.280ai help

[ofdscooby]

Ok I live behind the curtain here in CA and need a little help with my .280ai. I built a pretty much matching g set of .280ai's for myself and a friend. Well I found a load that worked great with the 140 grain TSX and IMR 4350 super accurate but temp sensitive.

Remember I need to use a mono built in this state for hunting.

Well we recently went to Utah for a deer hunt. We went to shot before the hunt and check zero and shoot a bit and both our rifles were left by a couple inches. I re zeroed mine and ran it out to 300 then 500 and all seemed well. My buddy however doesn't shoot as much as me and just doesn't have very much confidence in this rifle anymore. So I need to find another copper load for his rifle.
At the same time I would like to work up a good lead load as well to have as a back and for out of state hunting and the range.

Let me know what you got. I plan on trying the 140 grain E-tip next and then the GMX I couldn't get the Barnes LRX to group worth a ****.

 

[adk hunter]

131 Hammers, 140-150 ttsx e-tips and gmx way more finicky to get straight. Hammers fall into .5 MOA and 150 ttsx were dam close too. rl-23 or rl-26 if you can find it...

Call Hammer. Worth every penny customer service.

 

[keithcandler]

ofd, scopes get bent more easily that most people would ever want to imagine. If you transport your rifles in a soft case, chances are they will get bent. I learned this the hard way long time ago. Hard cases are often cumbersome but they do protect the rifle scope much better.

I would urge you to do this simple test: with your rifle on the rest and you looking at the target, have your shooting partner come up and just touch the top of the objective lens on your scope, barely. Your cross hairs will move a very long way from the point of aim.

Competitive shooters will tell you that wind moves bullets. Could be that you had more or less wind on the day you sighted in or your last day to the range.

If you can change out to the H4350 or R#23 you may solve some temp sensitivity problems. I lived in S. Ca. for a while, traveled to Utah, shots were rarely over 350 yards, and I shot IMR 4350 in my 7 Mag, 338WM, and 300 WM.

140g TTSX and 120g ttsx are ungodly accurate in our various 7mm seated .050 off the lands, we never even monkey around with various seating depths because the accuracy is tiny clusters way less than a dime. The 120g ttsx is a very underrated bullet, you don't find them in deer shot from any angle as a rule unless they hit heavy bone.

 

[CVCOBRA1]

For lead free Hammer Hunters are worth checking out. The copper solids are lighter for length than lead so make sure your twist rate is comparable.

 

[Bob Wright]

Same chambering in my trued R700 action with 26" proof stainless.
I only shot this to 200 as I ran out of time for a junior hunt.
I used the Barnes 145 gr. LRX using a lightly compressed charge of RE23. The Barnes do eat up some powder space with a SAAMI chamber but the initial testing is encouraging.
I also tried the listed "accuracy" powder on the
Barnes load data, IMR4350. it was ok for the kids hunt but the RE23 easily outran it to 3100 and gave me another accuracy node from loads I need.

 

[ofdscooby]

Thanks guys looks like I need some RL23 here's what IMR 4350 looked like with 140 txs's

 

[CHESSIEHUNTER12]

I've had good results with 140 TTSX and Hybrid 100V.

 

[MagMan]

Been using the 143 Hammer Hunters in 280 AI. They'll blow your mind.

 

[Bob Wright]

Thanks guys looks like I need some RL23 here's what IMR 4350 looked like with 140 txs's

Here is an initial speed test I ran after 100 break in rounds to test 3 powders on the 280AI. Just to illustrate how I down selected to RE23 (and because there were multiple accuracy nodes in later testing) as I had velocity at distance that matched bullet expansion specs in Barnes' data.
Shot over Labradar.
(Ignore the double post of speed data, same picture)

 

[Raudy707]

If you are concerned about the IMR powder try H4350 or H4831. Both do great with 140 to 150 grain bullets. I'm from NorCal as well and have been switching between 140 grain e tips and 160 grain Accubonds. I'll admit I'm using Rldr 23 for the 160's. But for the lighter mono metals I'm using H4831. Point of impact is kept in my journal so I just go 6 clicks up and 2 right for my rifle and I'm good to go from copper to lead. Good luck!

 

[jpfrog]

Ok I live behind the curtain here in CA and need a little help with my .280ai. I built a pretty much matching g set of .280ai's for myself and a friend. Well I found a load that worked great with the 140 grain TSX and IMR 4350 super accurate but temp sensitive.

Remember I need to use a mono built in this state for hunting.

Well we recently went to Utah for a deer hunt. We went to shot before the hunt and check zero and shoot a bit and both our rifles were left by a couple inches. I re zeroed mine and ran it out to 300 then 500 and all seemed well. My buddy however doesn't shoot as much as me and just doesn't have very much confidence in this rifle anymore. So I need to find another copper load for his rifle.
At the same time I would like to work up a good lead load as well to have as a back and for out of state hunting and the range.

Let me know what you got. I plan on trying the 140 grain E-tip next and then the GMX I couldn't get the Barnes LRX to group worth a *Rule 4 Violation*.

Do a search on here for 280ai loads from @RockyMtnMT and his 143 hammer hunters. I think he played with RL16 and Rl23 and got some pretty great results

 

[RockyMtnMT]

Do a search on here for 280ai loads from @RockyMtnMT and his 143 hammer hunters. I think he played with RL16 and Rl23 and got some pretty great results

Rl23 was best in my short 22" barrel. Rl26 did better in our 26" barrel.

 

[Bob Wright]

So I finally got a chance to shoot a ladder in my custom 280AI using RE23, CCI BR2 primers and Nosler brass. The bullets are Hammer Hunters 143 gr.
I set up a GoPro in front of the target to keep bullet strikes in order of firing.
Looks like I have opportunity in shots 4 thru 7. Although I was told seating depth is not sensitive, I think I'll try experimenting with it anyway moving away from the .020 off the lands now.
After that an OCW in .2 gr increments starting just below shot 4 and finishing just above shot 7. Shots 8,9 and 10 are all pressure signs.
Opinions welcome.

 

[MagMan]

How far was that?