280 AI

[hdxr750]

Anyone shooting a 280AI at 600 and 1000 Yds? I thinking of building one. What bullet & powder would you think about? Thanks in advance.

 

[Patton243]

H4831 SC seems to be the go to powder with the 280 AI. I shoot the 162 ELD Hornady match out of mine

 

[alleycat]

H4831 is what I used with 140 gr. bullets

 

[ShootDots]

I have a friend of mine that shoots the .280A.I.at 1000 yards. I know he shoots the 183 SMK's and he uses H1000. I would think that using 180+ class bullets, H4831 would be the FASTEST powder you would want to use. I would think that VV N165 / N170, H1000 and even Retumbo would be wise choices. You can ask him, he is "Smoking-Brass" on this forum..

 

[shoot4fun]

Still working out my accuracy node and seating depth. I am shooting the 168 VLD because I have a bunch of them. My barrel is 28" and right now I'm pushing them to right at 3,000 FPS with Retumbo. I do have some 175 VLD and some of the Sierra pointed 183SMK but want to concentrate on 168s right now. I saw a friend shoot a five-shot 4 1/2" group at 1250 yards with his and the 183.

 

[MTlager]

H4831 with 160 Accubonds good hunting load or with 168 Berger Vld's work good for 1000 yard shooting. IMR 7828 SC gives good accuracy too and better velocity. H1000 with the 195 Berger best long range gong shooting combo I found, but don't use them for hunting at close ranges, (under 5-600 yards). Pretty much a varmint bullet up close!!

Lonnie

 

[germanlongbow]

I have a 280 AI that loves Berger 168's over RL 22. Stable and accurate out to 1400. Standard Rem Long action with Lilja 1x9 NBRSA 28 in tube. It's my hunting rifle, a bit heavy but shoots great. I'd like to try a heavier bullet out a bit further.

 

[msinc]

168 Accubond LR's and reloder 26 is a great start.

 

[Sheldon N]

I run a 280AI, Berger 180 Hybrids and H1000 powder. It does extremely well out to 1200+ yards and I've taken it to a mile before.

 

[Willow]

Just started running one myself. It ran well at 300 metres with 59.2gr of ADI2217 (burn rate closely matches H1000 and RL22). That load ran about 2830fps with Berger 180gr VLDs. Going to run it at 59.4gr this weekend at 400 metres and will run a 61.2gr load over a Magnetospeed to see how the data looks. Barrel only has 42 rounds through it so it may speed up a little but I'm more interested in finding a node around the 59gr mark and seeing if there is a higher node at 61gr.

 

[Jarrett Van Curen]

58 grain of H4831 SC behind a 180 Berger hammers out of my barrel.

 

[rudysts]

58 grain of H4831 SC behind a 180 Berger hammers out of my barrel.

My barrel hammered from 57.5 to 58.5 grains H4831sc 180 Bergers hybrid or vld. I settled on 58 grains @ 2830 fps.

 

[shoot4fun]

Lots of great info in this thread. Should push those on the fence into getting a 280AI. If you do decide you gotta have then I suggest Meredith Rifles in Athen, AL as a "go-to" 280AI guy.

 

[338bigdog]

I have 2. Cooper Model 52 280ai lives Barnes 150ttsx with n165 2980fps. Custom built 280ai for fclass. 9 twist Bartlein likes 58.6gr of h4831sc and 180 hybrids at 2900fps. . 8.5 Brux shoots the 180Eld M hornady with N-165 57.2gr at 2850fps. Shoots like a hammer all Norma fireformed brass.

 

[Rtheurer]

I used to use H4831SC and it shot just OK with that. Then one day a guy suggested IMR 7828SSC. I reluctantly tried it being it was not a Hodgdon Extreme powder. My groups shrunk in HALF using at the time 162gr Amax and now 162gr ELD's.

Ya never know what your rifle is going to like some times it seems.

 

[Alex Wheeler]

168 vld, Rl23, CCI 250, 2980 fps in 24"

 

[Willow]

Just started running one myself. It ran well at 300 metres with 59.2gr of ADI2217 (burn rate closely matches H1000 and RL22). That load ran about 2830fps with Berger 180gr VLDs. Going to run it at 59.4gr this weekend at 400 metres and will run a 61.2gr load over a Magnetospeed to see how the data looks. Barrel only has 42 rounds through it so it may speed up a little but I'm more interested in finding a node around the 59gr mark and seeing if there is a higher node at 61gr.

Just as an update, I went away from 2217 awhile ago and switched to 2209 (H4350) - Accuracy improved noticeably with much tighter vertical. Velocity dropped to around 2815fps (180gr VLDs), but the accuracy improvement was worth it. I am planning on trying RL23 though.