Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles 260 Rem load data solicited-whitetail loads

I have the Nosler 5th edition, but no Accubonds listed. I suppose they'd be similar loads to the same weight Partitions?

I also have the Sierra V Edition.

For bullet selection I have 140 gr Partition and Accubond as well as Barnes TSX 130's

Most of my powders are varmint oriented. I stopped into Gander Mtn and was quite disappointed in what they had, but managed to find RL 19 and IMR 4831. They also had H1000 which I could get ahold of easily.

Here's what I have on hand
RL 10x
RL 15
RL 19

Varget
H322
H380
H414
Benchmark
BLC2

Viht 130, 133, 135, 140

IMR 4831

Ramshot and TAC


For Primers I have Federal Match and CCI Magnums.

Nosler Custom brass

I also have a few varieties of factory ammo in case I cannot find something decent on short notice.

You really dont need a 140 for whitetails. A 100 Partition will work great. The 120/125 weight bullets are about ideal for deer in a 260. I have slayed a pile of whitetails with a 120 Speer in my 260. I have had the best luck with RL 19. But as of the last week or two, I have been tinkering with IMR 4350 and 125 Partitions and getting great velocity and accuracy.

For factory ammo I have:

Nosler Custom with 130 Accubond

Federal Premium with 120 TSX

Cor Bon Hunter 120gr DPX (Barnes TSX

Remington Express 140 gr Core Lokt

Remington Premier Accutip 120 gr Boat tail

These are my break in and back up rounds.

Beware of the Nosler brass. If it's like their 308 and 270 Win. I've tested it will be thick, lower capacity and soft a la Federal.

m

You don`t need premium bullets for whitetail in the 260. I have had very good luck with 129 gr Hornady SP and R19. The 120 gr Nosler BT would be my 2nd choice.
Powders in the R19, 4350, 4831 range seem to be the better picks in my experiance with these bullets.

Loaded a few with IMR 4831 and RL 19. We'll see how they fly and we'll see how the Nosler brass does. It is definitely clean and deburred/chamferred nicely.

It's going to be hard to find good weather between now and next weekend, but we'll see what we can do.

Those are good 260 powders. I've had much success with RL19 and 125 Partitions and 129 Interlocks.

Yeah, I'd order some more powder, but I must have over 50# already. A bit back I ordered big from Powder Valley due to supply issues. Once I establish the go -to loads for my new toy I'll order some more. I think I gave Gander $29.99/lb :yeek:

Forgot, I also did a batch with H414

Been tinering with the Partions since I have been reading about Speer changing the Hot Core line of boolits. They probably wont shoot the same in my rifle, so I am getting myself ready for when my stash of Speers are gone. I had a partial box of NPT's laying around, so thought I would give them a try. They have been shooting real, real well.

H-414 is my go to powder with 100's or 120's.

Of the powders you have on hand, RL19 and N140 will work good with the 120 gr. class of bullets. I have heard of people using H414 with good success. If I could have only one powder for 260 Rem. with bullets from 90 gr to 140 gr. H4350 is the best I have used. Your Fed. 210M will work but if you can get your hands some CCI BR-2's they are better with H4350 in my experience.

For deer the 120 gr. class of bullets is perfect. Both the 120 ProHunter and the 120 Ballistic Tip give sub .5 MOA accuracy and gives me DRT performance.

I have no knowledge of the Nosler brass as I use nothing but Rem. brass with really good success. Hope this helps some.

PaPa260

45gr of RL19 will get you 2700 and change. Excellent accuracy. This is below book load so there is room for more.

New question:

How does a guy justify reloading when factory ammo shoots under close to 1/2 MOA?

Started the day with the Federal loads, then the Nosler Custom w/130 Accubonds just blew my mind. It was just starting to get breezy. but I was able to time my shots for a 5 shot group of under .650" Take out shot #5 and it's well under .500"

This was all shooting from my BR Pivot folding bench and Caldwell "the rock" rest. A solid bench would help a good bit I am sure.

I did have a couple of promising loads, but the wind was picking up and I was also getting cold. All were 3 shot groups.

One load that looked promising was 44gr IMR 4831 under the 130 TSX. The three shot group was in a near perfect vertical line and would fall under MOA no problem. The vertical spread is said to mean something though isn't it? It could have been my error or just a characteristic of the load.

I think it was 41gr 414 and the TSX that put the first two nearly into the same hole, but I pulled the third one. Didn't get to my RL 19 loads unfortunately.

If you're just gunning for deer, I'd look no further than 100 grain Partitions and BTips over any of the 3 4350's at about 47 grains. That usually puts me at or around 3200 FPS in a 22" tube and puts deer on the ground with authority. It also tends to be right in that range of charge weight that I find best accuracy too.

For 100 grain stuff I usually run RP brass, and either CCI200's or Fed 210Ms.

Load up a box of either bullets and smoke a few Whiteys with 'em. You'll thank me later

If it is of any help ...... Over the Pond , I am using 120Gn NBT in Nosler .260 brass, over 40 Gns RL, as per the Nosler website. but with Fed GM210M primers. This gives me 2895 fps with 7fps extreme spread and .2MOA groups from a Shilen Match grade barrel on a Tikka 595 action.

This load drops roe and Fallow deer (similar to whitetails? ) on the spot.

Best of luck with your 260!

Doesn't look like you have the ingredients of my favorite load: 47.8gr H4831 (or SC version) behind the 129gr Hornady. Averages 2856 from my 24" barreled low wall, and is my most accurate load. Exit wounds on coyotes and whitetails both are about silver dollar sized.

John

my go to load for the 100 grainers is 43.5 grains of IMR 4064 with large rifle primers.. recoil is low enough I can see the deer drop never loosing site picture with the 3 x 9 Leupold set on 4 X...MV in a 22 inch barrel Ruger is 3350 fps...

any mid burn rate powder ( 4064, IMR 4895, RL 15, W 748, BLC 2 Varget) with give 2800 to 2900 fps with a 120 grainer.. my preference is a ballistic tip... when hunting in wooded areas like I do locally, I go with a charge of 31.5 grains of 3031 for an MV of 2400 fps with a 120 grain ballistic tip..

in the same area, 35 grains of any of the mid range powders listed above and a 140 grain bullet goes 2400 fps which is fine for the woods.. and is a hair more accurate with lower recoil..
same for 129 grainer...

44 grains of IMR 4350 gives 2750 fps with a 140 grainer out of a 22 inch barreled Ruger.. with the best accuracy of any other powder I have tested that bullet weight with..

I load a 139gr bullet (PMC) over IMR 7383 powder (mil-surp powder that uses 15% less than IMR4831) and a CCI #34 primer. All this in a Win 243 cased that is necked up and trimmed. It gets me .47" from my 24" Encore. Many antelope fall quickly to this combo.
Amazingly none of my components are "top shelf" most are actually "bottom shelf" but I can't argue with the results.

130gr Accubonds with 40gr of Varget. Seat 'em long.

Do we really need justification for reloading? You can shoot more for less in the long run, plus you get the immense satisfaction of harvesting critters with ammo you put together, and you don't have to worry about different lots of factory loads shooting differently, once you find a few pet loads for your rifle, they'll always be reliable for you. That's all the justification I need, plus I shoot 6PPC, .357 Max, and other oddballs, so I NEED to reload.