7 mm Express (280 Remington)

[DrMike]

mkcj,

Welcome to the site. I'm glad to see you posting, and it is good to see another person taking up this satisfying labour of love we call hand loading. Sounds as if you've had some fine rifles over the years. I'd love to see some pictures of your 7mm Express rifles when you have opportunity to post them. While I don't have a 7mm Express, I do have two rifles chambered in .280 (a Winchester Featherweight (my second, as I sold the first) and a Remington Limited Edition); the 280 is certainly one of my favourite cartridges.

 

[filmjunkie4ever]

Dave you are a lucky man for sure! The 280 Remington is superior to the 270 WCF because it is more versatile as you pointed out. They both hit as hard for all intents and purposes. I have always wanted a 7mm of my own and the 280 nearly was it. Almost picked up a Ruger M77 MkII All-Weather Model with a Leupy VX-III 2.5x8 on top, it was a smoking deal but I took the Winchester 30-06 instead...out of the three rifles I looked at that day, it was a close second! Wish I could've bought both of them though I have never regretted getting the Winchester.

Finally going to get my own 7mm this summer, got a Winchester Model 70 stainless going to get rebarreled to 7mm Rem Mag from 300 Win Mag. I am looking forward to having my own 7mm, I have owned a 6mm Remington, and an 8mm Remington Mag. My Grandfather even had an old 5mm Rimfire rifle...but I dont care for 9mm pistols haha, Im a 45 man.

Congrats on getting a sweet rifle, powerful and utilitarian. And when you said 270 Remington, we all knew what you meant pal! :wink:

 

[orchemo]

JD thanks for the load data in this thread.

I have a 280 Rem coming next week. Bought a pile of the 140 gr BT from SPS, sounds like I will be set.

I also have a Sako Finnlight in 7mm-08 coming, which is actually why I bought the 140 BT. But now I have two rifles to use these in.

Guess I will need to spend a few hours at the range comparing the 7mm-08 vs 280 Rem.

Cheers
Orchemo

 

[Guest]

Great Rifle you have buddy, it will knock em dead. I seem to recall when the 7mm Express came out that you couldn't shoot 280 ammo in the gun etc, something like that and /or the rate of twist in the barrel had something to do with limiting the bullet weight. Anyone remember that or am I just old and confused with something else? :roll: :mrgreen:

Don

 

[DrMike]

orchemo,

It sounds to me as if you are well set. Those are two fine cartridges that you have. I confess that the 280 is one (if my the) of my favourite cartridges. The 7mm-08 would likely run a close second for me.

 

[Greg Nolan]

I do seem to remember something about rate of twist limiting bullet weight and that's one of the reason for the name change when they got the faster twist. Also that people were trying to shoot it out of 7 mag rifles as the 7mm express so they changed the name back. This has been a long post because I've had my 280 for almost a year and it likes 160 Accubonds at 2950 fps with IMR7828
Greg

 

[orchemo]

Greg - I just brought it back to life b/c I was looking for reloading info for a 280 Rem.

Orchemo

 

[HTDUCK]

Great Rifle you have buddy, it will knock em dead. I seem to recall when the 7mm Express came out that you couldn't shoot 280 ammo in the gun etc, something like that and /or the rate of twist in the barrel had something to do with limiting the bullet weight. Anyone remember that or am I just old and confused with something else? :roll: :mrgreen:

Don

Not true.
The problem was Bubba going down to the local hardware store and grabbing a box of 7MM Express ammo and shooting them in his 7 Rem Mag.
Some folks ain't the brightest bulb on the string...................

Howard

 

[nvbroncrider]

Greg - I just brought it back to life b/c I was looking for reloading info for a 280 Rem.

Orchemo

Outta mine 52.5 IMR-4350 and 140BT is sub 1/4 MOA last group was .141"! Pic on .280 verification thread if my memory serves me right. My other load is 55.5 IMR-4350 pushing a 150PT sub-MOA. You will enjoy it! Work up to that 150 load. Do we get pictures?

 

[orchemo]

pics of the rifles, next week.

 

[RiverRider]

I like 58.5 grains of H4831SC under a 150-grain Partition. I could push it a little harder, but I see no point in so doing.

 

[nvbroncrider]

I like 58.5 grains of H4831SC under a 150-grain Partition. I could push it a little harder, but I see no point in so doing.

What do you get for velocity? Wonder if a guy could get a boost using 7828?

 

[6mm Remington]

Mine was 54.0 grs. of IMR4350 with 140 gr. Partitions at 2940 out of a 22" barrel on my 700 MTN rifle.

 

[RiverRider]

I like 58.5 grains of H4831SC under a 150-grain Partition. I could push it a little harder, but I see no point in so doing.

What do you get for velocity? Wonder if a guy could get a boost using 7828?

According to my logs, right at 2900 fps. I never tried 7828, but according to QL you might be able to pick up around 70 fps at equivalent pressure and assuming you can get all the required powder under the bullet. For my own use, the H4831SC load is the nuts. My econo-custom VZ24 Mauser will put 5 shots under an inch with this load...and when it shoots that well, I am afraid that even thinking about trying another powder will disrupt the universal harmonic and ruin my accuracy forever. In all seriousness though, I have tried slower burning powders in .280 over the years and the only one that compared to H4831 was Re22---and that powder has a reputation for dropping significant velocity at lower temperatures. Unfortunately I did not have a working chronograph at the time so I cannot say for sure one way or another but I suspect I was getting a bit of velocity boost over H4831---in shirtsleeve weather. I may never hunt in weather much colder than 30 degrees or so, but if I can have loads that I know will perform in any weather, I'll take that. It may well be that 7828 does everything as well as---or better than---H4831. Heck if I know, I have not tried it.

 

[DrMike]

I've recently had great success with H100V and the 140 grain PT. I've had quite a bit of success over the years with the 150 grain Scirocco and more recently with the 150 grain E-Tip and N560 or N165. I'm getting good velocities and accuracy with loads built with these components.

 

[jmad_81]

If I had to hunt everything with a non-mag chambering, I would have a 280, and a 35 whelen. I really like the 280 and what it is capable of doing.

Load up some 140 ABs and no deer sized or smaller critter has a chance.

 

[SJB358]

If I had to hunt everything with a non-mag chambering,

Did you say 35 Whelen? Just checking? :lol:

 

[6mm Remington]

If I had to hunt everything with a non-mag chambering,

Did you say 35 Whelen? Just checking? :lol:

He meant to say 30-06 but that 35 Whelen just slipped out on accident. Jake a 280 for deer size game and smaller, after you hammer elk and bears with yours? :? I will look past your error this time!

 

[nvbroncrider]

If I had to hunt everything with a non-mag chambering,

Did you say 35 Whelen? Just checking? :lol:

He meant to say 30-06 but that 35 Whelen just slipped out on accident. Jake a 280 for deer size game and smaller, after you hammer elk and bears with yours? :? I will look past your error this time!

Yes, my 280 makes a fine rabbit gun!! What better way to get comfortable with it!! Instead of pulling the trigger once I can shoot her until the barrel is warm. Wait 10-15 minutes and do it again! Plus its great to learn how to estimate ranges from 0-400 yard and you can learn the ballistics too.

 

[6mm Remington]

I agree! Much better than shooting a cannon that smacks you with every shot!