So I have a chance to buy a A-bolt in 280. What does everyone think of that caliber?

https://www.americanhunter.org/content/behind-the-bullet-280-remington/ - nice little article on it. Seems ammo is readily available. And who doesn't need another gun? If the price is right it looks like it would be a wise buy to me.

Awesome article! And good advice

Why?
Shells available?
9
45
223
308
And a couple more…..

I shot a deer once with a borrowed 280 (Rem mag I think). I had much more blood shot meat in that deer than with any caliber I've ever experienced; and I've shot several with a 375 H&H.

Nothing wrong with a .280 aside from maybe ammo availability, like any oddball cartridge. I try to stick with what's readily available, but I have some odd ones too and they're some of my favorites. It teaches you to appreciate the ammo you have and any that you find, and to shoot judiciously. I have a .264 win that I love, a .300 savage, and a .250/3000 (also savage I think, it's a savage 99 rifle anyways) I don't regret owning a single one.

I've had mine since 1995,many whitetails,mule deer,promg horn and 7 elk all shot with Hornady's 139's,animals shot from 50 yards to 485 yards,GREAT rifle and a great round.I only have 2 rifles,280 and a 7 MM mag which I won in a Big buck contest which was won with the 280.I doubt you'll be disappointed in the 280,hope this helps.....

Wife’s uncle has one, it will AT&T.

We started shooting 280's in about 1988 or so. Fantastic caliber and if the rifle likes them, 150 grain Nosler Partitions are the Bee's Knee's. The A Bolt isn't my favorite rifle but that caliber sure is.

Great all round caliber.

I've always wanted a 280 in the older Remington 700 Mountain Rifle, but man those things are bringing a premium if you can find one.

It is a fantastic chambering that covers a lot of bases. Ammo is readily available even at Walmart around here. Even the 280 AI ammo is available at the local gun store.

I have a lot of them. I use them where a 330 is just a little too big to fit. (Had to)

The .280AI has seen an increase in popularity in recent years. The AI version adds about 5% to the velocity (150 fps for the 160 gr bullets). That is probably the most for any of the AI cartridges but is still not all that significant, leaving the old .280 as still a fine cartridge with plenty of 7mm bullets to pick from if you are a reloader.

Thanks for all the replies. I do reload so I'm not overly concerned about the ammo availability. Sounds like a great round the more that I read about it. I think I will pick it up.

I have one and love the performance on whitetails.

Had one, great round.

M700 Mountain Rifle. Would drop three into an inch off the bench from a cold barrel. I struggled to hold that lightweight still enough to group well shooting offhand. And that thin barrel couldn't handle rapid fire as groups opened the hotter it got.

Just not the right rifle for me, it was a beauty though, but I'd definitely go with the 280 again in a heavier rifle.

Maybe it's cutting my teeth on shotguns but I need some weight out front to shoot well.

But truth be told every deer I killed with was well inside fifty yards so it's finer points at distance was wasted on me. But it was still fun punching tight holes in paper at distance and knowing that it could.

If a 30.06 is a good cartridge and a .270 Win is a good cartridge, how can the .280 Rem (7mm Remington Express) be a bad cartridge? It is only about 200 fps slower than a 7mm Remington Mag and is about that much faster than the 7mm-08. I would say if you like the rifle, definately buy it and do not let the 280 worry you. It will make every shot that the 30.06 or .270 would and the animals will be just as dead. I think marketing killed the 280 because they first named it a 7mm Remington Express and the US market did not like the metric designation. It is a great round.

I love the 280 AI and have built a lot of custom rifles in 280 AI for customers.

Pretty much it on the 280 or any of the dozen plus medium bore rifle cartridges based on the aught six or oh eight case.

More splitting hairs than anything else but this is 'Murica so no one needs an excuse to buy any of them.

And, yes, Remington has a weird habit of killing it's young.