As has already been repeated here, the .280 is excellent and has been my primary caliber of use for many long years. Have found the 160's to shoot a bit better in my rifles than the lighter weight bullets. IMR4831, H4841sc, IMR 7828, RL22, and RL19 with magnum primers have worked well. Mostly Partitions and X's in the 160's, but have found one rifle to love the 140 Accubonds. Have used this caliber on many muleys and elk, also two moose. Prefer double lung placement to save meat and the story is always the same, even on the moose - bam, run 30-50 yards, dead. Have never felt under-gunned. I too used 7 Rem. mags for years and loved them, but because of the .280's have sold all but one. The 7mm bullets, regardless of which case they are suffed in, just have a magic about them. As the old expert rifle and bullet nut/hunter/outfitter/and author Bob Hagel once wrote - "After having dug out hundreds of bullets from game animals of all sizes, I still find the .284 175 grain bullet to give more penetration than any other caliber, regardless of size." This guy had more handloading and combined field/kill experience than most anyone that has ever walked, and was die-hard honest. I hope you love your .280 the way the rest of us do.
Shooting for a pound lighter than a standard Mountian rifle scoped and loaded.
