280 all the way!!!! Alot more versital and just as flat shooting, if not flatter due to heavier bullets and a better B.C., it carries more energy and will have less drop and it is effected less by wind. Sell the 7 mag and just buy a 280, it will do anything the 7 mag will do, while having a shorter barrel and holding one more round. But that is just my opinion. A 280 Rem. in my opinion is probably the best cartridge ever designed, just was crippled when it was first introduced by Rem. because it was introduced in two of the worst guns it could be chambered for. For years it has been downloaded, ALOT, because of the lack of strength in the Rem. pumps and autos that it originaly came in. If you handload it, it pretty much is a 7 mag, actually you dont even have to handload anymore to enjoy the potential of this great cartridge, Hornady has the Superformance ammo that is a pretty hot hot round, the hottest factory ammo I am aware of. But like someone else mentioned you already have a 7 mag, so you wouldnt accomplish anything by getting a 280. I have owned a couple of 25-06's, wasnt overly impressed with either. I would suggest a 260 Rem, it is plenty of gun for anything you might want to shoot and with a 145gr. bullet it will be flatter shooting and carry more energy than the 7-08 that others have suggested.
Last edited by Jim Burns; 12-07-2012 at 07:44 AM.