New Rifle

I've used the 280AI for years hunting everything I can with it. Shooting the 145 gr Barnes LRX at 3100 FPS, inside of 700 yards nothing has taken a step. the PRC is interesting but utility for me the 280 AI wins. Either direction you go will be fun!

Flip a coin or decide if a short action helps in any way. Statistically they (elk deer) won't know. You can't lose on this one. I don't have a prc because I built a 6.5saum before they came out. I've done a crapper full of 280ai for clients. I competed with my one 280ai at 1000 yard. I changed it because it only did 6-8 inch 10 shot groups. I know they can do much better. The 6.5 just hits the warm all over for me feeling. My favorite one is my 6.5-257wby mag. Followed by the 6.5 Saum. Then the 257 wby mag then 7 express ai. Had to say it.
Shep

I am big 280 AI fan and I reload. Perfect cartridge for antelope/deer/elk combo hunts...great range bullets and vg ballistics.

My 2019 RIFLE & SCOPE:

RIFLE-> 6.5 PRC Browning X-Bolt Pro

SCOPE-> Bushnell LRTS 4.5 - 18 x 44 (mil/mil) W/ G3 illuminated reticle
and Talley burnt bronze Cerakote rings to match the rifle.

Both rifle and scope are high quality without needing a home equity loan!

Eric B.

280AI, Why? Simple, larger and heavier bullets with more punch, and its also sexy.

Nothing wrong with the PRC, it will do the job just fine but larger bullets cause wider wound channels. The heavier also have more punch.

Just my 0.02

Come on man dead is dead. Once you put on the dead the rest is a waste. Besides the 6.5 is the equivalent of a c-8. Sexy
Shep

I was hunting with a 6.5 Creedmoor because I knew Scandanavian hunters had for many decades killed their smaller moose ("elg") with the 6.5 Swede.

But when the 6.5 PRC came out I felt it would be a better all-round western hunting cartridge for longer shots on medium game and up to at least 300 yards on bull elk. Sorta a 6.5 CM magnum and even a bit faster than the great 6.5/284.

So I sold my 6.5 CM rifles and got the 6.5 PRC. I will say that it is every bit as accurate as the 6.5 CM at long distances, up to the max of 1,095 yards at my club's steel range.
It's just that more than 5 shots heats up my Browning X-Bolt's skinny, fluted barrel and begins to open up groups a bit. Who cares with a hunting rifle where 2 shots should be enough? Five shots on game really means you need a lot more practice before you go hunting again.

Eric B.

At long range you miss the first shot 23456789 and 10 probably ain't gonna help either.
Shep

Yeah Shep, I should have said "Five shots at game..." because likely none of the five would have hit the game.

I said 2 shots because sometimes a 2nd shot is needed for insurance.

Eric B.

I hunt western PA so my shots are 300 max. But we have that large population of hunters using Remington pumps. These guys can make em sing. You would thing they said mg-34 on the side. Sounds like this. POW BRAAP. I always wonder if any of those extras hit hair at all.
Shep

25WSM said:

I hunt western PA so my shots are 300 max. But we have that large population of hunters using Remington pumps. These guys can make em sing. You would thing they said mg-34 on the side. Sounds like this. POW BRAAP. I always wonder if any of those extras hit hair at all.
Shep

Click to expand...

I can attest that the Remington 760 pump in 30-06 is king in PA.

HA! I lived for decades in Erie, PA and hunted there and around Oil City. You are absolutely keerect Shep regarding the Remington 760 pump rifle being the PA deer rifle of choice.

My deer rifle was a .308 Savage 99 C lever gun and it was deadly in "Penn's Woods".

Eric B.

A 760 in 280 could be a heck of a do it all. They are very accurate mostly. Probably because of the floated barrel. Very light weight. Fairly ambidextrous. Fast light handling feeling like an 1100 20 guage in the hands. With the same sucky trigger that the 1100 has for the most part. Not a good thing. Nice reliable magazine for fast loading and unloading. I could chamber one of these out to a 280 improved plus. The plus would be how much more depth to clean all the chamber out. 10 thou would do it. 280 ai dies would work perfect still.
Would to fire form on parent case nice if bullets were jammed. Anybody want one. It would need a decelerator recoil pad for me. 760 30-06s kick hard as crap. This would too. If I had one laying here I'd build one just do it. Right up the Ops alley maybe. I'm building myself a little toy 788 Remington in 6.5 creed with a 20 inch number 4 shilen for my tree stand rifle. It's so fun I can't stand it.
Shep

Whereas I love the 280AI and would certainly choose it of the choices the OP asked, the 30-06 would be my vote for elk. You don't want to just kill 'em, you want to find 'em. Put a big hole through 'em and you will!