Factory 280 Ackley Improved rifles

[bdg848]

I am trying to decide on a rifle and have kind of gotten stuck on a 280AI. I plan on reloading whatever cartridge I choose as another hobby so I figured why not get the AI version. I will be using it as a do all hunting rifle for everything up to elk. I will also use it for long range target shooting just for fun out to the farthest range I can stretch it.

I want to keep the rifle under $1,000. Seems like there are only two or three factory rifles in this caliber in that price range.

Savage 110 long range hunter 26inch barrel, 8.1 lbs
Savage 110 Hunter- 22inch barrel, 7.5 lbs
Kimber Hunter- 24inch barrel, 5.75 lbs

Basically, I have three questions.
Is 22 inches too short and negate the benefit of the AI?
Is 8.1 pounds plus scope too heavy? I'm pretty fit but don't want to cart around more weight than needed.
Is a light weight rifle like the Kimber going to struggle with my long range criteria?


Any other 280 Acks under $1000 or am I barking up the wrong tree with this cartridge?

 

[lyle_destroys]

Have you thought about buying a used rifle and rebarreling it? I dont know how much you will lose going down to a 22" pipe. As long as you have the accuracy and higher BC I dont think a little lower velocity is a problem. I would stick with a 24" though.

 

[elkguide]

You'll lose 20 - 50 FPS with the 22" vs the 24" barrel.

Have you considered saving/spending a little bit more and going with a Christensen Arms Ridgeline?
Europtic has them on sale for $1595.

 

[MuleyFever]

I went through this and got a Kimber. If you are ok with the short barrel may as well get a 7mm-08.

 

[541hunter]

Don’t forget the new 110 savage ultralight. It’s a little more than your budget but it appears to be a sweet setup


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[bdg848]

The savage 110 ultralight also has the 22" barrel which I'm not sure about.

 

[bdg848]

You'll lose 20 - 50 FPS with the 22" vs the 24" barrel.

Have you considered saving/spending a little bit more and going with a Christensen Arms Ridgeline?
Europtic has them on sale for $1595.

Lack of funds isn't the reason for my $1000 limit per se. It's more along the lines of how much money am I willing to spend for a gun that I can only hunt with once a year and the only other use I have for it is a little longish range plinking...although I do agree, spending 5-700 more would open up a lot more opportunities and that is something I will have to keep in mind.

 

[Steve O]

You could probably find dozens of rifles in 280 and spend ~$100 with a gunsmiths to have it punched out to AI.

No reason in my mind to go the AI route to add velocity and then put it in a shorter barrel to remove said velocity gain.

 

[carter33]

You could probably find dozens of rifles in 280 and spend ~$100 with a gunsmiths to have it punched out to AI.

No reason in my mind to go the AI route to add velocity and then put it in a shorter barrel to remove said velocity gain.

I have heard people say this a lot and certainly cannot argue with the logic. But on the other hand if you want a shorter barrel rifle but still attain a certain velocity then you have to use a cartridge with a little more capacity. A 22" AI will certainly be faster than a 22" .280.

I am a pretty big fan of shorter barrel rifles on backpack hunts, much easier to strap to a pack and not have the barrel catching brush, branches and the like.

 

[lyle_destroys]

Theres a vanguard for sale in the classifieds in 30-06, would make a good donor rifle for a rebarrel. I think hes asking 550.

 

[HeathH]

I’m LH so somewhat limited in options. I took a Tikka LH .270 new and had it reamed to .280 AI and the barrel cut to 22” after much debating. I’m still getting 2947 fps with 160 AB and RL 22. Very happy with it so far.

 

[HeathH]

Should add obviously was re-barreled. #3 Douglas.

 

[Dioni A]

+1 for re barreling on an existing rifle you may have or something like a Tikka

 

[Sako76]

A guy on 24hourcampfire was selling a NIB LAW 280 AI for $1300.

 

[AKMoose]

My vote on your list would be the kimber for sure, a lightweight rifle is so nice to carry. But I would personally look at a tikka superlite in another caliber (270, 300). I just ended up with 300wsm and its 6Lb out of the box and only $750. Have a wildcat composities stock on order (~$400) and it will be 5.5lb bare once that is complete.

 

[AKMoose]

I take back part of what I said - rather than looking at a superlite in 270 or 300, why not the 7mm rem mag?

Tikka T3x Superlite Stainless Bolt Action Rifle - 7mm Remington Magnum

Buy Tikka T3x Superlite Stainless Bolt Action Rifle - 7mm Remington Magnum at Sportsmans Warehouse online and in-store has everything for your outdoor sports adventure needs. Fishing, rods & reels, camping gear, tents and much more.

www.sportsmans.com

This shoots the exact same bullets as the 280AI, and out of the same length barrel can generally get 50-100 more fps. For example with a 162-grain Hornady eld-x the 7mm Mag. runs at 2940 fps and the .280 AI runs at 2850 fps from factory loads.

Just food for thought, I know the 280AI has it attributes, but the 7mm is one awesome cartridge. Then you have your 6LB gun and extra money to spend on optics! Or you said you want to reload for it - thats enough savings to almost buy an RCBS starter kit!

 

[JeffRaines]

So, first and foremost it’s gonna depend on what you consider long range. For some people long range is 400 yards... for others, it’s 1000+.

With that said, heavier guns are easier to shoot, which is going to lend itself to better results at longer ranges.

Kimbers are excellent lightweight rifles(I own a few) but if I’m being honest they’re definitely not the first rifle I’d grab if a shot over 600 is a high possibility. It’s not that they can’t do it, but it’s hard to get and keep a 6lb scoped rifle stable enough to make that shot. Yes, on the range and in controlled environments it’s not so bad but when you’re in the field it’s a different story. They do sometimes come with issues out of the box(the mag box needed to be trimmed on both mine, one wasn’t free floated, the action screws being too long is a popular one but both mine were fine)... kimbers customer service wasn’t at all bad to deal with when it came to the non-free floated one. One call got me a shipping label and two weeks later it was back to me, restocked with a test target no questions asked.

I have no experience with the two savage options. I’m sure they’d be softer on your shoulder due to the increased weight and easier to shoot.

If you go Kimber, I’d buy the “pro” version that they sell at cabelas/bass pro for the fact that the barrel comes threaded for a brake which will help your distance shooting. Throw the stock radial brake aside and order a MBM beast for it. There’s also a gel fill in the stock you can dig out and save another 4-6oz.