I was looking for a rifle in 280 Ackley. Being left handed, It's not the easiest to find. I ended up buying a used Remington 700 from gun broker. It said it was chambered in 280 Ackley. When I received the rifle I noticed the barrel was stamped 280 RCBS Imp. Is this the same thing? The barrel is a McGowen. I was planning to shoot the Nosler factory loaded 140 gr Ballistic tips, as I do not hand load yet. Am I just screwed?
280 RCBS Imp. Help
- Thread starter Tmgilder
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elkaholic
Well-Known Member
I think the RCBS version had a 30 degree shoulder and the A. I. is 40 degree. probably different head space too.
shortgrass
Well-Known Member
I have experience with several of the "Rogue" chambers, which also have the 30deg to 35deg shoulder. They are head spaced the same way as Ackleys' 40deg Improved cartridges. .280 Rem cartridges should be a crush fit in that RCBS chamber. I'd remove the ejector (if its of the spring loaded plunger type) and the firing pin assembly and see if .280 Rem factory loaded cartridges were, in deed, a crush fit. If they were, I'd fire it and see what my cases look like. Many, if not most, times accuracy is very good when fire forming. If I was uncomfortable with that, I'd seek out a knowledgeable gunsmith and check the chamber with gages. The barrel can be re-chambered for the Nosler 40deg, but at a cost.
Hand Skills
Well-Known Member
Well put @shortgrass
Meaning I can buy factory 280 Remington ammo and fire form the brass by shooting it? I have only ever seen the fire form method done with the corn meal. Do I get any advantages going to the 40 degree shoulder over the 30? The rifle came with a full length die, neck F die, and a seat die. This is all very new to me.
elkaholic
Well-Known Member
The advantages of a 40 are less case stretching and a little more capacity. it also changes the burn rate a little You already have the dies though and there's nothing wrong with the 30. It feeds a little smoother too.
Hand Skills
Well-Known Member
Yes, provided the rifle headspaces safely (and it should).
40° adds a little extra powder capacity and may reduce brass stretch a bit over the 30°.
I've long admired the Huntington (RCBS) designs, always wanted an 280 RCBS imp but just haven't done it yet. I am boring and shooting a plain 280 Rem currently.
shortgrass
Well-Known Member
Ackley recommended firing ammo (the parent cartridge) in his improved chamber to "make" improved cases. The corn meal thing is relatively a new thing. I don't believe you would gain much, if anything, by re-chambering, except the ability to buy off-the-shelf ammo. I would just re-load for the RCBS if it was me. If I determined fire-forming was safe in my rifle, that is how I'd form the RCBS cases. I have been chambering and shooting "Improved" cases for 30yrs. I've always fire-formed with loaded ammo. Your rifle needs to be checked to determine if fire-forming in the conventional Ackley manner is safe in your rifle. Lots of "improved" chambers out there, cut in various ways by various people with various ideas and skill levels.
shortgrass
Well-Known Member
"Handbook for Shooters and Reloaders", by P.O. Ackely are worth while books for any shooters' library. I find the load recommendations to be a might 'stiff', though, even when reducing by 10% to start with............
Thanks everyone. A guy I work with has a 280 AI and reloads. I'm hoping he will let me use his stuff and my dies. And help me work up a load. Once I get some brass. Cheapest factory loads I could find are about 24$ a box for federal. Probably easier to buy a set of 280 rem dies and load some cheaper rounds.
elkaholic
Well-Known Member
I dont know your exact chamber specs but 280 Rem would likely size the body too much
corsair4360
Well-Known Member
I would suggest you get three fired cases from your rifle and have custom dies made for your rifle chamber... that will ensure brass is not overworked and will last
nicholasjohn
Well-Known Member
Having read all these posts, I think that if I was in your shoes, I'd stick with what you've already got - and not spend a bunch of money until you know if you've got any problems. It may work just fine to fireform factory loads as it is.
Whomever advised you to get the headspace checked has the best first step - you definitely need to make sure that you're not shooting an unsafe rifle. Read up on how Ackley sets up the headspace - it's based on a crush fit at the neck/shoulder juncture. Yours may be set up that way, or it may be that it's based on the same datum ( and headspace gauges ) as the standard cartridge. Find out what you've got, and go with it. Hopefully you'll find that you can just fireform factory cartridges, and then hand load them. If you really don't want to handload right now, then the 280 Ackley Improved loaded ammunition is all that is available to you, so you'll need to re-chamber for that. I've read a lot of posts on this forum about the differences between the factory cartridge and its SAAMI specs being different from Ackley's original design of this cartridge. You might want to search this forum for those posts and see what some well-experienced shooters have written on that. If you're going to re-chamber, make sure that it's done to the SAAMI specs, so that factory ammo will work for you. You certainly don't need to re-chamber twice.
It may be that you'll need to have the barrel set back a turn or two to clean up what's left of the old chamber. If this is how it has to be done, the barrel contour is going to leave a gap between the new position of the barrel after re-cambering, but you will be able to shoot factory loads in your rifle. It may look a little funny to you, but I will be safe to shoot.
There are things that can be done at the loading bench if you find out that factory loaded 280 Remington cartridges won't work in your chamber as it is now. These things are pretty tedious, and if you run into that you might be better off to bite the bullet early and just re-chamber to 280 AI and skip the hassles. I went through the whole process with an incorrectly-chambered 30-06 Ackley years ago, and it was a real education. While I learned a lot in the process, it was very frustrating at the time.
Whomever advised you to get the headspace checked has the best first step - you definitely need to make sure that you're not shooting an unsafe rifle. Read up on how Ackley sets up the headspace - it's based on a crush fit at the neck/shoulder juncture. Yours may be set up that way, or it may be that it's based on the same datum ( and headspace gauges ) as the standard cartridge. Find out what you've got, and go with it. Hopefully you'll find that you can just fireform factory cartridges, and then hand load them. If you really don't want to handload right now, then the 280 Ackley Improved loaded ammunition is all that is available to you, so you'll need to re-chamber for that. I've read a lot of posts on this forum about the differences between the factory cartridge and its SAAMI specs being different from Ackley's original design of this cartridge. You might want to search this forum for those posts and see what some well-experienced shooters have written on that. If you're going to re-chamber, make sure that it's done to the SAAMI specs, so that factory ammo will work for you. You certainly don't need to re-chamber twice.
It may be that you'll need to have the barrel set back a turn or two to clean up what's left of the old chamber. If this is how it has to be done, the barrel contour is going to leave a gap between the new position of the barrel after re-cambering, but you will be able to shoot factory loads in your rifle. It may look a little funny to you, but I will be safe to shoot.
There are things that can be done at the loading bench if you find out that factory loaded 280 Remington cartridges won't work in your chamber as it is now. These things are pretty tedious, and if you run into that you might be better off to bite the bullet early and just re-chamber to 280 AI and skip the hassles. I went through the whole process with an incorrectly-chambered 30-06 Ackley years ago, and it was a real education. While I learned a lot in the process, it was very frustrating at the time.
