall right at the end of season. I used 140 ballistic tips pushed by H4831sc @ around 2825fps for the lone deer I shot on the last day with it. I think it was 275 +/-yds?? I cannot remember, but it was the only time I used the CDS on the scope hunting. it was a little deer and only ran 20 yards max, but left a blood trail that was pretty amazing. After deer season, I have been playing with many more loads and powder. RL26 has given me some amazing speeds with the heavier bullets. I ended up trying IMR4350 with the 140 grain bullets, and I am getting better speed and accuracy than I could with H4831. I will end up running that load this fall deer & bear hunting. I might end up using some 160accubonds and 168 bergers too, just to use something different. RL26 really changed things with the heavy bullets.

as for scopes, I cannot recommend the new VX5 HD or VX6HD scopes enough. I ran Zeiss for a couple of years, then Swarovski scopes until this past fall. I was finally convinced to try them by a friend. I compared the one I bought in low light with my swarovski scopes on same power settings. Needless to say I have 3 less Swarovski scopes now. I replaced them with VX5 and one VX6. I love having the CDS, which has been great by the way. only thing I regret on a couple was not getting the illuminated reticle. the firedot they have is on the VX6 I have, and it's amazing. first illuminated scope I have looked at that I liked enough to buy.

 

[CTK]

I have killed multiple wt deer with 280ai. Used 140 Accubond 140 Ballistic Tips, 168 Berger hvlds, and Barnes 150 TTSX. All worked. I mainly shoot Whitetail with a 6.5x47. Due to massive bloom of CWD in West TN I am likely going to have to hunt outside of my home area. I cannot explain how much this sucks for me and mainly my young son. Nothing we can do about it but hunt somewhere else. We will likely hunt Mule Deer and bigger bodied Whitetail. Something like the 160 Accubond may be perfect.

Edit: Covid-19 impacts make my CWD complaints trivial. Very disappointed about CWD but want to be clear on my perspective.

 

[STOMP442]

If it were me I would forget about the custom turret. I hate the fact that the custom turret pigeon holes you into one elevation and weather condition, one bullet, one powder etc. I don't know about where you are at but depending on what unit I am hunting there could be up to 4-5000 feet of elevation change. So much for that custom turret. If the custom turret is a must the Leupold would be the way to go with their custom CDS dial option while keeping an MOA turret option as well. As far as bullets go I would look at the 168 Berger VLD. This is the bullet I am running in mine and I am getting 2890fps out of a 26" Benchmark. Worked fantastic on a nice Bull Elk at 680 yards.

 

[CTK]

If it were me I would forget about the custom turret. I hate the fact that the custom turret pigeon holes you into one elevation and weather condition, one bullet, one powder etc. I don't know about where you are at but depending on what unit I am hunting there could be up to 4-5000 feet of elevation change. So much for that custom turret. If the custom turret is a must the Leupold would be the way to go with their custom CDS dial option while keeping an MOA turret option as well. As far as bullets go I would look at the 168 Berger VLD. This is the bullet I am running in mine and I am getting 2890fps out of a 26" Benchmark. Worked fantastic on a nice Bull Elk at 680 yards.

Altitude change is certainly a good argument against custom turrets. The other issue is that I need to be able to see what is written on the turret without reading glasses. This has been a problem with the turret on my Kahles scopes. I can set for different distances but cannot see the marks. Perhaps I should consider a distance reticle. I was able to get in the low 2800's with the 168 Berger and a 24" barrel. Really wanted to try the hybrid design bullets. Just bought some 140gr Elite Hunter Bergers to try in my 6.5x47.

 

[STOMP442]

Altitude change is certainly a good argument against custom turrets. The other issue is that I need to be able to see what is written on the turret without reading glasses. This has been a problem with the turret on my Kahles scopes. I can set for different distances but cannot see the marks. Perhaps I should consider a distance reticle. I was able to get in the low 2800's with the 168 Berger and a 24" barrel. Really wanted to try the hybrid design bullets. Just bought some 140gr Elite Hunter Bergers to try in my 6.5x47.

Have you looked at the Leupold LRP models? They have large readable numbers and the very best zero stop in the business in my opinion. Here is a picture of my Brothers 25 Creedmoor we put together. I took this pic from a couple of steps behind the rifle and can still read the numbers easily.