Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters New barrel

Well, my .264, 1 in 9", factory contour Lilja barrel for my Kimber .260 has been shipped. I have a good gunsmith lined up for chambering and installation. This will be a pure deer hunting and coyote rig. The question.....260 again or 6.5 Creedmore? An ecological principle is when two species occupy the same niche, one will survive and one will become extinct. I think the same might apply to these two calibers. So, my question is, assuming one will survive the next decade, which will it be? Or will both be around, albeit as cult calibers?

Were it me - I'd go Creedmoor. Simply because I like the versatility it offers for the 140's and I believe it's going to stick.

Hornady is making match quality ammo for it at a good price.

Big +1 on the Creedmoor.

What bullet weights are you planning to shoot?

If only up to 130 grains, I'd say that there isn't any meaningful difference between the 260 and 6.5 Creedmoor. If over 130 grains, thinking 129 grain Hornady and 130 grain AB, the 6.5 Creedmoor allows for more COAL flexibility with heavier/longer/higher BC bullets.

I mostly shoot 95 grain VMax, 100 grain BTs and Partitions, 120 grain BTs, 129 grain Hornadys, 130 grain ABs, and 140 grain Partitions in my 260s. Of those, mostly 100 grain Partitions at deer.

Based on the limited number of rifles being cataloged in 6.5 Creedmoor, it doesn't appear to have taken off like a rocket. I wonder how it compares to the 260's first couple of years, 1997 - 2000? Hornady has certainly done an exponentially better job with its selection of factory ammo than Remington did when they introduced the 260. I'm still convinced that somebody at Remington purposely threw a wrench into the 260's launch, 'cause it is hard to believe that they could have purposely screwed up the launch as badly as they did.

Jeff

PS - Will a 1-9" ROT barrel spin the longer/heavier/higher BC bullets fast enough?

1-8 and Creedmoor all the way

I'd go Creedmoor--and probably 1-8 as well.

Though I shot a 6.5-06 with a 1-9 barrel for several years and never had any problem stabilizing 140 VLD's, even around zero F., probably due to never shooting it below 4000 feet above sea level.

A little more twist doesn't hurt, though.

Agree.... 1-8 Creed

I went 260.

1-8......

I went 6.5x47 Lapua, in an 8 Twist

Too late for 8, the 9 has shipped.

120 Sierras, 129 Hornadys, 140 of both should be fine. Once you get those sorted out, start playing with the longer stuff. But those three will kill stuff just fine, and there's no problem over the distances the majority of us shoot.

Thanks for the input. JB had already schooled me on many advantages of the Crredmoor, and I'm intrigued. On the .260 side, I have quite a lot of new brass (not an inconsequential thing these days) and dies. But, I'm thinking....

I ordered 1 in 9", and think that will be fine for my use. My old 1 in 9" shot well with 140 grain hunting bullets, and that is as heavy as I plan to use. My favorite is the 129 grain Hornaday, does very well on eastern MT deer. But which shape powder bottle?

Delivered the rifle and barrel blank to a good gunsmith. After a little discussion, I'm going with a .260 Rem, 23", bead blasted finish on the stainless Lilja barrel. I stuck with the .260 due to the fact that I have quite a bit of brass already, as well as dies. I'm excited; this will be the first aftermarket barrel I've ever had installed on a rifle. The factory Kimber barrel treated me pretty well for 2400-2500 rounds (per my reloading records). The original would probably still be fine, but there was one day at a prairie dog town....
It will now be a dedicated deer, and occasionally coyote, rifle. Probably won't put 60 rounds through in a short time like I did that day

Nice. Let us know how it turns out.

130's only then.......9 twist won't stabilize the heavies in colder temps and higher elevations....and that's not a big deal, as 130's out rock 140's in that case capacity.

Try 130gr JLK's.

The 6.5X55 makes them both redundant.

In a short action?

Yes, a Kimber 84M, wood stock. The factory barrel was also 1 in 9, and loved flat base 140s (Remington factory, Speer Hot Cor, and Sierras), so I think unless I wanted to shoot the VLD profile bullets, I'll be fine. And I mostly shoot 129 Hornadys anymore. I agree, the 6.5 x 55 and .260 are redundant....but I'm sure a deer hit with one would be able to tell the difference .

Sound like a nice rifle in the works 300, good luck. My comment on the short action was more along the lines of, a 6.5 X 55 may not work very well in a short action.

Rifle Ecology. Now that is a text book I'd like to read!