Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Limits of the .260 rem on big game?

I've gotten interested in the .260 rem due to its good ballistics and low recoil. I know this is a tough question to answer, but where would you draw the line in hunting with this round? I know it would be fine for whitetails at 200yds, but would it be fine for an elk at 400 yds? I know shot placement has everything to do with it, but everything has a breaking point where it becomes almost unethical to hunt this animal at that range sort of thing. Where would you draw the line with the .260 rem shooting a 140gr bullet? Should you base the answer on energy in ft/lbs? Thanks.

dont poke at critters bigger than yotes at 400(a personal limit, nothing more) but i wouldnt hesitate to put a 140 grain bullet out of my 260 at a bull elk sitting at inside 300.....wouldnt hesitate to shoot a moose with one either.....basically within the ranges i care to shoot big game, anything short of a griz ill use the 260 on....

As you have said, this is a difficult question. It's hard to get enough data to really say. But here are a couple of indicators:

One of the Scandinavian countries made an attempt to correlate the rapidity of the kill with the cartridge used. The Swedish 6.5x55 did quite well on alg, and I think you can depend on the 260 being indistinguishable from that.

My own opinion is that the 260 is closer to the 30-06 in killing power than many people suspect. It will reliably drill a 14-16" hole, and the chances of that transecting a vital spot are quite good.

My main go-to big game gun is a 7x57 loaded to modern pressures and using heavy for caliber bullets. I think it is quite adequate for anything I care to hunt, since I'm not interested in the large bears. The 260 is not really that much different from the 7x57.

As you pointed out, one key is shot placement. Another is bullet construction. Standard bullets generally need to impact between 2100 and 2800 FPS, and Partitions need to impact somewhere above about 1800 FPS. If you are using the appropriate bullet impacting at the appropriate speed and putting it in the right place, then I think that the fact you are using a 6.5mm 140 bullet instead of 30 caliber 180 grain bullet is less important.

There's a lot better elk rounds than a .260. I have little doubt that it will do but most everyone has a .30-06 as well!

IMO the .260 is a deer and pronghorn round suitable to 400 yards in the hands of a skilled shooter. IMO 120 grain bullets are great for this task.

If you must shoot elk with it, get some 140s and keep the range to under 300 yards.....

The little 6.5 rounds are truly amazing!

The 6.5x55, which is a ballistic twin to the 260 is good for as far as most people have any business shooting. At 2,700 most bullets retain 2,000 to at least 400 yards. I have made a couple of 350ish yard shots on pretty big mule deer and have had dead deer and exits with 140 NP. It works on elk fine, but you have to keep in mind (in my opinion anyway) that while it is an adequate elk cartridge, there is not a lot of margin of error for being any more than adequate.

You are right, shot placement is the key. The 260/6.5 Swede are low recoiling, accurate, and easy on the shoulder, and thus easy to shoot. Easy shooters putting a 140 bullet of the proper construction in the right place are better than a heavier bullet ill placed.

Thanks guys! I appreciate the first-hand info!

I would be quite willing to carry a .260 after just about any non-dangerous game on earth. Haven't quite done that, (of course!) but have used the 6.5x55 and 7x57 on quite a variety, both in North America and Africa, with basically the same weight range of bullets, and when I have done my job both cartridges have done theirs.

The characteristics of a 6.5mm bullet will give some counterintuitive results. Remember, it is a long skinny bullet with a high BC.

If a bullet impacts in its design range, the length of the wound channel is practically constant. For Speer and Sierra hunting bullets, that is almost always 2100-2800 FPS at impact. For Hornady, it is more like 1800-2800 FPS. Let me reiterate: Anywhere in that range of impact speeds the bullet will make practically the same length wound channel, about 14". Nosler Partitions do about 2-3" more, have no upper limit, and open at 1800 FPS. Other bullets will have different properties.

With the appropriate bullet, that means you can expect the standard, one-each wound channel at ranges beyond where I would normally choose to shoot. Do the ballistics for your chosen bullet, and make sure you take shots that put the bullet in its design impact range. You may be surprised how far that is for the 260.

I think that fatter, heavier bullets do give you some margin for the times that you hit a major bone. So I might choose a 7x57/162 or 30-06/180 for elk or moose. But would also not hesitate to use a 260/140 if that's what I felt like using that day.

Heck I'd hunt the big bears with it if it was all I had (or the 6.5x55). Has served me very well with standard cup and core, heavy for caliber bullets (160gr.). Building a mannlicher in the caliber now that I suspect to do most things I need doing very well.

I'm a sub-300 yard guy, prefer under 200, really like under 100. Maybe that makes a difference in my results.

What rifles are still chambered in .260 Remington or are you going to have one built? It would be pretty cool to build one one with a 1-8 twisted barrel. I can't say I personally would want the standard 1-9 barrel but a 1-8...

Moose hunting in Sweden is mostly from stands, shots are usually less than 100 yards, and Swedish hunters must demonstrate ability to hit a moving moose target at 80 meters. They must account for shots taken. This sort of hunting style and discipline makes the 6.5x55mm cartridge very feasible. If you look at studies of cartridges used there, distances traveled, shots required, you see many of these moose moving 70 and 80 meters before dropping.

By contrast, spot and stalk hunting in Canada or Alaska might mean a longer shot at a moose on the edge of a wood, river or swamp.

If the 260 makes an adequate wound channel to kill the game you are hunting (which I would argue that it does for any NA game), then your only consideration is to keep the impact velocity high enough to expand the bullet properly. Those velocities are listed pretty well in the above posts.

You could shoot anything in NA with it and not tell much difference from most any other common caliber outside the really big boomers. So, "yes," I would shoot an elk with it at 400 yards.

Nah, a 260 won't kill elk.

That's a neat picture!

If the cartridge is capable of winning 1000 yd matches, then It's capable of killing at 300-400yds on critters like mule deer and elk. The very thing that makes the 6.5x55 and 260 capable of winning long ranges matches [sleek bullets that shed velocity very slowly and drift grudginly] help them carry the needed energy to expand bullets, break bones, and destroy tissue.

I once read of Clay Harvey killing a NC black bear at around 200 yds with a 6.5x55 and 160 grain bullets. The bear weighed almost 500 pounds. One of those long 160 grain Hornadys when thru the bear from stem to stern. If a 6.5x55 will shoot thru 6' of bear, I think a 260 can handle 15-20" of elk chest.

If he points at the sky and says "that way is up" take it with a grain of salt.

Not doubting the 6.5, just Clay.

Yeah, it's great for women and kids, but......

You can lump me in there. I love my .260, just wish I found it earlier.

George

It is one of the most popular moose rounds in Scandinavia (well, actually it's ballistic twin the 6.5 Swede is) - but the fact remains research (meaning actual data) showed that moose shot with the equivalent - fell within a few yards - of virtually every larger round.

I'd never hesitate to hunt animals up to, and including moose, with it - that is, if I was using a premium bullet.

I'd hesitate hunting grizzly with it - but I'd bet that I'd be OK with it - if I needed it for defense from a big bear.

Gotta say it again, great pic of a happy successful hunter!

Can you tell us a bit about the hunt, rifle, bullet used etc..

Thanks

Yes, the 260 is very capable at 400 on elk as is the 7mm-08.
Proper bullet & proper placement=A lot of work to pack the critter out.
Shooter skill and accurate rig in field conditions at that distance is assumed in my post.