280 REM in 280 AI for hunting?

[uncle fester]

I am building a 280AI for hunting only. While I have some Nosler brass to load up in 280AI, I like to keep a few boxes of factory ammo on hand for all of my rifles.

I know I can take 280 Remington ammo and form fire it into AI brass. With 280AI ammo hard to find, I was considering buying some 280 Rem ammo if I see it on store shelves.

Knowing I will give up a few fps (won't matter on whitetail deer), is 280 Rem ammo generally less accurate in a 280AI chamber? Would it likely be accurate enough to serve as backup to my hand loads?

 

[Rtheurer]

You can answer your own question in just a few moments. Take a whole box of 280 out and shoot it to make sure it functions and what its limitations are as far as Accuracy.
Pretty simple...just shoot it.

 

[Walt Krafft]

Some of my best scores have been shot fireforming ammo. As to the 280 and AI, there are a lot of different chambers. Make sure factory ammo fits and fires properly. Russ is right.

 

[uncle fester]

Some of my best scores have been shot fireforming ammo. As to the 280 and AI, there are a lot of different chambers. Make sure factory ammo fits and fires properly. Russ is right.

Thanks. My barrel was spec'd to have a Saami chamber.

i just didn't want to spend $50+ (if I can find a box of 280 factory ammo) if experienced 280AI owners said it was a bad idea.

 

[TrapperBR549]

I don't see how it could be a bad idea to try a box. From what I have read on this forum standard rounds usually shoot pretty good out of ackley chambers assuming the rifle shoots good.
I will say that I bought a couple boxes of Nosler 280AI ammo just for the brass (couldn't find any at the time) and was not impressed with the brass. After 2 reloads many of the primer pockets were loose. I found some very old Remington brass and fireformed with corn meal and red dot. I have 8 loadings on them and haven't lost one.

 

[AckleymanII]

Uncle Fester, sounds like you are not confident with your own reloads? You can form your own 280 AI brass from '06 brass, Winchester, Lapua, or Lake City Match unfired and have some really tough brass to work with.

Plenty of help on this site for you if you are lost in the process.

I had rather eat a rat than use nosler brass on a 280 AI. I use Lapua, PMC, and Winchester '06 brass with great success, and accuracy is stellar.

 

[uncle fester]

Uncle Fester, sounds like you are not confident with your own reloads? You can form your own 280 AI brass from '06 brass, Winchester, Lapua, or Lake City Match unfired and have some really tough brass to work with.

Plenty of help on this site for you if you are lost in the process.

I had rather eat a rat than use nosler brass on a 280 AI. I use Lapua, PMC, and Winchester '06 brass with great success, and accuracy is stellar.

Thanks for the idea. I just assumed fire forming 280 REM to 280AI was the way to go. I'll need to research how to form it from '06 cases.

I am definitely not an expert when it comes to forming brass from other cartridges. With the exception of 300 BO and 6mm ARC where it was an absolute necessity, I have not done it.

Not having used Nosler brass before, I was not aware it was crap and that I was better off starting with different brass. I will definitely replace it with something better when the stash I have wears out.

 

[okie]

my buddy has one---it shoots factory rem. core lokts so well he never bothers to load the AI version for it.
i would try it on paper, might surprise you. deer wont know any different...

 

[SweaterDood]

You will likely be more than satisfied with standard .280 from the AI barrel. As you know, deer can’t read chronographs. And the fireforming process doesnt hurt accuracy nearly as much as the quality of the barrel and ammo will.

 

[AckleymanII]

Uncle Fester, I use 14.6g of Bullseye, case full of cream of wheat, tuft of paper towel in the case mouth. Some have suggested that the powder alone is plenty enough!

 

[sw282]

Anybody remember Remington's rebirth of their 280? They called it the ''7MM EXPRESS''

 

[oldroper]

Thanks for the idea. I just assumed fire forming 280 REM to 280AI was the way to go. I'll need to research how to form it from '06 cases.

I am definitely not an expert when it comes to forming brass from other cartridges. With the exception of 300 BO and 6mm ARC where it was an absolute necessity, I have not done it.

Not having used Nosler brass before, I was not aware it was crap and that I was better off starting with different brass. I will definitely replace it with something better when the stash I have wears out.

Peterson is making 280AI or 280 brass.

You have to get on list for cases but may worth it.

Peterson Brass 280 Ackley Improved Unprimed Box of 50 - Graf & Sons

All 50 count listings of Peterson Cartridge casings come in one of their plastic ammo boxes. Made in the U.S.A. Match-Grade is a standard that must be held throughout the entire process of manufacturing some of the most consistent, accurate, and durable brass rifle casings available today...

www.grafs.com

The 30-06 case is shorter than 280AI/280 case.

 

[STOMP442]

I once won a prairie dog match fire forming .260 Ackley. Fire forming accuracy out of that rifle was still 1/2 MOA and all you had to do was throw charges, it didn't care. I miss that barrel.

 

[AckleymanII]

Yes, I know that the '06 case is shorter than the 280/AI, just monitor the carbon ring in the neck, WHICH YOU SHOULD BE DOING ANYWAY with a bore scope!

You can also use 270 Win brass, but the necking up, setting a false shoulder to headspace trimming to length, is mental over load for many.

Lapua '06 brass in the 280 AI is well worth the trouble, hard to kill the primer pockets in this brass where the upper end pressure/accuracy nodes with 175-180g Bullets love. IMR 7828 with Federal 210's is absolutely unbelievably accurate with the 160-180g Bullets in both the 280 Rem(160-162g-2900 fps) and the AI with 160-180g bullets...you are only using a small amount of powder compared to the 7 Mag that I love so much.

 

[sw282]

Yes, I know that the '06 case is shorter than the 280/AI, just monitor the carbon ring in the neck, WHICH YOU SHOULD BE DOING ANYWAY with a bore scope!

You can also use 270 Win brass, but the necking up, setting a false shoulder to headspace trimming to length, is mental over load for many.

Lapua '06 brass in the 280 AI is well worth the trouble, hard to kill the primer pockets in this brass where the upper end pressure/accuracy nodes with 175-180g Bullets love. IMR 7828 with Federal 210's is absolutely unbelievably accurate with the 160-180g Bullets in both the 280 Rem(160-162g-2900 fps) and the AI with 160-180g bullets...you are only using a small amount of powder compared to the 7 Mag that I love so much.

270 Winchester is likely the ''ONLY'' cartridge Parker Ackley was unable to 'improve'.

Hard to improve upon the PERFECTION of a ''270''

 

[AckleymanII]

With today's powders, a 270 AI with heavy VLD bullets with R#26 would be a "thing" to experiment with. I would design it around 280 AI(other than neck length), headspace it on a 280 AI case, use Redding S neck and full length sizers, Chamber a Redding or Forster Bullet seater sleeve with the AI reamer, end up with a longer neck. Velocity would be close a 270 Weatherby mag on a 27" barrel.

I did not say any of this was practical, or inexpensive.

 

[sw282]

New kid on the block. Tis a metric 270. l think they call it 6.8 Western.

My nephew has a barrel burner 270WSM

ln the last century WDM Bell killed just about everything in Africa with his '280', lncluding around 500 elephants. l think he called it a 275Rigby (7x57Mauser).

 

[Coyotefurharvester]

280 Rem listed as available on the Remington ammo site.

 

[AckleymanII]

If you have a nosler manual #4, check the most accurate load for the 280 Rem using 160g bullet, 7828, Fed 210 primer at 2930 fps. This load is REAL WORLD for our factory Rem 700's, but I would not shoot it in an automatic or pump.

 

[std7mag]

Load your 280 Rem ammo & go hunt!
It's one of the biggest bonuses for Ackley Improved chambers!

If the rifle was accurate before, then that hasn't changed.