# 280 rem AI?



## thenamelessone (Dec 8, 2010)

Hey everyone I am thinking of building a new rifle in 280 rem AI to shoot the new berger 180 gr vld. I'm not a huge fan of the magnum's, do they have a place? Yes. But i myself prefer wildcats to mags.

My question is what is the best barrel length for said gun? From all the research i have done all i can find is either F class shooters using a 31" ( witch i don't want seeing as this is going to a all around rifle) or hunting rifles with a 26" barrel that won't give me the velocities i need to push that 180 gr hog fast enough to truly live up to its potential. I was thinking of a 28" Pac-Nor 1in9 twist polygonal rifled for a better gas seal. And less friction down the barrel. Any thoughts or concerns would be appeciated greatly, as well as anything i overlooked.

P.S. the rifle will be finished with a choate tactical stock and wear a Leupold mark 4 4.5-14x40 LR/T target scope


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## Plainsman (Jul 30, 2003)

PM longshot. He has a 27 1/2 inch barrel just as you described, but in 260 Remington. An eight inch rock at 800 yards gets boring. One day deer hunting longshot fired two shots (hmmm maybe it was three) anyway he huntin1 and I all shot at that rock, and we all hit it every shot. Now my nephew bought a 300 Win Mag in the Remington R5. That has polygon rifling with five lands and grooves. The idea that one land is always in the opposition of two and that somehow lends itself to better accuracy.

Google R5. One thing my nephew found is people saying that with a Sendaro like I have you have a 50/50 chance of getting a good shooter. Some of those same people said they had never seen an R5 that didn't shoot good. They said most would do 1/4 inch, and my nephews rifle will shoot 1/3 inch with factory ammo. From Remington I doubt you will find a 280 that you could open to A1, but you could check. I didn't see this in their catalogue, but it's at the big for sale sites on the net. Price runs just below $1100. I think longshot spent more than half that amount for barrel alone. None of this will work of course if you want a light rifle.


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## Savage260 (Oct 21, 2007)

I just read a site that said the optimum length for the 260 was 24" and the RUM cases was 27". I don't see why your 280AI would have to be any longer than a RUM barrel. Might not even get the best accuracy at the highest velocities. I am a complete newbie at this stuff, but just thought I would offer up the info. It didn't say for what bullet weights, I think it was just an overall average type thing. My .260 has a 24" barrel, and it seems to do pretty well. Haven't gotten it on the chrono yet to see for sure.


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## Plainsman (Jul 30, 2003)

The F class use a 30 inch barrel. Look at the Savage F class. I just about bought one of those until I seen the weight was over 13 lb. I decided on the cooper instead.
The 22 long rifle doesn't gain much in velocity after 16 inches, and I have read that in a 24 inch barrel it is actually being slowed down. On the other hand overbore is a rifle with so much powder that it's barrel isn't long enough to burn it efficiently. The 300 Ultramag falls in that category and I have read that it would take about a 32 inch barrel to reach maximum efficiency fro that cartridge. I do know a couple of people who have gone to 28 inch barrels in 300 Winchester Mags. I think the Thompson Center Encore rifle has a 28 inch barrel in it's magnums.


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## Savage260 (Oct 21, 2007)

I might be wrong, but I think the PH Encore barrels are all 28" no matter what the chambering. Hard to determine what is "best" for each chambering and load.


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