Opinions on the .280 Remington

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topknot

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I have alot of experiance with 8mm Mauser, 30-06,7.62x39 for deer hunting and plinking.
What do you think about the .280 Rem?
 
I've been using a 280 (barrel marked 7mm express) for the last 6 or 7 years, almost exclusively. I love the round. I've been shooting a old tang safety Ruger M77 with a heavy and long barrel. It's a heavy gun and recoil is very light.
 
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A most outstanding round. If I could have only 1 centerfire hunting rifle caliber, it'd be in the top 2 or 3 contenders, probably #1. No, .270. No, .280... dangit!
 
I have a 280 AI on a pre-64 Winchester action.It is my favorite rifle and I use it for deer and elk.It has a Schneider barrel with a 1 in 9 twist which is pretty standard for 7MM.It shoots 140 grain and 160 grain fine and I have not had the urge to try other bullet weights.Of course,as with most of these cartridges,it will not do anything a 30/06 won't do. But, it sure would be boring without some variety.
 
My opinion: Best all around cartridge for the lower 48

My opinion: Best all around cartridge for the lower 48 - my opinion the .270 is marginal on elk and the .30-'06 is marginal as a varmint rifle or a plinker so the .280 is the better all around. For those who figure beware the man with one gun.

On the other hand the .280 offers nothing special to the man with 2 guns - say a 6mm/243 on the lower end and a .30-'06 on the heavier end.

A fine step up in power from the 7X57 or the 7mm'08 or the .260 but burns a little more powder and kicks a little harder.
 
I have a 280 in a Model 70 featherweight classic one of my favorite deer rifles. I feel it's better than a 270 can reload a greater range of bullets. It's only a little bit less in velocity withe the 140 to 160 grain bullets than a 7mm mag. I don't think anyone can go wrong by owning one
 
As long as you are not using it in an autoloader you can load the .280 Rem to the same pressures as the .270 Winchester. When the pressures are the same, the 280 wins. It has better BC and better bullet selection to just name two.
 
Its so ding dern doggone close to the .270 that it can be classed as a really great round. People argue on both sides im a .270 guy but really the animal cant tell the difference between .277 and .284 its a goner either way you put it.

The .280 will be much flatter shooting than your other rounds and hit waaaaaaaaaaay harder than the 7.62X39.

On a side note I almost ripped a bunny right in two yeaterday with my .270.
 
The .280 is a fine game rifle. A friend had an inaccurate 7mm rebarrelled to .280 and hunts whitetail, mule deer, and elk with it.

Unless you handload or have a large shooting budget you will soon get tired of paying for .280s to plink with. There is no cheap surplus .280.

If you are looking to buy a used one pay attention to the year of manufacture. The early 280s had a faster twist and those might not be suitable for heavy bullets.
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Could you explain that, fisherman66? In the first place you seem to have it backwards, a faster twist IS suitable for heavy bullets and in the second place I have never heard it said of .280, all I know of is the .244-6mm twist change.
 
Could you explain that, fisherman66? In the first place you seem to have it backwards, a faster twist IS suitable for heavy bullets and in the second place I have never heard it said of .280, all I know of is the .244-6mm twist change.
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Thanks for catching my error on fast twist, Jim. I believe I found that the early barrels were slow twisted on Chuck Hawks' site before he went fee for access. I can't verify that information with another source right now. I will look a little longer and if I don't find anything I will remove my above post. I'm starting to second guess myself.
 
The 280 has some of the characteristics of the 270, at distances less than 200 yards it damages too much meat on a deer size animal. Farther than 200 yards it is a ho-hum cartridge at best. I have the same issues with my 7x61 Sharpe & Hart at anything under 500 yds. The 280 was also one of my first centerfire cartridges in a Remington 742. The old gun hasn't seen daylight for probably thirty years. If you want a 7mm cartridge, the 7x57 is hard to beat.
 
9.25 to 10 twist isn't much difference. I doubt it would have any effect unless you wanted to shoot long range matches with a 175 grain boattail. In which case you might be better off with an 8.5 anyhow.
 
Clarification?

So, if a deer is hit at 199 yards with a .280 Remington it will blow up. If a deer is hit at 201 yards, it will walk off unharmed. If you use this cartridge for deer you better have an accurate rangefinder on you.
 
Meat damage is much more a function of bullet construction than anything else. to say a .280 destroys meat clearly implies that a .270 win or a .30-06 also destroys meat at that range, and we know that isn't true for all cases.

Anything good that anyone has to say about the .270 win and the .30-06 must also apply to the .280 Rem...and we all have great things to say about the .270 and the .30-06. They are for the purpose of conversation the same case and have similar performance.

Anything that a poster has to say bad about the .280 rem should also apply to the .270 win and the .30-06...for the same reasons as above.

It is a fine cartridge.
 
Any functional differences between the .270 and the .280 are really in the mind of the fans of those cartridges.

Both perform very very well.

The only problem with the .280 is that Remington let Winchester get a nearly 40 year head start with the .270.
 
I'll problly get some head butting here, but the 25/06* 270*280*30/06*8mm/06*338-06*35 whelen are all but close to being the same . The diffrence i see is in bullet selection. The 30 Gov. that started it all is popular because of cheap, and plenty of on the shelf ammo. The 270 was praised as the riflesmans rifle, with Jack leading the way. The others have had to more or less make it on there own. Like i've said before (apples to apples) it boils down to what you grew up with, or just a personal prefrence. Yes sir: i want one of each, but.......Do i want a 280, darn right i do, always have. At times have shot or hunted with each. My big boy toy at the moment is the 338/06 and i have not got board with it yet, its done everything i've asked it to do! (To make a short yes or no longer):) I group all these rounds together, with minor diffrences, you want a 280, than by all means get one, this group won't let you down at most hunting ranges, with the right bullet, and shot placement. With shot placement, there won't be any meat damage at any range. I've never shot a deer at 1/2 a mile with a 30/30, with open sights like some have more or less done...:D You want it, get it, You don't like it, trade it, till you have your favorite, and it just might end up in this group of chamberings.
 
Mike I and srtrax,

agreed!!!

With one minor thought on my part: a .25-06 is darn close to a .270, a .270 is darn close to a .280 which is darn close to a .30-06...and so on and so on up to the .35 whelan....however a .25-06 is a whole different animal from a .35 whelan, IMHO.

Buy what you want and have fun with it. You can't do wrong with any of the .06 based cartridges, depending on your intended game animal.
 
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