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drew458's avatar

I found your essay today, May 2025. Anyone who looks into the .280 soon understands the global politics involved as well as the military stubbornness.

I was part of a wildcat project not too many years ago that modernized the.280 Brit. We increased the shoulder angle several degrees and developed loads for a 2.25” version that would fit in an AR15. With 120 and 130gr commercial bullets it was superior to the 7.62x39 in a 20” barrel. Seating the bullet further out for a “proper” 2.55” OAL in a bolt gun with a parallel throat gave outstanding accuracy and the velocity could be increased 200fps or a bit more without excessive pressure or recoil. This is a wonderful deer hunting round in the same ballpark as the old .300 Savage. We didn’t have any steel helmets to shoot at, but we found accuracy at 800 yards to be more than good enough.

The original later .280 with 140gr bullets and the powders of the era “failed” because it wasn’t a.30-06. Military stubbornness.

Drew458

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