.280 mountain rifle. can I reasonalbly push the 168gr berger?

[wannahuntmo]

looking to take advantage of the bc of the 168 berger. My rem mtn rifle has only a 22" barrel. Is this to short a barrel or is the 168 just to much bullet to push in my barrel/caliber?

 

[Jordan Smith]

You should be just fine. I was pushing the 162gr A-Max in my 22" Ruger .280 at 2950fps with more than a half dozen loadings on the brass, and no pressure signs. That's plenty fast, IMO.

 

[wannahuntmo]

what was your recipe and how was your grouping?

 

[Jordan Smith]

I used a max load of IMR7828ssc (60gr, IIRC, but work up in your rifle), Fed210 primer, RP brass, and accuracy was always sub-MOA, but ranged from about 0.5MOA to 1MOA at 200 yards, depending on the day. It proved to hold accuracy well out to about 700 yards, which is the farthest I shot that load, and I could stay on a 1MOA plate consistently.

 

[wannahuntmo]

that is impressive. If i can get that kind of accuracy out of my mountain rifle it would be the ultimate light long range gun to pack up the hill. when i was originally working up loads for this gun, it was before the custom turret craze. I thought i needed to soup my rounds up. and did. but couldn't get the accuracy i wanted.
guess i'll try it again. this is sweet. like getting a new rifle to play with.

 

[TannerGun]

Yep, Jordan turned me on to 7828ssc in my 280 too with the 162 AMAX. I've got the same rifle you're shooting, and have shot it out to 1,000 easily with a 3-9x40 Leupold. I'd try the AMAX first.

 

[wannahuntmo]

what is your take on the thin contour barrel. can you keep 1moa in a 3 shot string? because of barrel heat?

 

[Jordan Smith]

It depends on your barrel and bedding. I've had great 3-shot accuracy from my Kimber Montana's, so it shouldn't be a problem with your Remmie, assuming you have decent bedding/barrel floating, and there isn't a ton of stress in the barrel.

 

[TannerGun]

mine just sits unbedded and unfloated in the factory walnut and shoots great, even 5 shot groups in the winter. It went sub 10" for 3 shots at 1,000. Those 3 shots took place in probably a minute and a half.

 

[wannahuntmo]

tg,
have you chronyd your gun? if so what velocities are you getting? just wondering.... projecting energy out for long range power.

 

[wannahuntmo]

are you also getting the @2950?

 

[wannahuntmo]

One more thing...do you mind giving me your recipe and total bullet length? Ive got the -7828. Need to order some amax.
Btw the bc on the hornady website lists it higher than the 168 berger.

 

[TannerGun]

Bullet length for the AMAX is 1.42". Me giving you a COAL won't do much, you'll want to work that out according to your mag and throat constraints.

I'm using 57.5gr of 7828ssc and CCI 200s. I could probably bump it up a skosh, but it does around 2820fps from my 22" barrel, so that's fine for me. Work up to that, its likely above max.

I've since kind of given that rifle to my sister to hunt with, but I still take it out and shoot it hard. Have fun with yours, it's a great cartridge in a great rifle.

 

[trebark]

http://www.longrangehunting.com/forums/f53/my-280-updated-32771/

I have been shooting the 168vld with H4831 at 2750ish. Will probably switch to H430 and get closer to 2900+.

With a 22" barrel, you can expect to get ~40fps slower.

Good luck with your rifle. My 280 started out the same as your and I couldn't get it to shoot no matter what I did. (until I replaced the barrel and stock)