Is the .30-06 that much better than my .280 Remington

[HAWKEYESATX]

With all the talk lately, and the posts I´ve been reading about hunting with the .30-06, has made me really want to give the ol' warhorse a try, and open my mind to it.

My question is, is it that much better than my .280 Remington?

What do the veteran posters here think, or know?

Thank you in advance for parting with your esteemed knowledge!

Hawk

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[Teknys]

My question is, is it that much better than my .280 Remington?

My opinion - for most hunting situations - no. I like the 7mm bullet, but I also have a few in 30 cal too. Deer and similar game won't tell the difference in "normal" hunting ranges. For larger game - elk - a 180gn 30 cal is hard to beat but if I was to try it would be the 175gn 7mm.

 

[SJB358]

My question is, is it that much better than my .280 Remington?

My opinion - for most hunting situations - no. I like the 7mm bullet, but I also have a few in 30 cal too. Deer and similar game won't tell the difference in "normal" hunting ranges. For larger game - elk - a 180gn 30 cal is hard to beat but if I was to try it would be the 175gn 7mm.

Nope, not a nickels worth of difference!

 

[TXbaldhunter]

A 30-06 can push a like weight bullet about as fast as a 7mag.I shoot both and like both.The 7mag shoots a little flatter,but I think the 30-06 really hits just as hard and seems to make a little bigger wound channel.So the the answer to your question is the 30-06 better than the 280,I'd say yes it is a little better.
150gr bullets
7mag-3000-3200fps
30-06-3000-3100fps
160gr
7mag-3000-3100fps
165-168gr
30-06-2850-3040fps
175gr
7mag-2850-2950fps
180gr
30-06-2750-2850fps

 

[Guy Miner]

I like my 30-06 an awful lot, but no, I don't think it's better than the 280, just different.

Regards, Guy

 

[Alderman]

When I purchased my first rifle the only two I even considered were 30-06 or 270. My brother was using a 270 so I opted for the 06. He killed deer and elk with no issues most often with 130 grain bullets.
Another brother hunted with a 280 for a while but for some reason everything he shot failed to stay on the ground so he thinks it’s a flop.
I purchased a 280 and for me it’s been one of the luckiest rifles I’ve ever had as far as getting good results on game.
I’ve not hunted with a 30-06 for some years but the 280 gets field time every year.
Just for the fact I recently obtained a pre 64 model 70 30-06 I would like to do some hunting with it next Fall.
280 or 30-06? For anything I’m liable to ever run in to I’d consider either one to be just fine.


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[Blkram]

In the beginning (late 80's) as I was looking for my own new hunting rifle, my father was an '06 fan and his younger brother was a fan of the 270. I knew many others that argued their case (pun intended! LOL) for either of these two. Harvested my first moose with the 30-06 and my second caribou with the 270. My first two mule deer were with the 280.
I really wanted something different and when I learned of the 280, it seemed a natural fit for me.
I found it to very effective in the field and provided a nice balance between the two older cartridges...and handloading made it even better!

And yes, I have used and owned both of the other two cartridges in various rifles and have taken game with all 3.I like the 270 with 140gr bullets, and prefer the 180gr bullets in the 30-06. In the 280, I have had very good success with the 160gr bullets, but am looking to use 150gr bullets in the 280 now as I am using 140's in my 7mm-08 and 160's in my 7MM STW.

My current '06 is in a LH Sako L691 with factory full length stock. Would have preferred it in the 280, which was an option, but as this is the only rifle in this configuration that I have ever seen, I couldn't pass on it!

Still a fan of the 280! It will get my vote every time!

 

[DrMike]

You won't go wrong with either cartridge. I like the '06, and love the 280.

 

[HAWKEYESATX]

My question is, is it that much better than my .280 Remington?

My opinion - for most hunting situations - no. I like the 7mm bullet, but I also have a few in 30 cal too. Deer and similar game won't tell the difference in "normal" hunting ranges. For larger game - elk - a 180gn 30 cal is hard to beat but if I was to try it would be the 175gn 7mm.

Nope, not a nickels worth of difference!

Thank you! That helps settle my curiosity.

Hawk

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[HAWKEYESATX]

When I purchased my first rifle the only two I even considered were 30-06 or 270. My brother was using a 270 so I opted for the 06. He killed deer and elk with no issues most often with 130 grain bullets.
Another brother hunted with a 280 for a while but for some reason everything he shot failed to stay on the ground so he thinks it’s a flop.
I purchased a 280 and for me it’s been one of the luckiest rifles I’ve ever had as far as getting good results on game.
I’ve not hunted with a 30-06 for some years but the 280 gets field time every year.
Just for the fact I recently obtained a pre 64 model 70 30-06 I would like to do some hunting with it next Fall.
280 or 30-06? For anything I’m liable to ever run in to I’d consider either one to be just fine.


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Thank you!
Do you use one bullet weight for all around hunting?
For me, I've always been enamored with 6.5mm and 7mm bullets, and their high BC's, and SD's.
I like the 7mm Mauser (aka .275 Rigby), it shoots flat, hits harder than it's paper ballistics, and is a mild kicker.
Not until recently, when I was looking at all the hoopla about the 6.5 Creed, did I really start to investigate the .280 Remington. I had been reading about Jack O'Connor, and the absolute last rifle he ordered was a Ruger M77 in .280 Remington. That gobsmacked me, because he championed the .270 almost all of his adult life. I know he used other calibers to hunt with as well, but his last choice piqued my interest. So I looked into it, and started really liking the paper ballistics of the .280 Rem.
Plus, 7mm cal has almost as many .30 cal bullets do.
To me, that's a plus.

Hawk

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[HAWKEYESATX]

In the beginning (late 80's) as I was looking for my own new hunting rifle, my father was an '06 fan and his younger brother was a fan of the 270. I knew many others that argued their case (pun intended! LOL) for either of these two. Harvested my first moose with the 30-06 and my second caribou with the 270. My first two mule deer were with the 280.
I really wanted something different and when I learned of the 280, it seemed a natural fit for me.
I found it to very effective in the field and provided a nice balance between the two older cartridges...and handloading made it even better!

And yes, I have used and owned both of the other two cartridges in various rifles and have taken game with all 3.I like the 270 with 140gr bullets, and prefer the 180gr bullets in the 30-06. In the 280, I have had very good success with the 160gr bullets, but am looking to use 150gr bullets in the 280 now as I am using 140's in my 7mm-08 and 160's in my 7MM STW.

My current '06 is in a LH Sako L691 with factory full length stock. Would have preferred it in the 280, which was an option, but as this is the only rifle in this configuration that I have ever seen, I couldn't pass on it!

Still a fan of the 280! It will get my vote every time!

Thank you for your experience and information on the .280!
I was wondering if a 150 gr AB would be the all around bullet weight to use, or a 160 gr bullet?
I was thinking the same that you had. The .280 is just the right one for me.

Hawk

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[HAWKEYESATX]

I like my 30-06 an awful lot, but no, I don't think it's better than the 280, just different.

Regards, Guy

You know what Guy, that's a great way to say it!
They're just different.
You have certainly got my interest going on a .30-06 as well. Just hearing you relay how well you do with yours is great.

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[HAWKEYESATX]

You won't go wrong with either cartridge. I like the '06, and love the 280.

Thank you very much!
I know you've been a longtime fan of the .280, and reading your posts, while I was researching on the .280 was quite interesting, and I found your experiences with yours to be refreshing.

Hawk

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[Alderman]

Do you use one bullet weight for all around hunting?

I mostly use 150 grain bullets in mine. Mainly because I have a Ruger tang safety 7x57 that is quite finicky and seemed to handle the 150s fairly well.
So I had a pretty good supply of 150 grain bullets when I got the 280. They shot decently from the get go. I’m not talking one hole groups but good enough to handle the maximum 2 hundred yard shots usually available in the brushy country around here.
I would imagine other weights would work just fine, I’ve just never tried playing with them too much.


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[HAWKEYESATX]

A 30-06 can push a like weight bullet about as fast as a 7mag.I shoot both and like both.The 7mag shoots a little flatter,but I think the 30-06 really hits just as hard and seems to make a little bigger wound channel.So the the answer to your question is the 30-06 better than the 280,I'd say yes it is a little better.
150gr bullets
7mag-3000-3200fps
30-06-3000-3100fps
160gr
7mag-3000-3100fps
165-168gr
30-06-2850-3040fps
175gr
7mag-2850-2950fps
180gr
30-06-2750-2850fps

Thank you for your insight.
I will stow away the info you shared, and keep what you said in mind.

Hawk

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[FOTIS]

As previously stated not much difference.
Now the 280 AI does best it with 160 gr high BC bullets.

 

[Blkram]

When I was first researching the 280 Rem, I came across an article on 7mm cartridges that stated that the 160/162/165gr bullet weights were the optimum in this caliber. So I mostly played with those bullet weights in my first 3 280's. I am looking forward to trying the 150gr AB's in my current 280 as I want to try a mid weight in it compared to my other two 7mm cartridges as mentioned earlier. I have always had great performance on game and for accuracy with the AccuBond bullets in all of the rifles and cartridges I have used them in to date. It is my favourite bullet overall.

My first 280 Rem was in a Browning A-Bolt and performed very well with the Hornady 162gr Interlocks and the max load of IMR4350 in the older Hornady manual I had on hand in 1989. It would consistently put 5 rounds into 1" groups at 200 yards. I did not have access to a chronograph in those days, so could not say what velocity I was getting out of that 22" barrel, but I can tell you that the recoil was definitely heavier than that of the Federal premium ammunition with the 160gr Nosler Partition ammo I was also shooting at the time. (never could get acceptable accuracy (MOA) from my Rem 700 Mtn rifles in 280 I have had over the years. Closest I got was 1.25 MOA)

I can also say that there was definitely more damage to the steel rub bars (over an inch thick) from an old combine that we were using to set up targets at the time,with the Hornady loads vs the previously mentioned factory ammo. We were getting about equal recoil and damage to those rub bars with another person's 7mm Rem Mag and 160gr ammo...so didn't think that the difference between the two velocity wise was too far apart between those two. And the animals didn't seem to be showing any difference in on game performance either. They were being harvested cleanly, and to me that was the most important factor.

Heaven forbid I should ever be restricted to just one rifle, but if I were, the 280 Rem would definitely make the short list, and I would be using the 160gr AccuBonds in it.

 

[JD338]

Overall no difference between the two. The 280 has good speed and high BC bullets giving it a slight edge for longer range while the 30-06 has the advantage with heavyweight bullets like a 220 gr PT that can penetrate into tomorrow.
I've used both and like them both.

JD338

 

[SJB358]

Check out the sleek bullets like the .588 BC 200 grain AccuBond, .673 BC212 ELD, .660 BC 220 Scenar, etc when launched around 2700+ from a 30-06. While the 7mm's are pretty danged good, there are plenty of good to great bullets for the 06 that make it a pretty big sleeper if you're talking LR. RL26 has been pretty sweet if you wanna run the heavyweights.

 

[remingtonman_25_06]

Nope! 280 all day over a 270 or 3006