I was surprised as I thought the 7/08 had ALOT more factory ammo options.

There is no logic for someone to NOT run a 260 even if they do not reload, given the choices one can simply mail order.

Even the last I checked my Academy had either NO 7/08 ammo, or perhaps just ONE offering, I seem to think they MIGHT have had a few boxes of corelokts.

Point is, even the 7/08 is not widely distributed at retail outlets.

SO, I can see those who don't roll their own, wanting to just mail order ammo in any caliber....save the top few 30/30, 06 and 308, 243, 223, 22LR.

Just wondering, anyone out there chose the 7/08 over the 260 based on factory ammo options alone?

A factory load shooter would still have to be stupid to choose a 7-08 or 260 over a .243, .270 or .308. Not only are there fewer bullet choices in 7-08 and 260 factory loads but either runs 10.00 per box more than the aforementioned trio in comparable ammo lines {standard vs premium].

Comparing prices, agree 100%.

Cannot see justification for an ammo company to charge a premium price just for another round, regardless of production volume, as an excuse.

That said, I wonder how many $$$ a shooter/hunter spends on:

Truck, hunting lease, licenses, gas to range and hunting area, firearms, scopes, etc.

No doubt, it irks me that ammo is not more evenly priced, but in the big picture of all expenses related to shooting/hunting....the difference gets lost wouldn't you think?

Can't argue someone choosing the fine 270 or 308 in lieu of the 260 or 7/08. To 400 yds, they all get it done in good fashion when shots are placed well.

FWIW, no plans to replace the 270 my oldest son inherited, and my younger son may well end up with one himself someday. It's the next best choice to the short actioned 260 and 7/08 when considering factory ammo/availability, price and performance.

Yes, but I think that most casual hunters still buy their ammo off dealers' shelves, not via the internet, and 7mm-08 ammo is more common everywhere I shop than is 260.

I don't recall seeing Black Hills (2), Cor-Bon (4), Grizzly (2), HSM (1), or Nosler (6) ammo in 260 on dealers' shelves, even at Cabela's, BPS, or Scheel's.

Even the Federal (4) and Remington (3) 260 ammo is found in very limited quantities here in Omaha.

Remember that the 7mm-08 languished in the market until Layne Simpson made it his pet and no gun writer has made it his mission to champion the 260. Even the 260's "father", Jim Carmichael, has done little to promote it and, even if he had, Remington's marketing effort for the 260 was almost nonexistant.

EDIT: Since I was going that way today, 08/12/11, I dropped in at the local Scheel's to see what they were stocking in 260 and 7mm-08 ammo. 1 variety of 260, the standard Remington 140 grain PCL style. 5 varieties of 7mm-08, 2 Federal, 2 Remington, and 1 Winchester/Olin.

JEff

Here's something that is funny, not 260 or 7mm-08 but still a good story. Last year before rifle season here in PA one of my hunting buddies gave me a raft of sh*t about hunting with a 6.5x55 Tikka T3. His logic was that one day I would forget my ammo and when we got to the mountain there wouldn't be any on the local gunshops shelves.

Well as it turned out we forgot the bring the bag that ALL of our ammo that very season. It was left on the counter in my garage as we were packing. Sooo.....we took a ride to the local gun shop the first day after unpacking and he just so happened to have a box of 6.5x55 Remington 140gr Core-Lokt on the shelf. However he didn't have any .35 remington or .25-06 which are the rounds of choice for my two hunting partners. That afternoon we had to take a 1.5hour ride to the closest Gander Mountain to pick up their ammo. HA!!!!

Hard to find a rifle in 260. Guess that pretty much explains the scarce ammo. 7mm-08 coming out the keester around here.

7.62 or 7.00, I don't get excited over .62 of a mm. Even though the 7mm-08 seems a little sexy for some reason, I feel no need to leave my 1st partner - the 308. I know the 308 seems boring to some, but it's popular for a reason. Nice to have ammo from Uncle Sam if need be too.

Jeff, not surprised, but it is nice to know you can p/u the phone, save the gas and tax, pull out the cc, and order what you need.

Mark, that's funny, be they won't rag you next time!

Geo, true, but Savage jumped on it. I hope it will re-kindle w/Lapua brass and more and more comp shooters deciding all the way around, its a top 6.5 choice for much of what they do...and that gets noticed.

I did not mind seeing Ruger come out w/the Creedmoor, but not at the expense of the 260...but then again, Ruger would rather put money in Hornady's pocket, not Rem with ammo sales. It's a calculated business decision to take future potential dollars from Rem. Remember, it was a LONG time before Ruger put out 7/08s in mass qty even though there was a ltd. run here and there in the 77 and #1 years back. I guess Ruger caved in and now does regular runs.

If Winchester would chamber 260 and Rem more, than perhaps it would get more popularity. No doubt custom rifles often get chamber in the 260.

Not even the popular in Europe 6.5x55 gets much play w/rifle mfg. here....just a mental block perhaps by the consumers here, stuck on their old stand-bys and not open minded.

No doubt 6.5s don't get the love others do, but not for lack of merit.

True, but the majority of hunters, wherever I've hunted, weren't, and probably still aren't, big internet users. I seldom buy local/retail if I can buy on the internet for less $$ or if I have an immediate itch that can't wait to be scratched via the internet or if I stumble onto a killer deal.

And, as with most scenarios, proper prior planning prevents pi$$ poor performance.

JEff

I've found that to be true myself. I've also found most hunters couldn't care less about trying to be "different" in their cartridge, bullet, or rifle choices. Mostly they want practical, affordable and easily obtainable {on local store shelves}, as long as it reliably puts dead game on the ground. Hence the reason plain vanilla rifles loaded with plain vanilla cartridges/bullets are as popular as they are.

No doubt us 'Looneys' are less plentiful, and the minority.

IF more deer hunters did not subscribe to the American legend that bigger is always better, than perhaps they'd try and realize how effective rounds even like the 243 and 250-3000 are for the #1 big game animal here in NA - deer.

Not to stray too far of topic, but I was in our local Academy and they finally got restocked on ammo. Lo and behold was the Fusion 140grainers I've been wanting to try in the 7-08. The Tikka 7-08 has killed the crap out of lots of game with regular 140 gr corelokts. Still think I'll try out the fusions as I"ve heard great things about them. No .260's there at all.

Ammo availability plays very little role in what rifles I buy... witness the Whelen, Creedmoor, .257 Weatherby, 6mm, and .300 H&H in my safe. I bought a 7-08, rather than a .260, simply because Remington doesn't offer an interesting rifle for it, Winchester doesn't offer anything in .260 at all, and I'm don't really like Savage bolt guns. I'm glad to see Savage offering some rifles, maybe it will spur some interest in the chambering.

I shoot and hunt with nothing but factory ammo. I order almost 100% of all my ammo on line from places like Midway, cheaper than dirt, or Superior Ammo. The fact that I'm not a reloader has never influenced me in caliber choice.
Both my wife and I hunt with the .260 rem, and never had any problems finding ammo. It's honestly the last thing I worry about. The fact that every corner store, or ma and pop gun shop might not have .260 Rem ammo on their shelves never bothered me when I bought the .260. I can't walk into any Wally World, Dicks Sporting Goods, etc, around here and buy ammo for the 7x57, .257 Roberts, 7-08, 250 savage either.

I think the lack of entry level, mid priced rifle offerings in the .260 is hurting it far more than any ammo availability.

Does WALMART count as a "retail outlet"..??

They stock Rem yellow box 7mm-08 ammo. They do not stock any .260 to my knowledge.

Midway is not exactly a good bell weather for the availability of anything. Much of what they list online they never have in stock.

Yes, there are more .260 loads out there than one would think, but you need to do a much better sampling of "retail outlets" to get a more accurate picture ..

Go to Gander, Cabela's and Bass Pro shops stores and tell me what you see. If they have any .260 ammo at all it will be stock that has languished due to lack of demand.

it wasn't that long ago I would have been saying the same thing about the availability of .243 ammo. now it is right up there with the rest. I would not be surprised to see the 7-08 reach the same demand in the foreseeable future, not so much though for the .260

Jim, the 708 has been around since around 1981 I believe and quite popular it seems, though not and never will be as much as the 243/308/06/270s/30-30 BUT it seems to be growing more and more. The 260 seems to have it's 'niche' among us looneys, and growing among tac shooters, Lapua brass and brass from any 308 based round does not hurt...and it's flatter w/less recoil than an 08.

Jim, Wmart counts, but yes, never expect them to stock 260 at the current low demand levels.

No doubt Midway is not 'the barometer' of demand, but they do offer alot of choices, and I used it to id how many current viable choices are on the market currently, in 260 and 708.


santeerangerman - I reload most all I use but there could come a day where I don't, or those who inherit my guns...may shoot factory only. BTW, tell me about the 250 - had a hankering for one for many years now

Thanks guys.

A guy wanting easy ammo from Walmart is likely to buy his rifle, probably on sale, there too. That is an indication of the sum total of his interest and\or effort in this activity. Some here may have been that guy at one time- but few on this sight still are.

You're totally wrong there. Maybe most of the guys who buy from Walmart would fit that description but far from all. I buy alot of ammo from Wal-Mart myself and own a few rifles and shotguns from there as well. I know several other guys who buy most of their ammo and guns from Wally who are avid and very successful hunters. My hunting partner of 35 years is one and he's a deer killing machine.

I bought a couple dozen Remington 700 ADLs from Wal-Mart when they were being closed out for $300 to $325. Couldn't beat the price. I also buy Federal CF ammo to check the zero of rifles that I've bore-sighted. Most of my customers are casual hunters who buy on price and Federal ammo is almost always less expensive than Remington or Winchester.

JEff

Hear what you are saying- but no one is really going to go looking for a 260 Rem there for example. It is THE place for the casual hunter who can get all his needs met. Loonies will be where reloading supplies can be found and will be checking wider selection of optics, knives, and gear. Just the idea of having Walmart bore sight my rifle... shudder. You are right, you can get some good buys there (as evidenced by the ADL - sweet deals for ya- nice pick up). To be fair they have a few exclusive items. I bought a Beretta semi auto shotgun there- a cheaper version of the 391. They had a laminated 270 model 700 I really liked but could only find in there stores. Used to have an on-line catalog they didn't talk much about but you could find and order all sorts of things they would never stock. Like just about any Remington or Browning and you would not pay shipping.

Wal-Mart is all about commodity goods, basic stuff that a broad spectrum of consumers want to buy based on price before quality.

Less expensive CF rifles chambered in 223, 22-250, 243, 270, 30-30, 308, 30-06, 7mm Rem Mag, and 300 Win Mag are commodity goods for hunters and Wal-Mart can buy in such large quantities that they can often sell these goods at retail for less $$ than the small dealer can buy at wholesale.

JEff

Had been looking for a 6.5X55SE, but found this:

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=240822906

The ballistics are very close. The ammo is more expensive. But it looks like there are many different cartridges available; that they mostly run in the 120-140 grain bullet weight does not seem like a drawback, to me. And it doesn't bother me that I might not find ammo at the local hardware store--keeping a ready supply only makes sense.

Pal- buy it. Awesome rig. Prefer the 260 a smidge anyhow. you hae thr right thought. Do you reload? It is a great hobby and makes any rifle chambering easily workable.

Yeah, I bought it--pick it up tomorrow. Have a Leupold 3-9X40 VX-II on the way. Rifle came w/ factory rings. No longer have any reloading gear, so I'll be trying some factory loads. Figured this would be OK for most everything up to deer-sized game.

Good buy, had that SAME gun, IMR4350, FC 308 and 7/08 brass, BOTH, would put 3 shots into a little over an inch at 200 yds, the FIRST two shots went into the same hole, Two consecutive groups, using 130 accubonds. Used a 6.5-20x Leupold.

I was surprised, and happy You did good and will enjoy that Sako.

Congrats PAL, congrats. Lucky man. I will recommend the Remington Accutips for testing as they were impossible to beat with handloads in my Browning. Can't beat one hole (promise not exaggerating). Hornady SST bullets if I recall. 260 -best round ever created. If you need help find ammo- pm me.

Reviews on the 120 TSX via Federal and another brand say the same...one hole groups. Also, I'd expect the 130 Berger loads that are being put out would also be very good - many deer/hog hunters report DRT kills fwiw. Just wanted to throw some others in the mix.

Not exactly "One hole" but I ain't complaining... Federal Premium, 120 grn TSX. And from a Kimber of all things!!!

Must have been a gust of wind, looks like a one holer to me

Congrats, you have a sweet Kimber!

Think about it this way, your POI will be w/in 1/4" in any direction from where your POA is....What's to complain about that?

That dog will hunt!