.260 recomendations

Double four

Well-Known Member
After a couple of years of do i dont i and kicking this thought around i have decided to give the .260 a go, as much as i love my .243 which as served me well as a dual fox/deer rifle i fancy going for a semi custom built on its sako 75 action to do a similar job and the choice of heavier projectiles if needed.
Its already got a decent light crisp trigger and is sat an a new mc millan so im only a barrel and bedding job away.

Question is i want a twist that will accomodate 85 - 130's

Which barrel brand to go for given availability and order time.

im used to shorter barrels ie 20" and would like to keep this rig the same, how does the .260 perform at that length.

And will my a tech cmm4 moderator which is marked 6.5 be ok or do i have to step up to a .30 version.

Any other thoughts or suggestions and reccomendations about this calibre would be much appreciated. DF
 
Border, archer or lothar walther
1 in 8 should do all you ask and should stabilise 140s
Would have thought your mod would be ideal
I know Redmist has done a number of semi customs as you describe. He did my 6.5 on a remmie that is a tack driver. Mine has a Bartlein that was shipped in just before the regs changed
 
I'm heading down the same path, Pacnor 1:8 twist 5# TAC 30 action, MM stock, Jewel Trigger. Shooting up to 140 grn A max.

Barrel work is complete and settled on 22"

Re Barrel availability...any US barrel is going to take a good while unless you are lucky to find a stock item here. (If you find 2 let me know I am looking for another 1)
You could try True-flite, Bergara, Walther.....all much easier to obtain by all accounts, but thats purely based on customer feedback recently.

I spoke to a very well known moderator vendor recently and he advised moving to the 30 cal moderator as most quote "upto" but not including 6.5...again purely verbal, there may be others on here who can shed a little more light on the subject.

The above project did start out as a 6.5 x 47, I bought the reamer and headspace gauge....however when I looked into brass, high end dies etc...I decided the 260 was a better option £ wise
There's some excellent info on the web for the 260....but as with all things human...there are urguments for and against.

If I can be of service please dont hesitate to drop me a PM
 
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Question is i want a twist that will accomodate 85 - 130's

I'd say lightest bullet you like to shoot are the few 95gr options. Or more likely 100gr. 1-8" twist is the way to go, its GTG up to 160gr Woodleigh (flat base).

In my opinion, Lothar Walther isn't particularly competitive concerning quality and price. I'd say go with a domestíc barrel since you have that option in the UK. I've been very satisfied with True-Flite, though.

260 should perform better than 243 with the shortish barrel. I'd stick with the faster side of the powders, to minimize velocity loss, muzzle report and stress to the moderator.
 
Mine is a Sako 75 based job, 22" 1:8 border barrel, 5R.
It was a little fussy to find good loads but worth the effort and knocks stuff over with authority.
120gr pro-hunter will do everything necessary in the UK without fuss, as will the 140gr Gameking.
I couldn't get on with anything between the above two weights; 125gr, 129gr, 130gr etc, all pants.
 
DF,

is it a short action? have you considered a 6.5 hornady creedmoor? I think that's what my 75 .243 will become once the current barrel is done.
 
DF,

is it a short action? have you considered a 6.5 hornady creedmoor? I think that's what my 75 .243 will become once the current barrel is done.

If it's a 75 .243 then it'll be the medium action and the .260 will be fine, as will the creedmor.
The 75 short's bolt face will be too small for any of the .308 win based cartridges.

Curious why'd you'd suggest creedmor? Brass is even more expensive and harder to come by than the .260 for arguably a little academic benefit and even less practical benefit.
 
Just buy the old reliable 6.5x55 its a great round and will shoot the heavy rounds better then a .260 in most cases. Which will be handy in cover or for those bigger reds you have there.
 
Just buy the old reliable 6.5x55 its a great round and will shoot the heavy rounds better then a .260 in most cases. Which will be handy in cover or for those bigger reds you have there.

Funny thing the little Remington Model 7 in 260 REM I bought new when the cartridge first became legitimized back in the late 90's handled EVERY bullet weight I tried in it from 85-160 grains with acceptable deer hunting accuracy or better .
 
After a couple of years of do i dont i and kicking this thought around i have decided to give the .260 a go, as much as i love my .243 which as served me well as a dual fox/deer rifle i fancy going for a semi custom built on its sako 75 action to do a similar job and the choice of heavier projectiles if needed.
Its already got a decent light crisp trigger and is sat an a new mc millan so im only a barrel and bedding job away.

Question is i want a twist that will accomodate 85 - 130's

Which barrel brand to go for given availability and order time.

im used to shorter barrels ie 20" and would like to keep this rig the same, how does the .260 perform at that length.

And will my a tech cmm4 moderator which is marked 6.5 be ok or do i have to step up to a .30 version.

Any other thoughts or suggestions and reccomendations about this calibre would be much appreciated. DF

There's a 260 Rem in my Gallery and it's the evolution of using 260 Rems since '99. If the specification is not clear, please come back to me. I personally wouldn't have a Sako 75 based 260 Rem. I did look long and hard at re-barreling my Sako 75 in 243 to 260 Rem, but rejected the idea eventually. Pick an action that allows you to load rounds up to 3.050 inches long would be my suggestion. I mostly use 129 gr SP for stalking and 140 A-Max and 142 SMKs for practice/range work. I did test some 123 gr A-Max on Saturday for practice/range work. I've not shot any lighter bullets as I seem to favour heavier bullets.

Have fun. JCS
 
There's a 260 Rem in my Gallery and it's the evolution of using 260 Rems since '99. If the specification is not clear, please come back to me. I personally wouldn't have a Sako 75 based 260 Rem. I did look long and hard at re-barreling my Sako 75 in 243 to 260 Rem, but rejected the idea eventually. Pick an action that allows you to load rounds up to 3.050 inches long would be my suggestion. I mostly use 129 gr SP for stalking and 140 A-Max and 142 SMKs for practice/range work. I did test some 123 gr A-Max on Saturday for practice/range work. I've not shot any lighter bullets as I seem to favour heavier bullets.

Have fun. JCS


John,

you're saying 'pick a long action' right?

Peter
 
If it's a 75 .243 then it'll be the medium action and the .260 will be fine, as will the creedmor.
The 75 short's bolt face will be too small for any of the .308 win based cartridges.

Curious why'd you'd suggest creedmor? Brass is even more expensive and harder to come by than the .260 for arguably a little academic benefit and even less practical benefit.

the HCM case is 48.8mm vs the 260 case at 51.7, so I figured you might get more room for seating the bullet further out with a short/medium action.
 
Thanks for the replies gents please keep the coming, I have spent far too much on other projects this year to use another donor rifle so i can only work with the tools i own so short action sako 75 it will have to be.
Not to fussed about the heavier bullets up to 130s would be fine, if i need anything heavier i use the .30 mag.
Really want a rifle not unlike a .243 but with a bit more grunt that can effectively and accuratly shoot up to for foxes and over 100 grainers for deer where i found the limit of my .243's accurate fodder being 95's.
Suppose in an ideal world a 25-06 would be a good choice but like i said would like to keep barrel length at 20" and im stuck with a short action. DF
 
My 260 Rem. has a 22" Bergara barrel,on a M55 tikka action,which i can seat the bullets out to 3.00 if required and give me the best of both worlds.
Also it is becoming my favourite rifle to carry for its balance and weight and stopping power.
 
I think the 260 does struggle for powder room with the heavier longer bullets but they shoot really well all the same,my mate has one and he gets good results out to 1000yds,I've only fired a 3 group with it at 1000yds and they grouped around 6 inches,when all my 30 cal ammo and powder is gone I am going to give the 260 a whirl,seems to be way less recoil too not that it bothers me.
 
Funny thing the little Remington Model 7 in 260 REM I bought new when the cartridge first became legitimized back in the late 90's handled EVERY bullet weight I tried in it from 85-160 grains with acceptable deer hunting accuracy or better .

Thats what i have ! 100grn i found dumped all their energy in fallow without exiting, where the 129grn gives up enough energy and still has enough to exit.
 
John,

you're saying 'pick a long action' right?

Peter
No, I'm just saying be careful what action you pick. I have a short action Remington with a Wyatts Box. The previous Mannlicher Pro-Hunter also had a nice long magazine box. I didn't understand this until I sold it. The Sako 75 I had was restricting me to 2.8 inches. A friend near Perth has a T3 and he's doing really well with it and there's stacks of length to play with.
Regards JCS
 
Thanks for the replies gents please keep the coming, I have spent far too much on other projects this year to use another donor rifle so i can only work with the tools i own so short action sako 75 it will have to be.
Not to fussed about the heavier bullets up to 130s would be fine, if i need anything heavier i use the .30 mag.
Really want a rifle not unlike a .243 but with a bit more grunt that can effectively and accuratly shoot up to for foxes and over 100 grainers for deer where i found the limit of my .243's accurate fodder being 95's.
Suppose in an ideal world a 25-06 would be a good choice but like i said would like to keep barrel length at 20" and im stuck with a short action. DF
then 7mm08 fits the bill perfectly I am going to Scotland at the weekend and can swing by on the way back if you like and let you shoot mine.
 
Thanks fella but iv already tried a 7-08 your more than welcome to pop over for a brew if you are close, what are the pros and cons of both then ?
As i said in a earlier post im more interested in the lighter weight projectiles as i shoot more foxes and roe than anyting else with the .243 just had an itch for the .260.
 
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