I bedded my M77 .260 into a Boyd's thumbhole stock and the standard load from the factory stock, 44 gr. of I4350 with a 130 Accubond or 140 Partition didn't group worth a hoot anymore, but a max load of Varget did just fine with the 130 AB. 37.5 gr. of Varget behind the 130 AB turned out MOA groups. Is anyone else using Varget in their .260? The charge weights from Hodgdon seem low to me, considering I run 46 gr. behind a 165 gr. bullet in my .308, but I realize that it's a bigger bore that changes the pressure curve. I haven't run these over a chronograph, but Hodgdon says they should be around 2700 fps, which is fast enough for me.
Selmer,
My .260 loves Varget! I have a Remington Model 7 with a 20" stainless barrel. You'll find that Varget isn't a barn burner with even max loads but it's at least respectable. You'll find many people shooting in long range competitions touting varget because of it's consistency.
I am using a near-max load of Varget (41.0g is the max according to the Nosler load manual) and the 120g Nosler Ballistic tip. The last four rounds I shot across the chrono averaged 2787 fps at 52*F and about 1000 ft above sea level. I'm lighting them with CCI-200 primers in remington brass seated to mag length (not even in the same zip code as the lands on this rifle) This rifle has been very finicky but I can confidently say it will easily shoot three shots in less than 1" at 100 yards. I have shot groups of little ragged holes measuring less than 0.5" fairly regularly with this combination.
I shot a doe at 70 yards with this combination last weekend. Had a caliber sized entry and a golf ball sized exit. Bullet completely destroyed the offside lung and poked a half dollar sized hole through the other one. I was very pleased with the performance of this bullet at that speed.
I have tried varget with several other bullets. It has definitely proven to be the best powder for the 100g TTSX and every other 120g bullet i've tried (Speer Hot-cor and the core-lokt). My rifle doesn't like varget with the 125g partition or the 129g Hornady Interlock but then again, i'm starting to think my rifle just doesn't like those bullets in general.
I had the best luck with IMR4350 and IMR4064 with the 130g Accubond in my rifle.
Ruck
I shot the barrel out of my .260 with varget. At the time it was the most accurate rifle I owned. It was a M77 tang saftey with a Shelien Heavy Varmint barrel bedded in a Boyds varmint stock, I used mainly 120 SMK bullets. It was a nice combo shot one holers for years. It will still hold just under moa at 100 yards little over at 200 yards, I drag it out every now and again to shoot deer using 120 SGK.
Good luck with yours
I just haven't had good success with my .260 and IMR 4350 or H380, but Varget is working well. I didn't have time before season to find my rifles maximum, but I'll work some up probably next spring when it gets a little warmer. It was a little chilly on the deer stand this morning!
How about RL-15 or IMR 4831 in the .260? Does any of you have experience with these powders? I'm interested in using them possibly with 125-140 gr. bullets for load development.
I have not used those two, but R19 and H4831 work very well in the 260 with 120gr bullet wts and up.
I`ve found the 260 likes the same powder burn ranges as the 6.5x55 and in my limited experiance prefers those on the slower end.
Selmer,
RL19-45gr with the 130gr TSX worked very well in my 22" rifle. It had a velocity of about 2750 fps. Varget didn't produce the velocity I wanted. H4350 produced very good velocity and good accuracy also.
I had great results with H4350 in two different 260's.
I've had 250 fps temp swings with RL 19 in my .260 Remington...