Back story:
In 1981 my dad decided he needed to build his idea of an ideal hunting rifle. He bought a pre'64 M70 action, Schilen #2 barrel and chambered it in 280 Rem. He went with a 22" barrel. In 1982 we went on a bear hunt and he killed one with the rifle and loads I worked up for it. Hard telling how many whitetails he killed with it. He passed last year and I have the rifle now.
My wife and I are going to Montana in November for elk (if we draw) and I was thinking a 280 AI would be a good balance of ballistics and recoil for her.
I called the gunsmith that originally put it together. He still had his records and told me all of the components which I thought was cool and it was a great visit. Anyway, we discussed that there wouldn't really be enough benefit to just reaming the 22" existing barrel and have decided to rebarrel it.
So the obvious question is, what configuration? I am leaning towards a 24" with a break to help with recoil. The gunsmith really wants me to go with 26".
Next question is twist. I think we would like to stay in the 165-175grn range so, 1 in 9"?
Thanks!
In 1981 my dad decided he needed to build his idea of an ideal hunting rifle. He bought a pre'64 M70 action, Schilen #2 barrel and chambered it in 280 Rem. He went with a 22" barrel. In 1982 we went on a bear hunt and he killed one with the rifle and loads I worked up for it. Hard telling how many whitetails he killed with it. He passed last year and I have the rifle now.
My wife and I are going to Montana in November for elk (if we draw) and I was thinking a 280 AI would be a good balance of ballistics and recoil for her.
I called the gunsmith that originally put it together. He still had his records and told me all of the components which I thought was cool and it was a great visit. Anyway, we discussed that there wouldn't really be enough benefit to just reaming the 22" existing barrel and have decided to rebarrel it.
So the obvious question is, what configuration? I am leaning towards a 24" with a break to help with recoil. The gunsmith really wants me to go with 26".
Next question is twist. I think we would like to stay in the 165-175grn range so, 1 in 9"?
Thanks!