Im having a rifle built. A 284 Winchester or 280 Rem AI

[1lessdog]

I'm having Skeetlee build me a 284 Winchester or a 280 Remington AI. I leaning more to the 284 Winchester. It seems like anything build on the 284 cartridge shoots really good.

What are the pro and Cons of having one or the other build. I can get brass for both rifles.

Will be building it on a Remington 700 long action.

Tell me your thoughts.

 

[gunsandgunsmithing]

I like the 280 AI but a lot depends on mag length and what you're gonna do with the gun. The biggest complaint I hear with the 284 for competition is the brass not holding up at the upper node, where they tend to do best.

 

[slm9s]

Hunting? 1000yd BR? What will it be used for?

 

[1lessdog]

Mostly hunting'

Using a Remington 700 long action

 

[DumpHollow]

Based on using a 700 long action, I would build the 280 AI. I don't know how the 284 would feed without some action rail tweaking. Maybe someone will weigh in about that. If your long action was for the 30-06 family, it should be fine with the 280AI.

 

[STOMP442]

I have little experience with the .284 Win other than load development on a few rifles for people. They all shot fantastic. I just purchased a barreled action from a member on the site and going to get it worked up into a nice Benchrest build for my nephew. The .280 Ackley is also a fantastic cartridge and can be very accurate as well although I would say a touch more picky on finding the sweet spot. It will do essentially anything the 7 Mag will do with 168gr bullets or lighter. The one I built on a 98 Mauser with a 26" Benchmark barrel will shoot the 168 Berger VLD at 2940fps and dropped a big Arizona bull at 740 yards.

 

[effendude]

I built a 284 Shehane on a Surgeon LA several years ago as a hunting rifle to use tired match brass "one more time" LOL. This rifle, with 180gr Berger Hybrids and now 175 Elite Hunters, has taken nearly 75 animals including elk, kudu, wildebeest and zebra. The 7mm bullets work well, a few animals walked a couple steps, the rest bang flopped. Less recoil, easy to shoot, great terminal performance. I like it so much, I built a second rifle on a pre-64 action with a 20" barrel for my wife. She will always shoot it suppressed.

I'd suggest the 284.

Scott

 

[gunsandgunsmithing]

Mostly hunting'

Using a Remington 700 long action

Either will do the trick. Unless you're just hellbent on the Ackley, a straight 280 Rem will feed better than either of the other two options and kill just as dead. I love my 280 AI, but you have to cycle it...deliberately with a full mag, as the straight walled cases just don't feed quite as smoothly as the parent case. It also, is on a 700 LA..fwiw. It's probably my all time favorite hunting rifle. Nothing special about the build (700, CDL blem stock and a PacNor rem contour bbl)but it is a unicorn, as it shoots like you just wouldn't believe for a hunting rifle. But, I truly think it would shoot the same if it were a 280 Rem.

I made the mistake of pricing it one day. I priced it high and the guy started rolling off Benjamins. He didn't reload and the rifle never has liked the 280 AI Nosler offerings. That's all there was in terms of factory 280 AI ammo at the time. He came in one day wanting to talk about me building him a custom AR. We both went away happy. I got my favorite rifle back and he loved the AR. Win/win!

I shoot Berger 168 HVLD's in it at about 2,950-2,975fps with that bullet just kissing the lands a bit. It shoots that bullet at that speed incredibly well, with a few different powders but the favorite is n165. Pretty warm load so work up to that and stop if you see pressure signs first, if you go that route.

 

[SeabeeKen]

I have both 284 and 280AI and love them both. I hunt with both and find the 284 inherently accurate and it shot well with a number of powders and bullets. The 280AI is slightly more powerful but longer and once a load is found is quite accurate. I highly recommend the 284 be built on a long action to allow bullets to seat out further freeing up more powder capacity. As already mentioned, the 280AI rivals the 7mm RM and Id go with the 280AI over the 7RM. I prefer the 284 over the 280AI

 

[Riesel]

This might come down to a coin toss. I've got 'em both and when I go to hunt I toss a coin to see which one I'll take. I'm quite fond of both. The .284 is built on a long action R700.