.260 at 2.8" OAL Which bullets?

[Ledzep]

I'm putting together a .260 DPMS LR pattern rifle with a 26" Krieger 1:8" twist barrel, and I'm wondering what to use for bullets.

I have a TON of 123 Amax's stocked up from my 6.5 Grendel, but I tend to think I would be better off taking advantage of the .260's ability to use the heavier 139-142gr bullets. This is my first .260, so I'm a little in the dark in terms what I can do here. The bullets I'm mainly looking at are,

140 Amax
142 SMK
140 Berger VLD
130 Swift Sirocco (hunting only)

I have a few hundred VLD's sitting around that I tried in the Grendel (unsuccessfully), so those will likely get tried. Am I going to run into issues of not being able to seat them far enough out?

What about the others?

I would like to get 2700-2750 FPS at the muzzle without destroying brass and/or gun. I plan on using H4350, Lapua Brass, and CCI BR primers.

Any help or direction is greatly appreciated.

 

[ChadTRG42]

Re: .260 at 2.8" OAL Which bullets?

140 A-max or 142 SMK. The 140 VLD's you can try, but they most likely won't shoot as consistant as the other 2. The 123 would be a good choice for closer in work, and be decent for the longer range stuff.

 

[harley_jeff]

Re: .260 at 2.8" OAL Which bullets?

I've had good luck with both 140 Amax and 139 Secnar's in my Gap 10 .260 using H4350. I'm using mostly Nosler brass and CCI 200 primers with OAL of 2.80.

 

[RyeDaddy]

Re: .260 at 2.8" OAL Which bullets?

Since you have the VLD's you may as well try them. I shoot them in my 260 (bolt action) loaded to 2.805" for magazine length and have great results. With a 26" barrel you should have no trouble hitting 2750 FPS, I'm not maxed out at my loading of 2720 FPS with a 22" barrel. You may get fliers or inconsistency from the freebore jump if it's long, but don't count them out till you try. My rifle is junping them .090" and they're just fine. If you want more speed you can try the 130 VLD when you run out of the 140's. Both have been great for hunting in my experience, I've got 5 medium game kills so far without issue.

If the VLD's don't pan out I would try the AMAX second in any weight you like. Went to them for my 308 AR and they've been very consistent on targets out to 500 yards and capable of hunting performance. For me they've been very unfinicky, and cheaper than Berger.

 

[Fuzzball]

Re: .260 at 2.8" OAL Which bullets?

"Am I going to run into issues of not being able to seat them far enough out?

For out enough for what? Why have you chosen an arbitrary OAL of 2.8"? We can't even intelligently guess where your rig will allow seating, that's going to be up to you and/or your 'smith.

 

[gau17]

Re: .260 at 2.8" OAL Which bullets?

Have you looked into 6.5 Creedmoor? You would not really have to worry about seating depth. Pretty much the same performance as the 260. I'm assuming 2.80 is because of magazine fit.

 

[Ledzep]

Re: .260 at 2.8" OAL Which bullets?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Fuzzball</div><div class="ubbcode-body">"Am I going to run into issues of not being able to seat them far enough out?

For out enough for what? Why have you chosen an arbitrary OAL of 2.8"? We can't even intelligently guess where your rig will allow seating, that's going to be up to you and/or your 'smith.
</div></div>

Far enough out to make efficient use of case capacity and achieve the goal of 2700-2750 fps without reaching max or near-max pressures. At the same time I'd like to maintain a high degree of precision (Hoping for under 1/2 MOA), and I've heard VLDs are sensitive to "jump".

The 2.8" OAL limit is because it's a DPMS LR-260 and I'd prefer to be able to shoot my semi-automatic rifle semi-automatically. As I said the .260 is new, muddy water for me. Still trying to filter everything out and at least get a general idea of what direction I should be looking.

Gau17, I did briefly look at the 6.5 Creedmore, however, decided the .260 would be better as I have tons of .308 brass that can be sized and turned in a pinch. That said, I already have the barrel, so I'm stuck with it

Thanks everyone for the suggestions. I am partial to Hornady bullets, so I'll go ahead and get a hundred Amaxs and see how they pan out. I would like the VLD's to work, but I'll take accuracy and consistency over the marginally higher BC.

 

[shooterone]

Re: .260 at 2.8" OAL Which bullets?

I found the 142 smk to be more accurate out if my bolt rifle, but I love the flexibility of the Amax for price and hunting potential.