Mountain Rifle - Win M70 - 280AI - Proof Research

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A 8lb. rifle my not be ideal, but certainly is doable. I'm not looking to win any competitions, just the pure joy of shooting at that distance, practicing and learning. My range has a 500 yard bunker with steel and I have BLM within 10 minutes from my house where I could shoot out to miles. So it is very much on the forefront of my thinking with this rifle, but as was said before it is not something that I have set in stone.

I shoot my 8lb. 6.8 SPC out to 6-800 yards for fun at steel, so why not an 8lb. 280AI hunting rifle?

Would I build an 8lb. rifle for competition, heck no. But I'm not going to build a $2,000+ rifle to sit the whole year until hunting season that's for sure and 100 yard groups are boring.

You will have over Triple the horsepower, and recoil, with that .280AI and heavy bullets.

Edit:

6.8 SPC/ 8.0 lb rifle/ 110 gr./ 27.5 gr powder/ 2540 fps = 6.9 lb-ft recoil.

.280 AI/ 8.0 lb rifle/ 160 gr./ 61.5 gr powder/ 2960 fps = 24.2 lb-ft recoil.

NTS.




GR
 
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Gtscotty said:
I don't want to derail this thread, but I love this rig. Thinking I might need to pick up a Hunter and convert it to AICS fed, this seems like the ticket, but on their website, it doesn't seem like AG does inlets for 84s or 8400s. Did you do the inletting yourself, or is this something they'll do on a custom basis? Any issues getting the action to pick up reliably from the AICS mags?

If you called AGC I'm fairly sure they could inlet a stock for you. They do the inletting with CNC so it wouldn't be too hard for them. It's been a lot of work to get to where I'm at with the project but the view has been worth the climb. The 84M action is capable of feeding extremely well from the AICS magazines but it's not plug and play, or not in my case at least. I had to modify two AICS magazines to work well, one 5-round and one 10-round and I have a few more that I could work on if necessary. CDI Precision did the inletting of the stock for their BM but ideally would have moved the inletting forward 1/8". Even the depth of the inletting was less than ideal. I had to adjust for the inletting location by moving the magazine spacer plate from the front to the rear to prevent the case rim of the top round coming up under the receiver. In addition, their BM doesn't blend well with the stock since it's generic in shape so I ended up permanently bonding the CDI Precision bottom metal to the stock. I used Devcon to set the BM into the stock, then drilled and tapped the factory pillars and bottom metal 3/8-24, inserted stainless steel bolts and drilled those out 1/4" for the action screws. I used Devcon to shape and blend the pistol grip into the bottom metal but it came out really nice. Once I've bedded the new action to the stock I'll touch up the stock to blend the areas that were altered. I will almost certainly be using the 5-round magazine for hunting giving a 5+1 configuration and smaller outer envelope.

I ordered an 84M Hunter today and have until Monday to decide if I want .308 Win or 6.5 CM. Since I plan on selling the barrel I'll probably opt for the 6.5 CM. I'm undecided on whether I want to switch out the bolt handle for the "tactical" version. The 8400 bolt handle would require modifying the threads on the end of the handle but that's another option for me. I'll probably be posting photos in a few weeks.
 
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You will have over Triple the horsepower, and recoil, with that .280AI and heavy bullets.

Edit:

6.8 SPC/ 8.0 lb rifle/ 110 gr./ 27.5 gr powder/ 2540 fps = 6.9 lb-ft recoil.

.280 AI/ 8.0 lb rifle/ 160 gr./ 61.5 gr powder/ 2960 fps = 24.2 lb-ft recoil.

NTS.

GR

I'm not worried about it. I can shoot 40 rounds in 2 hours time (just did this a couple of months ago) through my 9lb. 308 Win with 165 grainers and not have any issues whatsoever.

At the point that I'm shooting the 280AI for target practice it'll have my suppressor on the end of it anyways.

But, I get your point. I was shooting 220gr 30-06 in high school in a 9lb. gun as well. That was quite some time ago (longer than I care to admit) but I think I still got it. :cool:
 
<*(((>< said:
I'm not worried about it. I can shoot 40 rounds in 2 hours time (just did this a couple of months ago) through my 9lb. 308 Win with 165 grainers and not have any issues whatsoever.

Exactly! I've put hundreds of rounds through a 6lb Proof barreled .308 Win rifle and could shoot it all day long with the brake or suppressor attached.
 
If my FNchester project had started with a long action I might have very well gone with the 280AI so I’m looking forward to following the progress and seeing the results.

My only suggestion is don’t skimp on the optics. Get the best you can afford....... plus a little more.
 
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You will have over Triple the horsepower, and recoil, with that .280AI and heavy bullets.

Edit:

6.8 SPC/ 8.0 lb rifle/ 110 gr./ 27.5 gr powder/ 2540 fps = 6.9 lb-ft recoil.

.280 AI/ 8.0 lb rifle/ 160 gr./ 61.5 gr powder/ 2960 fps = 24.2 lb-ft recoil.

NTS.




GR
Could be argued as three times the fun too! Thanks for the numbers, 24 lbs doesn't seem so bad on a rifle that sees more carry time than trigger time. I've definitely shot at long targets with stuff that recoiled more than that for fun...
 
@<*(((>< , I hope you're making progress on your build. I ordered a Kimber 84M Hunter 6.5CM today and already have the trigger sold! :D Hopefully I can sell the barrel and stock/magazine soon. I don't want to hijack your thread but I might be posting photos in a few weeks ... probably in January at this rate.
 
@<*(((>< , I hope you're making progress on your build. I ordered a Kimber 84M Hunter 6.5CM today and already have the trigger sold! :D Hopefully I can sell the barrel and stock/magazine soon. I don't want to hijack your thread but I might be posting photos in a few weeks ... probably in January at this rate.
What stock you putting the hunter action in to.
 
@<*(((>< , I hope you're making progress on your build. I ordered a Kimber 84M Hunter 6.5CM today and already have the trigger sold! :D Hopefully I can sell the barrel and stock/magazine soon. I don't want to hijack your thread but I might be posting photos in a few weeks ... probably in January at this rate.

No worries this threads big enough for the two of us :D.

I forgot to update this thread, my barrel has to be ordered from Proof so it’ll probably take up to 10-12 weeks. So wait we shall. I’m going to start accumulating some reloading supplies in the meantime. Once i get some supplies I’ll load up some puff cartridges to fire form the brass once I get the barrel installed.

Anyone have recommendations for 280AI brass? This rifle may never see factory ammo.
 
Anyone have recommendations for 280AI brass?
I'm using Hornady and quite happy with it.
I've also got a decent pile of fire formed federal 280 now, it's enough lower capacity to give me issues with top loads. Same loads clock 100fps faster in the federal brass. If you want it you can have it, but again the capacity is something to watch.
I've also made a few from some random Rem brass I've had for some time and those have been closed in capacity to the Hornady.


I think Nosler is the only other common source for factory 280AI brass.
 
I'm using Hornady and quite happy with it.
I've also got a decent pile of fire formed federal 280 now, it's enough lower capacity to give me issues with top loads. Same loads clock 100fps faster in the federal brass. If you want it you can have it, but again the capacity is something to watch.
I've also made a few from some random Rem brass I've had for some time and those have been closed in capacity to the Hornady.


I think Nosler is the only other common source for factory 280AI brass.

Thanks for the offer on the Federal but like you I think I’ll try and stick with brass on the upper end of case capacity.

Have you measured how much H2O each type holds?

Right now I will probably stick with Hornady brass if I don’t get any suggestions otherwise as I’ve liked their brass in the past.
 
Is it true that Nosler 280AI brass is actually outsourced to Norma and Nosler just does some finishing touches on the brass?

I was searching brass reviews and it seems most like Nosler brass and one person made that comment about Norma making it. I’ll have to email Nosler and see.
 
I use Nosler brass in my spec 280AI and haven't had any problems with it and that's all I've shot in it. The cases I have H20 average 72.8 grs. I have 280AI build before spec and I fireformed Rem 280 brass and H20 on that brass is 73.3gr.

Haven't used any Hornady brass.

Sounds like good build.
 
I use Nosler brass in my spec 280AI and haven't had any problems with it and that's all I've shot in it. The cases I have H20 average 72.8 grs. I have 280AI build before spec and I fireformed Rem 280 brass and H20 on that brass is 73.3gr.

Haven't used any Hornady brass.

Sounds like good build.

Case life has been good on not be the spec Nosler and fireformed Rem 280 brass?
 
Could be argued as three times the fun too! Thanks for the numbers, 24 lbs doesn't seem so bad on a rifle that sees more carry time than trigger time. I've definitely shot at long targets with stuff that recoiled more than that for fun...

It's subjective.

Bangin' away all day at 200 yard pie plates is one thing - 600 or 800 yard pie plates is another.

Some will be bothered by 24 lbs of recoil, especially after coming from a particularly light recoiling rifle.

Developing problems, like a flinch, is antithetical to long range marksmanship.

That was all.




GR
 
Guess the vendor did have one in stock, look what got dropped off yesterday! Will make the 2 hour drive to my gunsmith after the New Years and get this ball rolling, 2020 will be fun and adventurous, I can already feel it!

Proof%20Barrel.jpg

Proof%20Barrel%202.jpg

Proof%20Barrel%20Markings.jpg

Merry Christmas too all! Happy birthday Jesus!
 
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