Federal. This means I will earn a small commission (at no extra cost to you) if you make a purchase. Muzzle velocity was 3,060 fps, right there with advertised 7mm Rem. However, its doubtful he anticipated that more than a half-century later, his .280 Ackley Improved cartridge would blossom into a favorite of savvy open-country hunters across the West. I meant, of course, a good bear tale where a grizzly or Alaska brown bear got the upper hand and chewed off the hunters scalp. Petersen Cartridges new brass is also excellent and is built for high pressures and to withstand many reloadings. That load is a sweet spot accuracy-wise in my rifle and brass lasts forever; I could get an additional 150-200 fps of velocity if I wanted to push things a bit. Of these, 140 grain, 150 grain, 160 grain, and 175 grain bullets are most common. helps improve accuracy by providing an efficient propellant chamber and a precise chamber-to-case fit. Choose medium-slow burn rate powders, such as H4831SC and Reloder 19 for light- to midweight projectiles. Were not talking anything too crazy. The .280 AI was developed by modifying the case from the .280 Remington. Oddly, I think the modest velocity is one reason that particular bullet performs so well in the .280 AIits not going quite fast enough to grenade on impact up close. of Israeli Defense Forces, joins David Fortier for an exclusive interview for Shotgun News. Additionally, the .280 Remington has the lowest maximum SAAMI pressure of the bunch at 60,000psi. Finally, the .280 Ackley Improved is rocketing to western-hunting stardom. That the .280 AI can be built on a standard long action with a 30-06/.270 bolt face and magazine box is an added bonus. Nosler used a 24 barrel for the .270 Winchester and 7mm Remington Magnum, but a 26 barrel for the .280 Remington and .280 Ackley Improved in their published reloading data I used above. The belted 7x61mm Sharpe & Hart Super came out in 1953. Interestingly enough, Nosler also publishes a .280 Ackley Improved load with a 140gr bullet at 3,222fps that slightly exceeds the velocity of that particular 7mm Rem Mag load above. So where do we stand with each cartridge? The .300 Blackout (also known as .300 BLK and .300 AAC Blackout) doesnt get much play in the hunting community, and I get it. So, Remington renamed the cartridge AGAIN after a few years and went back to the .280 Remington, which is what its called today. This helps support the blog and allows me to continue to create free content thats useful to hunters like yourself. Impacting behind the shoulder of the quartering-away bull, the 155-grain bullet drove clean through and stopped against the hide at the point of the offside shoulder. The .280 AI will never replace with .270 Win., but its a cartridge of equal or grater capability that deserves its place at the table as a legitimate factory round. Learn more here: http://bit.ly/1G7xXag. With typical hunting factory loads, the 7mm Remington Magnum and the .280 Ackley Improved have a slight advantage over the others in this regard with a flatter trajectory and the most resistance to wind drift. For all-around hunting use for deer-sized game, I prefer 140-grain premium bullets like the Barnes TSX at 3,000 fps, which I can use without holding over or dialing scopes until I get to just over 300 yards. Access the newest seasons of MeatEater, save content, and join in discussions with the Crew and others in the MeatEater community. I used the Hornady Ballistic calculator and ShootersCalculator.com to compare trajectory, wind drift, and recoil for the cartridges. .280 Ackley Improved The three .284/7mm 140gr Nosler loads all use the exact same AccuBond bullet, just fired at different velocities: the 7mm Rem Mag is 50fps faster than the .280 AI, which is in turn about 150fps faster than the .280 Rem. Ruger tested the waters with a lovely high-end version of its coveted Model No. Before we get started, I have an administrative note: Some of the links below are affiliate links. Riley. Its also easy to see why the 7mm Remington Magnum quickly pushed the .280 Remington even further out of the limelight at first. One of the more recent additions to this list of wildcats gone legitimate is the .280 Ackley Improved. Due to conservative loading of the .280 Rem., that velocity gap is more pronounced when we examine factory ammo. I have a custom .280 Remington. Why cant I find ammo for my It has more puissance than the 6.5 Creedmoor or .270 Win., and in practical terms, it matches the 7mm Rem. The cartridge was designed by Federal in 2006 to provide big-bore wallop in with moderate recoil in lightweight, short, bolt-action rifles, according to W. Todd Woodards excellent book, Cartridges of the World. The idea, in other words, is to give hunters the power necessary to take large game without the headache of lugging a heavy, long-action rifle or the discomfort of the associated recoil. Instead of using the much more commonly used .284/7mm bullets like the 7mm Mauser (and many newer cartridges like the 7mm-08), for reasons that arent clear today, the .270 Winchester used .277 bullets. Theres a reason that over 50 years ago, the 7mm Rem. For example, when using the same weight bullet, .280 Ackley Improved factory ammunition typically shoots 50-150 (usually around 100 fps faster) than most .280 Remington factory ammo. As the mathematicians among us know, when you increase diameter, frontal surface area increases exponentially. In fact, though nowhere near as commonly used as the .270 or the 7mm Mag, the .280 Remington is much more widely used today than it ever was. AccuBond Long Range 2,930 fps, Hornady Precision Hunter 162-gr. 10mm Firepower: Springfield XD-M Elite 3.8 Compact Pistol Review, SIG Sauer P365 Pistol Now Offered in .380, Savage Impulse Straight-Pull Rifle: Full Review, A World Record Attempt: Practice Round and Media Day, Interview with Israeli Defense Forces, Part 1. Naturally, many whitetail deer hunters choose this iconic Western big game animal for an out-of-state hunt. ELD-X 2,850 fps, Copper Creek Cartridge Co. 168-gr. For example, all three of Federal Premiums 140-grain loads for the .280 Rem. Ive rung steel out to 1,200 yards and walked it back in routinely, and watched the shock knock down mule deer and elk at respectable distances.. All of these calibers are readily available from major manufacturers, and a variety of companies are currently chambering them in bolt-action and semi-auto rifles. Joseph Von Benedikt visits with Aaron Oelger from Hodgdon about the unprecedented demand on the shooting supply industry. Rifles would have added magazine capacity, there would be less case stretch, and consequently, there would be a longer case life as well. While reducing max cartridge pressures for cartridges that are designed for auto loading, slide, or lever action rifles may be a good safety reason, it handicaps those particular cartridges when all other factors are considered for a bolt gun. In this article, Im going to do a detailed comparison of the 270 vs 280 Remington vs 280 Ackley Improved vs 7mm Remington Magnum in an effort to answer the above questions and parse out the differences between those four cartridges so you can make an informed decision regarding which one will work best for you. 280 Ackley Improved Vs. 280 Remington [ edit] Loaded with a 150 grain bullet, the .280 AI shot from a 24" barrel gives a muzzle velocity of approximately 3,060 fps, which is about 100 fps faster than a .280 Remington loaded with a bullet of similar weight. You can shoot factory 280 Remington loads in the 280 AI chamber to fire-form cases. The .280 Remington and .280 Ackley Improved (especially the Ackley Improved) are both pretty good alternatives to hunters who want a little more powerful cartridge than the .270 Winchester, but with less recoil than cartridges like the 7mm Remington Magnum and .300 Win Mag. As you can see, the .280 Remington and .270 Winchester are identical up to the shoulder and have the same 17.5 degree shoulder angle, but the shoulder of the .280 Remington is moved slightly forward. The .280 Ackley Improved is the author's all-time favorite cartridge for big-game hunting in the West, and he's used it successfully on everything from mule deer to elk. It didnt take very long before the .270 Winchester was firmly entrenched as one of the most popular hunting cartridges used in the United States. The rifle situation is very similar to the ammunition situation with these cartridges: .270 Winchester and 7mm Remington Magnum, in that order, are the most popular, followed by the .280 Remington and .280 Ackley Improved. So, does that mean the claim that the .280 Ackley Improved can do everything the 7mm Remington Magnum can do, but with less recoil is true? With all that in mind, its easy to see why lots of hunters and shooters in North America quickly got behind the flat shooting and hard hitting 7mm Rem Mag. This was not the way it was supposed to happen. The cartridge was intended to compete with the .30-06 and the .270 Winchester. Mag. Mag. This is an area where the .280 AI really shines because it has a similar or slightly superior trajectory and resistance to wind drift when compared to the 7mm Remington Magnum, but lessrecoil in a lightweight mountain rifle thats easy to carry in rough country. For the heavier bullets from 160 to 180 grains, H4831SC, Reloder 23, H1000, and IMR 7828 SSC are excellent. .280 Ackley Improved Like many calibers, the .280 Ackley Improved (AI) is underrated only by those who have never used it. Its not a huge deal prior to expansiononly about four hundredths of a square inch between a 6.5mm/.264 and a 7mm/.284 diameter projectile. Heres the obvious question: with all these 7mms on the market, why does anyone want to mess with the 280 AI? Shop 280 Ackley Improved Rifles The .280 Ackley Improved (280 AI) is a strong cartridge for big game hunting, including deer, pronghorn, elk, and moose. Using a shortened .375 H&H Magnum case necked down to use a .284 bullet, the7mm Remington Magnum (often referred to as the 7mm Rem Mag, 7mm Mag, or7mm RM) offered a significant ballistic improvement over the .30-06 Springfield, the .270 Winchester, the .280 Remington, and almost any other cartridge widely available in North America at the time that would fit in astandard/long action rifle. In both cases, the .270 Winchester has a slightly flatter trajectory, but the .280 Remington has a tiny bit more kinetic energy at all ranges (about 5-10% at 500 yards). Then take a look at our Beginners Guide to Reloading Ammo. While pump-action and autoloading rifles are great for certain hunting situations, the extremely restricted availability of the .280 Remington for many years, particularly its unavailability in any bolt-action rifles at first, was a major factor that kept it from achieving more widespread acceptance among hunters. Such projectiles drop less and drift less in the wind, even though they do start out a bit slower than light-for-caliber bullets. I picked up a kimber hunter 84l in 280 ackley this summer and am finally getting around to load development. Others insist it does. Indeed, the .280 Ackley Improved (280 AI) is one of the newest SAAMI standardized rifle cartridges on the block. Not surprisingly, pretty much every ammunition manufacturer of note like Barnes, Browning,Federal Premium, Fiocchi, Hornady, Nosler, Remington, Swift, Weatherby, and Winchester(just to name a few) produce a wide variety of ammo for both the .270 Win and the 7mm Rem Mag. Improved Military Rifle IMR 4064. Cases obtained by firing--and thus fireforming--standard cartridges through Ackley's improved chamber could be handloaded to give improved performance. This is illustrated in the table below comparing Nosler Trophy Grade and Hornady Precision Hunter factory ammunition loaded with 130gr AccuBond (.435 BC) and 145gr ELD-X (.536 BC) bullets in .270 Winchester, 140gr AccuBond (.485 BC) and 150gr ELD-X (.574 BC) bullets in .280 Remington, 140gr AccuBond (.485 BC) and 162gr ELD-X (.631 BC) bullets in .280 AI, and 140gr AccuBond (.485 BC) and 162gr ELD-X (.631 BC) bullets in 7mm Rem Mag. As a result, recoil is around 5 percent less. Even finding a rifle may prove to be somewhat difficult. This was due to a number of reasons, one of which was the fact that the .270 Winchester fired unusual size bullets. Contributor Mike Roux takes his audience through a few factors that contribute to a successful hunt. However, while those two rounds are very popular for a reason, they are far from the only high quality choices in that size range. Mag. 280 Ackley Improved .280 Ackley Improved 160 Grain Nosler AccuBond~100% Hand-Loaded!! 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