.284 Win Information

Jud96

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Hey guys, I have yet another big idea in my head and I am looking for some insight. I have an old Model 700 ADL in .270 Win that I just completely went over and redid the bedding and tried improving everything I could. If this old girl can't deliver the accuracy I am looking for, sub 3/4 MOA, than I will be saving for a new barrel. If I change, I'll be going to a cartridge I have really started to like and appreciate, the .284 Winchester.

I know I already have a few hundred .270 cases and bullets, but I am just drawn to the plain old .284 for a couple reasons. For one, it's extremely accurate and seems to be pretty easy to load for and does well for its size. The second reason is that I just think it's cool. I like the Ackley cartridges and have liked them for awhile, but none of them really catch my attention like a .284 throated for hight BC bullets in a long action. With the Norma .284 brass through bullets.com and the awesome new bullets from Sierra, Hornady, and Berger, this relatively mild 7mm cartridge really comes to life with today's components. My plan would be to rebarrel with a Bartlein 5R with the Remington standard weight contour, or a Bartlein #3, and make it 26" long and throated for the new 180gr ELDs. The rifle will primarily be used for deer hunting in the woods and in the fields, so shots beyond 500 yards could be possible. It will also get shot in practice beyond that range.

Some of my main questions are, what dies, brass, reamer specs, loads, and rifles are you all shooting in .284? I have a little bit of data using H4831sc, but not much with any other powders. You don't have to provide the grain specs for your loads if you don't like to do that. Just let me know what powder you are using and if you could provide your velocity that would be great! I would also like to hear where you ordered your reamer or if you had one specially made to your specs. Also, I would appreciate it if anyone could provide an O.A.L. with a 180gr ELD seated with the boattail/bearing surface junction seated to the base of the neck, or just slightly below that point. Thank you all!
 
I have 2 of them both built with the same reamer. Both shoot the 168 Berger coal 3.18". Forster benchrest die set is what I have for this caliber. These are max loads so start lower 53gr RL17 cci br2. 3000fps. 53gr H4350 cci br2 2920. Both shoot half Moa or less. Have killed deer and antelope from 400 to 700yds and bullet performed great on every occasion. Play around with seating depth to achieve tighter groups. I have Vais brakes on both and are a pleasure to shoot all day.
 
I have a 284 with a savage criterion prefit that shoots great. I'd suspect your 180's will be in the 3.15-3.2in range seated. The new hot powder for great speed is RL17, and I can vouch for it being a fair amount faster than either H4350 or H4831sc. I've been using both RL17 and H4831sc and get great results from both. I use necked up 6.5-284 Lapua brass with a finished neck diameter of .312. It's very consistent. With that brass you'd probably be ok with a standard neck around .320, I believe that brass neck is .315 loaded. There is a great thread on accurate shooter about the 284 norma brass you could look into. I'd suggest redding type S bushing dies, they're accurate and will do everything you need to do well. And get a 1-8" or 1-8.5" twist, that'll handle anything in the 180gr arena.
 
Thanks guys for the help! I plan on getting a 1:8 twist if I move forward with this project. I would like to try to stick with a more temperature stable powder than RL17. I have a couple friends that have used it and found their loads change a good bit from winter months to spring/summer. I think RL16 could possibly take place of RL17 and H4350, and I can find it at my local Cabelas. I can also get H4831sc and a couple other powders in that burn rate range. I would also be interested in how RL23 might work in the .284 with the heavier bullets.

As far as dies, I am thinking about getting the Forster Benchrest seating die and full length sizing die. I also found a reamer with a .322 neck, is that too much clearance with a .315 loaded neck? Thanks again.
 
Anyone else care to share their experience or info on the .284? I would really appreciate it, thanks.
 
Jud, a .322" neck will work your brass a little more, but is doable. You'd be sizing down about .008", so a .313" bushing may actually give you a bit more than .002 tension, as Redding recommends not sizing more than 4 or 5 thou. with a single bushing. I had a .318" neck on mine and was skim turning to .013" for .004" clearance. The necks sealed real well with that setup. Really liked shooting it, but got the "speed bug" and sold it and the reamer. If you go with the .332" neck, I would suggest using a .282 mandrel, after sizing, to set your final neck ID.
 
Anyone else care to share their experience or info on the .284? I would really appreciate it, thanks.

I have one with 27" Lilja barrel,1/9 twist and had it build same time as 280AI with same barrel.

If you look at the match 284 most have 30"/32" barrel for the 180gr/2900fps. With 160gr/168gr I run 3000fps and I'm like 86alaskan neck dia is .312.

That reamer if from Bullet.com you may want to call them and see if it's for that Norma brass. I have some 180gr VLD that shot in the 280AI just to see how they do, I took one of those and seated base of bullet at the start of the shoulders 284 and coal was 3.315" and that's with .130 of the bearing surface in the neck. The neck length on my brass is .260"

I've had mine for few years and today maybe do one of the wildcats off 284 case or short mag or 7 Wby that may build. Well good luck
 
Thanks for the replies! I found a match reamer available for rent with a .322 neck and .152 of freebore, but I think if I go this route with the .284 I will have a reamer made to my specs. I want a no neck turn chamber so something in the .318-.319 range would be good for me. I also want about .230-.250 freebore for the 180gr ELD. I believe the Norma brass is made to the original .284 Winchester brass specs so the reamer shouldn't be too hard to have made to the right specs.

Not much data out there for any powders other than H4350, RL17, and H4831sc. I wouldn't mind running 4831 because I can find it and it seems to shoot great. I would probably experiment with some of the newer powders to see how well they do.
 
Most all the data for 284 is SAAMI Spec in a short action and that includes Berger data with 180gr VLD. Berger and Hodgdon use H-4831 for the 180gr/175gr bullets in 284. Even Barnes has data for 284 http://www.barnesbullets.com/files/2014/11/284-Winchester.pdf

If it was me I'd buy the brass first

Yeah I have found a lot of data in the manuals and stuff, but that's all done in SAAMI chambers and rifles. This cartridge really shines in a 26+ barrel and a 3"+ O.A.L. and that is the data I was looking for with some of the newer powders. I'll probably stick with H4831sc just because of all the info and great reports I've heard about.
 
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