Quote Originally Posted by geneackley View Post
My reasons for going to the 280 Ackley were simply that I was trying to get as close as I could to 7mm Rem Magnum performance without the need for the expensive and funky belted brass. 280 AI could be made from old, abundant, cheap, 30-06 brass and is within 50 FPS of the 7 Rem Mag!!!! Good enough for me given the much lower expense.

The fact that the cases need less trimming is a plus. The fact that its an unusual and exotic caliber also helps... And a real conversation starter on the range I bet...
All good points that you make, especially the less trimming which may be the only one you can hang your hat on.
As for the (funky) belt, its simply a different way to headspace a case.
It could also be used as an additional way to headspace a case by using both the shoulder and the belt.
A decade or so ago somebody in the long range accuracy world got the notion that belts were bad for accuracy.
Never mind that records were set with belted cartridges that very few of those guys ever matched, to this very day i might add.
But before long about every head nodder was spreading the word that belted cases were no good.
So other cases began to reappear that hadnt been seen for a long time, Rigby cases for example.
But like most other things that bunch can dream up that fad fizzled away also.
Have you seen your megplat trimmer lately? lol
Today theve pretty much gotten away from all the large cases in favor of smaller ones
And they have also moved to getting all the shots off as quickly as possible by using a joystick front rest, like 10 shots in less than 1 minit.
I wonder which is apt to have the most impact on the results?