Originally Posted by 260Remguy
Of course, many people shoot a rifle with less recoil more accurately than they do with a cartridge that burns all that powder. As much as I like velocity, in this era of laser rangefinders and repeatable elevation and windage turrets, the additional velocity and associated flatter trajectory might be less of a factor than it was before technology advanced to its current affordable state.

The 26 does burn a lot of powder and makes a bunch of noise. But, it doesn't kick that much, although a bit more than the 6.5-284. With my 6.5-284, weighing around 10#'s all up, I can watch bullet strikes at 400 yds, the Swaro Z5 at 18X. The recoil is that mild. With the 9+# 26, recoil is just enough to disrupt target/scope alignment.

I agree with your comment on rangefinders, turrets, reticles, etc., negating some of the need for hyper velocity, except for one factor: wind. The faster rounds need less wind correction at LR and wind is one of the hardest variable to compensate for.

My 6.5-284 shoots sub half MOA, my 26, nearly half MOA. The 6.5-284 will shoot under 2" at 400, the 26 will shoot around 2 1/2" at 400. Not much difference, but a difference nonetheless.

I built this 6.5-284 on a LA, don't want one on a SA. I like room to load long bullets out where I want, not where a box mag dictates.

Here's my M-70 6.5-284:

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