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260 barrel lenth

phillip61

phillip61

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Jun 14, 2012
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After talking with a bunch of you guys here on the hide I decided I wanted a 24" barrel on the 260 I'm planning on building. After finally deciding on a barrel maker (Douglas) I called them to see what their lead times were (5-6 weeks) I told the guy I wanted a straight bull barrel 24" long. He then told me in his opinion I should go with a 26" barrel and if I didn't like it I could always cut it down to 24".

Does anyone have an opinion on his opinion? Is that good advise? Is there an advantage a 26" barrel has over a 24", or is there an advantage a 24" barrel has over a 26".?
 
I have a 26" Schilen on my .260 build and love it. We did however build a 6.5 Creedmore with a 20" barrel (special purpose gun) and we were very surprised with it's performance. Go 24 or go 26, not sure you will see any difference.
 
Ehh, I went 22 from the lug with mine. I knew I didn't want a 26 inch m24 contour and figured 24 wouldn't be enough to notice a difference. All in all I like the 22 inch.
 
I have a 22.5 inch and it seems to work well. 24 will do you fine, 26 gets a slight boost in velocity at the expense of being long and impractical when moving around. Try his advice and see how you like it, you can take length off, can't put it back though.
 
I don't shoot past 500 and didn't want to hire a group of sherpas to pack my rifle around for me, so i went with a 22" fluted hart with Remington contour, .920 at the muzzle. It's laser beam accurate and very manageable.
 
I had a 26 Krieger on my 260. I cut it back to 22.5" so it would be manageable for my 12 year old son. The gun shoots great. I am shooting barnes LRX 127g bullets at 2900 fps. I took my son out for one last shoot before we leave for a Montana elk hunt. He made a first shot hit at 450 yards on an 8" steel plate. He followed that up with a first shot hit at 926 yards on a 24x18" plate. Then he said, "I don't know why we need to practice, its not like its hard to hit these targets?!!" I didn't know whether to spank him or hug him, so I did nothing. I think you will be happy with either barrel length. Personally, I would go 24 or less. Enjoy!
 
I have a 20" McGowen 1:8 260 barrel...2700fps with 140s and 43.0gr H4350.

Compared to the 26" Criterion I previously owned, I gave up roughly 20fps/inch for the shorter, lighter, much easier to handle tube. YMMV, but its a tradeoff I am VERY happy to have made.
 
Shorter handles better, stiffer barrel - cannot hurt accuracy, longer less blast, tad more speed, gets blast further from your ears. Comp gun that does not get moved much, longer fine. Me, I want a faster handling rifle, and I never get that with much more than 22-23. My next build is likely 20-21 max. Speed loss for a few inches for what I do is of zero concern. Dope must be dialed whatever the mv.
 
Someone tell me if I'm adding this up right. longer barrel = more speed but more of a chance for barrel vibration which could affect accuracy. Shorter barrel = less speed but probably a tad more accurate.??? Is that anywhere close to being right?
 
24" should work fine for that especially if you are loading. My match rifle is a 6.5 Creedmoor and was at 28". No problems getting around matches with it. I had it set back when the throat went and it's 26.5" now. 24" will still give you good velocity without having to push it super hard.
 
My first .260 was one of the early (2002) version of the Savage 10FP with the 24" 1:8" factory .260 barrel. The rifle got solid hits at 1Km (listed on location as 1123yd) with 139 Scenars and what we later determined was an excessive load.

The same rifle was rebarreled with a LW 28" 1:8" .260 barrel and shot for several years in 1Kyd F Open competition, so well that I later concluded the rifle was probably being wasted in my inept hands;

The 28" likes SRA 142SMK and HDY 140 A-Max with 43.8-43.9gr of H-4350, and the 24" on another Savage seemed to like the same load just fine.

Greg
 
I have two one a 24 and the other is a 22". Next one will be 26 or maybe even 28. I want to push them hard and not be so concerned with torching them. I do believe 24 is a great compromise, however.
 
I'm running a 28" Bartlein and the overall length isn't an issue for me since my rifle is a bullpup. The DTA SRS in 28" with a muzzle brake is equal in length to my AR15 in 22". I'm running my 260 hard and need every inch. Currently clocking 140gr A-Max at 2950fps but I believe I can push it to 3050 or 3100.
 
I got an unused #2 taper, factory blued, 22" Douglas long chambered 260 barrel threaded for a 98 Mauser off a forum for $115 + $15 shipping.
Such a deal.
The catch?
1) 10" twist
2) Bluing in the bore

It shoots tiny groups with 100 gr Ballistic tips, but will not shoot 140 gr worth a toot.
100 gr bullets must be seated so long to reach the lands, they almost fall out of the case mouth.

The 100 gr bullets are so fast that the bore gets Copper fouling fast... 3,236 fps

--------------------------------------------
I got 260 reamer.
I got a Shilen stainless #3 taper 26" barrel with 9" twist.
I cut Mauser threads, a chamber, and 11 degree crowned it back to 24".
I made a cardboard oven and painted the barrel at 90 degrees F with Alumni hide II epoxy paint.
I am still breaking it in, but it shoots 129 gr Ballistic tip bullets.
 
phillip61 said:
I have a 308 that I shoot out to 600 with. I'm wanting this 260 so I can shoot 800-1200. Paper, Steel.
Click to expand...

If you are primarily using it for paper/steel and shooting out to 1200, longer is better. I use my 260 TRG for the above purpose and matches with a 26" barrel. I also always have a can on it which makes it 35" long. I would not want to hunt with it in thick brush but it is perfect for my primary use of long range target and matches. I shoot 142 SMKs out of Lapua brass, with 43.0 grains of H4350 at 2750fps. It is extremely easy on brass, 5-6 loadings on brass and only neck sized so far. I really like the medium palma contour, it's not too heavy on a longer barrel.

TKAB
 
There's roughly going to be a 50 FPS difference in muzzle velocity between the two so depending on what that means to you. If you are going to shoot suppressed a 24" is long, let alone a 26"...........YMMV. I'm not impressed with the idea of purchasing it long and then cutting down and re-crowning but I do like having the extra length to set it back and re-chamber especially with your selected profile because with the .260 you won't have tremendous barrel life. Really, it's not that critical either way.
 
phillip61 said:
After talking with a bunch of you guys here on the hide I decided I wanted a 24" barrel on the 260 I'm planning on building. After finally deciding on a barrel maker (Douglas) I called them to see what their lead times were (5-6 weeks) I told the guy I wanted a straight bull barrel 24" long. He then told me in his opinion I should go with a 26" barrel and if I didn't like it I could always cut it down to 24".

Does anyone have an opinion on his opinion? Is that good advise? Is there an advantage a 26" barrel has over a 24", or is there an advantage a 24" barrel has over a 26".?
Click to expand...

And he offered to also pay related costs of cutting it down.
Not!

I've one with a 26" barrel but it bench use only.

A 24" full bull is still plenty heavy. Too heavy for me if I had to hump it around, but I'm old.

Anyway, sounds like you did your homework. Go 24”
 
Sixfivesavage said:
Ehh, I went 22 from the lug with mine. I knew I didn't want a 26 inch m24 contour and figured 24 wouldn't be enough to notice a difference. All in all I like the 22 inch.
Click to expand...

This. 22" seems to be a really good practical length for the 260 that doesnt hurt velocity in any meaninful way. I have on 26" 260 and one 22" and there is less than 50 fps difference between the two with the same load.
 
I went with a 24" and it balances very well and has practically no recoil, hits up to 1250yds are easy, I see no need to go longer or shorter
Cheers.
 
For target shooting, the emphasis is on heat management, for hunting, it's about portability, and for both, it's on compromise. The compromise suggests (to me) a 24" barrel, and then we get into the part where the compromise really pleases nobody.

Hunting seldom involves heat management, which makes the lighter weight barrel and its preferable balance shine.

Target Shooting means heat management and heavier weight barrels, which generally impairs balance and portability.

I have owned a 10FP 24" with the Savage Varmint contour, and I would not want to be carrying that around for a day or so. I currently own a 10 Predator Hunter Max, which has a Light Varmint weight barrel, which at 8.5lb it is borderline heavy for a walkaround. I have not gotten anywhere near finding a good LR load for it, but I already know that heat management will be iffy for longer strings of fire.

I am seriously considering putting my 28" 1:8" twist L-W stainless .260 barrel with a Savage Varmint contour on it. These barrels are available as a catalogue item.

Savage Varmint

These “drop in” type barrels come complete with the Savage varmint contour, SAAMI chamber, depressed center crown and Savage breech thread. The barrels are produced from LW 50 stainless steel which is longer lasting than other stainless steels. They are taper lapped. They are stocked in 24”, 26” and 28” lengths. The length is determined by the caliber which they are chambered for. These barrels go beyond what some call “match grade”. They are the highest quality production after market barrels for the Savage bolt action.
Click to expand...

Greg
 
Last edited:
OP - for your purpose - I would do 24-26, as heavy as barrels are for your type of shooting the longer ones are still pretty stiff and accurate. Having had a few 29.1" M96 mausers, 6.5x55, I shot one with Irons, and chopped the others at 21 and 24. The 21 was my pick for hunting, though the 29, sure was tame, less blast and faster. The diff in speed was 100fps in those sporters, so assuming all equal about 30-35fps per inch, which is probably pretty close to an average you might expect to see.

Don't sweat it much, sure you will do fine.
 
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