280 AI

If you have access to a 160-170 grn bullet give it a try- you may be impressed with what a bit more weight can do in a 1-8 or 9 twist

I have some Berger 168 VLD bullets I picked up a few months ago.
I like tinkering with the Barnes stuff though. Been running it for years with very good results.
 
Was given a few Remington 9 1/2 primers. Loaded up some Barnes 139 LRX in two ladders with 56, 56.5 and 57 Grains of H4350.
One ladder seating depth was 3.300" (recommended Barnes reloading data), the other was 3.400".

Had a couple of 3 shot sub 1 3/8" groups at 300 yards and the best was 1 3/16".
Velocity was between 2822 and 2895 with all the loads combined.
Maybe the primers are old? Going to try a couple more H4350 loads with different primers and see if I can get this bullet moving.
If not, will work on the H4831SC loads.
 
Changed primers.
Now in the mid 3000's and low 3100's with 56.5 and 57 grains of H4350 and 139 LRX bullets.

H4831SC is at 3155-3218 with the same primer, bullet and seating depth. Looks like this is the powder...
 
IMR 4350 and IMR 4831 SC are good choices to start with. For shots 300 yards and under, most any 140 -150 gr bullet with work well. For years I shot the old 145gr Speer because it preformed perfectly on deer and Jack O'Conner wrote about using it a lot in his 280. DD62
What load were you using? Just loaded some 145gr hot cor with 54gr of I4831. 3 holes touching at 100yards. Haven't checked velocity yet, but wondering what charge to go to safely. Using a savage 110LR in 280AI. I can live with the 54gr load, just wondering
 
I went with the 140 AH in my new 280 AI with H100V. It has a 1-7.5" twist IBI at 23". This is getting me just over 3300 FPS. First year with this combo so no on game experience yet.
How's the accuracy? I tried the same combo in mine and didn't get good accuracy. Do you crimp? I'm going to go back and try crimping to see if it will improve accuracy.
 
How's the accuracy? I tried the same combo in mine and didn't get good accuracy. Do you crimp? I'm going to go back and try crimping to see if it will improve accuracy.
Accuracy is good. I did a quarter turn crimp. First time I've tried crimping. Never shot this gun without a crimp. I shot it out to 600 yds and it's holding 3/4 MOA. For a lite gun and me shooting, I'm happy with it.
 

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