As in the title I am thinking of building a .260 Remington (low recoil) on a T3 lite action I have. This will be for short range and hunting from a climbing tree stand hunting whitetail deer back east. I see Ruger compact uses a 16.5 inch barrel so I was thinking 18.5 should work for a short range .260.

Any suggestions? Does anyone use a .260 compact.

Personally I'd do a 21" tube, short shank and .6" at the mzl.

Find the 700/300Sav that Steelhead did a bit ago dupe it and you're golden!

Dober

22 inch would be my choice

I've shot a Remington 7 and a Ruger 77 RSI with 18.5" barrels and they were loud, but not as loud as a 260 in an XP-100.

I would focus more on the over-all balance of the barrel, action, stock, scope, mounts combination, rather than specifically on the barrel itself. If you go with a short barrel, you may need something with a magnum contour to have enough weight up front to balance the entire package, if neutral balance is something that appeals to you.

Jeff

I'm a 22" guy as well

22"

As it has already been mentioned, balance is key. I'd not be leery of a 20-21" 260, provided it was built correctly.

Iffen I was to put a 260 together, it'd have a 22"


No, wait, I did and it does......

[img:center]http://[/img]

Nice rig aalf,

I may try 21" in my build but like the feel my hunting partners 20 inch model 7 has.

22" sounds right.

For my purposes when I build mine if I ever get the dang thing built I'll go with 24" but for your purposes a 20" to 22" sounds about right.

If I was building a walk about/stand rifle I think I would go with a 22" mannlicker stocked rifle with a weight of about 7 pounds and high quality peep sights. YMMV.

For noise and all around use, I'd build 21 if I wanted a short carbine and 22-23 for tad better speed and getting blast that much further away from the ears.

That said, for you, I'd sell the Tikka and get the Ruger Compact. Nothing to keep you from putting a ball of rolled up tissue or foam plugs in to cut that blast from any rifle from ringing your ears. It will handle great.

I had a custom Model 7 built in 7mm BR, 21" .700 at muzzle and I never wanted to change anything about it, worked beautifully for me.

Your hunting ranges are short and the small diff in speeds won't affect your outcomes, but the blast is a concern, though it's a trade off for ease of handling. Many guys using XPs w/14.5" IIRC and get great results. Just know up front the blast will be greater as you know to expect.

FWIW I have a bbl on order and it will be 22-23" fluted varmint but I don't plan to climb up trees w/it - it will be a 260 or the 6.5x47 Lapua. I cannot imagine anything handier up a climber though then that Compact. You can always sell or trade it if you don't like it. A thought.

be ahead of the game just buying a ss in 6.5 swede.... if your set on a 260 i will jump in the 22" gang....

I like both my M7 260s. 20" tube. Just wish the barrel had a little more substance to balance it better. Maybe a little thinner than the magnum contour on my 300 SAUM M7.

The only problem that I see with going with the 260 in a T3 is that it is a long action that will have a magazine stop to get it to feed properly. I'd be more apt for the 6.5 Swede over the 260. Better ability to handle larger pills.

I prefer 22" barrels, but a 20" would work as long as it doesn;t throw off the balance.

22" has never been a hindrance for me.

Go 22" by all means, you can always have it shortened if it's much of a hindrance later. The 22"ers are easier on the ears and it won't affect re-sale value like the short tubes can.

MtnHtr

I have an original 18.5" Model 7 in 260. It is definitely loud with that short of barrel, but is also definitely handy too.

I would not build one less than 20" myself in the future, and prefer a lightish contour 22" for most work (unless you're hunting really THICK stuff all the time).

Our 23" barreled 700 balances great and my daughter can shoot it with no fear of muzzle blast. Great little round and she is making great use of it.

22" would be my preference. If going longer I'd go long action and 6.5-06 or 6.5-06AI. (Which is what I did.)

Look, when you are on the bench, you need to be wearing hearing protection.., no matter what length barrel you choose.

Secondly, for hunting, carry, treestand, blinds, and all around handiness a short barrel is unbeatable. So, with that in mind, a 20" barrel is plenty long.

PLEASE DO NOT get caught up in that "longer is faster" mentality. It just doesn't amount to anything in the field.
IF you are tempted to go long for that reason, I would highly recomend that you read up on Mr Charlie Sisk's experiments with a number of cartridges in which he reduced barrel lengths one inch at a time from 27" on down to 20." The payoff is insignificant balistically.
If you want to go short, as in 20" and you need ballance, that is you need more weight forward, than by all means put that weight into a heavier conture instead of extra length.

That 260 will do just as much killing with a 18"-20" barrel length as it would with a 22"-24" barrel length.

Again, let me encourage you to concider checking out Mr. Sisk's experiments.



Scott

I've had my share of 260's...

Go less than 22" and they get blasty IMO, and speed does fall off quite a bit.

When I rebarreled the Montana, I went 23", mostly just to hang another few ounces out there for a little extra shootability.

All that having been said, on the T3, I'd take a serious look at the Swede. Get the LA mag, and bolt stop while you're at the retube job and rock on. With data from Speer in that action, you get an extra 100+ FPS across the board over the 260.

Well, I sure cannot quite agree with you there. Many here are pushing 130s to 3000fps with a 24" barrel. My 18.5" cannot hit much over 2600 with 130s. That definitely makes a difference at longer ranges and is clearly noticeable in the field when it comes to trajectory and wound channels.

I put a 260 Rem, 22" Douglas long chambered barrel on a VZ24 action.
100 gr bullet
Quickload prediction 61,328 psi 3261 fps
chronographs as 3,236 fps
Shoots sub moa

If y'all are worried about muzzleblast while hunting, why not put up an 18-inch barrel with a SureFire 6.8mm or .308 suppressor on it? No worse than a .22 target load in report.

And suppressors are legal in many states...

I have

18.5"
20"
22"
26"

The 22" (mountain rifle) is my #1 hunting rifle. As soon as I have the $$ I'm going to have the 18.5" (Model 7) replaced with another 22"

I don't have a .260 but a do own a 6.5x55 Swede with a 22" barrel and for me it seems about right.

Optimum barrel length has as much--if not more--to do with balance and the aesthetic match with the dimensions of the forend than with mere ballistics. I could see a tiny light gun like a model 7 making sense at 18". But the last one I built was 23" because it looked so much better than anything shorter.

Super T, I had a '96 Swede, 3 actually, 2 sporterized, one 24" the other 21", the short handled better, right at 100 fps slower, 120s running in the 2700 range with IMR4831 FWIW.

DD, agree on LONG shots having a difference, but at most common ranges, good shot placement will suffice even with short bbls IMHO, so long as you are running a decent load so you get good expansion, the real heavies and/or sub standard loads might give some problems past say 300 yds or so w/bullet opening up well. 120 Ballistic tips and other cup/c in that wt. should be fine.

I've run 120 BTips in mine at one point, but also had one nuke on a shoulder knuckle. Not for me cause I do eat it all. They don't fly very flat either in my world when started at 2700, which is why I just went back to the 243 or step up to the 30-06.

If I were going to go back and run the 260, I'd go no less than 22" but would prefer a 24".

DD, I don't shoot over 400 yds, but if I had a load getting 2700 w/120, I'd let lead fly up to 400 on a deer if broadside. Ran #'s, looks like a 200 yd zero at 3,000 MV drops 19.3", if started at 2,700, it drops 19.7" at 375, so basically you lose between 25-30 yds of PBR according to my #s.

Flat is relative to many things, but ALL bullets drop, and it's the shooters responsibility to be prepared to KNOW where the rifle will hit whenever leveling down and about to squeeze.

At 2700 mv, the 120 BT has 1,046 lbs. Plenty. My 6BR using a 105 at 2850 has 1093, and I did kill a deer fine w/it (LRF right at 400 yds), went maybe 20 yds after a double lung hit/exit.

Many bullets will/can blow on a knuckle, esp. at close range.

I agree a longer bbl is preferable, a 23 vs. say a 26 IMO is ideal for handling, maxing powder burn, lowering blast. Smaller the caliber, the longer the tube needs to be all else equal to get the powder burned. 26-30" 6.5s can really p/u some speed if one is needing it for long distances.

Lastly, IIRC, lighter bullets lose more speed than heavies in shorter tubes. If so, then a 129 gr might be a good compromise, if not the 130 Accubond, tad more drop, but heavier hitter downrange, but that variable is determined where/how one hunts.