Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game 260 Rem questions

Well, just to stir the 6.5mm pot a bit, lets say I want to build a 260 bolt gun.

Assuming a nice slick aftermarket barrel from a reputable maker, is 22" enough barrel length for the 260? I'm only interested in target and deer hunting loads, so I don't need to push varmint bullets up to Mach 4 or anything like that. But I would want good downrange ballistics for 140 grainers at mule deer ranges.

In case the ammo and brass manufacturers bail out on the 260, is 500 cases enough of a stockpile? Lets assume this rifle will be my primary centerfire, and at least half of the total rounds fired will be a light target load (100-110 grains at some lower velocity like 2500-2700 fps). With neck resizing, can I assume an average case life of 10 rounds? Seems like that would provide more than two barrel lifetimes, by which time we'll all be using lasers or lightsabers.

I believe 22" will give you what want and easily,but accuracy is more important than a coupla extra fps. Your mention of a good tube and assuming quality installation,would make both(Ooomph and accuracy) a given.

500 pcs of brass is a whole damn bunch for a single barrel and case life hinges upon operating pressure levels. Assuming you heed sane operating pressures,you'll get the case life you mention easily.

The 260 really is a versatile cartridge,that is beyond dispute............

Evening COUCHTATER >> I also subscribe to the thinking of having a good inventory for those cartridges whose brass is a bit tough to come by but your need for 500 .260 Rem. cases might be just a tad over blown. As long as the .308 Win. is with us (and I'm sure it will be here for a while longer), you'll always have the platform needed to size down to your .260 Rem. case. Just a thought. Good luck to ya. >> klallen

klallen,just wondering if you'v got that 7mm Ultra up and running and how do you like it?
Jeff

Morning Jeff >> I did finally get the Laredo back a couple weeks ago. Good ole MT weather has yet to allow me my first range session with it though. Had to go out back and shoot a couple shots through it just to see how the Holland muzzle brake works (1st rifle I've ever had with a brake). I think I'm gonna enjoy using a 7mm RUM that recoils less than my .243 ;o) .

If the fog burns off, I'll be looking to get my first loads under its belt this weekend. Hopefully. Take care. >> klallen

You can still get over 1000 lbs of energy at 500 yards. Not a huge thumper but, it'll do just fine. It holds up pretty darn well as a deer cartridge. If your not interested in long range elk, I say go for it. Ya my 300 Win is a better long range rifle, but that 260 is sweet handling and a real shooter.

'Tater,

I fired a few rounds of .260 this morning, trying some 95 grain V-Max and 129 grain SST Hornady projectiles. My Remington Model 700 has a 22" barrel and the chrony said that the SSTs were going 2,920 when they passed through the screens. The V-Maxs were going a bit faster, 3,160, but the SD between the ten (10) round flights was more than I'd like, so I'm going to play with it some more.

Charles Newton felt that a 130 grain bullet was "optimal" for his .256 cartridge and the .260 is, for all practical purposes, a short version of the .256. The point being that a 140 grain projectile might be a little heavy, a 120 grain projectile might be a little light, but a 129 grain projectile might be just right!

You don't need to go to an after-market barrel if you pick a Remington Model 700 Mountain Rifle and get the luck of the draw on your side. Each of the factory chambered .260 rifles that I have purchased have all been very accurate as they came from the factory. An early Remington Model 7 SS is the most accurate, untuned, factory rifle that I have ever owned and a Savage Model 11 was a close second. The Remington is still available, but Savage has dropped the .260.

I always buy one hundred (100) new cases for each of my rifles and use them until they need to be replaced. Five hundred (500) would be far too many, particularly still they are so easy to make from .243 brass. I favor Winchester over Remington brass (because Jack O'C did, that's why), so most of my .260 brass is Winchester .243 brass that has been necked up.

Sincerely,

Bearrr264

Bearrr264, wondered when you were going to horn in, appears you seem to have a mild enthusiasm for the 260. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

No intentions on pestering elk with the proposed rifle, I should have posted this in Custom Rifles but brainfarted somehow and it wound up here. No Remingtons for me, I'm boycotting them for at least 10 years due to that whole malfunctioning safety thing. I was interested in a Savage short-action, but of course they dropped 260 from their chamberings. After reading up on all the stuff that needs to be fixed on current production rifles, and thinking about rifle weight and balance, I'm strongly leaning towards a custom job based on the Montana short-action. Thus, I want to get exactly the barrel length and taper I want. No sense paying $500+ for a "donor rifle", tossing the barrel and stock, then getting all the factory flaws gunsmithed, when I can get a supposedly nice out of box Montana action for less $$. If I do go with a factory rifle for an action donor, I'd go with a Savage since I sure like that tang safety.

Seems like one nice thing about the 6.5 is that one can get great spitzers in 120, 130, and 140 grains, so that odds are good there will be a low-recoil 300 yard deer load that the rifle likes. Lotta good 140 grain bullets around, so I just assumed that would be the optimum, but as always I should let the rifle decide.

Bearr,

FYI, in Hodgdon's Annual Manual they show 43.5g of BenchMark pushing the 95g Hornady V-Max at 3,391fps (24" barrel). Only other powder listed over 3,300 fps is H414.

Did you have to seat the 129g SST deep in the case to fit in you 2.8" magazine?

HogWild

I think 22" is for sure adequate, 20" would be as short as I'd go, and, depending on the type of rifle (mtn. rifle vs. beanfield), I'd go as long as 26". For a lighter deer rifle, 22" would be plenty.

140 gr. bullets should be able to do 2750 fps out of a 22" tube. 2950 fps for 120 gr.

In my 260 Rem, a 22" M700, I've yet to try to push the envelope. My deer load was a 140 gr. Partition @ 2630 fps, and it kills 'em dead. Fastest fps for a 140 gr. bullet so far is 2715 fps (50.0 grs. RL25). 120 gr. @ 2775 fps (39.0 grs. Varget or 48.5 grs. H4831sc).

More experimenting this summer <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />