280AI Kimber or Savage

[35whelen]

I'm Looking to get a Kimber Hunter or a Savage 110 Hunter in 280AI, the only differnce I seen it the barrel length.

Ballistics wise do I really loose a lot with the 2in difference

 

[VikingsGuy]

40-60fps most likely

 

[.270]

I have a kimber hunter in 280AI and I am having some fun trying to find a load for it. I know a lightweight rifle can be hard to shoot accurately compared to a heavier one. Mine hasnt shown repeatable accuracy with barnes 145 lrx with multiple powders. On to the next bullet. My savage lightweight hunter in 7mm08 is in the same boat. I have a kimber 8400 in 270wsm and it shoots lights out. Just have to find the recipe.

 

[GlockZ]

With todays modern powders, I doubt there is much of a difference between a 22" & a 24" barrel these days when dealing with velocity. I wondered the same thing a few years ago and a buddy of mine lent me his Rem 700 in 30-06 with a 24" barrel. I chronographed his rifle against my X-bolt in the same caliber, ( my X-bolt has 22" tube), we tried 3 different loads and a 10 shot average. The 1st load was a box Rem Core-Lokt 150gr. load, 10-shot average between the 2 rifles was 22fps. The 2nd load was a box of Federal 180gr. Power-Shok, and the average difference between both rifles was just 35fps. The 3rd and last load was a hand load, 165gr Nosler AB & H4350, there was only a 15fps difference between the 2 rifles. So in the grand scheme of things, I would consider it a negligible difference. And in case you were wondering, both rifles were tested on the same day, the weather was a typical early fall day, sunny and 48 degrees, slight breeze of less than 5mph.

 

[std7mag]

The whole reason to go Ackley Improved is the velocity gain over the standard cartridge.
So why in the world would i want to go with a shorter barrel?
Kinda like the Mossberg Patriot in 7mm Rem Mag with a 22" barrel...

On the other hand, much like the Mossberg Patriot, accuracy with the Kimber is hit & miss. Some shoot great! Others not so much.

270,
If your having issues with group sizes with a Savage, it's not the powder. It's the distance to the lands.
When you find your smallest group, then you can tune your action and cut group sizes again.
Barnes recommends 0.050" from the lands.
A crimp can help accuracy with monos also.

 

[Wallow]

I've been struggling between those two guns as well. If the savage had a 24 inch pipe, I'd go that route. The Savage stock is just plain ugly but the Kimber is thicker in the pistol grip than I like but more stable than the Savage. If that Weatherby Mark V Backcountry wasn't so pricey, I'd go that route. I think if Tikka came out with a 280 AI with a 24" fast twist barrel, they'd sell the heck out of them.

 

[VikingsGuy]

I've been struggling between those two guns as well. If the savage had a 24 inch pipe, I'd go that route. The Savage stock is just plain ugly but the Kimber is thicker in the pistol grip than I like but more stable than the Savage. If that Weatherby Mark V Backcountry wasn't so pricey, I'd go that route. I think if Tikka came out with a 280 AI with a 24" fast twist barrel, they'd sell the heck out of them.

I too would like to see the Tikka in 280AI, but the Tikka .270Win, .270WSM and 7mmRemMag are viable options vs. 280AI.

 

[Brian in Montana]

Not to hijack the thread, but as a side question: I understand the 280 Rem is SAAMI spec'ed as 60K psi as a Max chamber pressure whereas the 280 AI is 65K - like the .270. Areny idea why the 280 Rem has a lower max pressure? I wouldn't think the case design would be enough to account for that, but that's about all it could be.

 

[Fire_9]

The whole reason to go Ackley Improved is the velocity gain over the standard cartridge.
So why in the world would i want to go with a shorter barrel?
Kinda like the Mossberg Patriot in 7mm Rem Mag with a 22" barrel...

To get better performance out of a shorter barrel. Kind of seems like the best of both worlds to me...

 

[std7mag]

To get better performance out of a shorter barrel. Kind of seems like the best of both worlds to me...

To me a shorter barrel means being able to move easier in thicker cover.
Thicker cover to me means a lever action in 45Colt.

Short, fast, and hard hitting.

280AI, like the 7mm Rem Mag is better suited where you want to reach out & touch something.
In the next county... Lol

 

[brockel]

Not to hijack the thread, but as a side question: I understand the 280 Rem is SAAMI spec'ed as 60K psi as a Max chamber pressure whereas the 280 AI is 65K - like the .270. Areny idea why the 280 Rem has a lower max pressure? I wouldn't think the case design would be enough to account for that, but that's about all it could be.

I believe it’s because of Remingtons semi auto they used to chamber in 280 Remington. Loaded to same pressures as 280 ackley there is about 50-75fps difference.

 

[Brian in Montana]

That makes sense. Thanks.

 

[VikingsGuy]

To get better performance out of a shorter barrel. Kind of seems like the best of both worlds to me...

The .270 and 280AI shine with a little extra barrel length (24") and wouldn't buy either shorter. If short barrel was important to me I would do an 20" .308 or 7mm08AI and just learn my drop tables or dial for drop.

 

[Fire_9]

I wouldn’t hesitate to buy or build a 280 AI with a 22” barrel. That’s just my personal preference though. I’m not going to lose any sleep over 50 fps or whatever it would end up being

 

[std7mag]

22" barrel to me screams 7mm-08, or standard 280 Rem.
I have (2) 280 Rem. One 22", the other 24".
The 24" rifle goes with me most often.
My 284 Win is 24", as is my 7mm Rem Mag.

Currently being built is a 7mm-08AI with a 30" tube. But this is a custom range rifle that i plan to do some F-Open (600 yards) and long range steel (800-1,000 yards) matches.

 

[Two7D]

The Savage long range hunter has a 26" barrel although I believe 2" of that measurement is the muzzle break.

 

[JLS]

I wouldn’t hesitate to buy or build a 280 AI with a 22” barrel. That’s just my personal preference though. I’m not going to lose any sleep over 50 fps or whatever it would end up being

No kidding. I get over 3k FPS with a 22” barrel in a vanilla .280.

 

[runningmt]

You’ll still gain a decent amount over the standard. Almost all barrel lengths are not “optimal”, especially for the big champagne bottle cartridges. To wring every drop of speed out of a 6.5-300 Weatherby, you’d probably need a 50” barrel (I don’t know, and I have no idea how long, maybe longer?)

I have a .264 Win Mag with a 28” barrel, IMO the extra 2” is not worth it, 26” would’ve been fine.

 

[joelweb]

I have a Kimber Mountain Ascent in 280AI. It doesn't like the available factory ammo, but I found a handload it'll shoot .7 MOA.

Hornady GMX at 3125 out the muzzle.

 

[joelweb]

And the Kimber is a really well thought out gun, with controlled feed, wing safety, etc. I sure like it now that I have it dialed in.