I'm going to be doing a .260 Ackley and trying to figure out how to get away from a $200 set of dies. Could I use a Lee neck sizer and have the seater die reemed out for the ackley shoulder?

Is there a better way?

I say just buck up and do it right from the start. It may hurt a little now, but I doubt you will ever regret it.

Jess

I hear ya, but I am having a hard time swallowing the $600 PacNor barrel along with the expensive dies. What about having Pacnor open up a standard RCBS die set with their reamer?

Perhaps a 7mm-08 AI bushing die with a smaller bushing? Would have to check pricing to see if that would save you anything though...

John

Check with Redding. I heard a rumor that they might be making 260 REM ACKLEY dies as standard production items for 2010.

I bought a standard 260 Rem. Redding micrometer seater die, and blank sleeve and had my gunsmith run the 260 A.I. chamber reamer in the blank and install it in seater die. For the resizer, I just ordered a Redding 260 A.I. resizing die. Total cost about 130 dollars. That was 5 years ago.

Papa260

That won't work. For starters it would open the neck of the sizer to chamber diameter. That would leave you kind of short on neck tension.

Won't work anyway... Dies are hardened after reaming. Which makes them so hard that standard reamers won't cut them.

The 7mm-08 bushing die is the best idea.... If you would happen to have an RCBS Comp. seater, or a Vickerman seater, that would solve the seating problem.

Grasshopper

Please note I said "for starters" in my full post.

Your best bet is to totally luck into a set for sale for $45 like I did.

I"ve always thought... if you are going to the trouble of doing a new barrel and a wildcat so to speak, you bit off eveyrthing and if thats a 200 buck set of dies, well that was your choice.

That being said 7x08AI and the right neck bushing in an FL neck bushing die from Redding might well be the cheapest route to go, and then you could get another rebarreled in 7x08AI....

Or you get a die blank, have them ream it with the reamer and use neck bushings... Carstensen is the name of die blanks that comes to mind, I may be off there though. Its been a bit of time since I used one.

All good suggestions and I too (looking back) should have gone the 7-08 route, live and learn,
But maybe I can help with the seater, what I did is order up a Forster Br seating die with the sliding collar, this collar isn't hardened but just regular machinable stainless I had the Smith Chamber it with the same reamer he used on the barrel and bingo there's your seater. He charged me a few bucks to set it up in the lathe but thats fine wouldn't want him doing it for free.

Great Caliber Choice you'll have lots of fun.

260 Seater

As I understand it, you can use standard plain-jane Lee Collett Dies on an AI case to size them. That would be your cheapest and best option. The Collett dies work great for everything else.

I have not done the AI thing myself, so ask around.

I am using a 7mm08 Lee collett die on my 7mm08 improved and it works great. I was told about doing that here some time ago. miles

Mathman: Noted! I was merely elaborating on your post. No offense meant...

GH

The Lee collet die for the standard cartridge will work fine, as it says on their website.

I use their standard Bob die on my 257 AI brass and have had no issues whatsoever.

Furthermore, I have 30-06 I've been collet-neck-sizing only for 10 years, many more than 10x, and never have had to run through a FLS die at all.

Buy Hornady's excellent seater die for 6.5 calibers and you're good to go.

"Buy Hornady's excellent seater die for 6.5 calibers and you're good to go."

OK looking around and can't figure out which die you are talking about. Link?

http://www.midwayusa.com/viewproduct/?productnumber=189769

Skip the AI on the .260 case. It's not worth the hassle according to Terry Cross who abandoned 260AI for the standard version.

No matter how much of an advantage you may or may not have velocity-wise, the "cool factor" and case life are two reasons not to skip the AI'd version...

After reading the original posters posts on various threads, I have come to the conclusion that he does NOT know WHAT he wants... How can one expect someone else to tell them what THEY want?

The only reason to build a .260 REm AI is to achieve a 6.5x55 in a SHORT action. If one is using a medium or long action, one might better be served by a 6.5x55. The advantages is many differnt choices of brass, standard production dies. No need to fireform brass, et.al!

Redding dies (top of the line quality) are available from Grafs for 121.99. (A fair bit less than $200) A Lee collet sizer and a quality seating die will be near half that. Why not do it right the 1st time? If one is going to build a wildcat, one should not complain about the price of dies...

I own a .260 AI, as well as a couple of standard .260's and numerous 6.5x55's. I am very pleased with my .260 AI, but not because of it's perfomance, but because of who I purchased it from.... ( a very dear friend...) I'd never do another.

Above notwithstanding.... Sometimes one must pee on the electric fence for themselves...

Just idle thoughts from a mostly idle mind.

Don't forget the ever-popular 260 AAR... "all around rifle," that is.

Very cool.

Basically a 6.5x57 AI, 6.5-257 AI, or whatever you want to call it...

Makes PERFECT sense in an intermediate length action. 260 Rem AI in short, and 6.5-280 AI in long.

So let it be written, so let it be done...

"Redding dies (top of the line quality) are available from Grafs for 121.99. (A fair bit less than $200)"

Can't find these anywhere on their site.

Right here:

http://www.grafs.com/product/268901

Seriously... if building a 260 AI on a long action is equal to peeing on an electric fence then call me a freakin' masochist!

Actually, the price is $120.99, I was wrong....

I got that sense as well, and I unloaded on him to an extent I regret. I try real hard to avoid being snippy, but alas, had been in the bottle much of the evening and my even handed demeanor was listing. Most of us have tried oddball and improved cases, and many of us--myself included--learn that they are a lot of effort for not much gain. My counsel would have been to make a .25-284 on a short action or a 6.5-284 on a long action so that you could seat those long missiles out there. They offer a significant performance boost over the .308-based cases, and you wouldn't spend up part of your barrel life fire forming cases. Not to mention the excellent Lapua brass that is available.

But I guess, if he wants to go to more work and perhaps expense, to get less performance and a gun that would be harder to sell, more power to him.

OK! You tell me how it's logical to build a .308 length cartridge on a long action?

The .260 AI has an internal capacity of might near identical to the 6.5x55. Which means same/same velocities at the same/same pressures. If one is looking to increase velocity, then it stands to reason that one must increase capacity or increase pressure. (FWIW; a larger cartridge is the safer of the two...)

Assuming that one is using a long action, then it's logical to go with the 6.5/06, 6.5/06 AI (Or as I did, 6.5x64 Brenneke...) or .264 Win Mag. (Or a host of other wildcats for that matter...)

One can spend a lot of time, effort, and money trying to reinvent the 6.5x55, But in the final analysis, the 6.5x55 has been doing it's job with aplomb for more than 100 years.

I don't know about anyone else, but I always have to do the wrong thing 4 or 5 times before I know what the right things is. Like Jim Croce: "I learn the hard way every time..."

YMMV

Logic? You're trying to read logic into the yearnings of a rifle loony? Good luck there!

I'm with you. I've got a Parker Hale 1200 on its way right now and have been mulling over the same question this guy has, so I understand the thinking... is a Mauser action considered a "standard" length action even though designed for intermediate length cartridges? When a guy has a 257 AI and a 7x57 in the works what the heck could he "need" a 6.5x57 (or 6.5x57 AI/260 AAR) for? If the gent who is selling me the actions says that the 6mm Rem cartridges he has fed through it (he burned out 2 barrels) have gone as slick as a hounds tooth, should I risk going to an '06-length cartridge, much less an '06 w/ an AI shoulder (like 6.5-280 AI)?

I sure wish I'd have had this site to help me when I built my 257 AI; it'd have saved me some serious loot. At least I'm asking myself all the questions before buying components... did a lot of Ebaying of brand new stuff w/ that build. Never again.

BTW- isn't a 6.5x64 Brenneke basically a 6.5-06?

Utah,

No offense taken, Sir. Here is the whole story so that you fellas can feel like I asked your opinion.(snicker)

I had a guy owed me lotsa money and I ended up taking his guns so as not to lose my ass. The whole deal left a bad taste in my mouth and I have never felt so crappy about getting a few new guns. The only rifle I intend to keep is a Remington VSSF II in 22-250. I have a bunch of varmint guns and just bought another Win Coyote in .243 last year, so adding another varmint gun is total redundancy.

I would be looking at a 6.5-284 if I had a long action. Instead I would like to do a .260AI on a short action with a 26" tube shooting a 140 gr Berger over RL 17. From everything I have read, I should (with a little luck) be able to push a 140 at nearly 2,900 fps and maybe faster. Call me crazy, call me stupid but it is what it is, and if worse comes to worse I will just screw the factory bbl back on and call it a day.

Crap! How does a simple question about dies turn into a 7-08 vs. .308 debate? LOL

Back to the dies, are you saying the 6.5 x 55 dies would be the ones to use for a .260AI? Please explain.

I just activated EFW's link and I see that it was not what I thought. Go to Graf's site and under "Product Search"; enter Product # RED80623 That should get you the Redding standard F/L dies for the .260 AI.

It appears that I have unintentionally "muddied" the waters here...

In another thread I noted the reference to a "LR" rifle. "LR" being the generally accepted reference to a "Large Ring" Mauser action... I now realize that is NOT what was meant.

My apologies to all...

Sometimes when one poses a question, one does not elaborate on the background. Often it's hard to understand without knowing the background to one's project. This leads to much confusion. While the original poster has a certain scenario in mind, a reader often envisions a far different scenario.

I think rather than continue to sabotage this thread, I'll just elaborate further in a new thread...

Grasshopper

So, what your saying is, I can go ahead and order a .260AI without being called names?

Nope. You're still a rifle loony .