Jered, George, Terry, please help-question

[travis.cooley]

Good evening all......Don't want to bring up a tired thread, but i am looking at 260 remington and 6.5 Creedmoor. I have read a ton of the threads on this site, and have seen tons of opinions from people that own the rifles. The problem I am having is that no one that spends an exorbitant amount of money on a rifle is going to admit that it isn't up to snuff against another caliber......I would love to hear some opinions from some of the builders on the forum and maybe some outcomes of some projects they have built that performed well. I am aware of the edge in barrel life that the Creedmoor has, and am aware of the potential velocity edge that the 260 possesses and availability and ability to manufacture brass, but also according to most of the threads on here, they are on relatively equal footing when loaded to around what seems to be optimum velocity of around 2880 with 140 class bullets and either 4350 or 4831sc. Jered, George, Terry, I could really use your perspective on this. I in no way mean disrespect to any other builders on this forum by not including you in the query, but I have spoken to these guys a few times, and one of them is building me a 308 right now, so these are the guys i'm familiar with. If there are any other professionals out there with a perspective on this, I would greatly value any opinion you can offer. I know each have their strengths, so what do I need to do? Looking for a solid 1000 yard gun. Creedmoor has some good factory ammo offerings, but scant brass offerings, and opposite with 260. Help........haha.....thank you all in advance for your expertise.

Bean

P.S. Jered, can't wait to see that 308....mine is the 15 January eta manners t3 with the 7.2 broughton 24" chambered for 178 amaxs.....mold in camo manners, prob know who this is by now.....thanks again...Don't know if the stork has made delivery yet, but if so, congratulations, and take care.

 

[MBC223]

Re: Jered, George, Terry, please help-question

Ashy. Ashy as f*ck...

 

[bward]

Re: Jered, George, Terry, please help-question

This has to be the most asked question on the Hide lately.

 

[travis.cooley]

Re: Jered, George, Terry, please help-question

Really? Valuable info......

 

[travis.cooley]

Re: Jered, George, Terry, please help-question

By all means, if u have something to offer that is unbiased, please feel free.....hahaha.

 

[Early Cuyler]

Re: Jered, George, Terry, please help-question

You seem to have done the research. You seem to know the pros/cons of each cartridge especially when compared to each other. I think you just have to make a decision and take the plunge at this point.

I could be wrong, but it seems to me that you're basically asking the builders that of all the 6.5 Creedmore and 260 Remington rifles they've collectively built, which caliber has produced the best groups. I don't see this being productive at all because no matter what the cartridge, Jered, George, and Terry's caliber (pun not intended) gunsmiths will build supremely accurate rifles. Hell, look at Robert Gradous' builds of different calibers. No matter what it's shooting, the rifle makes a 1/4" hole or better when it leaves his shop.

I understand the hesitancy to drop full-custom money on a new caliber, but I've seen supremely accurate rifles in both to the point it's almost becoming a chevy vs. Ford comparison. Except for the fact that Ford dominates chevy in every way.

 

[bward]

Re: Jered, George, Terry, please help-question

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: The Bean</div><div class="ubbcode-body">By all means, if u have something to offer that is unbiased, please feel free.....hahaha. </div></div>

Basically, anyone who has shot a lot of each caliber will tell you that you will never shoot the difference in the calibers. Both are accurate and have good reloading components and readily available ammo.

 

[MBC223]

Re: Jered, George, Terry, please help-question

They still call ya bean? That thing in Juarez was years ago.

 

[MBC223]

Re: Jered, George, Terry, please help-question

Seriously though halcyon is probably right. Any of the builders you listed could build you a rifle that shoots. Maybe the deciding factor will be availability of factory ammo and/or reloading components. Correct me if I'm wrong...260 holds the potential for a speed advantage, but if running similar velocities as the 6.5 creedmore would there be a difference in barrel life?

 

[FCS]

Re: Jered, George, Terry, please help-question

2.860" max OAL via AICS standard magazine, 6.5 Creedmoor is on pretty much even ground with the 260.

2.980" max OAL via modified AICS or AW magazine, the 260 has an advantage over the 6.5 Creedmoor.

140 VLDs from 6.5 Creedmoor via 26" barrel about 2830 fps, standar 6.5 Creedmoor chamber is prety well set up for the 140 Berger as is.
140 VLDs from a 260 Rem via 26" barrel will run about 2925 fps when properly configuring chamber for the bullet. However, you will need ability to run 2.960" or so OAL to do this.

Creedmoor you have essentially one chamber to choose from.

260 Rem you have to determine which chamber you want: KMW, Tac Match with 0.088, Tac Match with 0.098, SAAMI min spec, or ??? What bullet do you want to run? 139 Scenar, 142 SMK, 140 Berger VLD or 140 A-max the Tac Match is solid choice for AICS std mag. SAAMI min spec will let you seat out a bit and pick up some case capacity/velocity.

2830 w/140ish gr bullet is where I've been seeing best overall performance from the 6.5 Creedmoor. Might get bullet to 2880 but to push the Creedmoor that hard will be hard on brass and accuracy will not be optimal.

YMMV

Best wishes on your build.

 

[Onemoretime]

Re: Jered, George, Terry, please help-question

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: McCourt Munitions LLC</div><div class="ubbcode-body">2.860" max OAL via AICS standard magazine, 6.5 Creedmoor is on pretty much even ground with the 260.

2.980" max OAL via modified AICS or AW magazine, the 260 has an advantage over the 6.5 Creedmoor.

140 VLDs from 6.5 Creedmoor via 26" barrel about 2830 fps, standar 6.5 Creedmoor chamber is prety well set up for the 140 Berger as is.
140 VLDs from a 260 Rem via 26" barrel will run about 2925 fps when properly configuring chamber for the bullet. However, you will need ability to run 2.960" or so OAL to do this.

Creedmoor you have essentially one chamber to choose from.

260 Rem you have to determine which chamber you want: KMW, Tac Match with 0.088, Tac Match with 0.098, SAAMI min spec, or ??? What bullet do you want to run? 139 Scenar, 142 SMK, 140 Berger VLD or 140 A-max the Tac Match is solid choice for AICS std mag. SAAMI min spec will let you seat out a bit and pick up some case capacity/velocity.

2830 w/140ish gr bullet is where I've been seeing best overall performance from the 6.5 Creedmoor. Might get bullet to 2880 but to push the Creedmoor that hard will be hard on brass and accuracy will not be optimal.

YMMV

Best wishes on your build. </div></div>

Great Post Andrew!

For what it's worth... I choose the 6.5 Creed mostly because, in a pinch, I can grab reasonably price factory match ammo.

But, I've got a picture I posted on here of a 10 shot group with Andrew's ammo shot at 300 yards. Total group is less then 1.5" with a cluster of 7 rounds in one ragged hole. And, when you take into account I hadn't shot in a year so was really rusty, that's pretty friggin' good.

My advice. Flip a coin. If it were me I'd go the same route again.

 

[travis.cooley]

Re: Jered, George, Terry, please help-question

Has anyone heard of a 260 doing well accuracy node wise in that 2900 fps range? Obviously if so, the velocity is a slight edge. Im leanig to the creedmoor for the reasonably priced amax load. I want the chamber configured to shoot the vld, so that being said, which tac match chamber to i need to get it cut for to do it right? Thank u for your help Andrew. I appreciate the insight. Im new at this, so any advice is welcome. Do you think the creedmoor offers any achilles heel that i will regret if i go that way?

 

[jwp6114]

Re: Jered, George, Terry, please help-question

you thinking aboout getting into handloading Bean?

 

[FCS]

Re: Jered, George, Terry, please help-question

6.5 Creedmoor is a very solid round, don't think you'll be hamstringing yourself going that route. Hornady factory ammo is available and performs pretty decent.
If you are going 6.5 CM, standard chamber works great for Berger VLDs.

260 you can find match ammo from multiple sources (Black Hills, Copper Creek, Corbon, Dallas, McCourt Munitions, Southwest) though RP 260 brass can be difficult to find at times. Norma, Nosler, and Lapua also make brass but the cost is significantly higher.
Since there are more variations of freebore in 260 chamber vs 6.5 CM chamber it makes it more difficult to optimize load for ammo. 6.5 CM has an advantage in that respect for factory ammo; freebore dimension is pretty standard whereas 260 is not.

If you are going to reload or use a custom ammo manufacturer, there are advantages to going 260 but ammo cost will be higher. Off the shelf ammo that works pretty well and can be gotten from multiple sources (including sporting goods stores such as Sportsman's Warehouse, Cabelas, etc. ) I'd have to give nod to 6.5 CM.

 

[6Dasher]

Re: Jered, George, Terry, please help-question

Are you just picking beans here?

If it all depends on 50fps of speed, you better make sure you don't make a single mistake on hold, trigger or wind reading, as this doesn't make a whole hill of beans difference in the field.

Choose what is easiest for you.