280 or 7mm-08

I have both, and love both. I handload, so my philosophy has always been 280 for longer (22"+) barrels, 7mm-08 for shorter ones.
 
I have both, and love both. I handload, so my philosophy has always been 280 for longer (22"+) barrels, 7mm-08 for shorter ones.
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I agree - I do the same.

7mm-08 for woods hunting.
280 for open country hunting.
But both could do both!
 
Since action length makes no difference in an Encore . The .280 would be my choice , as I'm a handloader and the 280 can handle heavier bullets . Which is handy if something larger than deer wants to be on the menu !
 
What range do you want too shoot, what other calibers do you have? Either will knock them down without much problem.
 
If you reload, then I vote for the .280. It's a bit more versatile. I've used an A-bolt stainless stalker in .280 for 15+ years now and it's handled, deer, bear and elk equally well.

That poor rifle has seen it's fair share of abuse and it's going to be retired soon for something else, but I'm finding it tough to let it go.
 
An A-Bolt SS .280 at 15 years is broken in, not finished. The stock and scope (Leupold Vari-X III 2.5 X 8) on my two A-Bolts are scratched but shoot like new. When I bought my first A-Bolt I thought it was a bland, un-attractive bolt rifle. It still is, but it is a superb hunting rifle.
 
SaltyDog said:
7mm08 hands down. Its a great little cartridge and is capable of doing a whole lot more than most will give it credit for. I prefer the 150grn bullets as I get the best results accuracy wise from them. For deer, there is probably no better round out there, it has the best attributes of the .308 and the .243 mixed together.
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That would be the .260 ;)

If you reload, choose one. If not the 7mm-08 is more readily available. Both will kill deer adequately.
 
7/08

I just started testing heavy bullets in my remington 700sps 26" barrel. Has HS precision stock and Leupold 6-18x40 scope with Harris bipod. Yesterday I shot a .500" (center to center) 4 shot group with 162 grain Amax @ 100 yards. Muzzle velocity was average 2767 with SD of 7. That was using H414 one grain below max load on Hodgdon's website. According to my ballistics calculator that load at my elevation will still be supersonic at 1 mile. I live at about 4500 ft above sea level. It was 77 degrees and about 45% humidity. Nothing special has been done to this gun. I love the 7/08 for everything, including now, long range shooting. BC on that bullet according to Hornady is .625.
It also shoots 110 grain sierra varminters at 3200 fps with about 1/2 moa @ 200 yard. Love it for everything. Think I was using Win 748 for the light bullet, I forget the charge. I always use Rem 9 1/2 primers with it and prever Winchester brass.
 
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