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280 Remington Deer bullet

17K views 24 replies 16 participants last post by  CCAguns 
#1 ·
I just finished building a 280 Remington. In the past I loaded for a 7mm Rem Mag. I sold the 7 mag and have a ton of 7mm bullets left over. I am just gonna load some of them instead of buying more.

I have 200 120 grain Sierra Pro Hunter bullets and around 100 140 grain Nosler Ballistic tips.
I won't hunt with this gun very much but do plan on killing a few deer with it this season.

Do you think the 120 grain Sierras will perform well on whitetails? Or should I go with the 140 grain ballistic tips?

I shot a ton of deer with the 120 grains in the 7mm Rem mag. Generally they did not take a step. I just wondered if they will perform as well in the 280?

I had a lot of people say the 120 grain bullets are varmit bullets and I should not shoot deer with them. I never had issues. Just curious what the experts think.


Thanks!

Darin
 
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#2 ·
Between the two bullets you have, the 140 grain is - by far - the better of the two for deer. Jack O'Connor often wrote about using a 139 grain bullet for Mule deer with very good success. There is little doubt that the Nosler bullet is a better performer than those Jack had available when the 7x57mm was his rifle of choice. Properly placed, that 140 grain bullet will do the job very nicely.

OTOH, it's my opinion that the 120 grain bullet is not as good a choice but if you had good luck on deer with them in the 7mm Magnum, the 280 would too.
 
#3 ·
The experts, in this case, would be Sierra. This is a quote from their website:

"The traditional, flat base design of the Pro-Hunter® has been skillfully blended with Sierra's world-famous accuracy. Our custom-tapered Pro-Hunter® jacket design helps assure maximum expansion, optimum weight retention and deep penetration for game-stopping, one-shot performance."

Politely explain to the people who claim the 7mm, 120gr Pro-Hunter is a varmint bullet, that Sierra labels such projectiles "Varminter", to avoid any confusion. Either one of the bullets you list above is going to be quite effective on deer, regardless of whether you fire them from a 7-30 Waters, 7x57 Mauser, 7mm-08, 280 Remington or 7MM RM. Just shoot 'em where the meat ain't, especially with the BT's...they tend to make one heckuva mess.
 
#15 ·
The experts, in this case, would be Sierra. This is a quote from their website:

"The traditional, flat base design of the Pro-Hunter® has been skillfully blended with Sierra's world-famous accuracy. Our custom-tapered Pro-Hunter® jacket design helps assure maximum expansion, optimum weight retention and deep penetration for game-stopping, one-shot performance."

Politely explain to the people who claim the 7mm, 120gr Pro-Hunter is a varmint bullet, that Sierra labels such projectiles "Varminter", to avoid any confusion. Either one of the bullets you list above is going to be quite effective on deer, regardless of whether you fire them from a 7-30 Waters, 7x57 Mauser, 7mm-08, 280 Remington or 7MM RM. Just shoot 'em where the meat ain't, especially with the BT's...they tend to make one heckuva mess.

The vast majority of Sierra's Pro Hunters fit that description, however two specific bullets are actually Varmint bullets. The first that I am familiar with is the .257" 90 grain HPBT version, the other that I have not shot is the .284" 120 grain version.

One thing is for certain though, the biggest whitetail I've ever seen dropped in his tracks with a .22-250, and the next year I watched one walk away from a .300 Win Mag like nothing even happened (bullet passed through the neck missing every vital artery and bone). Bullets and cartridges don't matter much, put that bullet right in the CNS or engine room and you will have venison. If the 120s have worked for you in the past, keep using them, as you have confidence in them, one less thing to worry about. I've harvested a lot of deer with my .25/06s and 115 grain ballistic tips and 110 grain Accubonds. I like both bullets and wouldn't hesistate to shoot an Elk with either bullet.
 
#7 ·
I have used the 140 Nosler Balistic Tip (Hunting/red tip) on 170 pound whitetail and 100 pound antelop from a 7m-08 at about 2800 FPS. Very accurate bullet but also very destructive in terminal performance. I had no performance issues with the 140 BT but found that I got equal accuracy with less colateral damage with Nostler Accubonds at the same speed.
 
#10 ·
The reason I asked is, I have been shooting 100 grain Bassistic tips for several years in my 25-06. Federal Premium. I have had penetration issues with the lighter bullet. The bullet is generally just under the skin on the other side between the meat and the hide. The deer generally just lay down but the few that did run was hard to track.

I think the Federal Premium load in 25-06 is pushing the bullet a little faster than I need to be shooting deer at 50-100 yards. I think they are designed to shoot deer or antelope at greater distances. So I am now handloading loading Hornady 100 grain inter locks at a slower speed. My thoughts are the slower bullet will not expand as rapidly and continue on thru the deer. That is my theory. Will know in a couple of months.

Now I did not know what to do with the 280. I like the performance of both bullets in a 7mm Rem mag but was wondering what to expect in the slower 280. I think I will load up some of both and see what shoots best.

When I loaded the 120 grains in the 7mm mag I rarely got complete pass thru shots. The expansion was rapid and the transfer of energy was tremendous. They just fell dead. No running, no tracking. Dead right there.

I just wondered if the performance of the lighter bullet would suffer if I slowed it down to 280 speeds. I think I got my answer.

Thanks!

Darin
 
#18 ·
Now I did not know what to do with the 280. I like the performance of both bullets in a 7mm Rem mag but was wondering what to expect in the slower 280. I think I will load up some of both and see what shoots best.

When I loaded the 120 grains in the 7mm mag I rarely got complete pass thru shots. The expansion was rapid and the transfer of energy was tremendous. They just fell dead. No running, no tracking. Dead right there.

I just wondered if the performance of the lighter bullet would suffer if I slowed it down to 280 speeds. I think I got my answer.
As much as I like the PH, it's not a tough bullet. Both the 120 Hornady and 120 Nosler BT are a tougher bullet. I'd imagine it was very explosive in your 7 RM and probably outside it's design parameters, which is why you had such quick kills with few pass throughs. It'll do just fine in your 280.
 
#11 ·
I would load them both in your 280 and see which shoots the best for you. For deer, either will work well. I have just bought some 120gr BT's for my 7mm Rem Mag, just for deer hunting. The 120's have the same length jacket as the 140, so they act a little tougher than what they should. I would think if your 7mm Rem worked well with the 120's, they will work just the same. It sounds like you got good bullet performance, other than the exit. That to me is important in thicker woods, but I am thinking at 280/7mm Rem speeds, you won't need to track very far. Plus, if you shoot them in ribs, you shouldn't lose much meat, if any! Good luck, let us know how the bullets shoot. Shouldn't be too long before you get to hunt with them! Scotty
 
#12 ·
I've used the Nosler 140 BT's in my 280 for a long time, and had good success on deer. Never used the 120 Sierra, so I can't compare. I know the 140 BT's will work, though.
One thing I might point out to you. There may be less difference between the velocity of your old 7mm magnum and your 280 than you think. I've chronographed some 7mm magnum factory loads from various rifles that weren't going significantly faster than factory 280 loads.
 
#13 · (Edited)
I have several thousand rounds logged thru a couple different .280's accounting for just over 80 deer in this caliber. from 120's to 162 gr bullets I have not found one that did not dispatch a deer quickly. Right now the one rifle digests 140gr Nosler BT's and the other 154gr Hornady SP. I have found that when I am using the 162gr Hornady or the 160gr speer grand slam that it takes a little more effort to get that group. I've never had a issue getting 140 - 150 gr bullets to group in either .280.

p.s you won't be giving up much speed at all in the handloads, none that you'll be able to tell.

welcome to the club
good luck
GF
 
#14 ·
i used some 120gr bt's in my 7/08 pistol on a couple deer... won't do that again! one deer was shot in the back of the neck, he was facing away, bedded at around 180yds and he was blodshot clear down thru the backstraps... the other was a ribcage shot at about 60 yards nice pass thru behind the shoulders... both shoulders lost to bloodshot. i was very dissapointed to say the least. i'm gonna use 120gr ttsx's this year!
 
#21 ·
I learn something every day....grabbed the manual, the 90 grn was originally designed as a varmint bullet and medium game in smaller capacity cartridges. Looks like the 120 has the heavier jacket which is the style I thought all of the HPBT Gamekings were constructed.

The 120 PH is described as use for large varmints, small/medium game and exceptional in the 7-08 and 7 x 57 on deer/antelope. It states in a magnum case it becomes a long range varmint bullet, which is what I thought was essentially happening in the OPs 7 RM.
 
#22 ·
Yeah I have seen deer go down that looked as if they were struck by lightning when hit with 60 gr .22-250s. So I imagine a 120 gr .284 bullet is plenty lethal. I guess the only issue would be on a shoulder hit or quartering shot. I may just go with 140 core-locts. I am not shure how much more recoil they would produce in a 7-08 vs a 120.
 
#25 ·
280 Remington Bullets

Haven't tried the Sierra's, but I'll testify that both the 120 gr & 140 gr BTs are great on deer. As most have said, put it where it counts. They'll definitely help you bring home the venison.

BTW, I shot a +/-200 lb Axis Deer thru the center of the neck at 60 yards (mainly because he was so close). Dropped him like a ton of bricks - never flinched. I was hunting from a stand with an excellent rest. Continued to hunt from the stand as I wanted a good doe for a rug. Twenty minutes later, the buck jumped up and ran off. Another hunter shot him later that week - thought he was sick because he had a 6" diameter red spot on his neck. Investigation showed the bullet passsed thru the neck, close enough to shock the spinal cord, but no severe damage. No more neck shots for me! That bullet was a 160 gr Nosler Partition, and I would have expected it to go thru the deer completely at that range. Just bad luck - the Axis made the book and it would have been mine with a lung shot.
 
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