There's a reason the .30-06 has been around for over 100 years and still going strong. Brass and bullet is a huge advantage!
Check out the energy levels on your chart at 700 yards. If your unwritten rule of thumb is to harvest an elk size game is 1500 FT-LBS at point of impact, the .30-06 has the advantage.
I originally wanted a .280 AI but went with .270 AI instead and never looked back. It was also a Savage 110 LA. My current set-up was built primarily for the 165 and 175 Matrix VLDs (at least initially). My current accuracy load propels the 175 Matrix VLD at 2993 FPS.
True enough...not a big difference in ballistics though, in any of them, lol...I'm not well read on the super premium bullets like the Matrix in your 270 or some of those types of 175-180 grain bullets for the 280...but I'm assuming they all look about the same, comparatively speaking (best vs best in each weight class)...can't be that much difference, the rounds are too close to the same, lol (capacity, bullet weight, diameter)
I do enjoy discussing the finer points though...I've been an Ackley fan for a long time (about 30 years), owned a 280 AI back in the 80's but didn't have the means then to do much with it (poor teenage farm boy), so I let it go...but never got over it, lol...so I recently ordered another one (41 year old with a little better funding)...Ackley rounds may not always be a huge improvement over standard...but most are still an improvement, however small...Ackley was on the right track all those years ago.
A 270AI with a high BC 175 grain bullet and enough barrel to send it at 3,000 fps is a force to be reckoned with...thats for sure...but I can never bring myself to get a barrel over 24", I hate carrying the darn things (even 24")...being here in northeast TN where I still have to "go in after them" quite ofen, I just don't think a barrel over 24" is practical for me...if it was a dedicated LR rifle though, I could go as long as 28" maybe.
We all just sorta pick one...I picked the 280 Ackley many years ago, based largely on the writings of Jim Carmichael expounding the greatness of the 280 Remington...I figured if the 280 Rem was so good, then the Ackley could only be better.
I like things "optimum"...and the 280 (and presumably the 270) Ackley rounds are about as good as it gets without going all out magnum...Remington hit a sweet spot with the 7mm Rem SUAM too in my opinion (a short 280 Ackley).
Guns are fun...I say we enjoy them all!!!
The 30-06...yes, its awesome, always was, always will be...had one that would do some amazing things out to 600 yards with 168 grain Nosler Ballistic tips, it shot Berger 175's pretty darn good too...you'll never hear me say a bad word about the old war horse...but I'm just about all in on sharper shoulders (at least 35 degrees) and less body taper...as I said before, however slight the improvement is...its still an improvement.
I don't give much thought to component availability...after I figure out what I want to use in a rifle, I buy enough of it to last me right then and there (or as soon as I find it)...my 280 AI for example, leaning heavily towards the 160 Accubond, not the best bullet, but a good one, got 250 to use to feel it out...if it works, I'll buy enough to wear out that barrel and won't have to worry about bullets ever again...same for powder, I have 4 lbs. of MRP, if it doesn't work I'll use it in something, MRP is a versatile powder that works in lots of rounds (IMR 7828ssc is my next choice)....its an expensive rifle ($3,820), at least for me, I'll only use it for hunting...25-50 rounds per year...I have other less expensive toys to play with for general shooting...I could afford to rebarrel as necessary, but just don't want the hassle (takes too long, no local smiths)...already have enough brass, started buying that a while back....may sound crazy to some, but after the last several years (since 2008) I don't trust the supply to meet the demand...I'm not a hoarder, I just don't like being dependent upon availability...and barring a catastrophic disassembly of some sort, this will be the last rifle I ever buy, might as well have ample supply of components...should be SOP for anybody that has decided they have what they want...common round or not....at least for that one particular round that you don't want to run out of.
