Stick with .284 or go 280ai

[jsimonh]

So I've been shooting the straight 284 for a while and like it, but I've got the itch to do something different. My barrel is currently 26" with a .220 freebore. I'm thinking of going to a 28" 284 shehane or 280ai. I've also had my eye on a 7SAUM before, and almost went that way when I first built the 284. Someone pointed out to me that the 280ai is right at the same capacity as the saum, so could I assume the same preformance and barrel life? My 284 is launching the 180 bergers ~2750ish, if a 280ai could get me to 2950ish that would be a nice move.

Just looking for thoughts and opinions on this. I've read all I could find on the subject, just thought I'd throw it out there for you guys.

 

[6pt-sika]

In the 7mm scheme of things I've tried a good many of them . 7x57 , 7mm-08 , 284 WIN , 280 REM , 7mm SAUM , 7mm REM MAG , 7mm STW and 7mm Ultra Mag . Now bear in mind I tried all of them as deer rifles not paper punchers .

But the plain jane 7mm-08 and 280 REM or pretty darn good by my estimation !

Back when I was eat up with the 7mm bug I killed a proverbial and literal PILE of deer with both the 7mm-08 and the 280 REM and to a slightly lesser degree with the 7mm REM MAG . My 7-08 was a Sako Hunter and the 280 and 7 MAG were both Kimber 89BGR Super Grades .

Nosler 140 BT's in the 7-08 and the 280 and Nosler 150 BT's in the 7 MAG .

The 7mm SAUM wasn't to bad either I had that in a stainless synthetic Remington Model 7 but I am sorry to say I shot at and killed one lone deer with that rifle before I sold it off for something else .

So anyway my own personal opinion for your "delima" shall we say is get a plain vanilla 280 REM and never look back !

 

[6pt-sika]

I have no problems with 7mm's and still have a 280 and 7mm REM MAG .
However if you really wanna try something different give some thought to the 6.5-06 or the 6.5x284 !

I've done the 6.5-06 thing as well !
But as of yet I've not gotten a 6.5x284 of my own . Just fired someone elses's a bit !

 

[spitfire_er]

I went with the 280 Improved after mulling over the same delima for a few months. I use Norma brass with a 30" Krieger for my F-class rifle.

I have only shot one F-class match with it, (don't have enought time!) and it shot great. It shoots as good as I can. I've tested with H4831SC maninly and 180 Bergers and Sierra's. I'm running 2,850 with very minimal pressure signs. I need to bump my load and go up to 2,950, just have not had time to shoot this season.

I do like the 280 Improved so much, I made myself a 6.5-280 Imp. Fun Fun.

 

[jsimonh]

Thanks for the replies.

6pt, you laid out a lot of info there! While I've heard the 280 was good as is, I don't think it would gain me anything over the straight 284 I currently run. The 6.5 option is a valid one, and I've looked at it many times. I'm willing to sacrafice some barrel life, but not sure if I want to go to such a hot rod.

spitfire, what load of 4831 gets you to those numbers? Have you ever found the max in your rifle? Just curious. Thanks.

 

[TonyR]

I looked at the 7X64 Brenneke as alternative to the 284 case to try to improve the life of the primer pockets which seems to be a weakness of the rebated 284 case head. The 7X64 is basically a 280 Remington but slightly smaller in all of the diameters. Cases are available from Norma but can also be made easily from 280 Rem brass or 30-06 brass with a slightly shorter neck so that lets Lapua brass into the mix. Quickload was predicting comparable velocities to the 284 Shehane all else being equal, but I was pleasantly surprised by the efficiency of the Brenneke case. Grain for grain of powder, the Brenneke was up to 100 fps faster than the 284 Shehane case and I was able to tune it at 3000 fps with the 180 VLD bullets. Some of the difference could be the barrel, but it made me wonder if the long case and a slow powder were somehow more efficient than some of the short fat cases with essentially the same capacity. I didn't spend much time with the Brenneke for a variety of reasons, none of which related to performances in matches where it did do very well. So, I would give any of the 280 class cases a try. You might be pleasantly surprised as I was.

 

[effendude]

Hunting or competition. If competition, what type?

I built a .284 Shehane this year for a switch barrel F-Open/F-TR rig with a Barnard action. The 284 Shehane shoots so well I have been using it F-TR style for practice. 180 hybrids at around 2930 fps. Since I own the reamer, I have been tossing around the idea of a lighter weight hunting rifle in the same caliber, in a long action, to take advantage of case capacity and still use the longer bullets.

A friend has a .280 AI which I shot last weekend. Wow. 7mm Mag performance without the belt! Factory ammo is available, Nosler makes AI brass which is nice. As a hunting rifle shooting a couple hundred rounds a year between practice and hunts, the .280AI would be a nice choice. Just keep in mind that you may run out of room in a standard magazine box when you start loading the longer bullets above the neck/shoulder junction. Makes a repeating hunting rifle a single shot real quick.

Scott

 

[6pt-sika]

I made myself a 6.5-280 Imp. Fun Fun.

Yes sir I agree 100% , I have a friend that owns a gunshop about 5 miles from me and he built a 6.5-06AI about 4 or 5 years ago !
He took a nice old pre 90's Remington 700BDL in 06 pulled the barrel and had a gumaker thats no longer in VA rebarrel it and chmber it in 6.5-06AI . He used a #4 Stainless Lilja barrel 26" and the thing shoots very well although he's a bit hung up on heavy bullets which typically isn't my thing in a speed burner .

About the same time I had a Mauser 98 that Steve Hawkins had built a plain 6.5-06 on and mine had a carbo steel Shilen #3 24". Mine was a consistent sub 1/2 MOA rifle with the Hornady 129 SST . The first year I had it I took it deer hunting/shooting whatever u care to call it and fired 4 shots and killed 4 deer all DRT . Now it isn't a big seceret that I'm not a big Mauser person much preferring older 700's . Anyway someone came along a year or so later and wanted it more then I wanted to keep it so like many others down the road it went !

Now I have another barrel leaning in the corner in anticipation of finding a nice old 700BDL LA that can be rebarreled into another 6.5-06 .

 

[Heman]

I shoot a 280 Rem for NRA LR prone. 24.5 MOA up from 100 for 1000yd with a 175SMK. 23.5 if you use the Hybrid. 2100 barrel life, will probably get more this time around as I'm using H1000 and molly first barrel had about 1000rds on it with H4831SC. I looked at the 280AI but the extra HP wasn't needed for the 1k game. 61.5gr of H1000 with a 175gr SMK moly is around 2880 fps with a 30" barrel.