Thoughts on 280 Remington Browning Xbolt

[FEENIX]

The Kimberly Mountain Ascent looks to be very nice. I think it is out of my budget for now. Would all 280 A I be able to shoot std 280 rounds? Ive read a lot lately and some where I read you could not load either the 280 or 280AI too light powder wise as it would not function properly. Forgot the exact wording. In all these Comments I haven't seen anything on recoil. I failed to mention it. I have never shot a 280 but would assume the recoil would be about like 270 or 30 06. How much more recoil would there be if you did rechamber to AI with out the muzzlebreak? Thanks for all comments and suggestions.

Yes on firing .280 and .280 AI rounds. As far as what you've read, I can't comment because of lack of sufficient information.

Recoil generated depends on load, bullet weigh, rifle weight, etc ...

Perceived felt recoil is very subjective as it depends on end users recoil sensitivity. Having said that, rifle weight is your friend when it comes to recoil.

Try http://kwk.us/recoil.html

 

[Plinker147]

.280 recoil is similar to a 270 less than a 06. 280AI ruffly 8-10 more grains of powder and when loaded 160 grains bullets or larger the recoil is a noticeable difference from standard 280 more similar 06 or a 270 wsm. Not what I would call a lot of recoil.

That comparing out of similar weight and style guns

 

[longbowelk]

Mudrunner says:
I prefer a Rem 700 over just about everything else. Not a fan of the
X-Bolts and their DBM setup, so I would definitely go with the Rem 700
Mountain with the 24" barrel.

Oh, and the 1:10 twist of the Brownings shoot the Berger 168
VLD's just fine. I've had 2 A-Bolt II's in 7mm RemMag, and they both shot
160-class bullets with excellent accuracy. Including 160gr. Barnes X-Bullets,
which being a mono bullet normally requires a faster twist to stabilize than
other bullets in its weight class .

Mudrunner: Would you give more details on why you prefer the Rem 700 since both Browning and Remington have performed well for you?

 

[MudRunner2005]

Mudrunner: Would you give more details on why you prefer the Rem 700 since both Browning and Remington have performed well for you?

1). I prefer the Rem 700, because that is my favorite rifle. So I have a bit of a personal bias. And, regardless of what your favorite brand is, you will always have a personal preference towards your favorite.

2). I have several customs built off of 700's, and I also have one built off an A-Bolt II. While it is an exceptional rifle, the Brownings have very limited aftermarket support (stocks, magazines, accessories, etc...).

The Remington 700 has the most aftermarket support of any rifle available, by a large margin. You can buy anything and everything you could ever want to customize or modify your Rem 700 rifle to make it your own, or exactly how you want it to be.

 

[longbowelk]

Mudrunner: Thanks for the info. I have never owned a Browning rifle. I do have a
25 06 Remington 700BDL that I have had for 40+ years. It is stock with no upgrades. It is a fine shooter. I had read that somewhere along the line Remington went cheap to compete, but I guess they are back to quality.

 

[MudRunner2005]

Mudrunner: Thanks for the info. I have never owned a Browning rifle. I do have a
25 06 Remington 700BDL that I have had for 40+ years. It is stock with no upgrades. It is a fine shooter. I had read that somewhere along the line Remington went cheap to compete, but I guess they are back to quality.

That sounds like some internet BS. From what I can gather, Remington never "went cheap"... They have, however, stayed the same, when other companies have progressed in their quality with the progression of technology. It is sad to see, since the 700 is my favorite rifle, but these days I only buy cheap used ones to build customs off of. It is hard to trust any factory barrel from any brand (Rem, Savage, Weatherby, etc...), and with a gunsmith that lives 15 minutes away and gives me great prices, it's cheaper for me to build a custom with an aftermarket barrel and stock, than it is for me to buy a new Sendero, and I know for a fact it will shoot as good, or better than the Sendero.

There are things you can do to a factory 700 to increase accuracy. My smith has taught me a lot about re-working factory barrels to greatly increase their quality and accuracy, and so far, it has worked great on every rifle we've blueprinted and re-worked the factory barrel on. We've even successfully installed a re-worked factory (take-off) Remington 26" 7mmRemMag sporter barrel onto my A-Bolt II. I call it "The Brownington". . It's only supposed to be a temporary fix until I can get up the cash to buy a Bartlein or Proof Research barrel to put on it. But I must admit it is rather cool and unique.

 

[ohiohunter]

Mudrunner: Thanks for the info. I have never owned a Browning rifle. I do have a
25 06 Remington 700BDL that I have had for 40+ years. It is stock with no upgrades. It is a fine shooter. I had read that somewhere along the line Remington went cheap to compete, but I guess they are back to quality.

That would be a bold statement to make. They do have some decent models like the sendero and the milspec, neither offered in 280. They also offer rifles in the sub $400 range which for this forum is what you get to build off of.

700's are preferred for all the modifications available, not necessarily for their factory options. There is a very small percentage of people on this site that are shooting factory rifles w/ factory loads, so in this perspective you are the minority and you'll get plenty of responses outside of what you really want.

Some clarification from above.. mudrunner never said to run a 280AI a 22" barrel, that would be a waste. He did say he preferred the 280ai over the 280rem.

Do you reload? Are you 100% dead set on the 280? Budget?

If you opened your options to the 7rm you may have some better rifles available, even a nice one from here on the classifieds.

 

[MudRunner2005]

Some clarification from above.. mudrunner never said to run a 280AI a 22" barrel, that would be a waste. He did say he preferred the 280ai over the 280rem.

Thank you. I'm glad someone other than me comprehended my first comment in here, and didn't just want to stir up something to argue about.

 

[hypersonic]

Thank you. I'm glad someone other than me comprehended my first comment in here, and didn't just want to stir up something to argue about.

Well sorry guys for not being one of the elite and asking some questions here and giving some of my opinion with out any rudeness intended. I will leave you guys too it and be on my way as I do not apparently add anything useful and my questions are suspect to trying to start a ******* match.

 

[MudRunner2005]

Well sorry guys for not being one of the elite and asking some questions here and giving some of my opinion with out any rudeness intended. I will leave you guys too it and be on my way as I do not apparently add anything useful and my questions are suspect to trying to start a ******* match.

My appologies if you were legitimately asking questions. The way you worded them appeared (to me) more as statements, or as questioning my opinion. This seems to happen from time-to-time, as tone of voice is not easily conveyed through text.

 

[longbowelk]

Do you reload? Are you 100% dead set on the 280? Budget?

Yes, I reload. 98% set on 280. Budget, I was figuring on getting a quality factory rifle around $700 to $900. I wouldn't be opposed to a step up from factory, if there is such a thing, and might could kick it up a couple of hundred if that is a possibility.
All my rifles are factory stock so I would be in the 2nd lowest group on this site since I do reload. I elk hunt with trad bows and muzzleloaders. Deer & Hog, use bow, muzzle, and rifle. Would like to have 280 in case one day I do go for elk, or bigger game. Also, I would like to get off into long range. Other calibers I looked at were 284 Winchester, 6.5/284, 6.5 Creedmore (I have 7mm08), 270 Win, etc.

 

[longbowelk]

Mudrunner:

You have given me new confidence in the Remington. After reviewing the Remington 700 Mountain Rifle the only concerns I have is a couple of people on other sites mentioned that this model had a pencil thin barrel that tended to overheat in warmer temps such as summer which caused the groups to widen. This would not be a problem with me as I don't plan to do a bunch of summertime shooting. If I did it would be a couple shots here and there. So my question for you is would this smaller barrel be an issue?

 

[MudRunner2005]

Mudrunner:

You have given me new confidence in the Remington. After reviewing the Remington 700 Mountain Rifle the only concerns I have is a couple of people on other sites mentioned that this model had a pencil thin barrel that tended to overheat in warmer temps such as summer which caused the groups to widen. This would not be a problem with me as I don't plan to do a bunch of summertime shooting. If I did it would be a couple shots here and there. So my question for you is would this smaller barrel be an issue?

I cannot guarantee anything about the Remington's barrel as far as accuracy goes, as I am not affiliated with them or any company, and as with any factory barrel it is a gamble. That's a lot of money on a factory rifle, but if that is what you want, then go for it. Just stating that so nobody gets mad at me if it ends up being a blem. Trust me, I know all about those, but that's for another conversation.

I will say this, if it ends up not being perfect, if you were to take that old barrel off, and use that 700 Ti action with a 26" Proof Research carbon fiber barrel chambered in 280 AI, that would make for a super lightweight rig, very capable of long range.

I prefer heavy barreled rifles myself, because, as the others expressed, the sporter and pencil barrels are very susceptible to heat which causes stringing of shots when ladder testing your loads into groups. So yes, the thinner your barrel is, the more heat issues you will have when trying to group your shots and when you are working up load development. And as stated, during summer heat it will be even worse.