Need load info for 280

[mtmiller]

Alright, I have about 400 brass and plan to reload them with a friend's equipment. I do want to shoot 140 gr bullets out of my Remington 700, other than that I am pretty much clueless. This load would be for deer/'lopes out to 400 yards.

Any help would be appreciated.

 

[Quarter Round]

What bullet? I like the Nosler Accubond and Sierra Game King.

 

[danr55]

MtMiller, I loaded 52.3 grains of IMR 4350 with a FED 210 primer and either a Partition or Ballistic Tip. It shot both equally well. I used Remington brass and always trimmed the cases .010 under max after the first firing. This load shot well in 2 Winchesters, 1 Remington BDL and best of all out of my Remingtion Mountain Rifle. It would clock about 2945 fps and printed a 3/8" group at 100 yards.

 

[Gunner46]

I'd go with Ballistic Tips to start. Personal favorite is the 150 though. You loose very little real ranging, but the down range enegry is UMPH ++. If they don't shoot well, then you got problems.

51-52 gr of IMR 4350 will put you into "minute of 'Lope" without any problems.

Good Luck.

 

[snake river rufus]

1st, if you ever want to make that into a .280 ackley imp,, I have a reamer,,, only used once,,
Imr 4350 or Re-19 will be tough to beat, and you might check midwayusa.com for bullets, they had some 'bulk'packed barnes 'X' bullets bargan priced, $12 for 50

 

[Pygmy]

My .280 likes 59.0 of RL-19 and 140 Nosler ballistic tips... The load Chronos at right around 3000 FPS from my 22" M70 barrel... I've used this load on whitetails, muleys, pronghorns and caribou with great results at ranges from 40 yards out to 400... And YES, most of the bullets have exited, including the ones I used on caribou...

For some reason, my rifle won't group worth a damn with any 150 grain bullets I've tried in it, but it shoots accurately with 140s and 160s...

 

[1_pointer]

If you wanted to stay local for powder, Ramshot is from MT. One thing I'd consider if I was you would be either using the Ramshot Powders or the Extreme Powders from Hodgdon as they are less temperature sensitive. That way you won't be loosing as much velocity on cold weather hunts. For bullets I'd look in the 140gr I'd look at the Barnes Triple Shock, Nosler Accubond, and Nosler Partition in that order.

If you go to Hogdon or Ramshot's website they have loading data there. They may not have data for your bullet of choice, but it will give you an idea of where to start.

 

[Calif. Hunter]

I've never had or loaded for a .280, so I won't offer any advice. I'd listen to those who have actually loaded for it.


Where is our expert, .280 himself?????

 

[Bambistew]

I shoot 59gr RL22 behind a 140gr accubond with great results, 57gr RL22 with 160 accubonds was printing the same hole at a 100 as the 140's. Same load with Sierras shot about the same as well. If you go the Barnes route, those loads will be too hot, as they are right up at max listed, and I believe they are hotter than what barnes lists for those wieghts. All with CCI 200 primers, winchester and federal primers didn't produce as good of results. One thing I did mess with on the 160's if you go that route, was the COL, the deeper I went the tighter the groups got... take that for what its worth, as every bbl is diffrent.

If I remember I'll look up the load with IMR 4831 that I shoot in it as well, I can't remember what it is right now, but it shot really well too. I'm thinking it was about a grain less than RL22 loads.

 

[280]

I use 57 grains of IMR 4350 Speer 145gr spitzer boattails I have killed bulls with this load anywhere from 38 yards out to 464 yards I have never killed deer or antelope with it, although I can`t remember the last deer I shot with a gun I use a 257 roberts for antelope My 280 mountain rifle will clover leaf this load at 100 yards

 

[snuffy1]

Great Caliber


I've had a Ruger M77 varmint in .280 for a lot of years. I always used the 140 BT in it, the bullet worked VERY well at 2650 fps. That's all I could get out of it because of the long throat. Ol' Bill was terrified of law suits from rifles blowing up, he had everything throated long to reduce pressure.

My nephew and hunting partner, got a 7400 in .280. In his rifle the 140 BT would damage a lot of meat, and failed to exit. So I switched to the 139 SST. Not much difference! Same bloodshot meat and failure to exit. Yeah they all dropped in their tracks, BUT I like to eat right up to the hole!

Now I'm using the 139 interbond in both rifles. He shot 5 deer this year, all dead in their tracks AND you could eat right up to the hole. My .280 is not my primary rifle anymore,(it's just too heavy for this old fart to carry). My 300 WSM worked just great with the 165 interbond.

My powder of prefference is AA 4350. Too lazy to look up the load right now, but it's midrange between starting and max.

 

[1_pointer]

One more thing to consider, if this is just for deer and pronghorn, Barnes is just now coming out with 120gr Triple Shock. That should make you're 280 laser like to about 400yds!

PS- Don't let the light weight get you, as tests I've read about show that the Barnes bullets penetrate as well as a Partition that weighs 1.2 times as much. Thus, the 120gr XXX would penetrate like a 144gr Nosler Partition.