AJ Posted July 19, 2003 Report Share Posted July 19, 2003 The short fat cartridge design that is the craze now days, actually was tried 40 years ago by Winchester. Back in 1963, they wanted to develop a cartridge that would duplicate the .270 Winchester ballistics but be short enough to use in their short action Model 88 lever action, and their Model 100 semi automatic rifles. To achieve this miracle in a short action case they used a rebated rim design, which allowed a case with a fat .500" body and a smaller .473" diameter rim that would could be used with the standard sized bolt faces. The .284’s case is 2.170 inches long and the overall length is 2.8" inches. The end result was a 7mm cartridge with about the same overall length as the .308 Winchester but with the powder capacity about the same as that of the .270 Winchester and the .280 Remington. Winchester did achieve their design goal of matching the .270 Winchester’s ballistics in a short action case. There were originally two factory loads for the .284 Win. One used a 125 grain Power Point bullet traveling 3200 fps with 2840 ft lbs of muzzle energy. The other load used a 150 grain Power Point bullet traveling 2900 fps with 2800 ft. lbs of energy. The trajectory over 300 yards was identical to that of the 150 grain .270 bullet. Today, the only factory loaded ammo is the Winchester 150 grain Power Point. It launches a 150 grain bullet at 2860 fps. When this load is sighted in to impact 2” high at 100 yards, it will be dead on at 200 yards, 3 ½” low at 250 yards, and 8 ½” low at 300 yards. This load is still packing almost 1500 ft lbs of energy at 300 yards. Savage offered the M-99 lever action rifle in .284 Winchester. Ruger briefly chambered the M-77 bolt action for the .284 Winchester, and at one time Browning offered the .284 Winchester in their A-Bolt rifle. None of these rifles sold well chambered for the .284 Winchester, although they all sold well in other calibers. Winchester didn't chamber the Model 70 for the .284 until 1994. Winchester produced a run of less than 200 Model 70 Classic DBM rifles in .284 caliber. Surprisingly enough, Ultra Light Arms now builds more Model 20 rifles in .284 Winchester than all other calibers combined. Which probably tells us that only those high country hunters who are willing to pay for a 4-1/2 pound sheep rifle appreciate what the .284 Winchester has to offer. Reloaders and wildcatters, seized on the new .284 Winchester case with glee, necking it up and down. At least one of those wildcats, the 6mm-284, eventually became more popular with shooters than the .284 itself. The case capacity is almost equal to the 30-06 casing, so it was natural to neck the .284 Winchester to fit all the bullets that were good performers in the 30-06. The only difference is the short fat case allowed the cartridge to be fitted in a short action rifle. Custom rifle builders and wildcatters are the only thing keeping .284 Win brass available. It has been discontinued in the past by Winchester. The resurgence of the 6/284 and the 6.5/284 has sparked new interest in the cartridge. Clearly, the .284 Winchester is a good 300 yard deer, antelope, sheep, and goat cartridge that might have been more successful if it had been introduced either 20 years earlier or 20 years later. Either way, the .284 might well have made both the .280 Remington and the 7mm-08 Remington even more redundant than they are now. Winchester's timing was bad and today it is the .284 Winchester that faces extinction. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iron buck Posted July 19, 2003 Report Share Posted July 19, 2003 Re: COTW - .284 Winchester I would love to find a Savage 99 in 284. I have seen a few on the auction sites but they end up selling for $800-$900+ !!! A friend on mine has a Ruger M77 with the tang safety in 284. It does a number on whiteails with his 140 grain handloads. I guess the 284 was the original "short & Fat" cartridge. Ahead of its time when you see the short mags of today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
d284win Posted February 6, 2010 Report Share Posted February 6, 2010 I would love to find a Savage 99 in 284. I have seen a few on the auction sites but they end up selling for $800-$900+ !!! A friend on mine has a Ruger M77 with the tang safety in 284. It does a number on whiteails with his 140 grain handloads. I guess the 284 was the original "short & Fat" cartridge. Ahead of its time when you see the short mags of today. COTW- I built the 1st (I guess) 284 back in 63 in Pagels gun shop in Kileen Tex. while in the 2nd A. D. thanks to George Nonte. He was field tester for Winchester. Everybody thought it was an outdated cartridge. They need to tell the 400 or so deer it's done in. It's still going strong. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adjam5 Posted February 7, 2010 Report Share Posted February 7, 2010 Cheese and crackers did somebody dig up an old post! 2003!:jaw: I thought AJ was back! I miss him . One incredibly knowledgeable guy about reloading and firearms. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PA_Spike_King Posted February 7, 2010 Report Share Posted February 7, 2010 Cheese and crackers did somebody dig up an old post! 2003!:jaw: I thought AJ was back! I miss him . One incredibly knowledgeable guy about reloading and firearms. Yeah Anthony that is an oldie. LOL I miss him also. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PA_Spike_King Posted February 7, 2010 Report Share Posted February 7, 2010 Cheese and crackers did somebody dig up an old post! 2003!:jaw: I thought AJ was back! I miss him . One incredibly knowledgeable guy about reloading and firearms. Yeah Anthony that is an oldie. LOL I miss AJ also. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeramie Posted February 11, 2010 Report Share Posted February 11, 2010 Yep, someone knocked the dust off of that one! AJ Stops in on occasion. He is missed. That guy knew his stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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