280 Remington

In 1957 Remington introduced the 740 semi- automatic rifle. Remington chambered the 740 semi-automatic rifle in the 280 Remington, which was nearly a clone of the European 7x64mm and wildcat 7mm/06, both great cartridges in themselves. The 280 Remington gave the same performance as the Winchester 270 but had a huge selection of bullet types and weights for the cartridge. Later on Remington added the 280 to it's line of bolt action rifles and slide action Model 760. Eve though the 280 Remington had some impressive performance it failed to create a commercial stir, and popularity was never truly generated as past cartridges had been greeted with. It seemed that the Winchester 270 had too much of a head start on the 280 Remington, the 280 Remington just simply could not oust the Winchester 270 in popularity commercially. Remington eventually had to "hang up their guns" on the 280 Remington and discontinue the production line for the 280 in their bolt action rifles, this left the Model 742 the only rifle still being chambered in the 280 Remington.

Then like a phoenix in 1979 Remington re-introduced the 280 Remington cartridge. They had chambered the 280 cartridge in the Model 700 bolt action and renamed the cartridge the 7mm Remington Express. Of course the naming caused an awful lot of confusion between the new name of 7mm Remington Express and the 7mm Remington Magnum. So taking a cue from the commercial confusion, Remington reverted the name back to the 280 Remington cartridge. The 280 Remington is enjoying a rise in popularity since its re-release in 1979, since then it has been chambered in several versions of the Model 700 and the newer Model 7600 slide action rifles. Not only has the 280 Remington gained some popularity fro the commercial market but it has also gained some attention of manufacturers, recently Ruger has added the 280 Remington to its line of chambered cartridges.

Even thought the 280 Remington was a commercial flop the first time around it is a premier hunting cartridge capable of taking almost ever form of game within North America. But once again you would not want to face off a larger bear with the 2808 Remington in your hands, you may find it underpowered for such a beast. None the less it will take almost all game types in North America and for the hand reloader has redefined the term on "all around cartridge". With the 280 Remington's large selection of 0.284 inch bullets the 280 Remington has near limitless possibilities in the reloading types, unlike the 270 Winchester which has limited bullet types and weights. This popularity of the 280 Remington is not without its speed bump though, the 7mm Remington Magnum has stolen a great deal of popularity and attention away from the 280 Remington. Many 280 Remington shooters have naturally been attracted to the "Magnum" concept unfortunately which has left a dent in the numbers of fans for the 280 Remington.

Even though the performance of the 7mm Magnum is not that much better than the 280 Remington and the power used in the 280 Remington is far less than the 7mm Magnum, the 280 Remington has suffered from this "Magnum" nomenclature. Simply though if you own a good rifle chambered in the 280 Remington there is no good reason to trade in or invest in any of the 7mm Magnum chambered rifles, unless you would like to add to your firearm family.