Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters .260 Rem - Lapua

Remington has really blown it on the 260 REm, they run like scared rabbits, when they could have put it to Winchester.

Because all of those fat mags are a joke......

Scenarshooter,

I see your point.

Alan

SU,

Here are a couple of pics I took this evening of a 260 REm case and a 6.5x47 Lapua case. Same rim diameter but as you can see much more brass around the small rifle primer pocket = strong resistance to pressure = brass will last longer. I'm annealing my cases every 5 shots.

Alan

Thanks! Interesting!

I think you might be over simplifying things with this analogy but you may very well have a point. It would be interesting to see given equal breach pressures, which piece of brass holds up the longest. I suspect that the lot to lot differences may be greater than the two different cases in some comparisons. If you have a tendency to hot-rod your brass and it typically just lasts 2 firings, maybe it will work for you.

I usually just use Rem 9 1/2 until they are loose and then switch to something silver and get about 50% more case life.

Dennis,

Now that is something I didn't know about and just another reason I love to come to forums like this.

Alan

So could one put this debate to rest or heightened interest if one made .260 Rem brass from this? Lapua .308 Palma brass Lapua's .308 Palma brass - kind of like Remington's old URBR brass, would permit one to make .260 Rem brass with the small primer pocket for direct comparison to the 6.5x47.

Selmer,

I looked long and hard into using the sm pocket 308 brass to build a 260 Rem but decided to go with the 6.5x47.

Alan

Lapua is making brass for the 260 Rem, but still doesn't make brass for the 270W.........Geeeez......




Casey

I doubt that would put the debate to rest because I think there's more to it than just the primer pocket. The 6.5x47 was designed top to bottom to run at much higher pressures. I don't think a smaller primer pocket on a 308 case is going to allow you to crank the pressure up to x47 levels. At least not safely. The 260 is a bigger case. The pressure doesn't need to be jacked through the roof to get good velocity.

Out of curiosity, why did you choose the 6.5-47 over the 260 Rem?

With the .47 you have to run it at higher pressures and longer barrels to get what a 260 Rem gets at normal pressures and barrel length, both being in a short action.

You need a sm pocket to get what you want.

SU,

At the time, their was no Lapua made 260 case. I have experience with both calibers and I just like the 6.5x47 more. It's designed VERY well and does everything I ask of it. It's got the "cool" factor compared to the 260. I don't have to worry about running out of mag length, even with throat wear and chasing the lands. The OAL of my 140 Berger VLD's is 2.728"; that 10 thou off the lands.

Since I tested the 140 Berger VLD with Rel 17 and CCI 450's back in Oct and zero pressure signs, today, I decided to push it a little more, for a friend, and see where a grain more powder might take me. Back in Oct at 40 deg F and 42.5 gr of Rel 17 I took it to 2917 fps. 26" Broughton 5R, 8 twist barrel in a Pierce action. Today I ran 42, 42.5, 43 and 43.5 gr. Temps today were 21 deg F. The first two, 42 and 42.5 gr were right in line with what I found back in Oct. The 43 and 43.5 gr took me to 3017 fps. At this time everyone is rolling their eyes, shaking their heads and saying I'm going to blow my self up. I know what pressure looks like and this thing is not showing it. Primers are cratering but they do even at 37 gr which is going 2489 fps. No hard bolt lift. No ejector marks. Even mic'ing the cases with my Starrett micrometer, I finally got .0004" increase on the rim with the 43.5 gr charge.

So, basically I have a 26" barrel rifle, weighing 8 lb 5 oz with a NF 2.5-10x32 that will "easily" push a 140 gr bullet to 2850-2950 fps with out even breaking a sweat. I know the Berger VLD does not have hardly any bearing surface so today I took the 140 PT, which has more bearing surface, to 2945 fps and saw .0004" growth on the rim. So if I back off a skootch, I can still get 2850 to almost 2900 fps, a great velocity for a great bullet.

To continue to answer your question, I already shoot the 6.5x47 in my big Surgeon sniper rifle. Since I already have the brass, bullets, Redding Type-S comp dies it was a no brainer.

Alan

The ability of the 6.5x47 to chase the lands pretty much until the projectile is about falling out of the case neck does make it appealing to me. I'm still umming and ahing re the 260 vs x47 and the decision is no easier now that Lapua has got on board with brass for the 260.

Any more data from users as to the diff in velocity between the two with 130 & 140 grainers would help.
Thanks,
Rath

Very interesting Alan and I appreciate your feedback here.

Impressive cartridge and for you to build two rifles
based on the same cartridge says something.

Light recoil, long shooting, and hard hitting.

side note to self...
(I also see it doing everything a 25-06 can do and more.
If you can get 3,000 with a 130 S2 it pushes the 270 envelope as well.)

Have you tried the 123 Scenar?

How's throat life?

SU,

I've not tried the 123 Scenar as I wanted better BC for wind bucking ability. I did try the 123 MK but it was barely beat @ 1000 yds by the Berger. My best friend shoots the 123 and swears by it but bet your bottom dollar, he's watching my every move as he's struggling with the 260/6.5x47&55 issue as he's getting ready to build a lighter hunting rifle like mine.

Chris Matthews http://www.longshotriflesllc.com/ used the same reamer to build both my rifles. My heavy Surgeon has about 950 rounds down the barrel and it's burned out .079" of the throat with 40.3 to 40.8 gr of H4350 and the 130 Berger VLD (2860 fps) in tactical/sniper competition so far. I just keep chasing the lands and I just keep racking up high placing matches. It's a little premature for me to measure any throat burn on my light Pierce with less than 100 rds down the tube.

Alan

Plus 1!