.260, Overlooked?

Tranter

Member
I cant be the only one who sees the .260 Rem as an overlooked caliber? It seems to me whatever the 6.5 creedmore provides over the .308 was already offered by the .260 Rem. Introduced in '97, popular with benchrest shooters I just think its a great hunting cal. Did I miss something?
 
Because Remington didn't sort out factory ammo and sat back leaving it to reloaders a bit like the 6mm Rem against the .243 win.
Check out a few gun shops online 260 factory ammo very low options 6.5 Creedmoor 25 options yet how many years head start did Rem have.
 
Lack of support, in a word.

Lots of people slate the 6.5CM (and other Hornady designs) as just being marketing but that’s not really fair. Marketing is certainly some of it but they also make sure the logistics are in place for a cartridge to be a success (and naturally, having poured that much effort into it, they market it so it can be a commercial success as that’s good business).

It’s also well thought out, they spotted a gap in the market for high BC bullets and made sure the SAAMI spec would allow these to work.

The Creed was released alongside rifles that could fire it and a line of quality, and available, ammo. Hornady have done similar with the everything from the HMR (although quality may be debatable on the ammo side) to the newer PRCs.

Other manufacturers just don’t seem to get this, they may come up with a good idea but it’s not supported or properly thought out, e.g. using slow twists, not having an ammo manufacturer to make enough ammo, lack of rifles and so on.

Could the 260 have occupied the niche now filled by the Creed? Almost certainly, but it didn’t and now the Creed does. Outside of hand loaders who like something less mainstream, there’s simply no reason for someone to buy one over a Creed.
 
A great cartridge, I’ve had two and shot one out. It shot steel at 1300 and accounted for good number of dear. Can’t compare to the CM for factory ammo but if you reload and get quality brass then it’s a fine choice. I still run a .260 barrel in my AIAX - it’s very capable.
 
I’ll never own a creedmoor

The 260 does everything that does just as well and did so a decade before the marketing men dreamed up the current magpie trench of cartridges that are so popular because they’re popular

Same as 6.5:55

Same as 6.5-47

Same as 6.5-284

All do things as well or better than some creed moor and prc offerings

I get the appeal of something new

But I wouldn’t swap to one of the newer cases just because it’s popular

I built a 260 about sixteen years ago for a guy who shot a heap of deer with it then it ended up back in the sale rack where a friend bought it

I shoot NRL Hunter teams with him- he uses that 260, I use mine

Both hammer

Both are easy to load for

Both have minimal recoil

Both are used as hunting rifles yet will hold their own in any match with equivalent more “betterer” cartridges

My point is, pick something and stick with it

Especially if you load your own ammunition
 
I’ll never own a creedmoor

The 260 does everything that does just as well and did so a decade before the marketing men dreamed up the current magpie trench of cartridges that are so popular because they’re popular

Same as 6.5:55

Same as 6.5-47

Same as 6.5-284

All do things as well or better than some creed moor and prc offerings

I get the appeal of something new

But I wouldn’t swap to one of the newer cases just because it’s popular

I built a 260 about sixteen years ago for a guy who shot a heap of deer with it then it ended up back in the sale rack where a friend bought it

I shoot NRL Hunter teams with him- he uses that 260, I use mine

Both hammer

Both are easy to load for

Both have minimal recoil

Both are used as hunting rifles yet will hold their own in any match with equivalent more “betterer” cartridges

My point is, pick something and stick with it

Especially if you load your own ammunition
Looks like the 6.5 Creedmoor owners will soon be exchanging pink frilly knickers for big boys pants…

“Federal's new high-pressure 6.5 Creedmoor +Peak ammunition boosts standard velocities by up to 300 fps. Using advanced alloy cases to safely handle 80,000 PSI, it outperforms 6.5 PRC”
🦊🦊
 
So, pretty much the way I saw it. Lack of bullet variety on offer, added to better marketing of the 6.5 creedmore. Although also used in hunting the 6.5c seems to be largely a one trick pony, long range accuracy. Shame its still banned from the longer military run ranges. I know a dozen shooters driven mad by that, and looking to sell their 6.5 creedmores. Little light at the end of that tunnel.
 
I’ll never own a creedmoor

The 260 does everything that does just as well and did so a decade before the marketing men dreamed up the current magpie trench of cartridges that are so popular because they’re popular

Same as 6.5:55

Same as 6.5-47

Same as 6.5-284

All do things as well or better than some creed moor and prc offerings

I get the appeal of something new

But I wouldn’t swap to one of the newer cases just because it’s popular

I built a 260 about sixteen years ago for a guy who shot a heap of deer with it then it ended up back in the sale rack where a friend bought it

I shoot NRL Hunter teams with him- he uses that 260, I use mine

Both hammer

Both are easy to load for

Both have minimal recoil

Both are used as hunting rifles yet will hold their own in any match with equivalent more “betterer” cartridges

My point is, pick something and stick with it

Especially if you load your own ammunition
Saying that, if you were to buy a new rifle off the shelf, and two choices, 260 or creed, what would you pick? Set aside your reloading equipment and load data you may have etc
 
Good grief, this is a well attended forum. Fact is I have not bothered with shooting forums for several years. Even helped run one long ago, and a mod on another. Glad I signed up.
 
Because Remington didn't sort out factory ammo and sat back leaving it to reloaders a bit like the 6mm Rem against the .243 win.
Check out a few gun shops online 260 factory ammo very low options 6.5 Creedmoor 25 options yet how many years head start did Rem have.
This. ^^^^

Remington's lack of care and feeding of the cartridge (in spite of what shooters were saying they wanted) was what killed it. They also never worked with other ammo manufacturers to increase availability of the cartridge.

Greed and arrogance.
 
Looks like the 6.5 Creedmoor owners will soon be exchanging pink frilly knickers for big boys pants…

“Federal's new high-pressure 6.5 Creedmoor +Peak ammunition boosts standard velocities by up to 300 fps. Using advanced alloy cases to safely handle 80,000 PSI, it outperforms 6.5 PRC”
🦊🦊
Not really convinced on that, since the cases are not reloadable. As I understand it, it's a one time use case. Can they be reloaded? Yes (it's been done). But with those pressures, it's unknown how long the cases would last before catastrophically failing. Not something most people want a couple inches away from their head. And the manufacturers do not recommend reloading the cases.
 
So, pretty much the way I saw it. Lack of bullet variety on offer, added to better marketing of the 6.5 creedmore. Although also used in hunting the 6.5c seems to be largely a one trick pony, long range accuracy. Shame its still banned from the longer military run ranges. I know a dozen shooters driven mad by that, and looking to sell their 6.5 creedmores. Little light at the end of that tunnel.
I wouldn’t say it’s a one trick pony.

It’s a very easy to use multi purpose round that works perfectly for a lot of British conditions: small deer, shorter range.

As a roe deer cartridge, it’s just about perfect.
 
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