Torn between the 280 ai and the 7mm rem mag

[Sniper97]

Pick the right twist and barrel length you want and run with it. Best of luck!

 

[The Badger]

I don't think you could go wrong with either. I went with the 7 RM as a mag donor action was what I had available. With a Brux 1 in 9" twist, it shoots 162 eldx's really well with 68.6 gr of H1000. If I had the standard long action, it would have been the 280AI with the sammi specs chamber, as while I handload, my time is too limited lately for fire forming. I'm using Nosler brass in the 7 RM anyway and wouldn't hesitate to try their 280AI stuff.

 

[Aldon]

I personally like the idea of the 7-300 you mentioned. If you become recoil sensitive later, reload rounds that are less hot. Really doubt you'd torch a barrel but if your worried, find a spare edit( 7mm) barrel and get it machined up with timing mark and store it in back of closet just in case.

 

[Deviant]

I was pretty sure I'd build a Long Range Hunter in 7mm Rem Mag ( or buy one) for shooting 180gr bullets. But now I'm starting to like the idea of a 280 AI since it can come close with a 26" barrel. It'll serve dual duty of hunting elk at probably not great distances, but possible targets out to a mile. Who's out there with set up with 24-28" barrels?

Neither Id go with a 28 Nosler.

 

[djfriesen]

Any consideration of the 280 Sherman?

 

[lancetkenyon]

I have a .280AI and a 7RM. Love them both.

.280AI w. 26" 1:9" barrel.
Hot loaded 175 Berger Elite Hunter over RL23 @ 2975fps. Just shot this weekend. 3 into 1.7" @ 545, 5 into 2.5" @ 851, 3 into 2.9" @ 921, 3 @ about 5" @ 1181 (I didn't hike up to look at this one).

7RM w. 26" 1:8.5" barrel.
Mild load 180 Berger Hybrid over H1000 @ 2996fps. Have had several groups under .3MOA from 500 to 1000+. Killed a good bull elk @ 662 two years ago.
Have a great hot load too. 184 Hybrid over RL26 @ 3065fps. Everything has been under .4MOA out to 1100 so far. This will be my new hunting load this year.

Really nothing an elk will notice as different between the two out to 1000 yards when hit with any of these rounds in the right place.

.280AI @ 8.8lbs feels just like the 7RM @ 9.7lbs as far as recoil. Weights are with scopes mounted.

.280AI brass (Nosler) is a lot more $$$ than my old R-P Rem brass I use in my 7RM. I have 8-10 firings on about half of my pieces of brass in my 7RM with the milder load. I only have 2-4 firings on a couple hundred pieces of my Nosler .280AI brass.

Powder charge weights are about 11 grains different between the .280AI and 7RM. 58.0 vs 69.0. So a bit cheaper to feed.

Bullets are a wash.

Primers are a pretty much a wash. Fed CCI BR2 vs. CCI250

 

[MudRunner2005]

.280 Sherman/7mmRM and 7mm STW,/.28 Nosler. All are good, but that is the 2 power levels. .280 Sherman is almost on par with the 7mmRM. And the 7mm STW and .28 Nosler are ballistic twins, but are a noticeable step-up from the 7mmRM.

For a good all-around cartridge with low recoil that can take anything inside of 1,000 yards, the 7mm RemMag will be nearly impossible to beat. For shooting/hunting beyond 1K, the 7mm STW or .28 Nosler will excel.

 

[highdrum]

7mag and roll, especially now that ADG is going to have brass available.

 

[MudRunner2005]

7mag and roll, especially now that ADG is going to have brass available.

I still love my Nosler 7RM brass, but I want to try some of that new ADG stuff. I've heard such good things, I'm very intrigued.

 

[Deputy819]

I should be picking up a new .280AI from my smith this week. Been hammering deer with a .338-06 for the last few years and I thought why not do it with something a little more "elegant". It wears a Criterion 9-twist 26" stainless barrel. Can't wait to start shooting the Berger 168 vld's...

 

[lancetkenyon]

Think about the 175 Elite Hunters too. Hybrid design is really easy to tune.

 

[slv hunter]

I have a Nosler Trophy Hunter 280ai I shoot the berger 168g classic hunters at 2950 with 58.4g h4831 Nosler brass. It likes the vlds also but they don't fit in the factory magazine so I switched to the classic hunters. The 175s or 180s would need a wyatt magazine I would think.

 

[xsn10s]

First off thanks for all the insights. I would of gone with the faster tier cartridges but barrel life and expense kinda turned me off to it. I tend to shoot a lot with my primary rifles which are the AR's , PSS (308 Win) and my 30-06. But I'm in the process of building a 260 AI, it's a decent round and I have tons of 308 brass. But now I'm kinda wishing I stuck with my original idea of going to a 7mm of some kind. It'll be either a of the cartridges I posted, man it's tough to pick. One has cheaper brass and is slightly faster, the other is supposed to be less finicky to load and saves on powder and barrels.

 

[Forcedoutage]

I have a custom built 280 AI with a 25" 1-9 twist Brux Barrel. I set it up to shoot 140-160 gr Or I would have went with a faster twist. If my goal was to shoot the heavier bullets, I would build something larger as mentioned like the STW with a 1-8 twist.