Sorry ColoradoElk,I was responding to BrutalAttack, not you sir. Tom.

What inabilitydoes the.284 to handle a large bullet are you refering to??.308 diameter bullet the one the 06 uses in 200 gr variety is equal to .284 diameter bullet in SD which makes up terminal performance. Where will you use your 06' with 200 gr bullet that makes my 7mm rem magwith 175 gr bullet unable? In reality very few use the 200 gr class and above with an 06'. 150-180 gr are most commonly used, compare them to the 140-160 class of .284 and your playing equal pool. The difference in game performance between the 2 bullets is spliting hair very fine. Any elk guide that refused me a hunt with my 7mm rem mag and suited bullet for the task in lieu of a 3006...is all I am saying. I understand the idea of bigger is better but the 06' in .308 class isn't it, sorry!

Cost of ammo has never been my concern, small amount in comparison to the invested or spent on the sport each year. In any regards I reload so the cost is not that different in the components for the 2.

Nobody here is suprised how popular the 06' is...your post isn't a news flash. Why is it so popular, availability and age. Good cartridge sure but the best in its class not IMO.

Resale here for the 06 is not higher than any other standard cartridge. It is lower than magnums generally. I have no clue what is running off the shelf nor doI really care but factory ammo for 270, 308, 3006, 7mm rem mag, 300 wm is common and found virtually everywhere that sells ammo. Demand = supply so they must be leaving the shelf.


280 vs 3006 spliting hairs in performance as a handloader. As a factory shell user I agree the 06' is better suited. However IMO the 7mm rem mag a .284 chucker is equally applicable for the factory shell buyer.It hasn't showed me any loss to my 30 cal shooting buddies on the terminal side of things.BTWI use it to shoot more than deer,elk and moose are regulars for me. This year I harvested my 5th bull elk in as many years with the lowly .284 cal.Several moose have fallen to it as well. All 1 shot kills and never tracked any further than 100 yards.I'll choose the 7mm rem mag over the 06' any day.

Just my opinion though.

Enjoy your 280 frontier gander.

The original comparison was between the 280 and the 30-06. The 7mm Rem was not even mentioned(by me). I agree with you on the mag, but I disagree on the 280(remember most hunters do not reload). I was merely trying to defend my position on the 280 vs 30-06. I do not prefer the 30-06. As a matter of fact I enjoy doing most of my deer and elk hunting with my 1886 Winchester in 45-70.

I do not believe an elk guide would throw anyone out of camp. However I do believe he would rather see a 30-06 with 180's or 200's, insted of a 280 with 150's or 175's.I think the 280 has it's place. The problem is it can be grouped with alot ofcartridges that are pretty much the same.I just believe that in this current market alot of the cartridges, and some of the oldies are going to go the way of, dare I say 284 Winchester. I believe the 280 is one of those cartridges.

I feel as if I have hijacked this thread and I did not mean too. I did not mean to step on any toes. However I still stand by my statements, and if you reread them I think you will to. Tom.

All you have to do is crack open a Blue Book to see which guns are worth more. There is a difference between what guns are worth and which guns sell more. There is probably more 30-30s sold every year than anything else does that make the guns worth more? Of course not. Don'tbe silly. The guns that are worth the most are rare, plain and simple. Nice try though.

In case you don't realize: I kill animals for a living. I've killed more elk this spring than you have your whole life. I would, and have taken a .280 over an '06 every time.

If you're going try tostep to me and make a statement of that type, you'd better have some well thought out reasons and not this lame "go ask any elk guide" crap.

If you think it's the truth than at least take the time to find some solid reasons why I should believe you.

You appear to be struggling with this whole physics thing. There are two components to the kinetic energy a bullet generates: mass and velocity. You can get the same result by pushing a light bullet faster or by using a slower heavier bullet.

This is why a 5.7 will penetrate class III body armor but a 9mm wont. So much for your big bullet theory.

If you think that 20 grains in bullet weight between a 7mm and a 308 big game bulletshas any dropoff in performance than you're fooling yourself. A 150 gr bullet pushed faster than a 180 grain bullet can out perform the 180 gr.

It's simple physics. If everything though like you we would all use the biggets bullet we could get our hands on. Fortunately we have realized that mass is only part of the equation and not the most important factor.

A 7mm bullet shape is closer to the scientific "ideal" bullet, so it moves more efficiently through the air, enabling it to go faster with less powder and retain more energy downrange.

I should have known you use a 45-70. It's one of what I call "the big wanderers". It's a big bullet that kind of wanders out there at a lesiurely pace. Super ineffecient.

Everybody chill!!!

I don't think the 280 is an "ideal" elk cartridge. I reserve that title for the 338 win. The 280 is a perfect deer cartridge. I much prefer the 280 to the 30-06. My 280 spits out 140 gr. partition hand loadsat 3100 FPS with no signs of pressure.Thats 7 mag velocities, and recoil is pleasant.

why isnt a .280 an elk rifle? i shot my first elk with a .270 and 150 grain bullet and that sucker dropped. 338 is over kill

This has absolutely nothing to do with this topic.

It desmonstrates that a smaller bullet pushed very fast will "kill" just as good and sometimes betterthan a larger bullet moving slower (9mm). This is pretty basic stuff man and has everything to do with HEAD's argument.

.270 and .280 are both good elk rifles and are do-it-all cartridges. As far as elk go nothing is overkill unless the cartridge hampers your ability to deliver a shot on vitals every single time.