260 Remington

[270man]

I am currently experimenting with a rifle in 260Rem caliber and wonder if anyone else is trying it out? Remington announced it as a production round a few years ago and all the gun writers did their usual praise articles declaring that it may be the "best deer cartridge yet".

However, things have been pretty quiet of late (regarding the 260) and even it's champion, Jim Carmichael of Outdoor Life, has had nothing new to say about it. Remington initially offered the 260 in their standard model 700BDL line but have since dropped it. They still advertise a 260 in their Model 7 and Model 700 Mountain Rifle versions -- but not in any of their standard model 700s.

You can get a 260 from Kimber but Ruger, who once advertised the 260 in their Model 77 line, doesn't list it for their new Hawkeye rifles. My 260 was built up from a Rem M700 action and has a PacNor barrel.

Any thoughts?

270man

[Ol` Joe]

120 gr Nosler BTs over IMR4007ssc. You`ll love it!

I`ve played with the 260 for ~10 yrs now and wouldn`t be without one. It`s a American "Swede", anything the 6.5x55 will do the 260 will copy in a short action.

BTW Varget or IMR4350 both work well as powders too. I have used the both the 140 & 129 gr SP Hornady/Varget on 1/2 dozen+ deer with very good results. My preferance has been the 129 gr. Last year I carried the 120 BT but the deer didn`t agree with my plans. I`ve no doubt though it will do just as well as the Hornady.

[jplonghunter]

Someone please explain the advantage of 260. 6.5 x 55 is a 6.5 bullet in a 55mm case. 260 is a 6.5 bullet in a 51mm case. How is this better?

jplonghunter

[Adam Helmer]

jplonghunter,

You have put into print my long-time question. I collect military arms and like the 8x57mm, 7x57mm and the 6.5x55mm Swede. I own 4 Swedes and never saw a need to get a .260 for PA deer.

Adam

[Ol` Joe]

Never said one was "better" just that they will do the same thing.
If you have a Swede you don`t need a 260, same as a 7x57 will do anything a 7-08 will. The only real gains are the "08" based cartridges fit short actions if you are worried about that type of thing.

I`ve a couple 260s, I`m also on my 2nd 6.5x55 BBL on a Mark X action and have had 3 other Swedes, a M96, Rem M700 classic and a sporterized M96. I also have had 3, 708s. to be honest every one of them would do darn near exactly the same as the others on deer size game.
All will drive 140 gr bullets to 2800 fps comfortably at equal pressure (reloads are needed to do this with the 6.5x55 and 7x57), penetrate very closely, and shoot just as about as flat. They compare very similarly to the difference between the 280Rem and 284 Win.
I don`t have and never did a 7x57 but the 260 and the Swede cases are within ~4gr of the same water capacity and I`d esimate the 7mm to be very close too. The newer cartridges operate at higher pressure with factory ammo and will do more if you are not a reloader but otherwise they are all great rounds.

[Catfish]

There are so many round on the market that do almost the identical thing, and still we have nut out there wildcatting. You want a rim on yout .308, get a .307. Want a rim on your .22-250 get a .225 Win. Look what happened to the .30-06 case. We now have the .25-06, the .35 Whelen and wildcats on the case from .22 cal. to .411 cal. It was also shortened to the .308 and then variants on that case. If your looking for .30-30 preformance from a rim less case, just get a 7.62 x 39. So are there other rounds that do the same thing as the .260??? yep. Does that mean that there is not a place for it??? nope, it just mean that different peolpe like different thing.

[denton]

The big advantage of the 260 is that you can get "adult" factory ammunition, and there are plenty of published loads that take full advantage of the extra allowed pressure.

With the 6.5x55, you have to handload if you want full performance. You end up either extrapolating from factory loads or putting a strain gauge on your rifle to test your own.

[Brithunter]

Hi All,

Well I have yet to see the real life advantages of the Short action in a bolt action hunting rifle the bolt throw is "How much shorter"? and how long does it take to move the bot that far?

The 260 operates at higher pressure than the 6.5x55 but if you want to use the heavier bullets the bullet intrudes into the powder space so the advantage is lost. same for the 7-08 it uses higher pressure to get to where the original is.

So even the cartridge's home is dropping the 260, cannot say I am surprised, see lots of 6.5x55 Swedish chambered rifles but have never come across the 260 yet. Yeah that's right I have never seen a rifle chambered in 260 Remington to my Knowledge.

Actually I can say the same for the 7-08 although I do know someone who now has a 7-08, in fact two, as they had their old Mannlicher GK's originally in 7x64 re-barreled by Walther to 7-08 after accuracy went south. have not seen the rifles yet but hope to do so before long.

As for American ammo being down loaded, we don't have that problem here as in Europe the manufacturers expect the buyer to know what they are buying and to get the correct ammo for their rifles, same goes for 7x57 and 8x57. I have some RWS 173 grain H-Mantle factory ammo and there is no way I will shoot it through my original DWM M93 Mauser. Common sense says don't do it as the RWS ammo is a hot load and wicked on Deer.

[Rapier]

First let me qualify my response by saying I build rifles and have built well over two dozen 6.5x55 guns and own a dozen or so at this time. I also own five 260 guns at this time, that I have built. I shot silhouette for 25 years and shot on the 101st Abn rifle team.

There is one very real advantage to the 260 over the 6.5x55 and the 7x08 (I also have owned a few 7x08s) The 260 is more accurate than the 6.5x55 and the 7x08 in the finite accuracy stage. It is capable of .10 to .14 inch groups which the 6.5x55 and the 7x08 will not duplicate. There is no reason that I can determine for the 260's accuracy, as compared to the others, but it is what it is.

If you are working with the 260, try H-414. H-414 produces the best accuracy for the highest velocity in the 260. Bullets; there is not much reason to use anything but the 120 Sierra HPBT MK. It kills and punches paper with the best. At 3200, the 120 is supoersonic past 1000 meters. H-414 will deliver 3200 fps in the 260 from most guns if you work at it.

In the AR-10T the 260 with the 120 MK at 3200 fps is a real terror in a military rifle match. I also owned a 10T in 260.

Go study the 260 and the 6.5x06 and the 6.5x284 carefully. You will discover some efficency magic. The 260 will in many instances out perform the two bigger capacity cartridges in velocity, especially with lighter bullets and it will come to within 100 fps of the bigger boys with the 140s. I also own two 6.5x06 guns.

So if you you do not understand, join the crowd. I was going to build a 6.5x284 back years ago, before they were popular, to go with the 6.5x06 guns, but got to looking at the data and decided to build the 260 instead. It was like eating potato chips. My last venture was the 260 XP-100 which is real thumper. It is a crowd pleaser at the range, they applaud when I stop shooting it.

I am a 6.5 kinda guy.
Best,
Ed

[Brithunter]

Strange as my buddy in Missouri recently had two 6.5x284's built one for bench and Hi Power the other for hunting. Both have identical chambers and rounds will chamber in either. Now if the 260 is so superior I wonder why he didn't have a couple of them built?

As it is I see no reason nor need for either moder copies, that is either the 260 or 7-08, I will stick with the oldies. You play with yours it keeps you happy

[Rapier]

You need experiance derived by firsthand knowledge. "I know someone".... simply does not count for much. I am now bored with this and will go back to the Mini-14 I was working on.
Best
Ed

[270man]

Rapier,

Good "wrap-up" comment. My original post wasn't to promote arguments on what is "best". The 260 is here, I have one and so do you. The 260 doesn't fill any missing niche in my rifle battery, but one doesn't really need a reason to try something new. One minor reason I chose the 260 was to reduce recoil for my wife and grandsons in cow elk hunting. I could have chosen a 6.5x55, a 25-06, a 257Roberts, a 250Savage or ?? and any of them would probably be satisfactory.

Just so I don't start any arguments on what is the minimum caliber for elk, I can relate some first-hand experience. As a certified Hunter Education instructor in Arizona, I help the AzGFD with the annual juniors-only elk hunt, and make it a practice to ask a lot of the successful young hunters what caliber they used. The majority of those polled used the 243 Winchester.

270man

[jplonghunter]

Rapier

Curious as to what action you built your (5) 260 guns on.

jplonghunter