Hey Jerry,
I know what you are saying here and in normal circumstances I would say that is very good advice. But given the confusion that surrounds this topic I think its a good idea to think about it a little and apply some simple logic.
The OP, 8andbait and myself seem to have the same chamber. That is we can fire nosler saami 280ai brass with minimal stretching .002 and .000 in my case.
So with all things being as they should, that leaves us with two possibilities.
Or 2, there is a .014 thou difference and we three have the shorter saami chamber. If that is the case then its supposedly .014 shorter than the original making the Nosler saami spec 280ai brass and ammo a good fit, but more to the point all standard 280 rem brass and ammo will be longer making it a tighter fit (.018 crush) and leaving no room for any possible case stretch.
The only possibility of case stretch would be using the supposedly shorter nosler 280ai product in a chamber that is longer than the saami and ignoring best fire forming practice.
I hear what you are saying but There should be only 2 different chambers. The traditional 280 AI and the new SAMME 280 AI. everything else is a wildcat and should be recognized on the barrel
ID.
The fact that there may be someone changing ether the chamber dimensions or the New 280 AI factory ammo to more closely fit "ALL" 280 AI chambers or ammo bothers me even more.
Most good gunsmiths will not take liberties with a SAMME chamber without changing the ID to match the actual chamber.
In my opinion, the chamber should be one or the other and have ammo that has the proper head space for that chamber. OR Be designated as a wildcat chamber.
I have seen many cartridges that are similar and could be fired in another chamber without catastrophic failures, but they should not be fired in the similar chamber.
There is enough difference in the two chambers according to the reamer manufacture that made the new reamers for Nosler (SAMME) 280 AI, that unless the chambers are somewhere in between, the problems could be bad. if a persons rifle has a chamber that will handle both sizes of ammo, then it is neither the Ackley version or the SAMME version and someone has taken liberties with there chambering or ammo dimensions and created an even worse situation with a chamber that is not to a specific size or ammo that is a "Fit all" that fits neither within normal head space ranges.
I don't have an ax to grind with ether chamber as long as it is fed ammo that is the right size for proper head space in that chamber.
My concern is safety and normal brass life. So know what chamber you have and shoot the proper ammo. Simple
And To make a statement that there is no difference in the two is irresponsible and could be dangerous to those that don't know the difference. In an early post I posted the two SAMME specifications so it would be clear what the difference is. And in the two chamber specifications
the difference is clear.
Note: if you change the shoulder angle, the datum point no longer appliesand the neck shoulder junction becomes the dimension to head space on. The 280 rem has a neck shoulder dimension of 2.1924. The old 280 AI had a neck to shoulder dimension of 2.1884 (.004shorter than the 280 to aide in fire forming. The new SAMME 280 AI has a neck to shoulder dimension of 2.1742 . .018 shorter than the 280 rem and .014 shorter than the Old 280 AI. so if the old AI chamber is "Correct" you will have .014 head space if you use the new 280 AI ammo in it, instead of the normal .001 to .003.
head space. and you should not be able to chamber a new 280 Rem case in the new SAMME 280 AI chamber
After Nosler applied for the SAMME specification, the day It was excepted (04-10-2008) ALL chambers and ammo should be to that spec. anything before that date would be considered a wild cat. Fortunately most gunsmiths used the parent head space gauge (280 Remington)to chamber the 280 AI and fire forming did not create any issues. Now if a reamer maker makes anything other than the SAMME spec. He has to identify the reamer as a special grind by etching the information on the reamer.
Instead of calling the reamer a 280 AI It should be called a 280 Improved, or be given a wildcat name to make clear to all that It is what it is and not an Ackley improved and does not comply with the SAMME Specification.
I don't know what else to say except, " Do what you want and live with the consequences"
J E CUSTOM