I think most would consider the big three, all around deer hunting rifles to be the 270, 30-06 and 7 Mag.

Why isn't the 280 held in similar regard?

Once Jason turned me onto the idea of a 280 (AI), and he built mine, it is my go to deer hunting rifle and always will be moving forward.

Never a military caliber , not a magnum, and 30 years too late.

Edit to add, none of this means it is bad, just more of why it never really took off IMO

Love my .280 Rem. What someone else regards or doesn't has never bothered me.

My .280 Ackley is my favorite rifle. Use it for here in Texas for whatever as well as when I hunt elk.

Hunted with one for many years back in the late 70's - late 80's. Traded it in on an O/U which I still have and use, but I wish I had kept it.

Factory ammo for 280 (aka, 7mm Express Remington ) was originally loaded to lower pressures of 60k for semi-auto rifle offerings. Modern ammo/handloads are signif better and the Ackley improved version even more so. My 280ai is my favorite rifle

It isn’t more popular simply because Remington doesent do as good a job of marketing their calibers as Winchester does

Late to market and unsupported. It’s hard to unseat the incumbent. Look at Toyota trucks, still chasing the big three despite having a better product.

You spelled "making great ammo for their cartridges" wrong.

Best thing you can do to a .473" bolt face long action is screw a .280 A.I. barrel on it.

Amen

I thought y'all were 7mm guys...now you are all touting the .280?

You got to do something with all those sucky 3006’s around

Remington handicapped the 280 from the get go with a stupid excuse. They loaded it to lower pressures than the 270 and 30-06 saying they did that because of the semi-auto it is chambered in forgetting all about the same gun was also chambered in the 270 and 30--06 or at least I have read that in several sources.

280 is a good round and the AI version is even better.

I've been wanting a .280 rifle for awhile now but I've just never pulled the trigger. I ended up getting a 7mm Rem. Mag. thinking I can load it down to .280 levels if I want to. The plan is to work up a good magnum load, and a good .280 level load for times when I don't need or want the extra velocity and recoil. What will likely happen is I will work up a good hot rod load and leave it at that. I still want a .280 for some reason. The nice thing about wish lists is that they don't have to be rational for anyone other than the person making the list.

.280 A.I. sits right between 7mm-08 and 7 Rem Mag.

7mm-08 162 gr at ~2700 fps MV
.280 A.I. 162 gr at ~2900 fps MV
7 Rem Mag 162 gr at +3050 fps MV (180 gr at +2950 fps MV)

Yes you can load down a 7 Rem Mag to be a .280 A.I. In your case, adding another rifle, I would suggest a 7mm-08 or 7mm-08 A.I. Really knock down the recoil, and it is still a great performer.

Where does the 7-08ai fall in your list, I’m guessing in the 2800fps?

Correct, with a 24" barrel it is 100 fps faster than a 24" barrel standard 7mm-08.

I have a 7mm-08, but those AI cartridges have been catching my eye a little bit.

It's great for getting a little speed back if you cut a barrel down to "fun" lengths

I'd put the 280 in the same camp as the straight 284 (a guy could argue that the 7wsm is there too)....just good cartridges on both sides of them, most folks and the market seems to have gravitated to those versus these "tweeners".

Redsnake, I know you have a 280 or an ai, had or have you ever considered the 280 Sherman?

I like the thought of a 7wsm, I would love it if it could seat the heavies and reliably feed through a short action. If I had to go long action then I’d look for something else.

Even seating the long/heavy bullets deep, I bet the 7wsm still outshines the other short action offerings in a short action.

You can buy .280 A.I. brass. But despite my best efforts I can't get brass makers to build 7mm-08 A.I. Gotta fire form or hydro form to get there.