will probably do it more easily. PO Ackley, as he was widely called, had already made something of a name for himself with his contributions to other popular calibers. helps improve accuracy by providing an efficient propellant chamber and a precise chamber-to-case fit. RCBS #3. Another great caliber that is hard to find accurate factory ammo for - we have experience with this caliber and our house loads are hard to beat! Decades ahead of his time in cartridge design, Ackley became a household name for his work, at least among cartridge enthusiasts. 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. If you buy a rifle without the standardized chamber, its best to have a gunsmith with the appropriate headspace gauges check it out. However, way out there, it absolutely trounces the .30-06, thanks to the far better aerodynamics of the 7mm bullets. Great article and comparison of similar cartridges. 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. The result was a new case with slightly more (usually around 4-5%) powder capacity. Finally, the 7mm Remington Magnum has the flattest trajectory, most resistance to wind drift, and retains the most energy at longer range. Among other things, hes particularly well known for his series of Ackley Improved cartridges. The .280 Ackley Improved SEE IT Back in the 1950s, a gunsmith named P.O. The true beauty of this round is its versatility. As you said no animal is going to know the difference. Its followed closely by the .280 Ackley Improved and there is a slightly larger gap between the .280 AI and the .280 Remington. For this reason, the .30-06 Springfield was an almost instant success in the civilian market. So, Remington renamed the cartridge AGAIN after a few years and went back to the .280 Remington, which is what its called today. It was a sub-0.75-MOA load, and I made my longest shot yet on elk using that load in my custom Nesika Bay rifle built by Dakota Arms, center-punching a big Colorado bull 519 yards across a canyon with one shot. Its also better suited to using heavier bullets than the other cartridges. More and more production rifles are being chambered for 280 AI every year. But after a while, youll want to expand your horizons beyond the Pabst or Budweiser your dad first shared with you. Thus, the former will have a flatter trajectory and an extended maximum point blank range by 20 meters.[4]. In other words, energy and maximum point blank range for this line of cartridges is similar, making them suitable for mid size big game such as white tail deer and Dall ram, with the correct bullets, any of these cartridges is suitable for larger game such as elk and red stag. 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. 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. Felt recoil will vary from shooter to shooter and rifle to rifle, but free recoil energy is still a useful way to compare cartridges. 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. This very likely hampered adoption of the cartridge to a certain degree. Cases obtained by firing--and thus fireforming--standard cartridges through Ackley's improved chamber could be handloaded to give improved performance. To get started, click the link below to visit mymagnow.com and learn how to access your digital magazine. Theres a reason that over 50 years ago, the 7mm Rem. During the spring conservation order, you can hunt with outfitters from Arkansas to Saskatchewan. This means I will earn a small commission (at no extra cost to you) if you make a purchase. Peak trajectory would be 4.96-inches above point-of-aim at 175 yards. That being said, all four cartridges are generally good options for reloaders. In a pinch (read lost luggage), .280 Rem. 7mm Rem. This sharper shoulder can also increase case life, which is a good thing for the handloader. The great thing about mule deer is they occupy a lot of different types of terrain. In 2007, ammunition manufacturer Nosler registered the .280 Ackley Improved with SAAMI and began providing factory loaded ammunition and rifles for it. Riley. As a result, recoil is around 5 percent less. Though dimensionally identical to (and thus completely interchangeable with) the original .280 Remington, Remington claimed the new 7mm Express loads had a tiny velocity advantage over the original .280 Remington factory loads when using the same weight bullet. Ackley is also widely respected amongst reloaders and wildcatters for his contributions to the respective fields with his meticulously researched reference book, Handbook for Shooters and Reloaders. 139 gr. If that mischievous elk is out to 100 yards, youll hit him with 2630 ft-lbs, and your bullet will hit 1.6 high. Since the .280, .280 AI, and 7mm Rem Mag use the very popular .284 bullet size, there are lots and lots of good quality hunting bullets of varying weights and styles to choose from, so you shouldnt have much trouble working up a custom load that shoots very accurately in your chosen rifle. Remington made an attempt at knocking the .270 Winchester off its perch when they rolled out the .280 Remington cartridge in 1957. Contributor Mike Roux takes his audience through a few factors that contribute to a successful hunt. As the mathematicians among us know, when you increase diameter, frontal surface area increases exponentially. I've not conducted any scientific tests, but Ive certainly had to do less trimming of my Ackley cartridges than their factory counterparts. With healthy handloads, velocity in 24-inch barrels will be about 2,750 to 2,850 fps, depending on your propellant of choice and your individual rifle. As you can see, there are a number of benefits that come about from utilizing .280 Ackley Improved. As sometimes happens in the world of rifle cartridges, the 280 AI (Ackley Improved) is becoming more popular than its parent, the excellent 280 Remington. With a completely different lineage than the other three cartridges, the 7mm Remington Magnum has a unique look as well. 280 Ackley Improved Those differences in the external dimensions of the .270 Winchester, .280 Remington, .280 Ackley Improved, and 7mm Remington Magnum do translate into differences in ballistic performance, though probably not quite as much as youd initially expect. Weatherby included the .280 AI in its shockingly lightweight, top-shelf Backcountry rifle line. 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). Make sure you follow The Big Game Hunting Blog onFacebook,Instagram,Twitter, andYouTube. 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.. 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. With equal barrel lengths, the Ackley Improved version gets you about 100 additional fps of velocity with a 140-grain bullet and a 24-inch barrel. Any good gunsmith should be able to handle this. Indeed, depending on the exact barrel length of the rifles in question, the real world advantage one cartridge may have over the other may narrow considerably, disappear, or even flip in favor of the other cartridge. 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. Rifles, Inc. is still making great, lightweight hunting rifles, but you can now find factory rifles in 280 AI from Kimber, Nosler, Christiansen Arms, Savage, Cooper Firearms, Montana Rifle, and Fierce. Of the two, the .280 Ackley Improved has a little less recoil, but ammo is easier to find for the 7mm Mag. The .280 Ackley Improved has been basking in the limelight since Nosler started chambering its Model 48 rifle for it and offering loaded ammo and unprimed cases. Mag. Shaw Custom Barrelssells new barrels in five different contours chambered, crowned, and threaded for your specified action for as little as $160. Handloaders will find this cartridge to be pretty forgiving and simple to load. Up close, it wallops just like the .30-06, having similar bullet weight at similar velocities. 150 gr. Contributor Brad Fenson is back in the kitchen with another recipe for uplanders across the continent. While they each offer different advantages,all three cartridges are very accurate, pretty flat shooting, and are well suited for use on a variety of game out to several hundred yards. 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However, it was Nosler who, in 2007, brought the cartridge to SAAMI for approval and commercial production. For the heavier bullets from 160 to 180 grains, H4831SC, Reloder 23, H1000, and IMR 7828 SSC are excellent. In a broadside situation, a shot placed behind the crease of the shoulder will result in the bullet traveling through both lungs. The .280 Ackley Improved will hit him with 1533 ft-lbs and drop 34.2". 1/6/2023 Stephen. In the U.S. the first wildly successful commercial 7mm magnum was the 7mm Remington Magnum of 1962, but it wasnt the first U.S. 7mm. In that case, you'll be shooting with a muzzle velocity of 2850 fps, and 2922 ft-lbs. Youre talking about a cartridge suitable for a wide variety of game without the recoil of a magnum round. Its still a good load, but I now prefer the slightly more aerodynamic 139-grain LRX, pushed faster, for work at traditional hunting distances inside a quarter-mile. However, for hunting, there are better balanced options for the .280 AI. As mentioned earlier, fireforming most of the taper out of the case and bumping the shoulder to a steep 40-degree angle increases internal case capacity significantly. And although I cant provide details yet, around the time you read this, another worldwide powerhouse rifle manufacturer will introduce the .280 AI across the spectrum of its hunting rifles. The end result was the .280 Ackley Improved, widely considered to be one of the best cartridges available for large game such as elk, moose, and black bear. Even so, the .280 Ackley Improved is not as fast as the 7mm Remington Magnum, as a few of that cartridge's avid supporters would have us believe. Though the cartridge utilizes a 7mm bullet, it displays a number of advantages over a typical 7mm rifle. For practical purposes, the .280 Ackley Improved is similar to the .270 Winchester, 30-06 Springfield and .280 Remingon. Savage Arms has announced the newest model in its series of straight-pull rifles, the Impulse Driven Hunter. Why cant I find ammo for my Lets say youre shooting a 140-grain round with a rifle thats zeroed in at 200 yards. Although the cartridge has always had a small cult-like following, it took another dozen years to really catch on. Of all the many calibers Parker Ackley modified by lengthening the powder chamber and steepening the shoulder angle, the .280 Ackley is the only one, so far, that has been adopted by SAAMI. A technician friend at Barnes used this bullet right after it was introduced for a once-in-a-lifetime free-range bison hunt in Utah and shot a large, old bull right at 600 yards with his .280 AI rifle. The result was the .270 Winchester cartridge, which they released in 1925 with the Winchester Model 54 rifle. However, there are some important differences that set them apart from each other. Can Coolers | An Official Journal Of The NRA, Find More Great NRA Publications Perfect For Every Interest, Discover Everything That The NRA Has To Offer. 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