Nosler Custom Ammo fitting 280AI chambers?

[dporter99]

Read an article online (I know, it's online so it must be the gospel ) that indicated Nosler Custom Ammo wouldn't fit all 280 AI chambers as they had shortened or lengthened it or something along those lines. Was thinking of getting a Cooper, and wanted to start by buying ammo to build up brass and break in barrel before investing in reloading equipment.
Can anyone confirm/deny that these cartridges would fit in a Cooper?

thanks!

 

[J E Custom]

Read an article online (I know, it's online so it must be the gospel ) that indicated Nosler Custom Ammo wouldn't fit all 280 AI chambers as they had shortened or lengthened it or something along those lines. Was thinking of getting a Cooper, and wanted to start by buying ammo to build up brass and break in barrel before investing in reloading equipment.
Can anyone confirm/deny that these cartridges would fit in a Cooper?

thanks!

Because of the difference in chamber dimensions from rifle to rifle, and ammo to ammo
if you are going to buy loaded ammo I would recomend buying 280 rem ammo in the
brand that you want to shoot there brass and fire form as you break the rifle in.

The custom loaded 280 AI should fit but it may not shoot very well ans it will cost a lot
more than 280 REM ammo.

The nosler ammo cost arround $48.00 a box of 20 and the brass is made by Federal.

There are at least six other brands of loaded 280rem that will cost less than $30.00
a box of 20 and some is arround $25.00 a box.

Lapua makes 30/06 brass that can be turned into some wonderful 280 brass for about
$20.00 a box of 20 if you reload .

Hornady loads good ammo for the 280 and there brass is good.

Just a thought.

J E CUSTOM

 

[Chef]

I have a Model 52 in 280AI.
I have had zero issues with the chambering of Noslers custom ammo.
Saving brass currently so I'll have properly stamped reloaded ammo.

 

[gun_rat82]

I had the same problems with my 280AI , but I use a custom die to size the body for my chamber.
A modified shell hoder can also work
cheers!

 

[WESTERNAERO]

Lapua makes 30/06 brass that can be turned into some wonderful 280 brass for about
$20.00 a box of 20 if you reload .

I thought the 280 was about .050 longer than the 30/06 and for the ackley you had to use 280 brass to fireform. If this is not the case I will definatly be buying laupa 30/06 from now on.

 

[J E Custom]

Lapua makes 30/06 brass that can be turned into some wonderful 280 brass for about
$20.00 a box of 20 if you reload .

I thought the 280 was about .050 longer than the 30/06 and for the ackley you had to use 280 brass to fireform. If this is not the case I will definatly be buying laupa 30/06 from now on.

The 30/06 is 2.494 and the 280 Ackley is 2.525 so the 30/06 brass is only .031 shorter than
the 280 AI (Not enough to effect anything).

The 270 Win is 2.540 just like the 280 REM but Lapua does not make brass for it so necking
it up would have no benefits.

If you buy 280 REM ammo you will have to trim the case 15 to 20 thousandths.

I am not sure why the 280 AI is shorter than the 280 REM (Parent case) unless Ackley
did not want to take a chance on the 270 being accidentally shot in the 280.

If your chamber reamer does not allow for the 2.540 neck length you may have to reload
new brass that has been trimmed to 2.515 (.010 under the SAAME length).

If your chamber is 2.494 you will have to buy the expensive ammo or load the Hornady
brass that is about twice as much as other brands and almost as much as the Lapua.

If I ordered a 280 AI reamer I would make sure that the overall case length was 2.540
so that I could use any 30/06 based brass and could fire 280 REM in it to fire form it.

I would still buy the Lapua 30/06 brass and trim and size it for fire forming for such a
fine wild cat like the 280 AI so that quality and brass life would be better than others.

J E CUSTOM

 

[yawn]

I have around 700 rounds through my cooper 280ai using nosler brass.New brass has been trouble free(I heard it was made by Norma?)
2 issues Iv had, firstly the nosler brass gives me internal donuts after the second or third firing.Using the 162 amax and the 168vld the throat lenght means I have to remove the donut as the bullet is seated deep enough to be a problem,not to much of a hardship realy.Second, the chamber in the cooper is tight and the redding match die was a touch on the large side( actually it was the same size as the chamber so after the 4th firing extracion became dificult.I got a small base body die which helped but not quite enough so Iv had a thou taken out of the rear of chamber now all is well. at present using norma .280 brass and so far after 4 fireings I have no donut, Also have some lapua 30-06 to try.
And you will love the cooper

 

[dporter99]

Thanks all for the feedback, good to also know someone's run nosler ammo through a cooper successfully.

Yawn - thanks for the positive comments, looking forward to shooting it! Question for you: Did you just buy brass, or did you also run any nosler factory rounds through it? I'm thinking I might start with loaded rounds so I can save up brass, but get started shooting sooner than if I had to also buy dies, powder, bullets, etc. to start reloading...

also, whats the internal donut? forgive the dumb question...

thanks

 

[yawn]

No dumb questions, the internal donut is a protrusion of brassaround the inside of the the neck at the shoulder junction.Basicly its brass flowing down the step shoulder of the case and bulging on the inside. If the throat of your rifle allows your bullets to be seated so the base of the projectile is clear(forward) of the shoulder junction/donut then its not so much of a problem.With the 160gr + bullets I didnt have that choice, but I would remove it in any case.
I havent used any factory amunition, Iv loaded all rounds from new brass.

 

[dporter99]

ahh, I'm tracking with you now... Thanks!

 

[Chef]

I have shot nothing out of my Cooper but Nosler factory ammo.
Chronos at 3030 fps with the 140 Accubonds and 24" barrel.

Again, no issues to speak of.

 

[Troutslayer2]

Because of the difference in chamber dimensions from rifle to rifle, and ammo to ammo
if you are going to buy loaded ammo I would recomend buying 280 rem ammo in the
brand that you want to shoot there brass and fire form as you break the rifle in.

Check this thread out: http://www.longrangehunting.com/forums/f28/yikes-what-do-i-do-now-60509/


I did exactly what you're recommending.

 

[cfvickers]

The Ackley versions are generally a little shorter than the standard because when the case is fire formed it will blow out the shoulder and the diameter of the case walls, not sure if I am using proper terminology, but at any rate, the case neck shortens some as the expansion in the lower portion of the case will pull a small portion neck back to enlarge the body, you only have so much brass in a case when you enlarge the body the larger dimensions have to come from somewhere, it is not all stretching. Also the When getting a .280 rem or a 25/06 reemed they usually will set the barrel back a small fraction of an inch to get the proper chamber dimensions. Some smiths don't do this and it works fine, but the factory Nosler brass would not be a perfect fit and therefore accuracy is likely to suffer. My wording is probably all wrong but if you can follow it this is all fact. I was wanting my encore 25-06 barrel to be made an ackley and this is what I ran into, encore barrels can not be set back of course so I was out of luck. The shoulder on the '06 based cases is too long and it would not reem correctly. Someone suggested I get a 257 and reem it to 25-06 ackley if I wanted to go this route. but by then I can just order a barrel in the caliber I want. I will try to remember when I get home and post pictures of the two side by side. this is what I have been always told. My dad has had several 280 ackley rifles and I have a lot of 280 and 280 ackley brass laying around. A lot of people just simply ream them without setting them back and that works fine too, but the brass from those rifles will not fit regular 280 ackley chambers because of it.

 

[yawn]

The ackly should be around .015 shorter at the shoulder/neck junction than a standard .280 so when chambering a standard round in an ackley chamber it should be a slight crush fit negating the case stretch problem.This is one of the advanages of an ackley chambering if done to spec,ie you can use parent case ammo with no problems.In Troutslayers case it seems to be an oversized chamber causing the stretch and seperation, basicly a headspase problem so jamming the bullet or expanding the neck to .30 and resizing leaving a false shoulder to headspace off would be needed.
Cooper are a very well built rifle. I think you will be fine with noslers ammo be it the 280ackly or the standard .280.
Definalty check for the signs seperation as you go.