Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Limits of the .260 rem on big game?

Thanks again guys for all the feedback. Nice to have comments from guys with hands-on experience. Thanks again!

I figure if Greg Rodriquez's kids can pop some serious African plains game such as Zebra and Kudu with a 16-1/2" 260 Rem using 120 TTSX's, we can do like wise on elk.

I also think Denton is spot-on. Match the max distance to the terminal velocity your bullet needs to successfully expand.

Alan

Kind of goes to my point about the 6.5 bullets allowing the Swede and 260 to get the most out of the powder charges. Too many people look at the paper ballistics and fail to account for the over 100 yrs of proven success that the 6.5s have achieved all over the world on all sizes of game.

Since I know the 250-3000 was a serious critter gitter in the day, the 260 must be whoompin serious. I wouldn't hesitate to hunt large stuff like moose and maybe black bear with it.

Ruger 260 Compact, moly'd 140 AB, Ramshot Hunter, 2625 fps muzzle velocity...

My wife is a killer, what else can I say?

I explained it all over here ->

260 vs. 308

I use the 260 a lot. While it is not a cannon, it will produce some lethal results even out to 400 yds with no problems.

If elk hunting with a 260 and a 125 grain partition, I would not feel undergunned if I was shooting at an Elk at 400 yds.

I have confidence in the bullet doing its job at that distance.
the only other factor is Seafire's bullet placement at that distance.

If the shot failed, I'd have to blame my bullet placement.+
I shot an elk at 175 yds with a load out of an 06 that was a 30/30 duplication load, with a 165 grain ballistic tip.
The MV was 2250 fps. the 650 lb cow elk, had the bullet penetrate both lungs destroying them, plus the upper half of the liver, plus cutting the esophagus. she made it about 60 yds and collapsed.

a 125 partition would easily do as much if not more damage at that distance.

I think that the limits that you put on the 260 are directly related to the skill of the shooter, the accuracy potential of the rifle, and correctly matching the bullet to the intended target.

If you are a reloader, the 260 is a very useful varmint and non-dangerous game cartridge. If you are not a reloader, there aren't many 260 factory loads available and those that are available are (it appears to me) intended to shooting deer.

I've settled, for the most part, on the following bullets in my 260s:

95 grain VMax for varmints and small deer, anything under 125 lbs.
100 grain BT or Partition, medium game.
120 grain BT, medium game.
129 grain SpirePoint or SST, medium game.
140 grain Partition, medium and larger non-dangerous game.
140 grain AMax, punching paper.

If limited to 1 bullet for all purposes, I'd opt for the 140 grain Partition, however since I'm not, I shoot a lot of 100 grain BTs and 129 grain Hornadys.

Jeff

The only reason to have a 1-8 is to shoot 140 grain VLD target bullets. My 1-9 will shoot everything else- for some reason, it even shoots 130 Norma target bullets. 1-8 would not be ideal for the lighter bullets though.

I have killed elk to 350 yds with a 260 using 140 grain slam (factory ammo). Complete pass through on both shots too.

I've also seen factory guns with 1-in-9 twist barrels that wouldn't even shoot 130s well at all. 1-in-8 works well with everything.

Wish W.D.M. Bell would chime in on this one.

IMO it will do elk at 500 if you can. It will put down 300lb mulie bucks at 520yds with ease.

I've been on the 7-08 wagon along time. I totally dig my 260 mtn rifle. I need a couple years to see if it can truimp the 7-08 on big bucks! I'm thinking it will.

MattMan, you are making me miss our Compact .260 darn it.

Doc-personally I feel that the 260 is one incredibly capable round and would have absolutely no issues using it on elk to 400 and under the right conditions quite a bit further than that.

Someone mentioned having an 06 around. To this it's my personaly opinion that in order for the 06 to penetrate more than the 260 would with a good 140 the 06 would have to use the 200. I feel that the 140 out of the 260 will penetrate just as far as a 180 out of an 06.

Comments to the sort of it'd be ok to 300 and under and such really crack me up...

Dober

Dober

Hey, I have seen 140's from the .260 bounce off animals and drop to ground unexpanded at 301 yards....

Beyond 300, the 260 has similar trajectory to the 45/70 as well.

I think that the OP's question is subjective to the hunter. For me, I'd feel comfortable shooting at elk to 250 or 300 yards with the cartridge. I'd push it out to maybe 350 for deer.

What a minute, that's as far as I shoot at those animals with any caliber!

[quote=Mule Deer]Hey, I have seen 140's from the .260 bounce off animals and drop to ground unexpanded at 301 yards.... [/quote

not to knock our resident DEAN here, on the contrary, I have witnessed the 260 with a 100 grain Ballistic Tip, drop a deer at roughly 300 yds, several times..DRT..

and I witnessed it thru the Leupold scope on top of my 260 Ruger, with the scope set on 4 power.. even with an MV of 3350 fps, the round had light enough recoil that I didn't lose sight picture..

both times I did this, I had the luxury of a solid rest, off the hood of a pickup, and the deer were not aware that I had seen them as they were walking thru a thinned out forest, with just enough brush to think they were safe the first time

the second time it was in open country, with the deer just being cautious.. I had seen in an open area, while driving my 4 Runner, got out on the driver side, they were on the passenger side of vehicle..

pulled out the rifle from the case, got a solid rest, picked my target, and bang flop.

funny, the one deer I had to track that had a solid hit from a 260 was shot with a 100 grain partition, went thru both lungs and still made it a 100 yds thru the woods..and this was shot within a 100 yds or less.. and it was not a very big deer at all..small buck taken last day of the season, about 3 PM... it hung in the butchers shop a hair over 45lbs after having the head and cape taken off..

Yeah, I shot Bambi!

That is too funny

Extreme limit? Well, I dunno...Eskimos have been known to shoot polar bears with .222 Remingtons, .22 Hornets, and such. So if you step up to the relative cannon that the .260 is, I should think...Cape Buffalo??

Seafire,

I guess my post about 301 yards was just a little too subtly ironic.