I'm another big time fan of the .280, I've used that caliber since 1983,
The first rifle I bought in that caliberwas a Ruger M77 and its actually got stamped on the barrel .280rem or 7mm express rem.

I always thought that it was introduced in the late 50s as a .280 and was changed to 7mm express in the early 70s, then back again. If I have a choice I will shoot that caliber till I am no longer able to hunt!

Stalkingbear....I never knew it was ever labelled a 7mm06...thats new to me!

Yes, that is how I remember it happening also.

It's interesting to hear all the theories on why the .280 would not be selling, especially the ones that say that it isn't selling because of the strong competition from the .270, 30-06 and 7mm rem mag. If this was true, why would any of the slew of new cartridges developed in more recent years sell at all? The truth is that they probably don't either. A good many have already bit the dust in only a few short years mainly because they don't perform any better than the old reliable cartridges. I can see the gun manufacturers making guns in only the well known standard calibers in the future. I just don't think it's cost effective for them to bring out new calibers. Sure some of the gun nuts will want to buy them, but in general I just don't think there are enough of these people left out there to really make a substantial improvement in a gun companies earnings.

It first came out as a .280 later they revamped it and called it the 7mm express remington. Later the name went back to the .280. The only thing that changed was they loaded it a bit hotter. They had underloaded it so it would work properly in there 7400 auto rifles.