280 in 24" barrel

[Buckfever]

I would like to see a .280 in a 24" barrel offered by someone.  The new 140gr bullets in a light Mag. would really make a lot of sense for most deer hunters, short or long shots and most of the performance of a 7mm mag and a lot less recoil.  The new premium bullets would help the caliber by being able to shoot 130gr, and 140gr.  Better performance and little worry about the bullet holding up to close shots.  Maybe a rifle company and a ammunition company could work it up together.  We are seeing some of this with, Marlin and Hornady, and Federal Cartridge and Sako.  I would even pay a bit of a premium for a better firearm as my go to, common sense, Deer Rifle.   Any thoughts?

[Mr. Joe]

I dont think it would be a bad idea myself, though i honestly dont care for the added length when afield, though that is strictly personal taste.  Ive noticed in my balistic research that when ammunition manufactures list the specs for standard calibers like the great .308 or the 30-06 and even the .270 they use 24 inch tubes.  I dont know of any major manufacturer that uses a 24 inch tube for these except CZ, though im sure there are others, but my point is that 22 inch barrels are standard for these calibers, and ammunition specs should be posted acordingly 

[longwinters]

Doesnt Remington offer 24" barrels?

Long

[Buckfever]

Yes. I saw a CDL that was a .280 and 24" barrel.  However as I read some magazines today I see that the new Nosler Custom Rifle is going to be a .280 Ackley Improved.  While I don't have the money to spend on a $3400.00 rifle it did mention that word is the that this .280 Ackley will be SAMMI approved.  That means it will become a standardized cartridge.  How about a T3 or CZ 550 in this caliber ?  Works fine for me.  The magazine was
August Guns and Ammo.  This I could really get into!!   Buckfever

[EsoxLucius]

Weatherby Mark V

http://www.weatherby.com/products/guns.asp?prd=Rifles&prd_sub_type=1&prod_code=UTM300WR6O

http://www.weatherby.com/products/guns.asp?prd=Rifles&prd_sub_type=1&prod_code=SNS222RR4O

[Buckfever]

Tnaks for the information!  I have always liked those Ultralightweight Weatherbys. I think a straight .280 or a .280 Ackley Improved will be my next firearm.   Buckfever

[EsoxLucius]

I have a Weatherby Mark V Lightweight Synthetic (second link in my previous post).  I had it rechambered to the 280 Rem AI and love it.

[Buckfever]

Could you tell me who did it and what it cost?  Thanks  Buckfever

[jerkface11]

NEF makes one with a 26" barrel.

[EsoxLucius]

I had it done 8 years ago at the Wilmot, WI Gander Mountain gunsmiths.  They have been doing AI conversions for several decades.  It cost $95 to pull the barrel, set it back the appropriate amount, reinstall the barrel, rechamber and establish appropriate headspacing.

http://www.gandermountain.com/gunsmithing/crafting.asp

[358Win]

The 280 is an awesome cartridge.  Had it been introduced first I don't think the 270 would have made much headway, being such a non-standard bore diameter (in the 270 case).  The 280 at the same pressure with the same bullets will always win in the velocity/energy contest because of basic physics Pressure = Force / Area.  The downfall of the 280 was that the SAAMI spec for the 280 was set at 60,000 PSI where as the SAAMI spec for the 270 was set at 65,000 PSI.  This difference in pressure for factory ammo spelled doom for the 280.

The reloader, loading for a modern bolt action can easily claim the difference back and load to 65,000 PSI  with no problems.  The lower pressure spec was the result of being envisioned as a pump/lever/auto cartridge in the begining.  Although the BLR has no problem with 52,000 CUP = 65,000 PSI and the 308 has the same pressure spec and was primarily designed for semi and full auto fire.

The 280 should give plenty of velocity between 20 and 30 inches of barrel length.  But with that much powder capacity is such a small bore I prefer 24 to 28 inches in order to keep the muzzle blast down.  I once had a 270 cut to a 21 inch barrel and the muzzle blast was as bad as any 300 Weatherby I've ever shot.

[mdatlanta]

I'm partial to 24" barrels too.  One can have a 24" .280 without breaking the bank.  A couple of years ago Midway had a great sale on some of their Adams & Benett barrels for Savage rifles, so as an experiment, I bought one in .35 Whelen along with the tools to make the swap.  The rifle is an old beater 110 with that bendy synthetic Savage stock.  It took all of an hour to swap the barrel the first time...it was easy to do.  Best of all, the Whelen shoots great.  1"-1 1/2" all day long with inexpensive bulk cup and core bullets--even the short 200gr Hornady RN.

That was fun, so I checked out Midway again, and sure enough there was a 24" .280 Rem barrel on sale.  I think it was $90.  This time the barrel swap took 40 minutes and it groups better than the .35 Whelen--right around an inch, if I do my part.   I never chrono'd the .280 loads, but we played around with it at our 300yd range and it was as flat and accurate as the .270WCF we compared it to.

The .280 Rem was replaced by another caliber I've wanted to see in a 24" barrel--the .257 Roberts.  Talk about sweet! Groups 1' or less are the norm @ 100yds.  Very low recoil, which is becoming more important to me the older I get.   I think this is the barrel that's going to stay on the rifle for this hunting season.  The .280 has just too much ooomph for the small whitetails here in Georgia.

Anyway, if you really want a 24" .280 Rem it's doable without breaking the bank.  If plain old Savages aren't fancy enough, one could buy the "pretty" Savage Classic they have out now and swap with an A&B barrel.  All I can say is that old "beater" 110 looks pretty good to me right now.  Be careful, though...once you find out how easy it is to do these swaps, and how good the A&B barrels are, you'll be sunk--it's truly a sickness.  I have 5 of those barrels now, plus all the 22" take-off factory barrels.  If only they'd make a 6.5x55.  With all the other calibers A&B offers, you'd think that one would be a no-brainer.  Oh well.

Mike

[charles p]

I have a 280AI with a 26" barrel.  Receiver is Rem 700 with a Shilen SS barrell.  Didn't break the bank.  I already had the receiver.

[RLB]

get you a REmmy CDL 700...they sport 24in barrels...


RLB........

[jason280]

I own two .280 rifles, one with a 22" barrel and one with a 26" barrel.  The first is a Remington Mountain Rifle, and I have chrono'd Federal High Energy 140gr loads at just over 3050fps.  The other is a NEF Handi Rifle, and it shoots the same load just over 3100fps.  Personally, I would not carry a bolt gun with anything over 22" as it simply becomes too unweildy in the woods and in a deer stand.  Now, with a single shot, 26" is not bad and is actually about the same OAL as my Remington.  A 26" barrel does offer more velocity, but I haven't found it to be enough to really justify the extra length in a bolt gun.