Best bullet weight for 280 Ackley improved with 22 inch barrel

[DRock]

My primary hunting rifle is a 280AI with a 22" Fierce C3 Carbon Wrapped barrel with a 1:9 twist. In my load development, my rifle liked 150-160 grain bullets the best. I settled on the 155gr Federal Terminal Ascent bullet with a bc of .585 at just over 3000fps. I shoot this rifle suppressed. Attached photos are my rifle and my load. I am very pleased with my rifle and its capabilities. You can purchase this bullet in factory ammo- I've seen it on Midway but I prefer to handload. Good Luck!

 

[crazyhorse]

160 Accubond gets my vote

 

[112Savage]

Joseph Von Benedikt a gun writer who is a big fan of 280AI recently said the new Federal Edge Terminal Ascent factory ammo was very accurate and consistent and with that bullet's expansion threshold would be good for shorter barrels or longer distances. I have not shot the ammo, but the BC on the bullet is very high considering its weight.

 

[Unoboats]

I am relatively new to long range shooting/hunting and I have an elk hunt planned for this fall. I just got a savage ultralite in 280AI and was looking for suggestions for which bullet weight you would suggest for the 22 inch barrel which is a 1-19 proof carbon. I will be using factory loads but may order from Copper Creek to work up the most accurate loads.

Thanks in advance!

I reload but found the Hornady ammo in 280 AI with 162 eldx shoot well under 1" at 200 yds in my Kimber subalpine.

 

[LongWalker]

My primary hunting rifle is a 280AI with a 22" Fierce C3 Carbon Wrapped barrel with a 1:9 twist. In my load development, my rifle liked 150-160 grain bullets the best. I settled on the 155gr Federal Terminal Ascent bullet with a bc of .585 at just over 3000fps. I shoot this rifle suppressed. Attached photos are my rifle and my load. I am very pleased with my rifle and its capabilities. You can purchase this bullet in factory ammo- I've seen it on Midway but I prefer to handload. Good Luck!

Is that RL 16 on the case? Great looking rifle as well.

 

[DRock]

Is that RL 16 on the case? Great looking rifle as well.

Yes Sir. RL16 gave the best accuracy and velocity. And I love powders that are temperature stable. I could get nearly 3100fps before pressure but backed off a little since this is my hunting set-up.

 

[LVJ76]

I have a 7mm 08 22 inch barrel Savage model 11 and a custom 280AI, 26 inch 1 in 9 barrel. I am working up elk loads with both. The 140 Nosler AB is mentioned a lot on this site as the best bullet and effective out to around 400 or 500 yards. I have used this bullet for deer hunting and it is the best deer round I've used. The question I have is the 280AI is the same caliber but I see the 160AB, 160 Partition, and 168 Berger mentioned as the go to bullet for elk. Why not the 140 Nosler AB? You're adding 100 to 150 fps. Just curious...

All the bullets that you mentioned are good hunting bullets and in my experience heavier bullets penetrate more.

For deer in my 7mm-08's the go to bullet is the 139gr SST, it just kills fast, for Elk a heavier bullet would ve best to ensure proper penetration, its a tougher animal so better be safe than sorry.

And yes the lighter bullet is going 150 to 200 fps faster but the heavier and higher BC bullet will out run the lighter one and with more ft/lbs, example the 162gr AMax/ELD will have 1,150 ft/lbs at 600 yds while the 139gr SST will only have 1,035 while both are atill going around 1,830 fps.

 

[montana west]

yes the 160 nosler accubond or the regular particin will do the trick.. use no bullet lighter.. you are hunting a 800 lb animal..

 

[25WSM]

Barrel break in is important. Do the 1 shot and clean at least 5 times and then 3 shots and clean 5 times then 5 shot groups and clean. If you don't break it in the copper that gets put down on the first shots will keep the steel from getting smoother. A properly broke in barrel will be more accurate and allow more rounds between cleaning. And it will clean easier each time. Be prepared to spend some time cleaning. Those first 5 shots can take hours depending on how smooth the barrel is but the first 5 are the most important. 168 Berger's for me. The hunting vld shoots and kills great. First bullet I put in every one of them I build. About a dozen the last 2 yrs.
Shep

 

[dougduey]

I finished building a 280 AI a little before this whole "crisis" started. So, I haven't quite finished up load development. If you plan on eventually reloading, then I can give you a bunch of advice on specific bullets. If you're going to limit yourself to factory ammo, I'd tell you to try a box of each of the ones you listed and add in a box of Nosler with the 160 gr Partition. You'll have to find what your rifle likes.

So, I just finished reading all about terminal performance of a variety of bullets in the 280 AI. If you limit yourself to 500 yards, the 160 gr Partition is extremely lethal on game up to 700 lbs. Both the 162 gr ELDX & ELDM are very good, with the M having better terminal performance at longer distances (800 yards). It comes into its own after 150 yards. You run the risk of bullet blowup on close shots, so you better not hit bone and shoot for lungs only under 150 yards. The ELDX has a thicker jacket than the M and doesn't have the same close range issue, yet, it doesn't open up as well as the M at the limits of distance. The Sierra 160 gr TMK falls in between the X & M and is considered a great all around bullet to 800 yards(but this isn't loaded in any factory offerings at this time). The 160 gr Accubond and 168 gr Berger are great bullets, but tend to work best at impact velocities above 2000 fps, and typically better when limited to 2200 fps threshold. There was no data on the Federal 155 gr. Terminal Ascent, but I've heard from others these bullets are very good.

That being said, my hunting load is the 143 gr Hammer Hunter running around 3268 fps. I don't have any worries about performance with this bullet. It's absolutely devastating on game and I don't have to be concerned about bullet blow up. You may want to consider giving Superior Ammunition a call.

 

[MIBirdhunter]

Once again thank you for your help and your time. I just ordered a box of federal premium ammo that was suggested earlier today to try out. I will certainly look at Superior Ammunition too. My question about Hammer Hunter bullets is "doesn't the lighter weights and lower b.c. matter?"

Also, I will make sure to break in the barrel of my new gun. I have the copper solvent, good cleaning rod, and bore guide already purchased... just eagerly waiting for my scope mounts to arrive and then I begin. I'm eager to see how this new Savage ultralite shoots!!!

 

[dougduey]

Once again thank you for your help and your time. I just ordered a box of federal premium ammo that was suggested earlier today to try out. I will certainly look at Superior Ammunition too. My question about Hammer Hunter bullets is "doesn't the lighter weights and lower b.c. matter?"

Also, I will make sure to break in the barrel of my new gun. I have the copper solvent, good cleaning rod, and bore guide already purchased... just eagerly waiting for my scope mounts to arrive and then I begin. I'm eager to see how this new Savage ultralite shoots!!!

I'm sure Steve will chime in here (he's one of the owners of Hammer Bullets). You have to drive monolithic bullets faster, so it's always preferred to go down in weight. But, they retain at least 70% of their weight in a nasty jagged core that drives through the animal. The front petals peel back and shear off like shrapnel. So you get great performance with a lighter bullet compared to having a heavier cup and core traditional bullet. Plus, you overcome some of the BC issues with velocity.

 

[Jpistolero02]

I hope you find a factory load that works well for you. I just picked up my new .280AI. I built mine off an old Remington action I wasn't using and a Brux barrel I picked up off this site.

I quickly did some load testing this past weekend and I can tell it's going to be a shooter. I started with 160 Accubonds and 168 Berger HLVDs. All I have on hand is 4831SC, so nothing screaming on velocity, but extremely consistent. I fired 9 different powder charges of 3 shots each with the 160 Accubond and not a single group was over .75" at 100 yards. I am going back this weekend to see if I can push it a bit hotter. I was sitting at 2856 and 59.1gr of powder. I think I have room to go as there was no indication of pressure. This was out of a 24" barrel. I love this caliber so far.

 

[CTK]

160 Accubond or would look at the 150 Barnes TTSX or others mentioned. The rifle will let you know what it likes. I trust these two bullets. Not convinced about Bergers on elk but this is an unsubstantiated opinion as I have not seen an elk shot with one. Have shot whitetail with the 7mm 168 hvld and 6.5 130 hvld.