.260 Remington

[Legionnaire]

... I might just buy a 260 anyway. Who builds rifles for that cartridge? Are Remington's worth the money? I've never owned one but hear some negative comments about the new ones.

Build one yourself. I'd start with a trued Remington 700 short action. Options include a donor action from an inexpensive used rifle, a new Remington from Northland or Northwest or PTG (expensive), or a custom PTG, Stiller, etc. Or look for a used action on Sniper's Hide, Accurate Shooter, Long Range Hunting, etc. Buy a good "Remage" barrel and barrel nut from McGowen, Northland ... I understand Match Grade Machine is starting to make Remage barrels, too. Build from there. Get exactly the stock and trigger you want. You'll need a few tools, but it's a fun project and you get what you want.

I just finished assembling a .243 Ackley built on a Model 7 action that I had my gunsmith square up. I already had the rifle; cost was about $75 to have him pull the factory barrel, square the receiver and bolt face, and lap the lugs. Barrel is a McGowen. Still looking to get it to the range to see what it will do. I'm waiting to take delivery of another Remage barrel in .260 Ackley. It will go on a trued Remington action I bought second hand. But then, I am a tinkerer (or "rifle looney").

 

[VoodooMountain]

I'm still waiting to see what the military does. If they adopt either the 6.5 CM or the 260 that's what I will buy. I'm hoping it's a 260 because I have a lot of 308 brass I can covert. It looks to be a one step process.

I might just buy a 260 anyway. Who builds rifles for that cartridge? Are Remington's worth the money? I've never owned one but hear some negative comments about the new ones.

Looks like it truly is a dying cartridge. Some new Tikka's and Rugers on GB for under $500.

I thought I read just the other day that the military will be adopting a 6.5 creedmoor in some form or another

 

[Nature Boy]

BTW, Norma makes .260 Rem brass

 

[Legionnaire]

So does Starline ... and Peterson.

 

[eastbank]

.243-7mm08-.308 cases easy to form into .260.

 

[Varminterror]

I prefer to make .260 Rem brass from Lapua Palma brass, gaining access to SRP pockets for brass life. Neck down, expand in Sinclair Mandrel die, turn on 21st Century lathe, be merry.

 

[Legionnaire]

Peterson makes SRP brass in .260 Rem. https://www.grafs.com/retail/catalog/product/productId/76515

 

[Varminterror]

I know a couple guys who are trying out Petersen brass currently. I’m not one of them. Maybe someday I will be, not today.

 

[Nature Boy]

I've read nothing but good reviews regarding Petersen.

 

[Varminterror]

I’m hearing consistency on par with Lapua (no data as to what “consistency” means to the reviewer), and of course, accuracy. What I value as much as anything else in Lapua brass is the durability. I buy Hornady twice to three times before I have to replace Lapua, despite great “consistency” in Hornady brass (brass weight and neck thickness). Aptitude for hardening is another difficult metric to measure without living it - I ran a set of Hornady without annealing in 6 creed as a test, the ES shot through the roof on the 3rd firing. But the consistency out of the box was as good as any batch of Lapua I have ever bought. Same experience I had with Nosler brass - if you baby the brass, it stays happy, if you don’t, it don’t. Lapua pretty much does. I know I can’t blend batches various firings in anything but Lapua, even if I do anneal.

So maybe Petersen brass is great - and it would be great if it is - but I’m rolling my eyes at the “first impression” reviews until I hear guys talking about the batches of Petersen brass they have worn out.

 

[cdb1]

If a person wants a .260 and wants to shoot 140 grain VLD’s then why not get one chambered in a long action? If people do it with 6.5-.284 and others then what’s the big deal?

I read about the 6.5x55 for years, the accuracy and low recoil appealed to me, this was before the 6.5 CM rise to prominence. So I decided I’d get one, start reloading and shoot Berger 140 grain VLD’s. Got the rifle, started reloading and couldn’t get the 140 grainers to shoot. It didn’t like 140 grain GameKings either. So I tried Berger 130 grain Hunting VLD’s and the rifle really liked them, CZ 550 American. It also likes PRVI 139 Grain SP’s. Found out I don’t particularly like reloading but still load for my Swede.

So if you reload I think you can get more velocity with equal accuracy with a 6.5x55 than you can with a .260 or a Creedmoor regardless of bullet weight. Of course I could be wrong.

If I were going to buy a factory bolt action rifle today and didn’t reload it would be a 6.5 Creedmoor due to ammunition choice which leaves the other two in the dust.

In an AR I’d get the Creedmoor too because of ammunition choice. If ammunition choice were equal I’d go .260 because I feel it does feed a little smoother than the 6.5 Creedmoor.

Without the 6.5 Creedmoor I feel the .260 would have ever so slowly grown in popularity, with the advent of the Creedmoor I too believe the .260 is probably dead but doesn’t know it.

I’ll take my 6.5x55 over either, if get another 6.5 caliber rifle it will be 6.5 SAUM. The 6.5 SAUM or a 6.5 WSM is much more appealing to me than the 26 Nosler or 6.5-300 Weatherby Magnum.

 

[mshootnit]

I'm still waiting to see what the military does. If they adopt either the 6.5 CM or the 260 that's what I will buy. I'm hoping it's a 260 because I have a lot of 308 brass I can covert. It looks to be a one step process.

I might just buy a 260 anyway. Who builds rifles for that cartridge? Are Remington's worth the money? I've never owned one but hear some negative comments about the new ones.

Looks like it truly is a dying cartridge. Some new Tikka's and Rugers on GB for under $500.

You see Ruger 260s on GB for under 500? Did I read that right?

 

[mshootnit]

I have both in Tikka XTR rifles 20 inch in the 260 and 24 inch barrel on the 6.5. I am very fond of both as a Reloader. Starline 243 brass is easily made into 260 brass not so expensive. Both of mine are 1-8 twists and shoot great. They both use same bullets so no issue there. Both are very fond of H4350 powder for great groups. I get just a little more velocity at the chronograph from the 260 verses the 6.5 but I am keeping both as long as time will let me. If you reload you would find it hard to make either one of these rifles do a bad group. I wouldn't know about factory ammo because I have never ran any through either rifle.

If I read correctly, you are getting higher velocity out of the 260 with 20" barrel than the 6.5 with 24" barrel?

 

[Captcurt]

I will not be selling my 3 .260,s, I can get close to 3000 fps with the hornady 129 gr sst bullet and close to 2800 fps with the 140 gr sst hornady with a 24" barrel and 1-8 twist. how much better can the 6.5 CM be? for killing big deer-moose or like size animals out past 300 yards I much prefer a 7mm or 30 caliber rifle. and with the lazar range finders of today there is not much guessing about the range, tho larger calibers may drop more they carry more energy out there.

It would be fun to stick some 100gr Patitions in one and crank them about 3300+. Should be interesting on a whitetail or a hog.

 

[FN in MT]

I shoot LR with a couple of guys who have the AI versions of both the .260 Rem and the 6.5 x 55 . Both seem to work quite well.

I went 6.5 x 47 Lapua for my LR rifle. Been happy with the accuracy. Not as much case capacity as the other two but when I built it 4 yrs back the Lapua brass availability was a factor.

 

[cowboy77]

Per the chronograph I'm beating 6.5 by around 155 fps on average. I also was running 260 at over max book load but no issues. The 6.5 is new so I haven't had time to work it up pressure wise. Mid range loads were giving me 5 shot groups under 1/2 inch at 200 yards so I was going to wait until I could stretch it out a lot farther to see. I've been moa at 1000 no problem with the 260 but I've owned it a few years now. As per the post I read earlier about necking down 308 I didn't have much luck at it. Necking 243 up or resizing 7-08 done good. 243 up was my best.

 

[Llama Bob]

Compared to the generally similar 6.5mm Creedmore this ammo is considerably more expensive and seems to be not as popular. Is it slowly on it's way out?

Yup - .260 lost a cartridge war. Right caliber, wrong twist, wrong shoulder, wrong case length vs. OAL, wrong patron manufacturer.

 

[blue32]

I made the 260 my everything blasting / hunting rifle. I wanted something that could take every game in my state, excel at target shooting, tolerable recoil, and be relatively cheap to reload. Don't own a 308, 30-06, 30-30, or any magnums (never have for that matter). It's definitely the unpopular choice when faced against the Creedmoor but I've been able to develop an 85 gr varmint load, 123 and 140 gr target loads, 129 deer load, and 160 gr black bear load. The only thing stumping me at this point is cast.

It will likely die off will all of the 6.5mm competition but I cant deny the versatility of the round and will not part with it.

 

[kwg020]

.243-7mm08-.308 cases easy to form into .260.

This. During the shortage 4 years ago I made .243 brass from 7.62 NATO brass. Easy peasy. If you reload there is no reason to be without .260 brass. Maybe some cheap rifles will be coming up for sale in the near future.
kwg

 

[cowboy77]

I would buy another Tikka in a hunting rifle in 260 now if funds were available. I have both in bench rifles but would love to drive the 143eldx into one of our bears or deer.

 

[cdb1]

Don’t necessarily agree with his assertion that:

”If you must have a short action rifle, the .260 Remington is probably the way to go. If the brand of rifle you prefer is not offered in .260, but is chambered for 6.5mm Creedmoor, it is almost as good”.

Okay I don’t agree with it.
But it is a good read IMO and I agree with most of it.

https://www.chuckhawks.com/6-5mm_overnight_success.html