Best Bullets for 280 Remington

[Clark]

Same answer for the same guy with the same question on 24HCF

140 gr Nos Bal Tip or 140 gr Nos accubond

Nosler 280AI brass 56.2 gr IMR-4166, 3.34", 3110 fps

 

[alleycat]

Sierra #1905,140 gr.Spitzer,BT with Fed 215,H4831 SC

 

[JEFFPPC]

Related is this..... I have found I have been able to get good hunting gun accuracy in 4 .280s. That is consistent 3 shot 200 yd groups around .75 or better. With another popular 7mm, the 7/08 which I had 2 shiloutte rifles and several hunting rifles I found them to be a bit fussy. Very good with what they like but not liking much variety.

 

[Jon D]

I'm not a fan of the hornady 139 sst's at those speeds. They blow up on close range shots. It's either a spectacular kill or a miserable fail with long tracking or follow up shots. Those nosler accubonds and partitions are hard to beat. Who cares what they cost? How many shots do you take at big game in a year, 3 maybe 4? Toss in some sighters and a coyote, maybe 10 total? If black bears season runs with deer season in your neck of the woods, even more reason to go with a premium bullet.

 

[Todd Morley]

I have hunted mule deer and elk with a 7mm Rem. Mag, 280 AI, and 280 Rem. for about 25 years. The first 10 or so years I hunted both animals with the 150-grain Ballistic Tip at around 3,000 fps. It killed deer and elk very quickly and reliably out to 300 yards. Eventually I lost a large mule-deer buck, in spite of hitting it three times (lungs and front shoulder), at 411 yards. (It walked away on three legs, down into a canyon. Incredible.) That motivated me to switch to heavier bullets (and eventually a 300 RUM) for bigger animals and longer shots. I still hunt deer with the 280 Rem in the woods, shooting the Berger 168-grain VLDH at 2,850 fps. Every deer I shoot with that load is DRT. I have loaded the Sierra GameKing 175-grain bullet for a friend's 7mm Rem. Mag. (2,900 fps) for a nilgai hunt. He took two nilgai with that bullet at 200 yards, one shot each, both DRT. If you're hunting inside of 400-500 yards (depending on muzzle velocity), that's a very fine elk bullet. In gel-block testing it hangs together like the Nosler Partition. I now load Berger 180-grain bullets for deer and elk in my 280 AI. I like the mass and high BC.

I think bullet mass matters at least as much as bullet construction for elk. Heavier bullets, even the more explosive bullets (like Bergers and Nosler BTs), retain enough mass to punch through bones and stop an animal on impact. I now hunt elk with Berger VLDH 210s and OTM 230s, and Sierra MatchKing 220s drilled to about 0.050" in the tip to initiate expansion. (I took two nilgai at about 200 yards with drilled SMKs, both DRT. I've taken elk at 600 yards with the same bullet, again DRT.) SMKs don't expand reliably without drilling. I've written about that elsewhere.

 

[rfwind]

Probably 40 + big game animals (whitetails, mulies, pronghorn, a few elk and one wild hog) between my Winchester M70 FW .280 and my friend's (now mine) Browning A Bolt .280 Stainless Stalker. All with Nosler bullets, mostly 140 and 150 grain Partitions with a scattering of old Solid Bases and a few 140 Ballistic Tips. Love the BT accuracy but I prefer the Partition and Solid Base terminal performance. Ranges from 25 to 400 yards. My absolute favorite big game cartridge.

 

[TTE]

Probably 40 + big game animals (whitetails, mulies, pronghorn, a few elk and one wild hog)

Probably 40+ big game (Tanzania) animals a month (now retired)

https://www.swiftbullets.com/pages/bullets

 

[TSFineGuns]

I have several .280ai loads waiting to be tested with the Hornady ELD-X 162gr bullets. I worked up a batch with H4831SC and another with IMR7828SSC. Hoping to get out in the next few weeks and see what works. Mainly for deer in the Midwest with a trip out west here and there for Elk/Mule/etc.

Surprised there’s been no mention of the ELD-X yet in this thread.

 

[TTE]

IMO ... Hornady's are pretty soft bullets

 

[std7mag]

Surprised there’s been no mention of the ELD-X yet in this thread.

Because others bullets fly better & have had years of proven terminal performance.

Don't get me wrong, i shoot a lot of Hornady bullets, ELDX included.
But my groups are consistently smaller with Nosler, Sierra, Berger bullets.

 

[JEFFPPC]

I picked up a Jarrett rifle in 280AI Remington. Any recommendations on a good 200 to 300 yard bullet for deer? Make, type and grain?

Been shooting a .280 for 40 plus years. Out to 500 yds my choice is 139 Hornady Spire Point. Either 4831 or Reloader 19. Both with a magnum primer. Going beyond either 160 Speer BT SP or 168 Sierra MK. 4831 and magnum primers.

 

[Bamban]

I'll play.

35 + yo Howa 1500 I rebarreled to a 280A1, borrowed Butch Lambert's pre-SAAMI reamer to chamber a fluted Wilson barrel. Dave Tooley gifted me 4 boxes of RWS 270 brass to fireform. Before I spun the Wilson blank I setback 7-08 take off for fireforming.

Thank you, @butchlambert @DaveTooley

For load I went straight to Berger 175 Elite Hunter as I planned to take it for a back to the 300WM for the trip to SW CO to go after Elk. I got good velocity with precision using RL-23.




I grabbed 59.5 to test for precision. Zeroed the scope, walked into the middle. 3 shots at 3 o'clock.



Confirmed zero at 200 then took it to a fun shoot up to 1000 yards. Cold bore Shot at 1000, 3 o'clock. Disregard the headshots those were from the 300WM and 215 Bergers while we were clowning around.




Last year deer season took down this guy. Bang flop at 240 yards. Exit wound showing.

 

[Willie]

About 40 years ago, I bought a Ruger barreled action in 280 Rem and put it in a Brown Precision stock. For 20+ years it was my go to, taking numerous whitetail, muledeer, antelope, elk and 100's of coyotes. That one rifle took more game and varmints than all my many other rifles put together. I loaded one bullet and one powder, a 140 Nosler Solid Base over H-4350 and it never failed me.

I finally wore it out and traded it off, when I should have rebarreled it, but I went to 7STW's,7RM's and Wildcats for longer ranges and heavier bullets.

Several years ago, I had Charley Robertson at ScoreHigh build me another 280 Rem. It shoots in the .2-.3's with numerous bullets at 100 yds and is tight to 400 yds.

This rifle will be going to my grandson soon for his first true hunting rifle. I was lucky enough to find 1,200 Nosler Solid Base bullets in 140 and 162 and he will be able to pick up where I left off.

 

[rickt300]

If you find a hunting bullet that won't work on deer inside of 300 yards using good accurate loads in a 280 post who made it and what it weighs.

 

[wkdickinson]

Ruger No. 1B, 280 Rem, 160gr. Sierra "Game King" (hollow point). Has killed Upper Peninsula whitetails where they stand 98% of the time. The other 2% ran about 10 yds.

 

[Steve h]

Nosler used to make a bullet called Solid Base. I used the 140 grain for years. Never failed me.

 

[WVRJ]

I had my 280 built in 1981,put a Shilen barrel on a M700 action.I shot 140 grain Sierra flat base spitzers for target and groundhogs and used 140 grain Partitions for deer...a lot of deer.They never failed,from 15 to 550 yards.Back in those days,I basically had one rifle to hunt with,so I had a good one built and I shot it a lot.They used to have hunting rifle matches,and that rifle was the one to beat.A few years ago,I had to accept the fact that the barrel was done in,so I bought a Shilen Select Match in 280AI,and it's been even more accurate than the first one.I've been using 168 grain Berger Classic Hunters and they are good at dropping deer in their tracks,but tend to be hard on the meat.I got some 150 grain Swift Sirocco's to try in it when the weather permits.I've had good results with them in my 308.They tend to be less destructive that the Bergers but I've had a few deer take a few steps after being shot.The longest blood trail was 30 yards,so not much to complain about.Any decent hunting bullet in the 280AI will do the job.It's a great hunting cartridge,and I've been doing ok at 1000+ yards shooting steel with Sierra Tipped Matchkings,but they're extinct nowadays.

 

[Rem06]

7mm 140NPT was the best performing bullet i ever punched through a deer.
cant imagine a 150npt not working A+