My Two Hundred & Eighty

[airedale]

Back in the late seventies a good friend of mine ran a sporting goods store that I helped out in part time. We took in a really nice Husqvarna 30-06 sporter on trade from a fellow I knew well. That particular Husqvarna has a commercial 98 mauser action. I had a bad habit of falling in love with the merchandise and paying for it with my paycheck and the Husqvarna ended up coming home with me.

 

My Dad was still alive back then and we were going on hunting trips pretty much every year to Canada mostly. After using a Sako Finnbear 338 Winchester mag for a couple of hunts I decided I was going to try a 280 Remington in a light weight sporter and my plan was to re-barrel this rifle with a 22 inch sporter barrel. I sent the barreled action off to Douglas and had them put on their best barrel and had the everything reblued. I then glass bedded the barreled action into the stock. After that I took off the old varnish finish and did an oil finish. I topped things off with my favorite big game scope the Leupold 2X7 that kept the whole package fast handling and light weight.

 

A good friend of mine who actually turned me on to the 280 had extensively worked up different handloads and felt that the Norma MRP was the best powder for this case. I went with his advice and worked up more of a power load than a fine accuracy load. I ended up going with 60.5 grs of the Norma MRP and it was chronographed at just over 3000 fps. I was getting one and a quarter to one in a half inch groups with the 150 grain Nosler Partition bullets and although I got better accuracy with some other bullets I stuck with the Partitions for a couple of reasons. I was going to be using this rifle on Moose hunts where varmint accuracy was not needed and for the unfailing reliability of the Noslers holding together.

 

To sum things up the 280 Husqvarna has been a winner for me, after several moose and a bunch of deer it has performed 100% and I would not hesitate to use it on any game in the US.

 

Al

 

Edited April 8, 2016 by airedale

[dbHunterNY]

nice..... still young and haven't had the opportunity to adventure much.  beautiful gun.

[Pygmy]

Beautiful rifle !!  I'm in LOVE !

 

Nothing wrong with 1 1/4 inch groups . After all, it a medium to big game rifle, not a gopher rifle.

 

As much as I love my little 7MM08, my .280 would be the one rifle I would keep if I could only keep one. It has served me well over the years on everything from woodchucks to Alaska bull moose.

[Pygmy]

dbHunterNY, on 08 Apr 2016 - 10:10 AM, said:

nice..... still young and haven't had the opportunity to adventure much.  beautiful gun.

You still have lots of time, db..I was 39 when I went on my first out  of state big game hunt, but I made up for it in the next 20 years.

 

Now I'm on the other end...Fixed income and old age have slowed me down some.

[Pygmy]

Hehehehe...I  just can't resist coming back and  drooling over that rifle..

 

All of you stainless, synthetic fans take note...THIS is what a hunting rifle /scope is SUPPOSED to look like.. <<GRIN>>....

[airedale]

Dan,

The rifle's magazine limited my overall length of the loaded cartridges, when I seated the bullets out a little more there was a marked improvement in the average group size. Not really a big deal but it kind of pissed me off because I know the gun will shoot better.

 

Al

[grampy]

This is an absolute beauty!!!  When I close my eyes and think classic hunting rifle. This is what I see!

[DirtTime]

That's a nice looking rifle. Sounds like it has proven itself time and time again in the woods.

 

Hehehehe...I  just can't resist coming back and  drooling over that rifle..

 

All of you stainless, synthetic fans take note...THIS is what a hunting rifle /scope is SUPPOSED to look like.. <<GRIN>>....

I agree 100%! My guns have synthetic stocks and they are nice looking, but I wish I could have found what I wanted in my budget with walnut stocks. Nothing nicer then a nice wood stock and a blued barrel.

[Pygmy]

....rob, on 08 Apr 2016 - 2:49 PM, said:

That's a nice looking rifle. Sounds like it has proven itself time and time again in the woods.

 

I agree 100%! My guns have synthetic stocks and they are nice looking, but I wish I could have found what I wanted in my budget with walnut stocks. Nothing nicer then a nice wood stock and a blued barrel.

Geeze, Rob, there may be hope for you yet !

[Lawdwaz]

Nice gun Al. 

 

I have lots of love for the Leupold 2-7 scope also although it is an old love........for years it was all I used on my rifles and deer shotgun, the Ithaca Model 87 DSII. In recent years the 2.5-8 Leupold is my usual glass of choice.  You can't go wrong with either one.............

 

As far as the .280 goes, had a couple of those too.  Actually both .280's were the same gun, just different serial numbers, Remington 700 KS lefty's.  The first one I bought new in 1993 IIRC.  Dick's Sporting Goods had just come to Buffalo and the gun dept was eager to please.  They ordered one in for me at a decent price, $829  I used that gun for about 10 years before sending it down the road to help fund a NULA.  Then, after second guessing THAT decision, a friend (and enabler) sold me another KS, exactly the same!  Great price but after getting it in hand and shooting it a bit that one also got the boot.  Between the 7mm-08 and 300WSM the .280 wasn't needed.  (since when does NEED have anything to do with it?)

 

Sometimes I have this little brain cramp and consider selling both the above mentioned guns (both NULA's) and getting either a .280 or (yikes) a 30-06 NULA.

 

I like the two eighty...........too.