Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles 260 Rem loads. Any suggestions?

45g H414 with either a 120g NBT or a 120g Speer

H4831SC with 140's

Bb

Assorted 120gr bullets over either R19 or H4530 have shot well for me.

Well, I've been a long time lurker. First time posting. I do have quite a bit of experience with the 260. In fact we go back to '95 when it was still just a 6.5-08. I've since cooked a couple of barrels on the custom model 7 and worked with one other 700 short action and here's my $.02.

They ain't lying when they say that 6.5 bullets make up in penetration what they lack in energy. I've killed more game with a .260 than I have any other one caliber. From gophers up too big muleys its never let me down and I can only recall one deer that took a second bullet to tip over. My brother and I both call our .260's "Swedish 30-06's. Mostly because I work with a guy from Sweden that thinks the 6.5-55 is a great moose caliber.

I pretty much have two loads now these days. After having tried 60 or so.

R-P cases, or reformed and inside neck reamed Lapua .308 cases
CCI 200 primers
45.2 grains of RL19
Hornady 140 Interlocks seated to .005" off the leade (in my rifle that averages 2.787")
This is the "utility load" that I use on everything whitetail on down size critters.

R-P cases
CCI 200's
45.8 grains of RL19
Nosler 140 Partitions seated .005" off the leade
This load gets used in muley and elk country and I would use it without hesitation on critters of that size. You just need to be patient and not try to slip one in there. But then thats good advice, even for those that shoot cannons.

Once in a while I'll load up some Hornady V-max's for varmints on the east half of the state. Or 140 Sierra MatchKings for shooting out to 1000 yards on bigger varmints (I know I've shot a few weary rock chucks that would go "book" past the tripple zero's that guys couldn't get at with standard varmint outfits.)

I thought this was an interesting thread. In all my expiramentation with the 6.5-08 I never achieved both top velocity and good accuracy with any powder other than RL19. VV560 came close though... Either load gets 2750 AVG in a 22" barrel in pretty much all 260's I've worked with (3 barrels, two rifles.) I never got into the 2900 FPS mark with 125-129 grain bullets either, with any powder tested. In case you're wondering, these loads shoots in the .5's in both .260's (mine and my brothers) for 5 round groups. I've had several in the .3's and on a bad day at the range they're still sub-moa.

It's definately a handloaders caliber. Its also the closest thing to a prefect caliber for a short action rifle thats going to see use on critters elk sized on down IMO. I'd say its more versatile than the old tried and true 30-06. In the couple of tons of game and varmints I've shot with it, it definately kills better than it should. It's got a lot more horse-power than a .243, about as much recoil too, a 140 Matchking at 2750 FPS will outrun a 168 leaving a .308 at 2650 and stay supersonic longer and retain more energy, and in a 7 pound "decaff" rifle it won's rattle the fillings out of your teeth when you push the "loud noise" button. I'll have a 260 in the arsenal until the day I die.

Dan,

Well said post! I'l never sell my 260s... just get them rebarreled..

but I admit to owning 6.5 x 55s, and a 6.5 x 57 also which I love...

what twist does your's have?...my Rugers has the one in 8 and the Rem VLS has the one in 9.. I prefer the one in 8 twist..

I just made my first reloads.
I am using Norma brass, 120 TSX's and H4350.
I started with 44 grains and the powder came up to the shoulder.
When I got to 45 grains, I could hear the powder crunching.
Is this normal and okay?
Do I stop there, and just head to the range?
Thanks for all your help.
Heeman

Seafire, right now my model 7 is wearing a 1:8.5" twist tube. But I can't tell you who the barrel maker is, or he'll kill me. I'll give you a hint though, its cut rifled, not button. He's a .260 shooter too...

Heeman, try letting the powder charge "swirl" in the funnel, then maybe tap on the edge of the funnel (while holding it tight to the case mouth) with the powder pan. I haven't shot any TSX's, are they as long as other Barnes bullets? I can't even imagine how long a solid copper 6.5 bullet is?!!

Compressing the powder a bit is acceptable, but as noted there are tricks to "settle" it in place a bit.

I ran into the same case capacity problems with Re 19 and 120 TSX's; went to Re 15, which produced the velocity and accuracy I was looking for. Have done a little better in the accuracy end with 120 gr TSX's with H 414, so that's my current load.

Yes...120 gr TSX's are fairly long .

They slay well, too...

DN

MD, thats odd. I was up in the 47+ grain territory with 129 Hornady's and you could still hear a little powder shake in a loaded round. Those TSX's must be even longer than a conventional 140. What kind of speeds are you getting and how long is your pipe?

In my neck of the woods, you never know what you're going to run into in the country I hunt. Black bears, Elk, Muley's, Whitetails, or Kittys. I'll admit it... Thats part of why I favor the 140 grain loads I shoot. I've never been let down by the terminal effect I get from a 140 Partition at 2750. It's gruesome on bigger deer

I was interested what difference anyone has experienced loading imr4350, and H4350, if you have tried both powders and how they compared to each other with the same bullet/primer combination.
I am new to 260 shooting, and last weekend I tried prob 8 different powders. The 2 best were imr4350 and RE19, however, I havent yet been to the range with some h4350.

The Other Mule Deer (not muledeer) did have a .260 for a while, a custom job on a short 700 action. I tried to find out what it didn't like, and failed. In the end generally used a 120 (either Ballistic Tip or X, depending on the application) and H4350, but it shot very well with every bullet from the 85 Sierra to the 140 Partition. I believe the barrel was a Hart, and do know it was a 1-8.

These days I stick to the 6.5x55, but there are no flies on the .260.

My Rem 700 has the factory 22" barrel. I'm running 120 TSX's at 2930 fps, give or take, and 129 Hornady SP's at 2890, more or less. I've only shot two mule deer and a blacktail with the 120's, but given the terminal performance I have little interest in shooting game with anything else -- other than for "research" purposes . When I want to shoot 140 gr bullets I carry a .280 -- but I would have no qualms about carrying my .260 with 120 TSX's on a mixed-bag big game hunt.

All that being said...I might try some 140 TSX's just for the fun of it, because I would have no worries about it at 2750 fps.

It's a fun gun to shoot, too, cause it don't kick, even at 6.5 lbs...

Dennis

Thanks a lot Dennis, now I'm going to have to pick up some H414 and something in the 120 grain range and try that out. That sounds to me like it'd be a good load for the Dillon. What charge are you using with the TSX's? How full is the case?

MRP, you mean I'm not the new guy anymore?? Sweet! I've been using RL19 with 140 grain pills for quite a while, but I'm noticing after this thread that many don't have good luck with it with bullets 129 grains on down. It would probably be accurate enough, but I notice that most of us own chronographs as well. Not that we're speed freaks, we just believe in efficiency. What I like about the 140 grain Hornady Interlocks is that it kills whitetail sized critters just fine, and they're cheap. I think if I were going to shoot lighter bullets on whitetails I would want something constructed a little heavier (more expensive.) I used to shoot a .243 for my big varmint, long range varmint, and deer rifle until I graduated to the .260. Its not much more recoil and a lot more horsepower.

Dan,

You're welcome...it's what we're here for .

I'm shooting 46 grains of H414 with 120 TSX's. It doesn't fill the case to the neck -- one of the reasons I tried it, because I was running out of case capacity with 4350 and Re 19 before I got the velocities I wanted, and I wanted to try a powder a little slower than Re 15. I have some 47 gr loads, but haven't shot them.

I would shoot any whitetail or mule deer that ever walked with my 120 TSX load, within the range I would shoot a deer with any cartridge. I have killed deer with 87 gr bullets in a .250 Savage, up to 250 gr bullets in a .35 Whelen -- and the .260/120 TSX kills as well as anything and better than some.

And it's light as a wand and doesn't kick enough to bother.

Dennis

I can attest that the 130 tsx @ 2850 is also bad medicine for deer. Ive seen only two shot with that load, but they did flips

I wanted to try 130 TSX's last summer when I was building loads, but none of the usual suspects (Midway, Graf's, et al) had any in stock when I was building loads. By the time they were available, I was dialed in and ready to rock.

Might try some one day anyway, just for grins. I would have utter confidence in a 130 gr TSX at 2850 fps .

DN

Well, I pawed through my origional notes when I did load development for my .260 (after barrel number three.) I tried all three 4350's, Ramshot Big Game and Hunter, Varget, RL19, and VV560. None of them were in the 2900 FPS mark with 120 Speer Hot-Cors or 12o Nosler BT's. In fact I wasn't even close, my chronograph results showed speeds in the 2800 area. I already had a few loads in the 2750 area with 140's. At the time that seemed like a free lunch. I did not however, try 760 or H414...

Ever since I bought one of the RCBS digital powder dispensers I really don't mind working with stick powders.

My experimentation shows that Reloder 15 and H414/W760 provide the highest velocities and best accuracy with 120-130 gr bullets. I've only tried one 140 gr bullet -- Speer Grand Slam -- and the results were dismal. I can't get Ramshot or VV powders here, so haven't tried them.

But I'm pretty happy where I sit.

Dennis

muledeer,

I noticed that you are running 41.5 grains of RL15 with the Hornady 129. Is this over book? I thought that the Nosler manual listed 40 grains max with only a 120 bullet.

Did you ever try the RL15 with the TSX120, as this is the powder and bullet I'm planning to run this year? What results did you find?

Nothing has worked better for me than H4831 or 4831SC behind 129gr Hornadies, 130gr Accubonds, and 120gr Matchkings. Any of these will group less than an inch from my Low Wall...

John

It probably is over book -- I started in the mid-30's and worked my way up, attending to the chronograph and all the standard pressure signs. I loaded lots of Re15 with 120 TSX's -- got good velocity but not so great accuracy once I got up in the 2900 fps range. Tried H414 and got inch or less groups at 2900+ fps, so hunted that load. I can get 3000 fps out of the 120 TSX with Re 15, but I'm going to have to work on seating depths or who knows what -- bedding maybe -- to try for better accuracy. But as long as I can shoot 120 TSX's under an inch at 2900+ fps, I'm not going to worry too much .

DN