Any thoughts/opinions on the Rem .280 caliber?

For a few years in the early 1980's, hunted EVERYTHING with a Ruger heavy barrel 280. Varmints, deer, and one elk...a heavy rifle, but it didn't bother me 20 years ago.

Not a fair comparison, handloads to factory loads, but a good reloaded 280 comes very close to the tupical (non Premium) 7mm MAg. factory loads.

Having done it, will state that the 280 (with reloading in the picture) would be my choice of "all around" rifles.

My father-in-law has killed hundreds of deer, a few elk, and no telling what else with one. I used one of his .280s for my first two deer. Two thumbs up!

I bulit my first .280 Remington on an F.N. commercial Mauser action in the early 1970s. The I built one on a VZ-24 action a few years later. In 1979 I bought a Remington 700 in 7mm Express (.280 Remington). The I bought a few Winchester Model 70 Featherwieghts in .280 Remington. Now I am awaiting a barrel to build a .280 Remington on a 1903 Springfield receiver. A few years ago I bought a Pennsylvania license plate "280 REM" and still have it. Really cannot say too much about this fine cartridge. All the best...
Gil

Yeah, I got an opinion :)
Fine caliber.
For anything in the lower 48, I'll load the appropriate bullet in my 280 and hunt with confidence.

For a few years a Rem. Mtn. Rifle in 280 with M8 Leupold 4X scope was my rifle for everything. I have since passed it on to my son.

I relied on factory ammo and found it to be a capable all-around rifle/caliber.

If someone said I could only own one rifle and it would have to be 280 Rem., I could live with that and be well served by it.

PS -- Took antelope, elk, and whitetails with the 280.

never had one, but i really want a 7mm-08 and a .270, seems like the perfect comprimise

Thanks guys, appreciate the honesty and stories. My dad and my dad's dad both used Rem .280 all their lives. They wouldn't use anything else. There was a lot of animals killed with those two guns.

I had the opportunity to trade my S&W 44 Mag, Model 29 for a brand new in the box Remington Moutain .280. I have had it for two years just sitting in the box with the occassional cleaning done to it. I finally broke down and had it mounted with a nice scope and sighted it in this past weekend. The experience was awesome! I was cutting paper with it at 100 yds. I am using the Hornady 139 gr. Light Magnums and the power is awesome. 10 rounds and my shoulder is black and blue.

I think I made a good trade and it is nice to follow in my family's footsteps.

my favorite round.... my 700 Mountain Rifle is NOW chambered for it... accurate, zippy and a good selection of bullet weights, maybe only outshadowed by the 30 cals, make her appealing. does anything i ask it to do without much of an issue... and then some...

you can't go wrong with one... if i was rebarreling at this time i'd probably opt for the Ackley Improved version though ;)

Reloading expands the capabilites even more... 54 grains of 7828 (4831SC is another great choice) behind a 175 Nosler Partition pushes 2700 fps flat from a 22 inch barrel... recoil is pretty soft compared to the Hornady light magnum's... Shot some once... OUCH...

Jamie

Dad had a Browning A Bolt Stainless Stalker in .280. Great gun, all he hunted with it was deer and it did a fine job. Can't think of anything negative to say about this round.

Thank heavens no one had any thing less than accoladical to say about the .280 , you may have been forced to return that ol' gun to the closet . Really though, it is one of those chamberings that does a good job at being itself . The only thing it doesn't have going for it is truely wide spread popularity ( after all we here are a small slice of the shooting public) Many an ammo rack will be devoid of factory rounds for the .280 when that "Opps! I left My ammo at home" scenario plays itself out . And even more Clerks will stare at you with that glazed overlook as you say, " You know , .280 Remington ... used to be called the 7mm Express .... now back to being the .280.... C'mon you heard of it haven't You??? But heck anyway that never stopped Me from my love of the .257 Roberts , even after (And I swear this is true ) After being asked , the counter fella said "Who's He?"


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