.260 Remington (bolt-action), tips/advice?

[browning guy]

Brad,

I agree 100% with the lapua brass, probably the best brass I ever worked with. Most of my current 260 brass is nosler as it starts to to show its age I am replacing with lapua.
I also like LC brass for forming 260 but have a hard time bringing myself to do to many as I still have m1a's to feed.

 

[BradMacc82]

Brad,

I agree 100% with the lapua brass, probably the best brass I ever worked with. Most of my current 260 brass is nosler as it starts to to show its age I am replacing with lapua.
I also like LC brass for forming 260 but have a hard time bringing myself to do to many as I still have m1a's to feed.

The ONLY fault with Lapua brass - is the cost. I'm on the 8th loading with some of the Lapua brass, and no signs of it getting worn out yet.


Have some H414 and 142gr Matchking's on order, already have a great load for H414 and 140gr Amax's, so I don't expect to have too much work before I find a good load for that combo.

I'm debating on trying that RL17 on a few test batches, allegedly it's supposed to be good for 150 to 200 fps more, but seeing how well the rifle shoots (consistently), I'm really cautious about deviating from known performers.

 

[BradMacc82]

Well, my inquisitive nature got the better of me. Made up 1, 4-round batch of 140gr Amax on a 39gr charge of RL17. It was the last of the 140's I had on hand.

Alliant lists the max at 41gr with a COL of 2.745" with a fps of 2645 thru a 24" barrel.

I'm at 2.810" COL, which is becoming my usual for the 140 Amax. Normally they'd be on a 41.8gr charge of H414 at a varying COL in the 2.810" to 2.815" range. Hadn't snagged the velocity, so I couldn't say what they should have been clocking.

Do say, RL-17 does meter well. We'll see how the rifle likes it over the weekend.

**I'm going to try to snag a chrono and see what velocities I'm getting with the 140's and RL-17.

 

[Uncle Duke]

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/45...earance-_-clearance_20150508_1-_-producttitle

Been following this thread as the .260 Rem is a neat round.

Saw this today. Have never used this bullet but seems like a decent price?

 

[BradMacc82]

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/45...earance-_-clearance_20150508_1-_-producttitle

Been following this thread as the .260 Rem is a neat round.

Saw this today. Have never used this bullet but seems like a decent price?

Not a bad price, pretty close to what I paid thru powdervalley IIRC.

They shoot great out of my rifle.

 

[Uncle Duke]

Just ordered a couple of boxes to try. Been meaning to do that. Seems like the right time. Looks like Powder Valley, Wideners and Natchez are out of stock. Not sure why Midway would have on "clearance"...may just have too many on hand, but makes me wonder with a house that size. 6.5 has never been wildly popular in this country, but the round just makes a whole lot of sense on a lot of fronts. Good luck!

 

[BradMacc82]

Just ordered a couple of boxes to try. Been meaning to do that. Seems like the right time. Looks like Powder Valley, Wideners and Natchez are out of stock. Not sure why Midway would have on "clearance"...may just have too many on hand, but makes me wonder with a house that size. 6.5 has never been wildly popular in this country, but the round just makes a whole lot of sense on a lot of fronts. Good luck!

They normally run a bit higher than my other sources, so they possibly went on clearance to move some stock.

I got to say, the 6.5mm bullets have made an impression on me so far. I just punch paper and bang steel with the .260 (and the occasional bowling ball and water jugs), but I've been very pleasantly surprised by the caliber and the bullets I've used so far.

Very pleasant to shoot, and it's a laser beam.

 

[Uncle Duke]

They normally run a bit higher than my other sources, so they possibly went on clearance to move some stock.

I got to say, the 6.5mm bullets have made an impression on me so far. I just punch paper and bang steel with the .260 (and the occasional bowling ball and water jugs), but I've been very pleasantly surprised by the caliber and the bullets I've used so far.

Very pleasant to shoot, and it's a laser beam.

Add hunting for me, as it's one helluva deer cartridge with bullets of the proper construction. You might be surprised what it'll do with an 85 grain HP across a field as a long range wind bucking hog hammer too. But yeah....in addition to high BC bullets and great accuracy with loads it likes, it's a cartridge with both versatility and plenty of punch. But it's easy on the shoulder for extended range sessions. There's a lot to like about the 260 Remington IMO.

 

[BradMacc82]

Didn't make it out over the weekend to try the RL17 batch. I'll try for Thursday, have an appointment not far from the range.

 

[BradMacc82]

Just for shyts and giggles, lit off one of the 140gr Amax/RL17 rounds.

39gr charge, COL of 2.810", necked-up PPU .243 brass, Win LRP. Absolutely 0 signs of pressure. Backyard range is reduced due to the trees coming back in, so no idea of potential accuracy or velocity.


ETA: Shot the rest off today, definite potential in regards to accuracy. Also found out that applying a very light taper crimp turns my rifle from a laser beam into a shotgun - wasn't quite that bad, but definitely didn't help me out any.

 

[BradMacc82]

Tomorrow I'll be testing all my batches for velocities - big thanks to axshon for loaning me his Magnetospeed V2.

I have 120gr Amax (last of them), in their known performer recipe: 39.6gr Varget, COL of 2.785", Win LRP. I'm expecting high 2800 to low 2900fps on those, but we shall see.

Also have the 142gr SMK's to test, with 2 powders being used - RL17 (out of curiosity), and H414. I have batches made up with Win LRP, CCI 200 LRP, and Fed GM210M LRP's.

Charge weights top out at 42.5gr for H414, still a grain under listed max. Charge weights for RL17 top out at 39.6gr, I've done a prelim test up to 40.2gr with RL17 - just starting to flatten some, still had radius with no observable cratering on Win LRP, but I'd like to stay a touch under that if the velocity/consistency is there.

I've made enough of each batch to do a 10-shot string for velocity, and a 10-shot string for accuracy without the chrono attached.

I'm very curious to see how this all shakes out.

 

[Uncle Duke]

Tomorrow I'll be testing all my batches for velocities - big thanks to axshon for loaning me his Magnetospeed V2.

I have 120gr Amax (last of them), in their known performer recipe: 39.6gr Varget, COL of 2.785", Win LRP. I'm expecting high 2800 to low 2900fps on those, but we shall see.

Also have the 142gr SMK's to test, with 2 powders being used - RL17 (out of curiosity), and H414. I have batches made up with Win LRP, CCI 200 LRP, and Fed GM210M LRP's.

Charge weights top out at 42.5gr for H414, still a grain under listed max. Charge weights for RL17 top out at 39.6gr, I've done a prelim test up to 40.2gr with RL17 - just starting to flatten some, still had radius with no observable cratering on Win LRP, but I'd like to stay a touch under that if the velocity/consistency is there.

I've made enough of each batch to do a 10-shot string for velocity, and a 10-shot string for accuracy without the chrono attached.

I'm very curious to see how this all shakes out.

Curious myself what you find. Good luck with your testing, and thanks for keeping us posted!

 

[BradMacc82]

Well, looks like I'll have to test tomorrow due to the rain. I could go up to MSAR and test, but I'm not as fond as shooting indoors as I used to be.

 

[BradMacc82]

120gr Amax, 39.6gr Varget, COL of 2.785, Win LRP.

Max - 2923
Min - 2881
Avg - 2908

ES - 42
SD - 11

Pretty sure I had a few rounds that were possibly light on the charge by a tenth or two of a grain.

 

[BradMacc82]

142gr SMK, 38.6gr RL17, COL 2.815", Win LRP.

Max - 2741
Min - 2660
Avg - 2698

ES - 81
SD - 33

Shot pretty well, but there's room for improvement.

ETA: Notice how high the max fps is? Some of those rounds were left in the sun prior to shooting them.

 

[BradMacc82]

142gr SMK, 39.6gr RL17, COL 2.815", Win LRP.

Max - 2732
Min - 2659
Avg - 2702

ES - 73
SD - 30


Shot consistently, no pressure signs.

 

[BradMacc82]

142gr SMK, 42.1gr H414, COL of 2.810", Win LRP.

Max - 2791
Min - 2714
Avg - 2746

ES - 77
SD - 23

Think I may have had a few that were light-charged by a tenth or two, need to investigate that.

 

[BradMacc82]

142gr SMK, 42.5gr H414, COL of 2.810, CCI 200 LRP.

Max - 2865
Min - 2813
Avg - 2841

ES - 52
SD - 15

Shot beautifully, primers still had a nice radius at the edges, but just starting to crater around the firing pin strike.

 

[BradMacc82]

I ran out of time to test the H414 batches with the Fed GM210M primers, if I get a chance to hit the range over the weekend, I plan on testing them.

Everything shot nearly identical, which I've come to expect out of my rifle - but I'm not entirely happy with the ES/SD's I saw today. Granted, I didn't weigh out EVERY single charge, so that could account for some of the variance, and the rounds being in the sun and shade likely didn't help either (I've heard H414 has some temperature sensitivity).

But I did notice the CCI 200's and H414 had lower ES/SD's, so I may have to just keep tighter control on my charge weights and see if I can bring those numbers down some.

 

[Uncle Duke]

Any discernible difference in group sizes between the 120 and the 142? Have you shot enough of both (or others) to say you have a preference?