.280 ackley

[4ked Horn]

I just typed a huge post asking all kinds of stuff about the .280 Ackley which takes forever to do since I only type 20 words per minute on a good day. Then I went to search for a quote from the jarrett rifles website concerning barrel length. When I closed that window the whole **** post disappeard.

Anyway, I am hyper interested in this round.

I want to know anything that I can learn about building a gun for it and loading it and what kind of performance to expect from it on paper and deer and dogs and rockchucks.

I read the article in Varmint hunter mag #45 and surfed the web for everthing I could find.

I'm hoping to hear from those of you that have shot them and from anyone that can give good info on bbl length and twist.

Bring on the info please.

[ 01-11-2004: Message edited by: 4ked Horn ]

 

[Brent]

That just sucks! I'll have one with ya!

 

[4ked Horn]

Jump in Brent. Misery loves company.

I had in my original post that I have spoken with a few people about what type of rifle I would get the most fun and use from and the big bore powerhouses are really not it.

I am still very interested in the 30-378 wby or the 338-378 wby but not for this project. It will get made but not first.

The .280 AI seems to give me everything that I like in my .243 win but more of it. Pluss the fire forming is dang simple. Just load a forming load in .280 rem cases and bang, the case is born. I am some what interested in Mr Gibbs idea of hydraulicly forming cases though. Low cost and no extra throat erosion.

 

[REM 700]

I had a 280 ackley imp. built last summer.I used a trued rem 700 action and a 3 groove pac-nor ss supermatch barrel 9 twist 28 inches long sendero contour. My load is 60 grs. of rl-22 and hornady 162 a-max at 2950 fps. That bullet has a bc. of .625 The gun shoots in the .3s at 100 yards. It does very well out to 1500 yards and with the bullets high bc.itdoes pretty good in the wind. I recently looked at the bore with a bore scope and after 500 rounds the throat and rest of the barrel looked excellent. I expect long barrel life with this caliber.

 

[Tim Behle]

4ked Horn,

Been there, done that.

More times than I care to recall.

I can't help you with your main question, but here is a way to help you keep from losing a big post again.

Open a Word Document and save it to your Desktop. ( Right click on the Desktop, go to New> left click on Microsoft Word Document )

Then use this to write all new posts, especially the big ones. It will also do spelling and grammar checks for you. Then simply copy and paste to the reply window. If you ever accidentally click on it to close the window, you will get a warning message asking you if you want to save it first. ( Always say yes, you can erase it later. )

Tim

 

[Mysticplayer]

To reduced the risk of loosing stuff, type your post in a word processor then cut and paste to here. Much more stable and easier to save work as you go. You can always erase the orig file when done.

Nosler #5 has lots of load data. A very nice wildcat. Many different versions from the AI, RCBS, JRS, and Gibbs to mention a few.

I have owned a 30 Gibbs and it has been one of my favorite cartridges. Would have a slight edge in performance over the reg. AI but we are splitting hairs.

You can pretty much expect the same performance as the RSAUM in similar length barrels.

Jerry

 

[JustC]

Mine goes .25moa with 150gr NBT's and SMK's. This is through a 9 twist pacnor s/s 28" tube. Neck sized of course,..norma brass

She likes RL22 and imr4350.

I love mine,..and will rebarrel in the same caliber when it craps out.

 

[4ked Horn]

Rem700 thanks for the input. It seems that the only people putting 24" tubes on this round are the folks at jarrett rifles. They claim to have built over 400 .280 AIs and they think that 24" is all that is needed.

Having owned one with a 28" barrel would you go up or down or stay the same if you did it all over and weight within reason was not an issue?

Also based on your experience tell me about how far you would shoot at a normal sized mule deer with this round?

 

[4ked Horn]

Tim I will respond to your helpful and welcome advice with a quote from an Austin Powers movie during a scene where Austin was staying on a 4 in a game of blackjack.

"I too like to live dangerously."

 

[4ked Horn]

Jerry, the author of the article in Varmint hunter magazine is the author for the write up in the nosler #5 reload book. I cant wait to get my mits on this book for a quick read.

 

[4ked Horn]

JustC, would you change the barrel length at all and is there anything else you would suggest about building a gun in this caliber?

 

[REM 700]

4KED HORN i would build it the same if i was do it over again. I had it built for long range varmint and deer hunting it is a little to heavy for a carry gun. I am thinking of building another one for a carry gun with a #4 countor 26inches long. If the conditions were good i wouldnt hesitate to shoot at deer at 1000 yards

 

[JustC]

4ked horn,..I too would built mine the same as it is right now. They really come to life with a heavy 28" tube. The **** caliber seems to be just plain accurate, nomatter what load you use. I got 1/2" groups while fireforming brass!!!

If you need a carry gun,..then perhaps 26" is a better length,..but if you are hunting off the bags or bi-pod,..then stick with 28".

everything I have to say about the caliber is positive.

 

[4ked Horn]

Thanks guys.

I was just looking at Clymers website and it got me wondering if you had any advice on the cutting of the chamber. Are they tight in the body or neck area? Did you specify a short throat so you could re cut the throat after erosion degrades accuracy? Do you own the reamers and did you have custom dies made? Also, who built your rifles?