Lefty woes

[marketello]

I have been thinking real hard about that rifle. Have you done anything longrange with it?

With the scope and bipod, what are we talking, 14 lbs?

I live in CA, and some of my hunting will be up in the Sierras, so we are talking 8000 feet, hiking up and down mountains, I just wonder if I would come to regret a heavy rifle like that.
Plenty of time to think it over, I'm just going to keep listening until I know for sure what suits me.

 

[marketello]

Looking for final consensus from the experienced.

I talked to a gunsmith today and he is pretty confident he can locate a Rem 700 30-06 in the lefty version.
If not I can go with a new BDL, & he said he can then sell the stock and barrel for me, and buy a heavier barrel and convert to .280 if that is what I want. Then lighten the trigger, bed the action, and float the barrel, and after that practice....

I'm in no hurry, so as long as I am waiting I'll just do some more reading and decide whether I want to leave it 30-06 or go with the .280

For the hunting I'll be doing (pig and deer)I think the .280 is enough, with the only concern being possible elk. The .280 with a #3 barrel ought to shoot nice at the range for prolonged sessions.

What do you all think, sacrifice the wide array of ammo choices of the 06, for the flatter shooting .280, or would you stick with the 06? What calibur would make a better LR hunter? I am not sure, the .280 shooting flatter, or the .30 cal with heavier bullet options. Am i wrong to think about a .280 instead of a .270?

All opinions welcome.

[ 11-27-2004: Message edited by: Greenhorn ]

[ 11-27-2004: Message edited by: Greenhorn ]

 

[Pat S.]

I'd go with the 280. For elk a Nosler 175 Partition should be enough bullet and has a BC of over .500. The 280 I believe is underated, not that the 270 or 06' are bad choices.


Pat S.

 

[daveosok]

I did a search on three sites;
gunsamerica.com
gunbroker.com
auctionarms.com
Here are two links to two different rifles, they arent the varmint series your looking for but they are in the caliber you want. I did find varmint calibers but it was mostly 25 cals or smaller in vls.
GunsAmerica
Gunbroker
I would stay away from the 270 as not to many bullets are out their conducive to long range hunting or accuracy in mind, not to say that some folks dont have accurate 270's its just not a choice caliber for accurate shooting.
The 280 is nothing more than the 7mm remington express with a different name.
You can actually view different cartridges at ammoguide.com and view the case for yourself or view cases that you may wish to have chambered in your new rifle.

[ 11-29-2004: Message edited by: daveosok ]

 

[cdmorten]

I weighed it a while ago and I believe that it ended up being about 12.5 lbs with everything on it. I'm 5'9" and weigh 165 lbs and don't have a problem carrying it around all day. Would a 9 lbs. rifle be nicer to carry...absolutely, but It doesn't really bother me.

I've done a fair amount of long range shooting with that rifle. Of course long range is relative. Our range only goes to 600 yards. I'm usually shooting at 540 yds which is where a gong and target rail is located. I can consistently make hits on bowling pins at 540 yds. Interestingly enough, if I'm at the range in the evening, I'm usually shooting right over deer as they like to hang out and graze between the 300 and 400 yd mark.

Getting back to the weight issue, I deer hunt for 2 weekends per year and shoot at the range for the rest of the year. I figured that the extra accuracy and coolness factor of a tactical style rifle outweighs the weight issue since I'm only carrying it around for a couple of days/year. I'd go with the Rem 700 VS in .308. No regrets here.

As an added bonus, when you go hunting with someone new, I always love the look on their face when they see a big black sniper rifle.

 

[marketello]

Thanks for taking the time. I'm going to start a post reguarding Ozark Guns, their prices seem to be pretty good, but i know nothing about them.
http://www.ozarkguns.com/rifles/rem/lh.htm

I think I am going to settle on the .280, studing ballistic charts it really seems to out perform both the 30-06 & 270 At longer ranges the .280 arrives with more speed, more punch, less drop, and on top of that less recoil. I just finished an artical in the Complete Rifleman mag that confirmed the conclusions.
I'm no expert here, but it seems the .280 round has a better Ballistic Coefficient bullet allowing it out perform the other two callibers. I'm probably going to start a war here, but I'll be the first to admit this is all text book, not experience.

The drawback to the .280 is less ammo choices than the 06 or .270, but that seems to be improving as it seems the .280 is becoming more popular.

I'm going to spend a month looking for an old used 06 or 270, model 700 and then buy a stock and heavy barrel in .280. If I can't dig up a used cheap one up, might then order a new BDL.

 

[cdmorten]

No doubt that the 280 is a good round. I went with .308 because that's the preferred round of the Marine snipers who regularly make shots out to 1000 yards. Going back to the lefty issue, I wouldn't hesitate to buy a righty gun. I've got one and in some cases I like it better than the lefty gun.

Keep us posted as to what you get. You won't be disappointed either way.

 

[kmassaro]

The only real difference between the 280 and the 270 is that you can load 175 grain bullets in the 280, and you can get a lot more factory ammo in the 270.

Both differences are really quite minor. I doubt there is anything you can't kill with a 150 or 160 gr 270 that you can kill with a 175 gr bullet. I also doubt the greater ammo selection is that big of a deal, since you should not be buying ammo the night before hunting season anyway. And if you handload, no difference.

Granted, you can get 7mm match bullets, but this is a forum entitled "long range hunting" so that's not that big of a deal either.

 

[marketello]

I had a pre-64 30-06 for years, and just never could get used to having to shift the rifle around. I finally sold it to a friend and started shooting a lever action.

I always told myself if I was to buy another bolt it would be a lefty.

I'm sure you guys have seen the ballistic comparison on the Remington site, and maybe they cook the results to favor the Remington calibur, but the .280 has imprsessive numbers.
You can put in three calibers, (270, 280, 308)then I picked the same bullet (150gr express softpoint) and read the results.

Compared the ballistics off the federal site also and that site also favored the .280 but not quite as much.

Remington Ballistic comparison.

[ 11-29-2004: Message edited by: Greenhorn ]

[ 11-29-2004: Message edited by: Greenhorn ]