I've been looking at and shopping rifles for a few months now, and I've come close to pulling the trigger on several different models at various times. My cartridge choice during this time has flip-flopped more than a Democrat at a Tea Party rally.....

As you may recall, I have to pay attention to recoil as I've had multiple shoulder reconstructions and cervical spine (neck) reconstruction. I had narrowed my choices down to the .25-06, .270 and 7mm-08 because the rifles I liked (all Winchesters) were available in those chamberings.

I have always thought the .260 Remington was going to be the perfect all-around cartrdige for me, but there just aren't any rifles I like currently being chambered for it, so it had kind of slipped from my radar.

Then, lo & behold, a sweet little .260 shows up in the calssifieds on the 'Fire ... and I'm now a certified .260 Loony!

The build is a blued BDL with a 24" SS Sporter contour screwed on. It has a drilled handle and fluted bolt, and the whole ball of wax has been Cerakoted in matte black.

I don't have it in my hands yet, as it's being converted to ADL, getting dropped into a Mountain Rifle McSwirly and being topped with a Minox ZA-5 2-10x40. She weighs 6 lbs. 12 oz with bases & rings (not bad for a BDL with a 24" Sporter).

With this fine .260 in the safe, I can't imagine I'd ever need a .25-06, .270, 7mm-08 or even a .243, for that matter.

I'm very excited I found a great rifle chambered in a great cartridge for my needs. And the fact she shoots 120gr TSXs into ridiculously tiny little groups is just icing on the cake!

Very nice!
I'm a 260 Rem man myself, but in an XP 100. Thinking I need a left hand version of yours....

It will indeed make you a very nice hunting rifle! I myself thought about one but I already had committed to a 6.5/06 in a model 70 Winchester. Good Luck with your new found hunting tool.

I do like it better in the mcbomber better than the laminate

I've often said almost the same thing, though a little differently.

I have a 7mm-08 that I just love, so will probably never have a 260, though if the 260 had happened along first, I'd probably be saying the same thing in reverse. I think I could've been equally happy with either.

Always thought it was a great little round, and it sounds like yours will be a sweet set-up. Enjoy!

I've never seen a 7-08 shoot 100 grain Accubonds on one end at 3180 FPS, and 140 NPTs on the other end ot 2750... At least not with the SDs that are common in the 6.5's.


I dig that Mickey, tell me all about it.

Oh.... If it makes you feel better, I don't have my newest 260 in my hands yet.

Stripped SPS action, blueprinted, cut rifle 1:8.5" twist, Lawrence Rifle Barrel #3 shop contour, in a hogged out and painted 700 Ti 1st gen takeoff that Carl used to own, with a Hollands lug. Should be 7.5 Lbs all up and will do duty as my prone match rifle, and Eastern Montucky gun.

I can't wait to introduce it here on the 'Fire, but my gunsmith is still holding it hostage

It's the famous (or infamous ) Coyote Bomber pattern, which is 50% dark grey, 25 percent black and 25% medium tan.

It is the Rem M700 Mountain Rifle pattern, standard 13.5 inch length of pull, ADL style, and wears a 1" Decelerator on the back end.

More on the rifle: Action trued and Cerakoted by Darrell Holland. Wears Holland one piece scope bases lapped and trued to the barrel. Bolt is Ti fluted and Cerakoted by Karl Feldkamp at Kampfeld Customs. Bolt handle was drilled by McWhorter Rifles. It sports a Remington stainless X-Mark (old style) trigger set to 3 lbs, no creep or let off - very crisp.

Only 44 rounds through the action and barrel, which shoots 120gr TSX into under 1/4". Best groups have been .121 and .133".

Awesome, thanks for sharing and enjoy.

I don't have shoulder/neck problems like seatlestters, I'm just recoil sensitive.


I was looking to rebarrel to either: 243win, 257roberts, 260 rem, or 7mm-08. I want something I could use for deer hunting as well as something predators and varmints.

The 7mm-08 would have been a better big game round if I ever moved up from deer hunting but I felt it didn't offer the versatility for the predator and varmint I potentially wanted to try. So I ruled it out, even though it's a great round.

That left the 243win, 257roberts, and 260rem.

I was also looking at getting started into reloading which swung my choice to the 243win.

The limited availability and selection of brass for the 257roberts and 260rem was what swung my vote to the 243win.

I don't think the brass availability or selection for the 257roberts will be remedy antyime soon.

Hopefully we will see what happens with the brass components for the 260rem as it looks like a sweet round!

Absolutely lovely!

The 260 remington is available in Factory ammuntion from several suppliers - Remington, Federal, Nosler, and Corbin. Brass is now available from Remington, Nosler, Norma and (soon) Lapua. Not to mention that it is a quick pass through a full length die with any .243 brass on the planet. You owe it to yourself to try the waters......

Kaiser Norton

Count me as a fan of the 260 Rem.


Kimber Montana, 260 Rem.
Sako 75 Varmint, 260 Rem.

I've settled on the 130 gr accubonds as my bullet of choice


works on hogs


and Varmints


What's not to like

GWB

Very nice rifle. Welcome to the family! I've got two myself.

The one in the works right now is #4 for me, and I've smoked a stack of barrels in the caliber...


So when I tell the dude from PA that a 260 does everything that the 243 does 14% better, and you can go up to 140 grain big game bullets that will whack the hell out of Mule Deer and it can kill Elk if you can shoot and know your big gama anatomy.

Nice rifle, but you missed...

Here's my .260. It's actually a ".260-06AI".



Interarms Mark X action, Krieger barrel, Boyd stock, Timney trigger. Works great on clay pigeons at 600 yards, even with fire-form loads.Daughter #3 thinks it is the cat's pajamas. I think it would turn up missing if I didn't keep an eye on her...

A .260 Short, I hope, is somewhere in my future, perhaps in a compact.

Congrats on your new toy. It looks great.

CH,
You must be kin to big stick if you can hit clay targets at 600 yds. without irons or optics. Need to git me one of those. Just point in the general direction and it does the rest. Only on the internet.
Best
GWB

Im fuggin rollin here

I guess every rifle you own came with a scope attached???

That picture was taken right after I got the rifle back from Krieger, just before elk season in 2009. Put the bipod on for the pic. It now sports a Burris Fullfield II 4.5-14xAO with Ballistic Plex reticle.

Clays at 600 aren't easy but with a good rifle and a cooperating wind, they aren't that hard, either. Just before the 2010 elk season I checked out the two rifles I as taking, a .300WM and .30-06, taking a total of 5 shots at 600-yard pigeons. Got one hit with each. Daughter #3 had never shot at 600 yards as far as I know or recall but last time we were at the range (Christmas give or take a couple days) she fell in love with that rifle. She missed the 600-yard pigeons on all 5 of the shots she took, but three were just under and two were just above - all easily in what looked to be an 8" group. Had I zeroed one of the cross-hatches in the scope at 600, instead of making her interpolate between them, I think she would have gotten hits.

Coyote Hunter - What bullet/recipe are you running at 600 yards?

The Remington barrel doesn't spin ' em very fast so I'm not real sure if I'm going to be able to go much more than 130gr. I'm thinking of trying Berger VLDs...

Here is a picture taken a few days after the one above.:


This one was taken during one of my first trips to the range with the rifle. The 600-yard berm is .... 600 yards out there. The first dark horizontal line is the shadows cast by the target backing boards at 500-yards (the shadows are seen from underneath the boards). The next, fainter line is the same thing but at 600 yards. I was getting hits on the 600-yard pigeons with the fire-form loads.


Works great on antelope, too:

I joined the fraternity as well... just haven't screwed it on yet

There is a pile of 6.5's on the bench though...

My barrel is a 1-8 twist, 24� long. Here are my loads:

WW brass and CCI 250 primers for all.

140g A-MAX, 49.0g H4831SC, ~2660fps � Fireform loads
140g A-MAX, IMR7828SSC, 3063fps
130g Scirocco II, IMR7828SSC, 3161fps

The fireform load was chosen because I had a lot of H4831SC I wasn�t using any more. The load is just shy of Hornady�s current max load for a standard (non-AI) 6.5-06. I lose about 5% velocity from the Hornady 6.5-06 data but it shoots great.

Should be fun. Here�s a couple close-ups of mine. Photographs aren�t very high quality but good enough, I guess.

CH,
I was messin' with ya, just a little bit. You prolly shoot a lot better than I do.
That's a nice lookin' rig ya got.
The way things are here, don't shoot much over 250 yds. As thick as it is, past 100 yds,you shoot something and if it ain't DRT, unless you have a landmark, you are darn lucky to find a blood trail to start.
The one and only 600 yard shot I've ever made, or attempted was at a whitetail doe across a canyon.It was a lazered 590 yds. The doe was under a spin cast feeder. I was lugging a Rem. Sendero chambered in 338 RUM, loaded w/ 180gr. ballistic tips. Rifle was zeroed at 250yds. Wind was blowing like hell. I figured the bottom of the spinner was 8'. The doe was about 3' at the shoulder (give or take). I held what I estimated to be 1' under the spinner and 2' in front of her nose into the wind. Dang if the wind didn't blow that bullet another 2' at 600yds. Hit her right in the spleen. I'd been up for two days with no sleep. It was cold and raining. I didn't want to come home empty handed or I'd never taken the shot.
Had I not had a landmark I would have never found that deer.
As it was it took me an hour just to get to her.

I also like the 6.5's.

Here is one more that does pretty good too.


Cooper Montana Varminter, 6.5 x 284


trying out some RL-17


shootin' the corners at 200 yds.

Best
GWB

The 260 Rem has really grown on me, went from a want to a need. The Nosler 130 gr AB would cover most everything.

JD338

geedubya -

I figured that out a bit late when I re-read your post and saw "Best" at the end. Sometimes I'm a bit slow on the uptake...


That's a nice looking rifle and it seems to shoot well, too.

One of these days I'm going to have to go where the pigs are and have some fun making pork chops. You guys get to hunt them 24x365 with no limits. Elk and deer are a once a year hunt for me. I'm so jealous...

CH,

What is the old saying, friends come and go, but enemies accumulate. Lord knows I don't need to make any more.

As you may know, there is public land in Texas but its a pain to hunt. If you don't have a family member with a large ranch it makes things a little difficult. I hunt on a couple of leases where I basically pay a tresspass fee. I can hunt year round for varmints, hogs and exotics.
Yes, we can hunt hogs 24/7/365. I generally go to my lease in the Texas hill country once a month. It about 20 miles north of Uvalde Texas and six miles from the nearest paved road. No power or water. I like it that way. Some years I kill 30 to 40 hogs.
My personal best is 15 in 3 days. I eat the heck out of them.
Combined with deer meat, antelope or Audad it makes great smoked links and summer sausage. Not bad plain as pan sausage. Make roasts and pulled pork out of the hind. Grill the loins.
Here are a few piggies that I have known (and not in the Biblical sense).

Best
GWB












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I wish I could've worked out that 260 that McGowen [bleep] up so bad. I was in love with that rifle. It just wouldn't shoot worth a damn.

Anyhow, somehow I know what a 100 grain NBT leaving that tube at 3200 will do to an Antelope

That is a lot of pigs per year! Like I said, I'm jealous. ...

For the 260rem shooter out there. What made you decide on the 260rem over the 7mm-08?

I don't think this forum is the appropriate place to be tossing around the "n" word.

I know. I'm already itchin' for a .243....

I did for the .260's ability to shoot heavier-for-caliber bullets with good SD and BC.

The .260 is designed to function best with 100 - 140gr bullets...the 7mm-08 usually gets 120 - 150gr bullets, with the 140gr being by far the most popular. To match the 140gr 6.5mm bullet's SD in a 7mm bullet, you've got to all the way up to 160gr. That's askin' a lot from the little 7-08....

A quick check of factory ammo yields these results for the "standard" loads in each caliber:

.260: 120gr (SD .246) @ 2930 fps muzzle, 2026 fps @ 400 yards, -21.9" @ 400 yards with 200-yard zero
7-08: 140gr (SD .248) @ 2820 fps muzzle, 1963 fps @ 400 yards, -23.6" @ 400 yards with 200-yard zero

And for the "heavy" loads:

.260: 140gr (SD .287) @ 2700 fps muzzle, 1905 fps @ 400 yards, -25.3" @ 400 yards with 200-yard zero
7-08: 150gr (SD .266) @ 2650 fps muzzle, 1859 fps @ 400 yards, -26.5" @ 400 yards with 200-yard zero

The above examples show that shooting bullets of like SD and BC, the .260 is a bit flatter, stays a bit faster down range and delivers more energy to the target at all normal hunting distances than the 7mm-08. It recoils less, too. The same is true of heavier bullets, but the SD advantage clearly starts to go with the .260 in these loads.

I just like the range of bullet weights for the .260 better. Theoretically, they should give better ballistics and penetration. Although, as usual, I highly doubt the animals hit with either will know the difference.

I'm getting pretty attatched to this one.




Lots to like about a rifle that drives a .6+ bc bullet at 2850fps with little recoil or muzzle blast.

Welcome to the .260. Mine is a beater, but shoots well and often.

Thanks for sharing.

stumpy