(^42) | GunDigest the magazine AUGUST 2019 gundigest.com
Let’s take a closer look at both.
The .280 Remington began life in
1957 when Remington necked down
the .30-06 Springfi eld to 7mm. Why?
A 7mm bullet powered by the .30-06
Springfi eld case gives shooters a faster
bullet with better BCs—and often,
better sectional density. Bullet weights
rangedfrom 120 to 175 grains.
Remington’stimingwasn’tthebest;
its introduction was some 30 or so
years after the legendary .270 Win-
chester hadgrowndeep rootsinthe
hearts and minds of America
shootersandhunters.Still,it wa
a goodidea.
In 1978, Remington tried t
rebrand its .280 Remington b
changing its name to 7mm-0
andthen to7mm Express, bu
it caused too much confusion
withthered-hot7mmReming
ton Magnum. As a result, th
company went back to .28
Remington.
Ballistically, the.280 Reming
tonhad,andstillhas,plentyo
7mm“mojo”togetthejobdon
onmost critters thatAmerican
hunttoreasonableranges.Still,
there’sonethingAmericanshate
it’s leaving untapped potentia
onthereloadingtable.
P.O.Ackley probably grunte
when he saw the potential o
the .280 Remington, especiall
afterFredHuntingtontweaked
witha 35-degreeshoulderbum
wildcatcalledthe.280RCBS.H
took the shoulder out 5 mor
degreestoa 40-degreeshoulde
anddubbedhiscreationthe.28
AckleyImproved.It wasa reall
goodidea.
Howmuch so?Nosler put i
the work and the funding t
makethe.280AckleyImprove
a SAAMI-approved cartridge i
- Once built, my 24-inc
Savage .280 Ackley Improve
pushed Nosler’s 140-grain Ba
listicTipfactoryloadsata blaz
ing3,158fps.Accordingtoth
Nosler website, thatsame loa
from a .280 Remington woul
y achieve3,000fps.Asyoumightexpect,heavier
etslosevelocity;butproportionally,theAckley
roved “turbo” option of the .280 Remington
allygivesshooters 100 to 150 fpsofdifference.
hatgainenoughtotweakyour.280Remington?
t’suptoyou.
egardless,a .280AckleyImprovedis fasterthana .280Remingtonwith
samebullets,andthecaselifeofAckleyImprovedcartridgesis better
averagethantheirconventionalcounterparts.Theoften-debatedwild-
disadvantageoftheAckleyImprovedaspecttomanycartridgeshasno
ringwiththe.280AckleyImproved,becauseNosler,HornadyandFed-
allmakefactory-loadedammunitionforit.Inshort,if youwantthe
r-ballisticequivalenttoa 7mmRemingtonMagnumwithoutthe“mag-
m”fuss inrecoil, ammunitioncosts andbulk,youought tostrongly
sideraddinga .280AckleyImprovedtoyourstableofrifles.TRANSFORMATION
angingtheboltheadonmyoncequite-capable.308NormaMagnumto
ommodatethesmaller.280AckleyImprovedwasn’tallI hadtodoto
nsformmyModel111FCaction-basedSavageintotheAckleyImproved
sion.I absolutelyhadtocompletelychangethebarreloftherifle. Sand-
er,woodputtyandsomeBondoweren’tgoingtoworkhere.
gain, the Savage
tform makes cus-
mizing your rifle
y—andbarrelman-
cturers know it.
st all barrel mak-
make some sort
Savage barrel, and
st ofthemarepre-
mberedandready
headspace.Savage
es head space off
e barrelnut,which
what eliminates
e lathe and the
pert gunsmithing
lls needed to re-
rrel more-conven-
nalrifles.
reached out to
uisiana-basedCar-
nSix Barrels to
ate my very own
.280 Ackley Im-
proved. Carbonan
aso
y
6
ut
n
g-
e
0g-
of
ne
ns
if
e,
ald
of
ly
it
p
He
re
er
0
lyn o d n h dl-
z-
he
d
donly
bulle
Imp
usua
Is th
Tha
Re
the
ona
catd
bear
eral
near
num
conTHE
Cha
acco
tran
vers
pap
A
plat
tom
easy
ufac
Mo
ers
of S
mo
cha
toh
rifle
the
is
the
exp
skil
bar
tion
I
Lou
bon
cre
.l hi 3 000 f A i ht t h iThe CarbonSix 24-inch, 1:9 twist
.280 Ackley Improved barrel was a
#5 contoured, lightweight McGowan
Precision barrel blank donor that
CarbonSix then transformed into a
carbon-wrapped barrel.
The Savage Model
111FC 280 Ackley
Improved rifl e project
was done in the author’s
garage with basic tools,
a new barrel, a proper
.470-diameter bolt face
and .280 Ackley Im-
proved ammunition from
Nosler and Hornady.One of the crucial tools a Savage rifl e owner needs to
swap out a barrel is a proper barrel vise to secure the
barrel while the barrel nut is loosened or tightened.