280 Ackley bullet

[Trentcamp]

So I finally fulfilled a lifelong dream of going somewhere else and hunting something other than the great eastern whitetail. Went to southwest Colorado on my first elk hunt with a great group of guys and had a blast. Definitely going back. Bought a Kimber 84L in 280 Ackley (3-4 year dream) just before the hunt and threw together a quick load with a 145 Barnes LRX over Reloader 19 and figured it would do the trick. In a hurry as I didn't have much time for load development. Now that I do should I go to a heavier bullet. Shots will probably be limited to 500 yds or so. What have you guys used that works. Ballistics charts give the edge to the lighter faster bullets to 500 so I'm unsure what to do. Thanks in advance

 

[cowboy]

What is the twist and length of your barrel, what do you intend to hunt with it and what distance are you comfortable taking game at? Will you be shooting factory ammo or reloads

I and one of my sons have been shooting a 280AI for many years. It's as good of a non magnum cartridge as you can get in my opinion. Never have felt I needed more powder.

 

[Trentcamp]

It's a factory Kimber 84L. 24" tube 9" twist. Shoot handloads. I try not to polute my barrels with factory ammo lol. Mainly a whitetail hunter with I hope a elk trip every year. I shoot 140 partition or ballistic tips for whitetail. My question is should I shoot a heavier bullet for elk. Shots will be limited to 500 yds or so. Finding a place to practice in wv farther than that is tricky. J

 

[cowboy]

Nothing wrong with a 140 gr partition. With a 9" twist you could go all the way up to a 180 gr but seeing that most of your use will be on deer and an occasional elk I would lean towards trying the 150 gr. ELD-X or the 168 Berger - it all depends on what kind of bullet performance you prefer.

The 140 gr partition would be very adequate though - I tend to shoot the largest bullet that my rifles can handle to get max BC - the wind here in my part of the world blows 364 days per year.

 

[stx]

Nothing wrong with a 140 gr partition. With a 9" twist you could go all the way up to a 180 gr but seeing that most of your use will be on deer and an occasional elk I would lean towards trying the 150 gr. ELD-X or the 168 Berger - it all depends on what kind of bullet performance you prefer.

The 140 gr partition would be very adequate though - I tend to shoot the largest bullet that my rifles can handle to get max BC - the wind here in my part of the world blows 364 days per year.

I agree on the heavier bullets. My 1:10 twist, 24" bbl custom 280AI shoots 168 VLDs at 2975 fps with 59 grains MRP and shoots below 1/4 MOA.

 

[N2TRKYS]

I shoot 160 grain Accubonds at 2930fps with a mild load out of a 22" factory barrel in a 7 SAUM.

 

[HammerB1]

We have run our 155's through a 9 twist 28" 7mm Rem Mag at close to 3150 fps. (Only reason we ran the 155's is cause we were hunting above 5000' elev). I would think in the 280 Ackley, you could run our 143's which are designed for 9 twist at (sea level) at 3100 fps and take anything in N. America up to 600 yards well within your 500 yard goal.

 

[Trentcamp]

The partition is devastating on deer. Keep it coming guys. Thanks for the input.

 

[dixiemagnum80]

+1 for the 160 Accubond. Thanks to some guys on this forum.....60 grains of RL26 shoots awesome in my 280AI.

 

[Trentcamp]

RL 26? Haven't heard of it in Ackley. I've tried H4831SC RL19 and I have RL22 to try. What kind of speed you getting with it?

 

[dixiemagnum80]

My velocities were around 2925. Groups were .4 to .5".

 

[ThorThor]

+ 2 or 3 on 160 Accubond all around deer and you mentioned elk - 160 accubond would be ideal.