building a 280 Ackley

[Larry P243]

I don't know how good the 280 Ackley Improved will be for Long range , but I just ordered my barrel today. A 7MM #5.5 fluted @27" Kreiger. it will be going on a rem. 700 action, A Boyd's feather-lite thumb-hole stock , with a Shilen trigger and teflon coating on entire metal surfaces. I hope it will be a keeper as this is the first custom rifle I have had built. What do you guys think of my choices?

 

[Canadian Bushman]

I think you will be very happy. The 280 ackley is a bad mo fo and with 27" of barrel you will have no problem getting those 7mm pills up to speed to send them way out there. If i were you, id be excited, and stocking up on 180gn bergers

 

[lhouston78]

I have built two of them in the last year and they shoot very well. I shoot the 168 bergers out of one and 162 amax out of the other have not tried the 180's in the 280 ai but do in my 7-270wsm and all of them are great. I also have some 175 long range accubonds that i need to try. As far as the 280 ai goes it is a great round with lots of great bullets to try. The shilen trigger if adjusted right works very well and you picked a very good barrel and size for this gun, you should love it.

 

[J E Custom]

Do a search on the 280 Ackley and you will find lots of post on it.

J E CUSTOM

 

[Rem700]

I love mine. I ended up dropping down to a 140gr TTSX from a 168gr Berger because it was almost too much with the distance i was normally hunting at. It destroying stuff at longer distance. Even with the 140gr it still spins deer completely around in it's tracks with a neck shot. gun)

 

[Larry P243]

thanks for the replies, the barrel should ship out today or tomorrow. now all I need to do is decide on the scope ,rings ect.

 

[Canadian Bushman]

Nightforce!

 

[lhouston78]

There are a lot of great scopes nightforce is at the top of the list but if weight is a issue they are a lot heavier. I have ran lots of nightforce and have nothing bad to say but now almost all my rifles run vortex pst's or hs lr's and now with the new hs-T that will be my next scope. Rings I would look at warne and tps great for the money.

 

[varmintH8R]

How far out are you looking to go, and how much of a factor is weight?

My Cooper JG 280AI wears a Swarovski Z5 with the BT. Shooting 168 Bergers the 13MOA over zero-stop will get me to 700yds (with a 250 yd zero). Very nice glass, lightweight, and seems to be tough (haven't knocked it out of zero yet).

If you need more than 13MOA for the distances you are shooting, look at one of the dedicated LR type scopes others have mentioned (I am partial to NF based on experience, can't afford S&B, and am hearing lots of good things about Vortex).

The 280AI is a great cartridge and I am betting you will not regret it. Not sure if it is rifle or cartridge, but I've never had an easier time with load development than with my 280AI.

Enjoy your new toy!

Brandon

 

[Larry P243]

The 280 will be used mostly for hunting , so to keep shots ethical I assume I wil limit my shots to 300 to 400 yrds. of course that may be extended if I determine that I can make longer shots. It took me around 5 yrs. to get my bow range out to 40yrds.It all depends on my ability to shoot what I think is good enough groups to extend my range. I would like to be able to shoot on out to 500 to 700 yrds. if I can

 

[J E Custom]

The 280 will be used mostly for hunting , so to keep shots ethical I assume I wil limit my shots to 300 to 400 yrds. of course that may be extended if I determine that I can make longer shots. It took me around 5 yrs. to get my bow range out to 40yrds.It all depends on my ability to shoot what I think is good enough groups to extend my range. I would like to be able to shoot on out to 500 to 700 yrds. if I can

You are right on in your thinking about long range.

A long range shot is the limit of ones ability, Not what others say it is.

Each person has to make this call based on his skill, training and experience.

At one time I considered a long shot to be 400 yards. after many years of shooting 600, 1000 and
1200 yard matches, I felt comfortable with the possibility of a 1200 yard shot and under the right conditions
out to 1500 yards. Now that I am older and don't shoot as much as I would like to, that distance is getting less.

The 280 or the 280 AI are very capable of 1000 yard shots and 600 to 800 are very possible.

Test your limits, but slowly. You will find your comfort zone where you will have confidence
in the shot and with practice and quality ammo you will be able to extend your range.

J E CUSTOM

 

[Jcub]

I love my .280 Ackley. Wouldn't change it for any 6.5 on the planet.

 

[Hookturnr]

I just got one finished up recently:
Rem. 721 trued
Rock 24" throated for the 180 Berger
Manners EH-2
Vortex Viper hs-t

It's shooting in the .180-.250 range at 100 with 59gr. H-1000 and seating to kissing the lands.

Load development has been too easy...from 55.0-60.8(flat primer/ejector) worst was .803 at top end and .687 at the bottom with 2 nodes in the .185 range.

I'm getting into Retumbo next to see if I can pick up a few more fps and retain accuracy. It's currently about 2750fps with the 59gr. load