On another hunt, my brother-in-law took a nice buck with a little break-action rifle from about 85 yards using a 125g projectile. Mag. Recoil is significantly greater. This isn't your grandpa's muzzleloading system. In the real world, the .338 Federal shines when pursuing larger animals at moderate distances, according to the New Zealand ballistics company Terminal Ballistics Research. Go with the .270 Winchester if you want the cheapest or easiest to find factory ammo or if youre sensitive to recoil. I've not conducted any scientific tests, but Ive certainly had to do less trimming of my Ackley cartridges than their factory counterparts. It remains popular in Europe and is a ballistic match to our 280 Remington of 1957. list velocities of 2,990 fps while Noslers 140-grain Accubond Ackley Improved loads get you 3,150 fps. Youre bound to see a few stacks of .308, .270, and .243, but finding .280 Ackley Improved may be virtually impossible in your area. But do you know how to properly use them? However, the .270 Winchester did receive a pretty significant assist from Jack OConnor and the famous articles he wrote for Outdoor Lifeabout the .270 over the years. AccuBond Long Range 2,930 fps, Hornady Precision Hunter 162-gr. The ft-lbs the rounds will each strike with are about the same either way. In 2007, ammunition manufacturer Nosler registered the .280 Ackley Improved with SAAMI and began providing factory loaded ammunition and rifles for it. shooting Nosler 150 gr. Had it been available in .280Rem I would have got that instead but it wasnt/isnt. For this reason, the .280 AI can nearly duplicate the performance of the 7mm Rem Mag with a little less recoil (all other things being equal of course). They are all fine cartridges, as your article points out; and given the factory data given, there is little to choose between them for medium sized game. Given the rising popularity of long, sleek, aerodynamically efficient bullets, Id go with the 1-8.Rebarreling is a great option if you already have a shot-out barrel on any standard-length action. Although the .280 Remington is considered to be a very balanced cartridge combining the best attributes of both cartridiges due to the high ballistic coefficient and sectional density, characteristic of 7mm calibers, it did not reach the popularity achieved by the .30-06 and .270 Win. It adds only about 50-fps to 100-fps to 280 Remington speeds, yet falls short of 7mm Rem. The cartridge is more than capable of taking large game like elk and moose, but it can do so with less powder and less recoil than magnum cartridges like the 7mm Rem. The SAAMI spec 280 Ackley Improved chamber is .014 inches shorter at the datum line headspace dimension than the traditionally accepted wildcat chamber spec as previously produced. The first 3-shots I fired through it (150-grain Barnes X pushed to 3,040 fps by 58 grains of Reloader 19 if memory serves, but dont trust this data and always work up your own loads carefully) nestled a 5/16th-inch circle. All things considered, the .280 Remington had a lot of potential and should have been a big success, but the company made a couple of major blunders when they rolled out the new cartridge. 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Sign up with your email address to receive news and updates. I'm going to work with a Kimber Subalpine in 280 AI this spring and will pay careful attention to any feeding issues with it, but I'm truly not concerned. 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. Ackley after he added a 40-degree shoulder to Fred Huntington's .280 RCBS Improved. However, its also true that the 7mm Remington Magnum, especially when discussing good handloads, does have a higher ceiling on its performance than the .280 Ackley Improved. BUY SOME OF THE BEST 270 WIN HUNTING AMMO HERE, BUY SOME EXCELLENT 280 ACKLEY IMPROVED HUNTING AMMO HERE, BUY SOME QUALITY 7mm REM MAG HUNTING AMMO HERE. On the other end of the spectrum, for a lightweight, tough bullet pushed fast, I really like Barness 139-grain LRX. MidwayUSA offers the Nosler M21, but youll find that there truly isnt as large of an offering available in rifles chambered in .280 Ackley Improved as youll find in other common calibers. Importantly, although SAAMI specd the .280 AI with a common 7mm rifling twist rate of 1 turn in 9 inches, the cartridge is better served with a faster twist rate. or the 7 mm Rem. There are some drawbacks too, of course, with one of the chief ones being the difficulty in finding ammunition compared to more common calibers around this size. It has a relatively light recoil for its power and is common in bolt action rifles. They eventually chose the bolt action 1903 Springfield rifle chambered in the new .30-06 Springfield cartridge. Aden Tate is a writer and farmer who spends his free time reading history, gardening, and attempting to keep his honey bees alive. A 280 AI can safely fire 280 Remington ammunition, simultaneously fire-forming brass cases to reloadable 280 AI dimensions. As far as deer cartridges go, the .280 Ackley Improved (AI) is not as well known as . Here's why: 280 AI shoots 50 fps to 100 fps faster than the 280 Remington with the same bullets in the same standard-length actions. Finally, bullet size is other big distinguishing factor between them. A 150 grain bullet shot from a .280 AI generates a muzzle velocity similar to the .270 Winchester firing a 130 grain bullet. As a result, recoil is around 5 percent less. The .280 AI was developed by modifying the case from the .280 Remington. Theres a reason that over 50 years ago, the 7mm Rem. Mag. Mag. Lets pause and take a look at why the 7mm/.284 bore diameter is significant. By 2007, the .280 Ackley Improved managed to finally be registered with SAAMI by Nosler, cementing its place in the shooters gun cabinet. Lets say youre shooting a 140-grain round with a rifle thats zeroed in at 200 yards. During many of those critical early years, the cartridge was only available in the Model 742 autoloader. Lets take a look at how it shoots. For ammo, check out Federals 150g Power Shok cartridge. That being said with proper bullets, and I tend towards the 150 grain in .270 though Ive had good results with the 130s. The .280 AI can push a 120g round about 3,200 fps (about as fast as a typical 55g .223 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. The .280 Ackley Improved is a bit of an oddball, Ryan Callaghan said. Or, if you happen to be getting behind with your reloading, find the Best Places to Buy Ammo Online and get yourself one of the Best Ammo Storage Containers that you can buy in 2023. flinging the same bullet. 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. Youll often hear that the Ackley gives you 7 mm Rem. However, there are some important differences that set them apart from each other. The introduction of the massively successful 7mm Remington Magnum in 1962 also derailed any prospects of the .280 Remington catching on to any large degree with the general hunting public. Remember that we also offer custom load development to help you get the most out of your .280 Ackley Improved - call 1-800-303-1304 for more information. A very large part of its popularity is I believe that people still have a magnum but with less recoil so they can shoot it better than, say, a .300Win mag. 2023 Outdoor Sportsman Group. RCBS #3. A World Record Attempt and everyone is out at the range shooting and practicing. is One Gun To Rule Them All. No other movie makes them fantasize quite as much about the Old West and mountain men, and wonder if they could have cut it in the early to mid-1800s. Mag. While on the subject of velocity, allow me to point out that the .280 AI really deserves a 24-inch barrel. It too met a quick fate and, like my doe, it had minimal meat damage. Learn more here: http://bit.ly/1G7xXag. Improved Military Rifle IMR 4320. 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. Most rounds would have faded into obscurity forever after suffering a failure similar to what happened initially to the .280 Remington. As youll see in a minute though, Remington didnt give up on the .280. Lets say you want to shoot a bigger bullet than 140-grain, though. Indeed, the .280 Ackley Improved (280 AI) is one of the newest SAAMI standardized rifle cartridges on the block. Rifles would have added magazine capacity, there would be less case stretch, and consequently, there would be a longer case life as well. Rounds like the 25-06 Rem., 7 mm-08, and 338-06 all started out as non-standard cartridges before they were legitimized and chambered by the industrys major players. Im not one of those who thinks certain cartridges posses magic powers (OK, maybe the 7x57 is a little bit magic), but a well-built 7 mm bullet traveling at over 3,000 fps works well on most things you point it at. Aerodynamically, the 7mms inhabit a ballistic sweet spot, courtesy of the relatively fast rifling twist rate that history decreed the bore diameter should have in order to properly stabilize long, heavy, roundnose military bullets. [3], 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. To get started, click the link below to visit mymagnow.com and learn how to access your digital magazine. Id wager that the .270 Winchester is a little more commonly used than the 7mm Rem Mag. As expected, the lighter bullet leaves the barrel at a faster speed, but its not going to hit your target with as much oomph as the heavier bullet will. Mag. and uses 10 to 15 percent less powder to do so. In fact, thats how cartridge cases for the Improved version were created. The shoulder of the .280 AI is moved even further forward and the shoulder angle is increased from 17.5 degrees to 40 degrees. 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