had back surgery last week and ive got two choices for hunting season, use a 223 or reduced loads for my 260......game is speed goats and mule deer, just need good to 100-150 yards with as lil recoil as possible..... bullet and powder recommendations needed......

Hodgdon has reduced load info using H4895 and Trail Boss.
Rem. has the Managed Recoil ammo in 260.

100gr Nosler B-tip. Possibly Hornady 100gr sp.

Maybe send a PM to Seafire for blue dot info.

I have it somewhere but I haven't loaded any so can't say what the recoil is like.

+1 on PMing Seafire, he'll send you the info. I'm using 20 gr. of Blue Dot with 100 gr. Ballistic Tips - bug hole groups with my Ruger M77 and MGM Encore barrel, very low recoil and muzzle blast.

What kind of velocity selmer?

100 Partition over 30 grains 4198

Aww that Seafire Character again...whoever he is..some nobody from out in Oregon I hear...

Well Rattler,

first let's hope your recovery goes quickly and painlessly as possible..

for light recoil that will still perform well on antelope and deer, I am going to recommend the 100 grain Ballistic Tip first, the Hornady 100 grain SP second and the Sierra 100 grain HP third...the Sierra 85 grain HP and the 90 grain Speer a tied fifth..

If you desire to use Blue Dot, I am going to recommend charges anywhere between the following with the following bullets.. this is tested out of a Ruger 77 Mk 2..

85 grain Sierra HP:

16 grains : 2254 fps
17 grains: 2381 fps
18 grains: 2467 fps
19 grain: 2558 fps
20 grains: 2646 fps

this bullet will work fine at the 100 to 150 yds you made a request for..

I am not a fan of the 95 grain V Max.. however I know folks who do use it with success...
16 grains: 2162 fps
17 grains: 2242 fps
18 grains: 2365 fps
19 grains: 2470 fps
20 grains: 2574 fps

the 100 grain bullets:

17 grains: 2213 fps
18 grains: 2310 fps
19 grains: 2397 fps
20 grains: 2453 fps
21 grains: 2548 fps

as mentioned by Dakota Deer, a 30 grain load with a 100 or 120 grain ballistic tip with any of the following powders is also something I load frequently for myself... it is more than adequate to do the job when I am hunting in an area where my shots are well under 200 yds..
30 grains of any of the following: IMR 4198, RL 7, H 322, RL 10

or 20 to 25 grains of SR 4759 also...

if you use Blue Dot it is the responsibility of the handload to make sure they don't do a double charge.. with lighter charges it is possible..

I recommend charging a case and then seat the bullet before going onto the next one..

all the above will be very accurate in a 260 and the bullets will more than adequately perform at the velocities given..

Recoil will seem in the 222-223 range...in a similar sized rifle...

best of luck and feel free to drop me a PM if I can be of any more assistance..

One load I've seen work is the Hornady 100gr with 36.0gr IMR4064. When my son was 8 he popped a 115lb doe at about 25 feet. Broke both shoulder bones low and exited. This with a Model 7 stainless 20" barrel. Probably 2700 fps or so. I've shot bowling pins at 100 yds with this load. Offhand you never lose the sight picture. Recoil is just a bump.

Would u recommended the same loads for the larger spaced 270 case. I have some older hunters in my club who are getting a little recoil sensitive and I would like to maybe give them an option over factory full power loads. I have told them about the reduced recoil loads from rem and federal. I have yet to hear back from them on weather they have tried them yet. This is a unique case. the gentleman I am talking about is blind, so it is harder for him to zone out the recoil when he shoots at a animal. And no worries he has a spotter in the blind with him. We would not let him in a stand with out a working pair of eyes with him. But we campaigned to long for him to let him give up cause he feels to much recoil. He is going to kill another deer before he dies. It has been almost 30 years since he lost his sight.

My MV is right where Seafire's chart says, probably helps that we're both shooting Ruger M77s

Hodgdon says it is safe to reduce H4895 loads down to 60% of the maximum listed for that powder. They warn not to go below 50%.

Personally I would load 100 gr NBT's at the starting load in the books for something like Varget, RL-15, 4064. Velocity should be in the 2800-2900 fps range and recoil should be nil.

The starting loads I have run through my 260 have had very little recoil to me, of course I haven't had back surgery either so YMMV.

Best wishes for a speedy recovery.

Bill

Mauser8x57.....Check the Hornady manual. I don't recall the loads offhand but there are quite a few listed for the .270 that are in the 2600 to 2700 fps range for the 130gr Interlock. That should kill a deer without bouncing him too bad. At those velocities you could probably drop down to a 110gr and kill deer just fine out of a blind. Don't imagine he'll be taking long shots. If don't have access to a manual PM me and I'll quote some low end loads for you. Good luck.

The way he is set up his longest shot might be around 100. I will look through everything I have, including load data.com.

yeah unfortunately, accuracy sucks at best...

I still don't know why they push that powder when they have a lot of other powders that are better for reduced loads.. or reduced velocity/recoil loads..

such as IMR 4198, H 4198, SR 4759, H 322...for starters...

I have always personally thought they push it, as the load data they have was give to them by ADI....

H 4895 is great for making a gun go bank.. but for reduced loads.. accuracy stinks ( hit and miss at best) contains a VERY loud BOOM to it ( which can frighten young and new shooters)...

Not trying to dispute RON here, but I have tested it extensively to just try to get the results Hodgdon claims.. it has never been achievable for accuracy..

Yes, 4895 is an odd duck for reduced loads.

4198 can go down a long way without any problem, if one wants to reduce even further.

Trail Boss is probably the safest to work with concerning the double-loading issue. Not really much for higher velocities though.

4198 was used extensively for reduced loads in the older Speer manuals as well as 4759. I have not looked at a newer Speer manual, the one I have was purchased in 1979.

Do they still give reduced loaded for most cartridges?

Rattler, just for a little bit, while you recover, you might want to consider the Remington Managed Recoil 260 load. 140gr bullet at about 2360 fps, and they advertise half the recoil. Their catalog number is RL2601 for that load.

You really do have several workable reduced loads suggested here. If I were doing this, I would consider sticking with the 140 grain bullets, and just push them a bit slower to make a more pleasant load. Even a slower 140 kills like the proverbial hammer.

I've disected a Remington 260 Managed Recoil round or two..

they are loaded with 30 grains of IMR 4198 and a 140 grain Rem Corelokt..

If you handload and want even better accuracy.. load 30 grains of RL 7 instead..

The 120 grain Ballistic tip is still the best bullet for that lower velocity..30 grains of either powder and the 120 BTip will give you an MV of approximately 2450 to 2500 fps..

I'm wanting a reduced recoil load for my 260AI that doubles as a fireform/plinking load.......so I want pressure 50,000 psi or more to form the shoulder of the AI cartridge. Hoping my daughters can use this as a hunting load.

I have a box of the 123g SST that Hornady makes for the Grendel. Per Hornandy, these are made to perform at the slower speeds of the Grendel so shouldn't be pushed over 2,700 fps.

So I'm thinking 36.0g of Varget with the 123g SST for roughly 2,700 fps MV and, per Hodgdon, 50,300 PSI. Another plus for this load is that on 125g and 120g bullets, Nosler shows 35.5g and 36.0g (starting load for 120g and mid load for 125g) as the most accurate charge with this powder and both are at similar velocities.

Thoughts, or an alternative suggestion? Another powder that might work well is IMR-3031. Hodgdon shows a max load of 34.0g getting 2,720 fps at 57,600 psi.

Been playing with a new 260 lately with 123 Amax in a 24" tube.

I started at 38 grains of both Varget and R-15.

Varget gave me 2785.

R-15 gave me 2725.

Accuracy didn't show up till 40 grains with either.....

6 year old thread, but still valid.....

I've had good luck with IMR 4895 in 308 with good accuracy, but dropping all the way down to 60% seems too low. Within reason 4895 seems ok.

I use cast data, and estimate charge weight to keep pressure above 40k on the low end. That seems more reasonable to me to get a complete burn and recoil is very soft at that level. Closer to 80%. 60% may be safe but I think it's better to use a faster powder as suggested.

For consistency, you want enough powder in the case so the primer can find it.

I know guys that use a case full of 4831 behind cast bullets to keep velocity low enough to prevent leading. Pressure and recoil is low and ignition is not an issue.

Read about reduced loads Hogdon reload center. You can take the max load of H 4895 x .60% to use as a starting load. You can the velocity for that max loadx60% and be very close. I load 243 and 270's for grandkids. I would be great for 260's also. I would use a 140 ballistic tip. Granddaughter has punched holes through some nice deer plus pigs with her 243, before she took 6.5 Creedmoor away from me. That means I will have to buy another one. The first is a Savage Hunter Predator. Thinking about a Vanguard in 6.5. Shoot em up!

Or just load the 223 with 55 TTSX under a max load and bang-flop your way into no recoil nirvana.

I use the TTSX 62 grainers in my AR. Rips pigs end to end. Broke both shoulders of a 200lb male at 225 yds. Went all the way through. I expect it would kill a 125lb deer easy.

Bringing an old thread back up. Today I shot some loads taken from Seafire's data. I used SR 4759 and 100 grain Sierra HP's.
I used his recommendation of 20 grains to 25 grains. All loads were very mild in my grandsons Ruger M77 Compact.
The report was sharp out of that short 16.5 inch barrel though. Velocities over my Magnatech Chrony were as follows.
20 Grains = 2023 fps
21 Grains = 2094 fps
22 Grains = 2175 fps
23 Grains = 2243 fps
24 Grains = 2312 fps
25 Grains = 2373 fps
None of the loads showed signs of over pressure in my Nosler brass.
I plan to load up 5 with the 25 grain load and see what kind of group I get at 100 yards,

for my daughter's M70 FW 6.5x55mm swede we started out with NBT 100gr & trailboss, as a transition from 223 69gr she had been shooting.

Her rifle didn't seem to like 100gr Partitions that I wanted to use, so we stayed with the NBT 100gr with mild Varget for her 1st deer.

(I was lucky that GunLooney88 had been working through this with his daughter's swede, so his insight helped me sort it out pretty quickly)

Seafire,
In the past when I've tried reduced H4895 accuracy was good but there was a lot of smoke and boom, and I expected recoil to be less.

For H4198 are you using the same 60% formula for reduced loads?

I just realized this is an ancient thread.........sheesh.

Old or not, there are some good insights in this thread.

I think I got my info for my nephew's load from this thread 5 years ago. Settled at 29.5gr of IMR4198 under a 100gr Hornady SP. He killed several with that load before I moved him up to a full power 120gr load last year.

No I am not using the 60% rule with 4198, but it certainly is fine to do so...

At distances I usually hunt at.... which are what I refer to as 30/30 ranges... or sometimes 300 Savage ranges...

that is Muzzle Velocity of between 2200 fps, to 2400 fps... even with a spitzer bullet with your sights adjusted for deer at 3.5 inches at 100 yds, it will be dead on at 200 and will be 3.5 inches low at about 240 yds...which can be made an effective 250 to 300 yd load for deer....

and since 90% of most game is taken at 100 yds or less... and 95% is taken at 200 yds or less.... that pretty much fills most of my personal needs along with a lot of other folks....less recoil, makes hitting your target, and especially more pin point more than more recoil.....

some folks it doesn't matter... but those folks shoot a lot and know how to handle it... but they are in the minority...

I rarely need truly reduced loads for my 308 rifles, but for the reasons you've mentioned I mostly shoot somewhat reduced loads in them. With 165/168 grain bullets I often mimic LC Match ammo at 2550 fps or thereabouts.

Sierra 120gr PH in front of 46.5 grs of H4350. This isn't a reduced load but my daughter has been shooting it since age 12 with no problems with recoil. She's now 20 and still shoots the same load with excellent results on deer.

I’ve used 21.0 grains of BlueDot (gasp!) under a 100-grain Nosler Ballistic Tip for years in my 26” M700 VLS. Accuracy aggs around 1 moa and velocity is 2512 fps. Recoil is never high in the big M700, but is much less than factory level loads. That bullet kills well at that speed, excellent penetration and expansion in medium deer. 19.0 grains is more accurate, but is a bit slow for my hunting ranges.







.

I load 24gr of H4895 with a 100gr BT for 2000fps and 32gr of H4895 with a 100gr PT for 2600fps in the .260 Rem I set up for my daughters.

Shot the 25 grain load today to sight in and check group size.
I ended up with a 6 shot group 1 1/4 inches inside to inside at 100 yards.
I think this little Ruger M77 Compact will do the grandsons well.

Thanks Seafire, good to know!

Well put me in the blue dot fan camp.

Getting a very consistent 2243fps avg. out of an 18.5” barrel rem model 7 with 100gr BTs over 19.1 gr. Going to load up a bunch and take a doe or two with it this year before letting my son shoot it next season. Thanks!

Some great info here

Good info indeed. Should also apply to the 6.5CM with its similar case capacity. Have had good luck with Trailboss and Blue-Dot for the really light loads. An upper-end Blue-Dot load can be a fine killer at reasonable ranges. Then the 4198 loads are another notch higher in performance, as well as the lower-charge 4895 loads.