.280 gibbs

[Koolie6br]

A friend was left his recently deceased Brothers rifle chambered in .280 Gibbs and has no ammo, He asked me to help him out seeing that I am A avid reloader
However I know absolutely nothing about this caliber and I am having trouble finding information on it. can anyone help. Thanks.

 

[John Russell]

A friend was left his recently deceased Brothers rifle chambered in .280 Gibbs and has no ammo, He asked me to help him out seeing that I am A avid reloader
However I know absolutely nothing about this caliber and I am having trouble finding information on it. can anyone help. Thanks.

Unlike the Ackley family of cartridges, which kept the neck/shoulder junction in approximately the same place and moved the shoulder/body junction forward... The Gibbs line of cartridges were made by blowing the whole shoulder forward, thereby shortening the neck substantially.
They can be made by using the false shoulder technique, or by seating long and oiling the case and fireforming.
Dies are available special order (i.e... expensive and a long wait) from RCBS, but, unless there is some nostalgia attached to it, it would be much easier to have the barrel setback and rechambered for the Nosler 280 Improved - almost the same ballistics and off the self ammunition and off the shelf loading dies.

 

[centershot]

When I shot, many years ago, 1,000 yard unlimited, one of the competitors shot a .30 Gibbs. Not only does the cartridge look sexy, it was almost shooting with the 300 mags. Very efficient cartridge. Nice feature was that the parent case was .30/06.

 

[Kurz]

A friend was left his recently deceased Brothers rifle chambered in .280 Gibbs and has no ammo, He asked me to help him out seeing that I am A avid reloader
However I know absolutely nothing about this caliber and I am having trouble finding information on it. can anyone help. Thanks.

I have seen this cartridge referenced as the '7mm Gibbs' not the .280 Gibbs.

Quality Cartridge will make runs of these cases when they have the necessary number of requests for quantities. Otherwise your options are to fireform or make new cases hydraulically. I've fireformed for the .240 Gibbs for lots of years. If he just wants to play with the rifle, 10 cases certainly won't be hard to make and if handled properly will last for several hunting seasons.

Regards.

 

[John Russell]

I have seen this cartridge referenced as the '7mm Gibbs' not the .280 Gibbs.

Quality Cartridge will make runs of these cases when they have the necessary number of requests for quantities. Otherwise your options are to fireform or make new cases hydraulically. I've fireformed for the .240 Gibbs for lots of years. If he just wants to play with the rifle, 10 cases certainly won't be hard to make and if handled properly will last for several hunting seasons.

Regards.

"10 cases certainly won't be hard to make ... "

It is not hard to make them... but it's damn hard to load the 280 Gibbs cases without dies.

 

[Kurz]

It is not hard to make them... but it's damn hard to load the 280 Gibbs cases without dies.

Personally, I'd get a .280 Ackley body die from Redding and use a .284 Winchester bushing neck die then use the Ackley seating die.

Regards.

 

[John Russell]

Personally, I'd get a .280 Ackley body die from Redding and use a .284 Winchester bushing neck die then use the Ackley seating die.

Regards.

Rube Goldberg would love it....

 

[butchlambert]

Rube Goldberg would love it....

But it will work.

 

[Kurz]

Rube Goldberg would love it....

Sarcasm... gotta love it!

This works and you don't have to order custom dies and wait. Everything is a standard item. Order and get to work.

Regards.

 

[Brians356]

FWIW Forming the Gibbs case by fireforming "bulletless" from 30-06 should be a cinch. I seem to recall reading in Ackley's book that Gibbs lived in Wenatchee, WA, so he might have had nearby L.E. Wilson make dies, although he probably made them himself. I also recall him having lived in little Viola, ID (just north of Moscow). Probably his best-known cartridge is the 25 Gibbs, which some long-ranged rockchuck snipers have toyed with over the years.

Here lies a bit of load data for the 7mm Gibbs (from the COTW book):

https://books.google.com/books?id=wocFDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA278&lpg=PA278&dq=7mm+gibbs&source=bl&ots=LsCnNNtoWS&sig=gZ0S-HcEYaACc4bc1DA1-_1_xlU&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjrjuLT7t3QAhVInpQKHVNNDRw4ChDoAQhIMAg#v=onepage&q=7mm gibbs&f=false

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[Brians356]

PS It seems Gibbs' earliest wildcats (starting with 270 Gibbs) were originally "front-ignition" designs employing an ignition tube.
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[Brians356]

PPS An older thread over on longrangehunting.com forum says this chap carries all the Gibbs dies (and reamers) in stock. Might check him out if you need dies.

http://www.goodlingrifles.com/
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[fguffey]

Personally, I'd get a .280 Ackley body die from Redding and use a .284 Winchester bushing neck die then use the Ackley seating die.

I will assume no one forms bottle neck cases to straight wall cases and no one has ever heard of cylinder brass. Then there is annealing; I suggest a reloader that is a case former use new brass but it seems they always have a pile of brass they want to use up.

I have formed Gibbs cases, for most it is a problem but the Gibbs case shoulder is ahead of the 30/06 shoulder by .034". I have a 30 Gibbs sizing die meaning I can sized a straight wall case or a straight wall cylinder case case to 30 Gibbs to get the shoulder where I want it.

I also fire form cases for the Gibbs chambers. Reloaders believe they can move the shoulder of the case forward and they believe they can move a shoulder back by bumping. I find it most difficult to move a shoulder forward 'AND' that is the reason I ask about forming straight wall cases and cylinder brass. All the reloader needs to know is where the shoulder is located on the case or the length of the chamber from the shoulder to the bolt face. I form first and then fire.

Back to fire forming. I suggest the reloader use new cases; I suggest using 30/06 cases (and 270 W or 280 Remington cases as an alternative). I suggest necking the 30/06 case down to 7MM and again the reloader needs to know the length of the chamber from the shoulder to the bolt face. After necking the case down and creating a shoulder on the case seat a primer, add powder and then seat a bullet.

Because of the problem with the shoulder on the case the case will have to be fire formed. I form cases once, I do not use toilet paper, Wheaties Gritts or Cheerios, I load the case with what some call 'risky stuff', that normally comes from those that have no clue what happens after the trigger is pulled.

It gets complicated when the case shortens during the necking up and fire forming process. Most of my 30 Gibbs cases shorten .045". That is the reason I say the 270 and 280 case should be an option because the shoulder on the 280 Remington is ahead of the 30/06 shoulder by .051" and the case is .041" longer than the 30/06 case.

The 270 Winchester case is the same length as the 280 Remington case with the shoulder length from the shoulder to the case head the same as the 30/06. I know; that makes no sense but I want all the bullet hold I can get and there are not many cases with shorter necks than the Gibbs case, the Gibbs neck is close to .215" to .217" long. And then I always mention there are many reloaders that think the 300 Win Mag neck is too short at about .264", the 30 Gibbs is .049 shorter.

And we all know I can not increase neck tension I go for all the bullet hold I can get.

F. Guffey

 

[Brians356]

If you intend to use 270 Win or 280 Rem brass, make sure the Gibbs chamber will tolerate the extra .046" OAL, and the case mouth doesn't take an unintended crimp when chambered.
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[Brians356]

I seem to recall reading in Ackley's book that Gibbs lived in Wenatchee, WA, so he might have had nearby L.E. Wilson make dies, although he probably made them himself. I also recall him having lived in little Viola, ID (just north of Moscow).

Gibbs lived in tiny Viola, ID. I was thinking of another wildcatter featured prominently in Ackley's book, Dr. E. L. Arch, who lived in Wenatchee, WA (apple country) and based his wildcats on the 6.5 x 55 Swede.
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