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7mm-08 vs .260

B

Bm22

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Minuteman
Feb 21, 2013
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Hello guys.

I was looking for recommendations on a new long range rifle. I hope to take this rifle out to 1,000 yards. But my local range only goes out to 600. I would also use this rifle for deer hunting. Under perfect conditions I would like to shoot a pig or deer at 500-600.

I hear the .260 has a great BC but I am not sure it has the knock down power at long range. Does it?

I have a .308 and a couple 7mags, 30-06, 250 savage. Remington 740 in .280. I reload as well.
So i was looking for a smaller caliber that my wife could also shoot.

If i get the .260 i think is will be a savage 12 LPR.
If I get the 7mm08 if will be a remington 700 varmint.

Any recomendations would be great.
 
A 6.5 and 7mm will have virtually the same wounding characteristics in the two cartridges you're picking from. The barnes lrx in those two calibers may be a bullet that you need the look into for lr killing of large deer and pigs. The savage has a 1-8 twist which will shoot all available 6.5 projectiles. You may be limited with the slower twist remington.
 
Id take the 6.5 Creedmoor over either, got a 708 but you dont have a huge bullet choice, have to go too heavy for longrange work, but for pure deer hunting, hands down, 7mm-08!
 
I built a Savage 7-08 for myself early this year. Unfortunately, Savage has chosen to "temporarily" discontinue the 162 Amax, which was/is (?) the bullet of choice for long range. The 150 SMK's shot great for me out to 600, but the 162's really shined at 1000. Down to my last 3 boxes of them...

Waiting for the Criterion barrel in .260 Match (throated for VLD's) and Savage varmint action from NSS for my son's Xmas build.
Seems to be a bit better choice in the 6.5 bullets, so I decided to go with this chambering for his. If you don't handload, 7-08 hands down. Far better availability of factory ammo.

Either one shoots far flatter than my abilities. External ballistics are pretty darned close, so it's a coin flip for many of us.
 
Flip a coin.

IMO, the biggest drawback to the 7-08 is bullet selection with Hornady suspending the 162 HPBT/A-Max. That essentially leaves you with a 168gr Berger or the 175gr SMK (I don't think the 7mm 168 SMK is really a great choice).

As for as 'killing power' - ask Pat Sinclair how the 260 does hunting at longer ranges.
 
708 can put a 180 grain bullet downrange which is a big advantage over the 260 140 gr for hunting.

Less recoil with 300 Win Mag trajectory for the 260 - great for 1000 targets but you really need a 26" barrel to keep the velocity up.

Your call
 
Wannashootit said:
Waiting for the Criterion barrel in .260 Match (throated for VLD's) and Savage varmint action from NSS for my son's Xmas build.
Click to expand...

With .160 freebore in the CBI 260 Match chamber...if you use VLDs your OAL is gonna be pushing 3.00, maybe even longer, to touch the lands.
 
As good as the 260/130 Berger is on game, I do wonder how close a 140 Berger/7-08 is......

Much higher speed is possible using that 140.....I think it deserves running #s
 
My brother plugged a 300# boar at 200 yds with a 270 shooting a 130gr hunting round, it ran another 20 yds before bleeding out. The 260 catches up to and passes most 270 offerings within 2-300 yards and the 260 being the lighter of your two should have no problem taking deer at extended ranges. Modern 260 loadings approximate the 6.5x55 Swede and the Swede has been killing elk and caribou for a hundred years now.
 
I run a 7-08 for comps to out to 1000 w/ H4350 and 162g Hornady at 2790 fps. Haven't killed anything w/ it, but my wife Susan and Tina, our friend, used their 7-08's in Africa this year to take 13 animals total IIRC, including zebra, gemsbok, red hartebeest, and kudu. All one shot kills at distances up to about 200 yds. They were both using 140g Accubonds. Susan at 2640fps and Tina right at 2900fps. VERY impressive performance. I'm sure the .260 would perform, I just like heavier bullets for hunting. Good luck on whatever you decide.
 
Kasandra Cow elk 688yds.mp4 - YouTube

.243 dropping an elk at 688yds with a 105gr VLD. Every animal will react differently. Both will get the job done. Bullet selection favors the .260. Personally i've come to like the creedmoor's 30 degree shoulder better than the .260's 20 degree. I only own a .260 though haven't taken any game with it.

If it's me i choose the .260/6.5CM. If you want 7mm .284 or better IMO

My 2cents.
 
Last edited:
I've killed deer at 500+ with the 127 LRX from a .260. Perfect performance and excellent accuracy. I also have a 7-08. Both are great, but the .260 is my favorite by far.
 
Since it's for your wife, I presume you going after a factory rifle, right? If you can find a rifle in 6.5 CM, go with that because you have a great selection of ammo that will get the job done at nearly every range most hunters engage game. If you can find a 7-08 or a 260, either will work but ammo is harder to find unless you reload. The 7-08 will have noticeably more recoil than a 6.5 CM. If you reload, 7-08 doesn't have as good a selection of heavy bullets as a 6.5mm.
 
Blackops_2 said:
Kasandra Cow elk 688yds.mp4 - YouTube

.243 dropping an elk at 688yds with a 105gr VLD. Every animal will react differently. Both will get the job done. Bullet selection favors the .260. Personally i've come to like the creedmoor's 30 degree shoulder better than the .260's 20 degree. I only own a .260 though haven't taken any game with it.

If it's me i chose the .260/6.5CM. If you want 7mm .284 or better IMO

My 2cents.
Click to expand...
I reckon those 105VLDs I just bought from bullets.com will come in handy if I ever got a wild hair to hunt elk with my 6 Creed.:)
 
If we reviewed a sampling of 100 or 1000 elk kills, half with 243 and half with 260, both firing similar BC/SD bullets of same construction, same range, etc. do you think there would be zero difference?

No doubt there is some impressive videos out there on LR killing, but sometimes I wonder just how much game is lost in the process, or by those trying to replicate shots that some might say are unethical stunts.

I would pop any elk around with an 85gr Barnes or even 95 BT if given a good shot presentation to 300 yds. Shooting at LR distances with a 243 opens a big debate.

Re: the Africa results, the 7mm and 6.5mm are proven there. As to wanting bullets heavier...than what? The 140 was the bullet used in the hunts depicted. Those are available for the 260. I would venture 95+ percent of game shot with 7/08 inc. in Africa are done with a 140, and some with 120 BT, TSX, and TTSX. A 6.5 is commonly used with 120-140s depending on round and bullet choice.

Both are great rounds, there is some diff in recoil, but neither are bad. The 7 does have an undeniable better bore life. I have shot many 7/08s, Swedes, 6.5-308/260....so I have some experience. As good as the 162s are - yes as one said the 150 SMK are a good one, and very accurate, but again, I would love to see a comparison of results, field inc between a 260/130 Berger, and the 7-08 w/140 Berger. I think many might have overlooked that combo - the 7.
 
6.5BR said:
If we reviewed a sampling of 100 or 1000 elk kills, half with 243 and half with 260, both firing similar BC/SD bullets of same construction, same range, etc. do you think there would be zero difference?

No doubt there is some impressive videos out there on LR killing, but sometimes I wonder just how much game is lost in the process, or by those trying to replicate shots that some might say are unethical stunts.

I would pop any elk around with an 85gr Barnes or even 95 BT if given a good shot presentation to 300 yds. Shooting at LR distances with a 243 opens a big debate.

Re: the Africa results, the 7mm and 6.5mm are proven there. As to wanting bullets heavier...than what? The 140 was the bullet used in the hunts depicted. Those are available for the 260. I would venture 95+ percent of game shot with 7/08 inc. in Africa are done with a 140, and some with 120 BT, TSX, and TTSX. A 6.5 is commonly used with 120-140s depending on round and bullet choice.

Both are great rounds, there is some diff in recoil, but neither are bad. The 7 does have an undeniable better bore life. I have shot many 7/08s, Swedes, 6.5-308/260....so I have some experience. As good as the 162s are - yes as one said the 150 SMK are a good one, and very accurate, but again, I would love to see a comparison of results, field inc between a 260/130 Berger, and the 7-08 w/140 Berger. I think many might have overlooked that combo - the 7.
Click to expand...

I agree that the 7mm/140 Berger combo may be overlooked. All the 6.5 saum talk with the pointed 130 vlds got me thinking.

I have a standard bolt face long action that will need re-barreling soon and I am considering the .280 AI. Running the number with a pointed 140 VLD (adjusted BC to .561) the results, on paper, look pretty darn good.

So yes, I agree, the 7/140 vld may be an overlooked combo when run to comparable speeds as the 6.5/130 vld.
 
I have a 7-08 that I really like, accurate, low recoil and easy to load for. A lot of us are not real happy with Hornady's decision to stop production of the 162's but Bergers are an option. I don't think there is really any practical difference between the two cartridges, A high bc bullet in the 260 shoots a little flatter while the 7 was a little better in the wind. With components being what they are, there is not a great supply of anything out there right now but there is more development money being spent on 6.5 at this moment in time.

I am a long range hunter and liked the energy on target of the 162. Definitely rings steel with more authority than the 6.5 but either bullet in the right spot is going to do the job well. Might be just me but if you decide to go 6.5, I would do a 6.5 Creedmoor. Ballistically they are the same but it is a better cartridge design than the 260.
 
Saw that...more 7mm options would be good. A bullet in the 150's with a high bc would be nice.
 
I have a 7mm-08 with a 20 inch barrel and im shooting 139 sst's at 2840 fps out to 700 yards with great results. I just started doing load develompent with the 154 sst's and it's looking promising, i haven't chrono'd them yet.
 
Bm22 said:
Hello guys.

I was looking for recommendations on a new long range rifle. I hope to take this rifle out to 1,000 yards. But my local range only goes out to 600. I would also use this rifle for deer hunting. Under perfect conditions I would like to shoot a pig or deer at 500-600.

I hear the .260 has a great BC but I am not sure it has the knock down power at long range. Does it?

I have a .308 and a couple 7mags, 30-06, 250 savage. Remington 740 in .280. I reload as well.
So i was looking for a smaller caliber that my wife could also shoot.

If i get the .260 i think is will be a savage 12 LPR.
If I get the 7mm08 if will be a remington 700 varmint.

Any recomendations would be great.
Click to expand...

Either would be a fine choice. The two are almost identical as far as ballistics go. Does the .260 have the knockdown power at long range? I dont think a deer will know the difference. I used a 30-06 for a few years. Didnt care for the recoil or the muzzle blast. I now use a .243 for all my deer hunting and have never looked back. I would take the .243 over the 30-06 for any big game animal in North America except bears. Why? Because I shoot better with it. Good bullet selection and good shot placement should be your top priorities. Here in the midwest a 600 yard shot is rare. Sure there are times when there is no other option, but in most cases if you cant get closer than six hundred yards to a game animal then you should probably work on your stalking skills or out of respect for the animal, pass on taking the shot.
 
Don't get me wrong. The 6.5CM is great! I own two and a 6 Creedmoor to go with it. But, to stay with the OP's original question, I would say 260 Remington over 7MM-08. Why? Because I don't want to be competing with another shooter for brass and bullets for the 7MM-08......hahahahahahaha!
Seriously, I have killed a lot of animal with the 7MM-08 and use it for long range comps. It is ideal, IMHO, for all that but if your wife is recoil sensitive in the least she will have less of it to deal with shooting the 260.
If not, then go 7MM-08 and never look back.
 
I've a 12LRP in .260.
It's close to 14 lbs with a scope an no other accessories.

It's a pleasure to shoot but I'd hate to hump it through the woods.
Your wife might prefer something lighter too.

Also, it came with an HS Precision varminter stock.
Seems like I've heard they now come with another stock tho their site still lists the HS.
Check to be sure.
 
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