Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles GAP .308 VS. GAP .260....Shootout!

I'll bet I've received 30 PM's in the past year about these two rifles. This question comes up a lot, "As your go to rifle, which would you grab, the .308 or the .260?" I thought it was time to do a real world head to head comparison. I have quite a bit of field time with the .308, with numerous big game kills and 800+ coyote kills. Last fall, all of my big game hunting was done with this lightweight GA Precision built .260. I also have a heavier .260 that I've used to take 231 coyotes with.

The two are almost identical, other than the .308 is based off a Remington short action and the .260 is a Templar(Defiance)short action. Both have Rock #3 barrels at 24". The .260 is a 1-9", the .308 is 1-11". Both are 5R. Both are stocked with Mcmillan Hunters EDGE stocks. Both rifles utilize Badger M5 bottom metal and use detactable AI mags. Both rifles sport Jewell triggers. I'm running S&B 10X42 PMII's, mil/mil, mounted in Talley LW low 30mm rings, attached with 8X40 fasteners(Remington receiver was modified for this upgrade). There is a slight difference in weight as the Templar action has a bit more steel in it(thicker in the rear section of the receiver), and the .308 barrel has a bit less steel per larger bore diameter. The .308 weighs 6 ounces less than the .260. The Templar bolt is one piece contruction and is lightly spiral fluted, The Remington handle is soldered on. The Templar extractor is an M16 style. Both rifles have "tactical" bolt handles.

The loads have been worked up and tested for both rifles and are as follows:

.308(green rifle)
155gr Lapua scenar
Lapua brass
45.5grs Varget
Wolf(Tula)LRM primer
2.810" coal
2950fps.

.260(black rifle)
130gr Berger Hunting VLD
Lapua brass
44.2grs H4350
Wolf(Tula)LRM primer
2.810" coal
3000fps.

Both rifles have proven to be sub .5" at 100 meters with the above loads.



In the next few weeks I'll be putting these rifles up against each other in the field under many different conditions. It won't be a ballistics calculator comparison....we're all guilty of too much "paper ballistics" at times, myself included. This will be more of a practical difference comparison for hunting big game animals. All of the shooting will be from field positions without the use of a bench.