I need some opinions/thoughts as I am looking to purcahse a new 260 rem in the near future.

If you had to pick a great gun for hunting and punching paper what whould it be? I really would like to get a gun that performs well out of the box. However I realize that this can be hit or miss depending on brand.

Only restrictions is it has to be under 10lbs and $1800 not including optics.

I'd be interested in either of these two.
Sako 85
http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.asp?Item=112476283
Remington CDL
http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.asp?Item=112918993

If you are talking that kind of budget, there is always the option of having a Remington rebarreled. That would raise the accuracy potential a lot.

A little more info on what and type of hunting and if you also plan and Varmint (0nce again what and where). That would help with choosing a good one.

It is easy to spend money ... not so easy to buy what you really want (everyone is usually trying to sell you everything else)

For $1800, I think that I'd buy 2 Remington 700 TIs and keep the 1 that shoots better groups.

Actually, I think that I'd call Mickey Coleman and see if $1800 would cover the cost to have him put together a Stiller Predator action, McM stock, and ??? barrel in 260.

Jeff

Thanks for the great information guys. As for the what and where I would like to use it for several things.

The first being a long range varmit (coyote, etc.) gun. From what I have seen and read this is an excellent round for long range shooting.

I also with a heavier hand load would like to use it for hunting antelope.

And finally I would like to use it for long range target shooting.

Something with a heavy barrel or fluted as I would not want to be more hampered by heating for accuracy. Which is one of my issues I have with my 243 ruger.

I have a custom barrel 260, with a 1:8 twist, fluted, 23" long, muzzle diameter is about .65"

Action is a stainless Rem 700. It shoots pretty well, I have it in a Mcmillan mtn rifle stock, with a fixed 6x Leupold its 8 lbs scoped

Remington Ti (original model) and still have $600 for a scope. Look on gunbroker right now.

Anyone else have any thoughts?

Get Todd to show you a picture of his flutted barrel 260 and you'll what see what damned close to perfect looks like.

Jeff

then


...and now

That is sweet! Barrel contour?

My, what a good looking fencepost.... Sweet rifle too.

$1800 give a lot of options, including custom. I'm in the process of building a 260 on a Winchester M70 action. 1:8 Lilja #5 barrel (fluted) and B&C medalist stock, Williams bottom metal. I am well within your $1800 mark, even with a Jewell trigger.

dang near perfect!

Kimber 84m?

I would say a carbon copy of Todd's rifle would be exactly what your after, and you'd propably have plenty of $$$ left over to boot.

Bill

Though you might go with a slightly different twist depending on what bullet weights you plan on using.

Todd, how does that twist shoot 100-120gr bullets? Very nice rifle, BTW.

Bill

I think that your barreled action in the Remington 700 LSS-MR stock looks sharp, how much weight did it lose by going to the McM?

The 700 MR stock is my favorite factory configuration, as it fits me just about perfectly. Most of my "user" Remington 700s have either the 700 MR factory stocks or McM MR, 7, or Hunter style synthetic stocks. The rifle that I am currently using the most is a 25 WSSM Winchester/USRA 70 stainless Ultimate Shadow that is bedded into a McM Compact. That stock is close to perfect for that super short action and the factory sporting contour barrel.

If Remington had just copied the specs of the 700 MR stock when they designed the 700 Ti stock, I would probably be using more of them, as they are a pretty good stock for the price. I just don't like the radius of the pistol grip on the 700 Ti stocks, too straight/shallow a curve to suit me. Oh well, you can't have everything!

Jeff

"magnum sporter" according to the barrel maker, .650" @ muzzle



I mainly shoot 130+ gr in it but according to my load notes, Ive shot a 1.5" fifteen shot group with 100 gr Partitions over H4895 (was just wasting off some components), 3/4" 6 shot group with Sierra 107 gr Matchkings over Varget (3120 fps). I used to shoot a bit of 95 gr vmax and they were very accurate in the MR Laminate stock, but I tried them again recently after bedding it in the Mcmillan and they didnt shoot so well.....maybe it was me




I think the difference was no more than 4-6 ounces

If it's got a bolt on it you haven"t hunted enough.

Im not that big of a showboat to show off my custom 260's that are built on Rem 7600's & 742s!

hamr56,

I would think you would more often get tighter groups if you had a premium barrel on it for the most part. You may get lucky and get a standard rifle to shoot hot groups and oftentimes you'd find out that a premium barrel will be a dud too! But I'd bet that with a premium barrel you will get better groups more often than not. Goos luck with this excellent round!

Todd,

Nice rifle you got!

Todd, thats kind of where my Model 7 is heading, except in a Lone Wolf stock, and an ultralight contour Pac-Npr, and a graphite black paint job...

If the action the origional poster has is some flavor of Remmy, then there you go...

Dan dont forget to ask for the short shank from Pacnor! Mine is a mountain contour with a 3in shank, more metal in the shank than in the rest of the barrel. Might also look at Wildcat Composite stocks for the M7, bit slimmer overall than the banser and stronger than the lone wolf.

I would take my Sako Model 75 Finnlight with my Kahles 3.5x10 scope. Great handling and great shooter. My first 260 was a Ruger Compact that I could not get used to. Traded that for a Kimber Montana. Uggh! Feeding problems and only a fair shooter. Traded the Kimber for the Sako and have never looked back.

Kevin

my friend has a Sako 75 SS in 260 that shoots excellent. Very nice rifle

I like the THEN photo, better than the NOW set up...

I own 2 Ruger 77 Mk 2s in Stainless and one factory Rem VLS in 260.

Best advise I can give is to make sure than you get a barrel with a one in 8 twist over the one in 9. The one in 8 will stabilize any bullet weight readily available in 6.5 mm.

the one in 9 twist are only good for weights to 129/130 grains consistently...some one in 9s will shoot 140 grain bullets, and some won't.. but all will shoot in a one in 8 twist...

I am also going to do a 260 Barrel on a Model 70 short action.. but that is because it has a poor shooting 243 barrel on it..and I love Model 70s...

if it would have had a one in 8 twist, to me the ultimate factory 260 would have been the Model 700 Mountain Rifle in Stainless with a 24 inch barrel.

a short action Model 70 Featherweight would also be a nice rig...

i would grab a RRA AR10 receiver set and build yourself a nice 260. jewel trigger and a premium barrel with good glass would have the whole package in your price range... if you want more just get another upper..... or you could do a wssm upper on a RRA AR15 platform in a 6.5 which would rival the 260. mag constraints could leave you in the 120 class bullets, maybe 130's. i am not sure on that....

at least consider AR platform. they do work and do shoot... especially in all the roles you ask for...

JMO

woofer

Hey Hamr,

If you are interested in the custom route, I have a 30" Lilja 3 groove 1 in 8 twist light weight barrel that I was going to do the same with but my mountain rifle just shoots to good. I was going to build on a titanium receiver. If you have any interest in my barrel give me shout back. The muzzle diameter at 30" is .598" so it is a fairly light contoured barrel.

Of the 30 or so rifles in 260 that I have had around over the past 11 years, I don't recall any Remington factory barrels that wouldn't shoot 140 grain bullets into good groups. I don't see any particular need for any bullets weighing over 140 grains in 260, since the 125 and 140 grain Partitions should penetrate as well as a cup & core soft point bullets weighing up to 160 grains. If you look into it, I believe that the only practical reason that Norma still loads a 156 grain bullet in the 6.5x55 is because a bullet of that weight is required to qualify the 6.5x55 as a moose cartridge in Scandinavia, due to the formula that they use to determine such things.

Remember that the 1st rifle that Remington offered in 260 was the 24" 700 BDL DM stainless synthetic and it was failure in the market, but I don't know whether its failure was more related to the barrel length/contour or the fact that it was a DM configuration. There have been plenty of 24" take-off barrels from these rifles for sale on the secondary market over the past 10 years, several of which I have bought myself to use for 6.5-284 conversions. I think that the 700 LSS MR in its factory configuration is pretty close to a perfect vehicle for the 260. I doubt that an additional 2" of barrel length would gain more than 100 fps and under most field conditions, 100 fps isn't a meaningful performance component, or at least it seems so to me.

Heck, if you can't kill whatever you're shooting with a 260 and an appropriate bullet in the 120 to 130 grain range, you probably need a larger or more powerful cartridge and bullet combination.

Jeff

thats fine I like it NOW and THEN, but I live in the NOW and am very happy

For the type of shooting described (long-range coyote, targets, etc.), I would run a Rem MTN Rifle in the standard laminated stock, but get it rebarrelled with a heavier contour at 24 inches.

If you don't want to mess with custom, I would simply buy the Limited Edition stainless fluted CDL that Remington offered for 2008, which looks nice and has a 24" barrel.

For a real tough hunting rifle, I would try to find a Ruger stainless synthetic.