Hi, I am new to this site and can say that I am very impressed with this forum as it seems very active. it also appears that there is a great deal of wisdom being shared.

Anyway, I am debating between the two and would use this rifle as a medium big game rifle for mostly deer. I have to admit that I think I am what they call a "7mm geek". I just like everything about the selection and ballistics of ammo. This would be the one rifle I would use the most. I am leaning towards the 7mm WSM only because it shoots 160 grain bullets flatter and faster than what the 280 can. If I did get the WSM I would probably only shoot the 160 grainers. I know the 280 shoots the 140 grainers at about the same speed and trajectory but I like the extra energy with the WSM.

I am real interested in getting a 338 win mag down the road for bigger game. I think the .338 is a great all aroung big game cartridge. It's a "cool".

I think the 338 win mag paired with either the 280 Rem or 7MM WSM would be a great two gun battery that would pretty much cover anything that I would ever want to hunt.

I would appreciate any feedback or comments on this. Thanks!

Well.....I'm close on your heels on that philosophy except for African Dangerous game and then the game starts with a .375 H&H.....but as far as the next lesser powerful rifle I think it's a toss up between the .30-06 and the .280 Remington.

The 7MM Rem Mag is also a splendid cartridge but my leaning for rifle weight reasons is to the 280.....it's a terribly overlooked cartridge.

I'd further agree with the 7mm choice over the .270 options but I think the .280 Remington is a helluva round for most all North American and African plains game hunting.

I am a big fan of the 7MM RM. That being said, I would opt for the .280, even over my beloved 7MM.
With ballistics being close, the ammo for the .280 would be cheaper than for either the 7MM RM or the WSM

.280 is a great deer round.
140 or 150 Nosler partition in the .280 has put a serious hammer on deer out to over 300 yards for me. Never had one take more than 3 or 4 steps.
Don't know why you would need more.
Light recoil, doesn't use a lot of powder.

Having had 3 280's and 1 7 WSM I would say it depends on what you want out of the gun. 280 is very accurate when handloaded but suffers from an extremely poor selection of factory loaded ammo. The 7 WSM on the other hand has 2 1/2 great loads in the Winchester lineup (the 150 powerpoint is so and so) and a bunch coming out in Federal Premium if you don't handload. Its a Tossup between the 2 as far as accuracy goes but I'm not comparing apples with apples since the 280 is handloaded and the 7WSM is not. Chronographed speeds shows a pretty significant difference. I am always hearing that you can drive these 280's fast and that is partially true but overall it is a step behind the WSM. All the 280 's have 24" barrels with exception of the Ruger 1b which has as 26" tube . I got 3000fps using max load in Nosler #4 manual out of the Ruger with Remington brass and a 140 grain Ballistic tip and it has pretty stout recoil when loaded this way. The 24" guns were 100-150fps slower. Using Federal HE 140 grain TB bullets in the 24" guns I get 3070 all the time I used them and I chronographed samples from 5 boxes I bought before a hunt. The 7wsm cruises at 3150 or so with the WW 150 grain factory powerpoint load and WW rates it at 3200 coming out of the Muzzle. Once I start hand loading this WSM I expect group sizes to go down considerably if my old 300 wsm is any indication. Altogether I have been extremely impressed with these short mags both Winchester and Remington. They are easy to load for have high quality brass and the guns are a tad handier then a comparable long magnum. I have 2 friends that have a mixture of both Remington and WW short mags and all the guns show great accuracy with minimum of work. The latest Hornady manual has load data for all the WSM's and you'll see the difference there.

Hands down, the 280. It has all the speed that it needs to dispatch any antelope deer or Elk and even moose. Most 280 rifles just have 22 inch barrel. Mine is an NEF and has a 26 inch barrel which comes awful close to the 7MMWSM. this with a good amount less powder. IMO I have never had much use for the 338 Win Mag. I had a couple of them but would much prefer the 375 H&H when it comes to needing anything bigget than the 30-06 270 and 280 class rifles. With decent shooting the 30-06 will take about any game that the 338 Win Mag will take. However the 375 H&H is a solid step up. As I say this has been my finding.

280, for all the reasons previously mentioned.

[quote]Hands down, the 280. It has all the speed that it needs to dispatch any antelope deer or Elk and even moose. Most 280 rifles just have 22 inch barrel. Mine is an NEF and has a 26 inch barrel which comes awful close to the 7MMWSM.[/quote

This is about the most ridiculous statement I have heard yet. Actually all the 280 rifles I deal with have 24" barrels and one a 26" barrel. Did you chronograph these loads and how much over max were you? Don't give me results out of loading manuals they are not even close. Come on now I dealt with 280's for awhile and yes they are accurate but they aren't in the same territory as far as speed goes. It's like comparing a 7 Rem mag with an STW . Another factor to take into consideration is ammo availability so far every Walmart I know of is carrying 7 WSm 270wsm and 300 wsm ammo no one is carrying 280 ammo. You want to know why ? Its a dying caliber that is why. Its a handloading proposition and has been for a long time.

280 ammo availability would be an issue if Wally World was the only place that sold ammo but it's not. All the gun shops in this area carry 280 but the selection, of course, isn't as varied as say 7mm Rem Mag or 270. This may be just a regional thing, many things are. Ammo also is easily purchased over the internet but you must pay S&H which increases the cost.

To get the most from the 280 you should reload but I've also had very good results with factory ammo, especially Winchester 140gr Ballistic SilverTips.

I have not looked at Remingtons website lately but I think the last time I looked they may have had 1 load for this round. Federal and Hornady have also cut it down. Its a Handloading proposition.