700 Mountain Rifle

[HighDesertSage]

This in in regards to the older wood stock version of the Remington 700 mountain rifles. Has anyone ever had one of these? Likes/Dislikes? How could one possibly tell the difference between a standard rem 700 and the mountain 700. What do they weigh in at? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Also, why did the 280 rem never catch on? Seems like an awesome round. Basically a 7mm bullet in a 30-06 case. Would ammo availability be an issue?


Thanks again for the advice/opinions/help.

 

[MinnesotaHunter]

Is it the KS version?

 

[jryoung]

Definitely lighter than a sporter. I have one in 7x57 and love it....well my wife does as it is hers. It handles awesome and shoots MOA.

The 280 had great traction, there's even commercial runs of the 280AI. One in MR is an awesome combo.

 

[Gunner46]

It took some time for the 280 to settle into the version we have toady. There were several case dimension changes, though minor, as well as name changes, and they seemed to occur so rapidly that most customers were absolutely confused. Is a 7mm/06 the same as a 280, or a 7mm Express? Can I shoot ammo from either, or neither? Add in a couple of twist rate changes along the way and you can imagine the turmoil.

What could have/ should have been a no-brainer Hit, turned into a fizzle, that has slowly gained some well earned notice.

 

[MThuntr]

I don't know anything about the 700 Mtn Rifle so I can't help on that one.

The 280 never really caught on because when released they already 270 and the 30-06. It didn't do anything the 270 couldn't. At the time there wasn't a fad cartridge market like there is now so it failed quickly...once the 7mmRemMag came out it was another nail in the coffin so to speak.

 

[Big Sky]

I had one in a 7mm08 not long after they first came out. I had a love/hate relationship with it. It was light and a joy to carry in the mountains all day long. The hate part was when it came time to shoot. It was so light that I had a hard time getting the rifle to settle in for the shot. Wind, breathing hard, heart beat, all came into affect and that light of a rifle didn't cut a guy any slack. Eventually I attached a Harris BiPod and that settled the rifle quite a bit. I now have another 7mm08 Mt. Rifle, but this one is a stainless with a laminated stock. It's slightly heavier than the original walnut stock and with a bipod it shoots very well. I like it enough that is in my NOT FOR SALE category. My main hunting rifle is a Remington 700 BDL 30.06 that I converted to an ADL and put it in a McMillan Mountain Rifle stock. It is light enough to not cause strain carrying it all day, and heavy enough to settle in well for the shot. The BDL barrel has a little larger diameter than the Rem 700 Mt. Rifle barrel, so my rifle would be a little heavier, and I don't mind that little extra weight in the barrel.

As for the .280, it is a nice round but didn't really fill any needs. You could buy a 7mm08 for a short action or a 7mmMag for more power. Inbetween that the .280 had to compete directly with the 30.06, 270, and 25.06. If a guy couldn't get it done with one of those 3 calibers for what they were designed to do, then it probably didn't need doing. It also didn't help that when Remington first released the .280 it was called a 7mm Express and confused the heck out of the general public. I know because I was working in sporting goods when this happened. Most customers assumed that meant something like +P in regards to handgun rounds. Way too many people bought it thinking they were buying ammo for their 7mmRemMag. They weren't happy campers when they found out they made a mistake. Ever try to return ammo? It doesn't go over well and most places won't take it back. Had Remington called it a .280 and introduced it in the Mt. Rifle to start with, I imagine it would have been more successful, but there's still that fact it doesn't really fill a need.

 

[noharleyyet]

Are you referring to the discontinued laminated stainless version?

280 Remington 6.625 lbs 22" 42 1/2" 10" twist rate Discontinued

 

[MKotur325]

As several others have stated. The .280 was really a "Me Too!" cartridge. Remington trying to stake their name on a major player in the standard cartridge .270 or .30-06 Category. The .270 had a huge following at that time, and still does. Internationally, it was difficult to compete with the 7X57 and the 7x64 Brenneke which were already well established cartridges throughout Europe and Africa.

Remington renaming the .280 to 7mm Remington Express in 1979 didn't really help either.

 

[SFC B]

My hunting partner has a Kimber in 280 AI and he absolutely loves it. He is a retired military guy with shoulder problems (like me ) and his 7mag got to be too much for him. It is a really nice rifle but I saw it take three shot in the boiler room of an average sized bull to bring it down while on the same trip I shot a bull and a cow both one shot kills and down within 20 yards with my 06 180grNPs. It is viable up to elk but I would call it a better deer and down round.....just MHO PS That Kimber is pretty though

 

[HighDesertSage]

Here I will post the add for what I am looking at. I am just curious how I can tell if it is a mountain rifle or not. The seller says it is, but how can I verify?

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=407043452

 

[jryoung]

That's a MR, the stock is one indicator. The other is the barrel length and contour, the length should be 22" and contour should be .550 at the muzzle.

Too bad he's requiring $50 to ship to CA, I'd be interested in it.

 

[TheTone]

I've got an older wood stock mtn rifle in 7mm-08. Its been a really great rifle for me. As others mentioned the light weight can make them a bit tricky shooting at times, but a trigger job helped mine out immensely.

 

[Bambistew]

I liked my 280 MR so much I bought another. Its taken a pile of critters and to be honest i grab it befor my 7mag due to weight/performance rating. Both of mine shoot really well.

 

[quarterhorse]

Bought my 280 Mountain Rifle in 1993 and have been hunting with it since. Nice to carry and shoot. A dozen rifles in the rack and that is the one I use.

 

[jvanderlinde]

You ask for pros & cons, and I'm just gonna give pros for each. I'm a .280 fan, but have nothing negative to say about the .270. It's a great cartridge.

.270 Pros -
1. Factory ammo is much more easily obtained at sporting goods and gun stores, Wally World, etc. Also typically a little less expensive. I think on-line buying makes the playing field a little more even.
2. A .270 rifle will probably resell a little quicker if you ever want to get rid of it.
3. As a buyer, there are many more .270s to choose from. If you specifically want a .280, it takes some looking.

.280 Pros -
1. A handloader's dream. A huge selection of available bullets to pick from.
2. The .280 has a very, very slight advantage ballistically with heavier bullets, but not really enough to make any practical difference. Basically numbers on paper.
3. It is a little different, good for the guy who doesn't want to follow the masses.

The .280 has very, very little over the .270. The bullet availability point will be debated that there are plenty of .270 bulltes available to suit every need. That is very true, but handloaders are typically tinkerers and tweakers by nature. My usual advice when it comes to these 2 chamberings is this....

If you don't handload go with .270 hands down. If you do handload, look at the .280, especially if you like to experiment with different projectiles.

 

[tarheel]

The .280 case is .51 longer at the shoulder than the -06 and .46 longer overall to keep it from chambering in the wrong gun. I'm in the final stages of building one on a '98 action, mostly because it will do everything I need from varmint up through elk with less recoil than the -06, a number of which I intend to pass down to younger kinfolk whose shoulders can better stand the thumping. After researching the differences, the AI didn't afford enough improvement to justify the expense, even though the brass might last longer. The ballistics when it's loaded with a 139 gr bullet and at least medium powder load closely parallels that of the .243 with a 95/100 gr pill (13" less drop at 500 yds.) but with much more energy. This will be the one I'll be holding when they come to take them.

 

[ID_deerslayer]

Look into the mtn rifle with the bell and Carlson stock on it and in ss and you could have a good thing going for yourself. Planning on getting one of these in 25-06 in the next year

 

[David R.]

This Montana antelope was shot with a 270 in the stainless, laminated version of the Rem 700 mountain rifle. This gun is accurate and handles well, it is always the first rifle picked out of the gun cabinet by my sons when going hunting.

 

[shoots-straight]

I became obsessed by the .280 express. It's ballistics were better than the .280 rem because it was chambered in a pump version, and the factory ammo was slower than my old .308 Win. That was also the problem for the cartridge and caused many to look at the other cartridges above and below it. I like the odd ball stuff.

I've killed a lot of game with mine and love it.

 

[gspman]

700 mountain rifle

I have one in .280, .Setup with a Leupold vx3 3x9x38 compact scope.
It is my go to weapon of choice.
I have taken many whitetail and elk with it. Last Oct 6x6 bull at 427 yds. Bang flop.

Currently loading 140gn accubonds w/h4831sc. but it shoots everything well.
I intend to be buried with this rifle when the day comes.

Most accurate rifle I own with a couple of small mods.
-Bedded forend
-2 lead battery clamps melted into bored holes in the mid forend so that it would balance.

If I don't shoot 1/2 inch groups at 200 yds its a bad day at the range.