Loading 280 Rem w/ Hornady Interbond

[GregTeamLiveWire]

I just purchased a new .280 700 Remington. I am trying to do a little homework before loading for her. This gun will primarly be a deer hunting rifle. I have loaded the interbond bullet for 7mm-08 in 139gr, but planning on stepping up to 154gr for this rifle.

In my limited research it seems this cartridge performs best at it's upper velocity and pressure limits.

I have all the books and software, but hope I can get some real world knowledge on loading this bullet and caliber, and powder/primer advice from experience.

Thank you in advance. Greg

 

[hypersonic]

I just purchased a new .280 700 Remington. I am trying to do a little homework before loading for her. This gun will primarly be a deer hunting rifle. I have loaded the interbond bullet for 7mm-08 in 139gr, but planning on stepping up to 154gr for this rifle.

In my limited research it seems this cartridge performs best at it's upper velocity and pressure limits.

I have all the books and software, but hope I can get some real world knowledge on loading this bullet and caliber, and powder/primer advice from experience.

Thank you in advance. Greg

I can't help you on the exact bullet as I load 160 AB's in mine currently with IMR 7828 and cci 200's. I would look to H-4831 Rl-22 7828 and so on just depends on what your rifle prefers. If you have a 24" barrel you should be able to get them moving at a pretty good clip with one of the above listed powders. I suspect you might have a 1 in 10 twist in that Rem which should do ok with 154-160 grain bullets if the speed is right. The 280 is one of my favourate cartridges and it always with me when deer season is in full swing and it puts deer down no if's and's or but's. I have taken quite a few deer one black bear and one moose with my 280 only the bear needed a second shot, first one was at 326 yards and a little far back my fault on reading the wind. The 160 AB hit him hard enough to allow me to get off a second shot as he was heading away game over. Once you find a good load and take some game with your 280 you will wonder why you never had one sooner.

Hype

 

[GregTeamLiveWire]

Thank you. I look forward to finding the right load and setting her up. I reloaded a few tonight with 57gr of IMR 4350, Fed 210M. That should get me around a hot 3000fps/54,000psi, but keep me under max 60,000psi. Most things I have read are saying most folks are having the best success around that mark. It'll give me a starting point anyway. Any advice would be appreciated. Greg

 

[3006savage]

I do not have personal experience with the 280 but I would suggest you give RL17 a try over the 4350. It has added over 100 fps in my 06 above my 4350 velocities with good accuracy also.

I like 4350 also but RL17 seems to be outperforming it in most situations and it is now all I use in my 06. I am getting 3012 FPS with the 168 grain Nosler BT in my 06 from a 22" barrel

 

[hypersonic]

Thank you. I look forward to finding the right load and setting her up. I reloaded a few tonight with 57gr of IMR 4350, Fed 210M. That should get me around a hot 3000fps/54,000psi, but keep me under max 60,000psi. Most things I have read are saying most folks are having the best success around that mark. It'll give me a starting point anyway. Any advice would be appreciated. Greg

I do not fret too much about the 60,000 psi number. The 280 was introduced with a lower working pressure by Remington to be able to function in pump's and autoloader's and it did the cartridge no good at all. With that strong 700 action you can work at the same pressures as the 270. Just work up until you find out what your rifle's max load is and then back down a little bit. I don't think the 4350 will give you the speed you are trying to get before you are seeing pressure signs. It would be better suited to a 140 class bullet, but you will never know unless you try it.

Best of luck

Hype

 

[GregTeamLiveWire]

Your probably right on the 140 grains. I have plenty of 139gr Hornady Interbonds I load for a 7mm08. I like the dynamics of the interbond, hope I can find the right load for it.

Surprised no one on here reloads for the 280 Rem.

 

[GregTeamLiveWire]

Still searching. Thank you.

 

[Brentster7189]

My dad has been reloading for his 280 since the 80's. Now he has passed the rifle down to me and I am using it. I loaded up some 162g SST's last weekend with 55g/IMR 4350 and got an average velocity of 2922. I'm thinking of switching down to 154g Interbonds to try them out.

I also load for my daughters 7mm-08. I loaded up a bunch of 139g SST's with 45g/IMR 4350, and there were a little over 2700 fps. I'm going to bump that up, I'd like to at least see 2800. The only reason I have those in SST is because I got a box of Interbond, opened it up and they are full of SST...go figure. Got another box of Interbonds (hopefully) on their way from Hornady. Great customer service on that one.

Anyways, let me know as I will be reloading for my 280 for a while, it is a Ruger M77. I've been using CCI200 primers on my reloads.

I should be able to bump it up a little and get 3000fps on the 162's I think. Would be nice if the 162's came in Interbond too...maybe in the future?

 

[mrultramag]

I don't load for a 280...but I have worked with the interbond in 338 wm and 270 weatherby. While I find the accubond and SSt generally easy to find a good shooting load, my experience is the IB is a little more challenging. It seems to be very picky about the distance to the lands (oal) and accuracy. I found a suitable load for both cartridges by loading at max mag length for the weatherby (because of the long free bore) and just off the lands for the 338 (mod 700). Then I worked up to my target velocity with a top performing powder for each cartridge; rl19 in 338 and imr 7828 in weatherby. Then I started adjusting the OAL shorter in small increments and shooting groups at each length until accuracy was optimized. If I wouldn't have found an acceptable load, I prob would have moved on to a different bullet. life's just too short to battle with wearing your gun out trying to make a bullet shoot accurately. The IB does have nice B.C. and controlled expansion. But reading on here leads me to believe that even though I got them to shoot sub MOA @ 100, not every gun likes em. for instance, the SSt's and Bergers shoot much better in the weatherby, and the standard flat base 225 interlock shoots awesome in the 338. Good luck with your endeavor. If they wont shoot try accubonds!

 

[Lefty7mmstw]

try rl19 and rl22 with any of the nosler tipped offerings. My brother has been using rl22 in his with the 140 ct in his 280 and it is great. I'm sure the 139 hornady bullets you have won't be much different.

 

[Brentster7189]

Thank you. I look forward to finding the right load and setting her up. I reloaded a few tonight with 57gr of IMR 4350, Fed 210M. That should get me around a hot 3000fps/54,000psi, but keep me under max 60,000psi. Most things I have read are saying most folks are having the best success around that mark. It'll give me a starting point anyway. Any advice would be appreciated. Greg

I'd be interested in hearing how those group for you, and what your actual velocity ends up being. Those are the 154g Interbonds your using that load data for?