260 Remington or not

[wawa]

I have a 260 in a Remington model 7 20" bbl
Nice light little rifle
THIS IS NOT AN OFF THE SHELVE RIFLE !!!
I have settled on using 100gr bullets or 125gr Nosler parts in the thing to get it to shoot under 1" MOA
Short action Long Throat
Mag Box allows OAL of around 2.825 to cycle
I deemed this rifle a P.O.S until I shot some 100gr bullets.
It likes once fired brass neck sized only brass,(or the groups double in size, as apposed to new neck sized brass) bullets no less than .005 off the lands
It's a picky SOB & there seems to be no go to load for this cartridge
I have spent a lot of time & money to get it to shoot,more than any other rifle I have owned. I now get .5 to .75" groups @ 100yrds with the flat base 100-125 bullets & 1.125 with the Hornady 130 IB
My rifle has lamented stock, bedded action & bedded pressure point ( pencil bbls as with the model 7 do not shoot as well generally, full floated)
This is a hunting rifle & I shoot 2 rounds then let cool
& have the traditional vertical spread
So what is all the Hype on this cartridge?

I feel the 260 would be better suited in a med to long action or the throat shortened .100"
<span style="font-weight: bold">WA</span>

 

[turbo54]

Re: 260 Remington or not

I don't know too much about skinny barrels or pressure points, but aren't those tuneable? Maybe mess with that?

The greatness of 260 comes from the heavier higher BC bullets, that yield 300WM-like trajectories, and do so with light recoil in a short action.

 

[mbandy13]

Re: 260 Remington or not

well the hype is this is a great round when using the 139, and 142 class bullets with high BC's. what is the twist in that barrel of yours? Most people espically on this site, are using it for long range. In my opinion your missing the boat with bullet selection and I would have gone longer in barrel length, to get more out of it.

mike

 

[psinclair]

Re: 260 Remington or not

I like mine just fine....prone, from a bipod and rear bag.

 

[Supersubes]

Re: 260 Remington or not

Are you trying to ask a question? I'm confused.

 

[Sendero_Man]

Re: 260 Remington or not

really am happy with mine too !

5 shots with 139 Scenars H4831SC

Rifle in the back....

 

[wawa]

Re: 260 Remington or not

I think I did miss the boat with my rifle selection. I bought the rifle to hunt with in the mountains of AZ . As I stated before the long bullets will not fit the rifle mag box Berger 130 vld & Swift Scirocco II Just don't work, to give you an idea Nosler 130gr AB have a OAL of 2.825 @ the lands, max OAL of the cartridge is 2.80 & my mag box will do the Accubonds @ 2.820 .005 off the lands just barely, 1 in 9 twist. The model 7 is the only factory rifle Remington makes in a 260 for several years now (maybe Remington missed the boat)
My main complaint is yes you can get it to shoot but it takes a lot of work, along with long throats & short mag boxes limits the choice of bullets, others @ my range others feel the same with their factory 260's (no report on the Savage yet) are your rifles custom or factory.
Is there any "go to load" for this cartridge
like 75.2gr RL22 180 bullet 300WM,62.8gr H4831 160 bullet Rem 7mm mag

 

[bowslngr]

Re: 260 Remington or not

To the extent that you have issues with your rifle, I think it has more to do with model you chose than the caliber.

First, 1:9 twist is OK but won't cut it for the 140 class high BC bulletss.

Second, a very lightweight setup like that is going to be a real challenge to shoot sub MOA in any caliber.

Third, it sounds like you do have a fairly restrictive magazine. My Savage will take OALs up to 2.920 out of its innternal mag. That will put a 140 grain Amax into the lands.

As a side note to my third point, you mentioned using Accubonds and it seems that you have a desire to put them into the lands. Nosler recommends a seating depth that is .03" off the lands for their accubonds. From the info you have posted, it appears that this seating depth will fit in your magazine.

 

[jcallan]

Re: 260 Remington or not

I also shoot a lot of 260 and think that if your set on having a model 7 light weight hunting rifle the best option to me would be to have it rebarreled and chambered specifically for the bullet you want to shoot. If its a factory round then just send it with your gun to the smith and he can get it done. I will tell you to be carefull about comparing your hunting gun to what you see the 260's on here doing, they are two different creatures although some people do hunt with their tactical rifles (me included).

good luck!

 

[Supersubes]

Re: 260 Remington or not

As has been already mentioned, the rifle you bought was never designed for the heavy bullets. I don't think Remington ever intended you to touch the rifling either. Most of their rifles I have played with have very long throats.

The .260 set up properly is sweet chambering. No mystery why it is so popular here. To the amazement of most, Remington has managed to totally forsake the chambering as far as making a proper rifle for it, and match ammo support. They put their name on the cartridge, tossed it out into the world, and then let everyone else perfect it. They just continue to ignore it.


Most importantly, is there something wrong with a hunting rifle that groups 1/2"-3/4"? Sounds like you need to stop playing and go kill something.

 

[nhm16]

Re: 260 Remington or not

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Cpl Snafu</div><div class="ubbcode-body">The .260 set up properly is sweet chambering. No mystery why it is so popular here. To the amazement of most, Remington has managed to totally forsake the chambering as far as making a proper rifle for it, and match ammo support. They put their name on the cartridge, tossed it out into the world, and then let everyone else perfect it. They just continue to ignore it.</div></div>

Not the first time they did it either. They did the same to 6.8 Rem. SPC in favor of .30 Rem. AR,and to a lesser extent 6mm Rem. They seem to have lost interest in .30 Rem. AR now too.

 

[Boomholzer]

Re: 260 Remington or not

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Remington has managed to totally forsake the chambering as far as making a proper rifle for it, and match ammo support. They put their name on the cartridge, tossed it out into the world, and then let everyone else perfect it. They just continue to ignore it.</div></div>

I agree and disagree on this. Rem will whore out whatever sells and is worth the effort.

Most of Rem's sales is from hunters/sportsmen. America has always been 30cal dominated and the 6.5mm never had any substanial following. The .260 was "thrown out there" in '97 which makes it a infant relative to most other cartidges. Hunting culture is dominated by time-tested popular conventions and what "daddy used".
Remington's ammo offerings support this mentality. How many target .308 shooters do you see slinging Rem ammo?

It is only within the last several years that the .260 gained LR shooting popularity. This is a relatively small group and many with custom rifles not profiting Rem. Futhermore, to offset the .260, you also have the 6.5x47,Creedmoor, and 6.5x55SW.

Its a niche and Rem does not cater to such markets.

 

[tylerw02]

Re: 260 Remington or not

I actually have a Model 7 in .260. Its stainless, H-S Precision stock, and skim bedded. I was about to sell the thing because it grouped so poorly...as in over an inch and a half (which is perfectly acceptable for the role, but boring to me). I'd tried several types of 130s, 140s, and so on.

I finally shot some 100 gr BTs, 100 gr PT, and some 129 SSTs with Varget rather than 4350, RL15, RL19, etc.

Suddenly, it came alive. Last two groups were under .75" not allowing time to cool. I have a new LW rifle now.

 

[350 kid]

Re: 260 Remington or not

I have a model 7 cdl 260. 20 1nch pencil barrel.I got flyers with the pressure under barrel.Took off pressure and had it glass bedded.I have shot many groups under 1/2 inch with a 7 power scope at 75 yards.Some at 100.It doesn't ride the bags well.My gunsmith beds the recoil lug tight and an inch or barrel on the model 7's and it works.The throat is short ,i want to have it reamed.

 

[BoilerUP]

Re: 260 Remington or not

I have a 700 Mountain LSS .260 with 9 twist 22" pencil barrel.

I shoot an extremely mild load (120gr Nosler BT & 41.5gr H380 at 2.79" OAL, producing 2675fps) but it puts 3 shots under a dime at 100yd and kills whitetails just as dead as any other load I've ever seen.