4 replies on “No Respect for the Poor .280 Remington | Guns & Gear Bonus”
Remington did a terrible job marketing their 280 Remington cartridge, which they waffled on and decided to call it instead the “7mm Express Remington” for a while. Confused consumers didn’t buy it, and what could have been a success faded into relative obscurity.
The idea behind it was sound-enough: Necking down the 30-06 case to .28-caliber/7mm diameter and allowing that long-action case to drive those highly-efficient 7mm projectiles.
A shade less-potent than 7mm Rem-Mag, the 280 never the less delivered very good performance with less felt recoil and less barrel wear per use than with the 7mm Rem-Mag. That’s how it should have been sold to the hunting public, but Remington just botched it.
The 280 AI (Ackley Improved) is a very good cartridge with even more to recommend it than its stock parent. By making the shoulder angle steeper and by reducing the taper, the case holds more propellant and can deliver near-magnum performance levels without the wear and recoil of those cartridges.
Many seasoned hunters love 280AI, and some manufacturers, such as Winchester, now offer factory rifles in the cartridge and there are also factory ammunition offerings as well. Best of all, if you do not wish to fire 280AI, you can fire standard 280 loads in an Ackley Improved chamber without issue, and the brass will be fire-formed to 280AI specs. Neat!
If you’d rather not fire-form brass, Hornady and other companies offer cases suitable for reloading 280 and 280AI.
Thanks for the well thought out words on the 280.
I myself think that this just another find a solution for a problem that does not exist. But it can cause folks to spend their hard earned money on another gun.
So I also fail to see on how this round is so much better than say the 270 or the venerable 30-06. But then I could be wrong. Grumpy
Re: “So I also fail to see on how this round is so much better than say the 270 or the venerable 30-06.”
You are right, of course. If you already own a rifle chambered in 270 Winchester, 30-06, or 7mm Rem-Mag, to name three possible alternatives, you don’t really need one in 280 or 280AI.
But then again, for some folks, the words “need” and “want” are not easily separated, right? The kind of people who are willing to go the extra mile for that last 5-10% improvement in performance in some way….
I can see where a reloader might like 280 since 30-06 brass is easy to find and fairly inexpensive to boot, and so are high-quality 7mm projectiles for handloading.
As was expected. You have brought up some good points. Especially for us gun addicts. Like me for example. As my friend Bill said of me. “You have too many guns and you need more of them!”
4 replies on “No Respect for the Poor .280 Remington | Guns & Gear Bonus”
Remington did a terrible job marketing their 280 Remington cartridge, which they waffled on and decided to call it instead the “7mm Express Remington” for a while. Confused consumers didn’t buy it, and what could have been a success faded into relative obscurity.
The idea behind it was sound-enough: Necking down the 30-06 case to .28-caliber/7mm diameter and allowing that long-action case to drive those highly-efficient 7mm projectiles.
A shade less-potent than 7mm Rem-Mag, the 280 never the less delivered very good performance with less felt recoil and less barrel wear per use than with the 7mm Rem-Mag. That’s how it should have been sold to the hunting public, but Remington just botched it.
The 280 AI (Ackley Improved) is a very good cartridge with even more to recommend it than its stock parent. By making the shoulder angle steeper and by reducing the taper, the case holds more propellant and can deliver near-magnum performance levels without the wear and recoil of those cartridges.
Many seasoned hunters love 280AI, and some manufacturers, such as Winchester, now offer factory rifles in the cartridge and there are also factory ammunition offerings as well. Best of all, if you do not wish to fire 280AI, you can fire standard 280 loads in an Ackley Improved chamber without issue, and the brass will be fire-formed to 280AI specs. Neat!
If you’d rather not fire-form brass, Hornady and other companies offer cases suitable for reloading 280 and 280AI.
Thanks for the well thought out words on the 280.
I myself think that this just another find a solution for a problem that does not exist. But it can cause folks to spend their hard earned money on another gun.
So I also fail to see on how this round is so much better than say the 270 or the venerable 30-06. But then I could be wrong. Grumpy
Re: “So I also fail to see on how this round is so much better than say the 270 or the venerable 30-06.”
You are right, of course. If you already own a rifle chambered in 270 Winchester, 30-06, or 7mm Rem-Mag, to name three possible alternatives, you don’t really need one in 280 or 280AI.
But then again, for some folks, the words “need” and “want” are not easily separated, right? The kind of people who are willing to go the extra mile for that last 5-10% improvement in performance in some way….
I can see where a reloader might like 280 since 30-06 brass is easy to find and fairly inexpensive to boot, and so are high-quality 7mm projectiles for handloading.
As was expected. You have brought up some good points. Especially for us gun addicts. Like me for example. As my friend Bill said of me. “You have too many guns and you need more of them!”