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6.5 CM vs .260 Rem

Hardly, troll guy. There are many factory Swede loads that are not weak, they actually duplicate .270 win ballistics.
 
Hardly, troll guy. There are many factory Swede loads that are not weak, they actually duplicate .270 win ballistics.

Troll guy? First time in the forum and you wink at the troll? Lol. The original factory loads were slow. It is a great load if you reload. But 6.5 CM is far more prevalent at retailers. Reloading? Then have at it. Not to mention it’s almost too long to fit in a short action. But yes. It will work.
 
6.5x55 Swede is a long action cartridge troll.
Swede factory rounds are loaded to sammi spec to accommodate vintage military rifles. You can buy many loads for the 6.5 Swede that surpass the .260 and the 6.5 creed in velocity and energy ........they are loaded with high end hunting bullets though......troll = 3 INT
 
4831sc in my 260 was a great combo with 139 scenar. also ran alot of 123 scenar with varget excellent combo. i drank the creed koolaid and chased my tail with it. found it difficult to find the sweetspot. just my experience. i have since moved to 6.5x47 and found better results, easier to obtain low single digit es-sd. the creed is my least favorite of the 3 but if i were not a reloading man it would be more appealing.
 
I've been shooting the 260 in bolt and gas guns long enough I'm not going to change now, plus I have a sour taste in my mouth when a no nothing tells me how his 6.5 creed it good to a thousand plus yards while I'm staring at his bariska pos scope.
I like all cartridges. They all interest me so to each their own.
 
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Hardly.
Actually the 260 situation is even better now than when I started with it.

I know, it was mentioned a while back in one of these 6.5 caliber threads and it is the first thing I think of when I see another thread like this. There have been several brass manufacturers come out with 260 brass plus look at all the factory ammo available now. When I got my first 260, copper creek was about the only option for match ammo if you didn't reload. It's good to see these companies finally support this cartridge. I have several 260's and I always take one to the range.
 
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FWIW; Been shooting the 260 for years and love it.
If I had switched over to the Creed I'd probably love it too but that will never happen. To much time invested in the 260. I've got a Shilen barrel on a Savage 10 and as usual it's a hammer.
Match chamber and long throat running Berger 140 vlds at 2.920 out of Accruate mags. 44 grs. of h4350 gets me 2900 fps with no pressure signs. Could probably run higher but really see no need. Ive been using
243 win bress and now have 3x on that lot of brass and haven't annealed it yet.
I did aquire 400 cases of 1x fired RP 243 brass and when time comes I'll anneal and resize it but for now win has worked great. Just wish it had been 1x fired, like the RP brass. Seems to work better that way.

Anyway just throwing this out there.
 
My opinion, the only way you will see the difference down range from the added velocity the 260 can offer over the Creed is something past 1400 yards. I run a 260 and have pushed it pretty hard.

(DONT GO THIS HIGH, NOT WORTH IT!!)
H4350 pushes the 143 eld-x to 2950fps
Reloader 17 could push the 143's to 2975fps and the 130 hybrids to 3075fps

There isn't any reason to run them this hard besides the fact I had a few ranges at 1200 yards and thought this would bring me an edge. I still run the 143's at 2950 with H4350 and produces 1/2" groups. I found my barrel likes to run close to max to get good SD/ES #'s. otherwise its double digits no matter what I do.

For the conversion from 308 is pretty simple but is a long process with neck turning. I had a deal on 308 brass a while back, $50 per 1000 pieces. I anneal it, small base die, neck it down to 260, expander die for the neck turning tool, turn the necks, resize it, trim, chamfer, debur, 3 steps on the primer pocket/flash hole, anneal again, then I am good to reload. after the first firing, then its just anneal, resize, load.

I reload the 260 super cheap since brass isn't really a cost to me. pick one and go with it. both are great rounds and both will ring steel.
 
I was looking at Berger’s website and was surprised to see their 6.5 Creedmoor 130 grain hybrid with a published velocity faster than that of their 260 rem with the same bullet. All things being equal I would think the 260 would be faster. Out of curiosity am I missing something?
 
Factory loaded Berger? Who knows if it's equal loads or even the same powder?
Not to restart the ballistic argument but I think some aren't aware of the advantage of the Tikka T3 platform for 260. Now you can get M+ magazines and feed 2.98" cartridges with a standard bolt stop. Even longer than the TRG / CTR mags. Although this was designed for their 6.5 creedmoor chambered rifles, if you use the M+ mags and push the 260 the speed advantage over the creedmoor can get closer to 75-100fps.
 
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Exactly what Lowlight said... I still prefer the 260 even if nothing other than for the nostalgia of it. But son of a bitch its nice to walk into academy and buy a box of 6.5cm for $14 of whatever flavor is on sale and bang away with an AR10 without looking at my reloading press.
I necked down 7mm-08 , perfect neck tention without crimping for my LR260.
 
I neck up Winchester 243 brass.

This is the way to go.
Look at the diagrams of the 4 cases, 243,260,7mm/08 and 308.
243 is a perfect case for the 260 and the cases are always available.
Burger 140 vld-h are all I load in my 260. COAL is 2.92 which allows more powder. 44 grs H4350 gets me just over 2900 fps.
 
I feel like the 260 is a little easier to tune for cutting edge accuracy. But it’s marginal at best
Huh, I feel like that about creed, just easy to get a great load with low es/sd. The only 260 I had shot pretty good, but developed donuts in case nks in 3-4 firings. Lapua and nosler 260 brass. I never experienced donuts with cheap horn/win creedmoor brass in 4-5 different barrels. The 6.5slr or 260ai makes more sense to me, improved case shape and less stretch.
 
Huh, I feel like that about creed, just easy to get a great load with low es/sd. The only 260 I had shot pretty good, but developed donuts in case nks in 3-4 firings. Lapua and nosler 260 brass. I never experienced donuts with cheap horn/win creedmoor brass in 4-5 different barrels. The 6.5slr or 260ai makes more sense to me, improved case shape and less stretch.
That’s weird, because I have yet to experience a single neck donut and experience so little case stretch as to not have to worry about it. This is over many thousands of rounds and at least 12 firings on many hundreds of pieces of brass.

Now, admittedly, I do not load hot or fast for the round, so that may have something to do with it. Oh, and Norma brass.
 
This was a factory tikka barrel, but it sure made donuts like dunkin. 142@2850 in 24" barrel. I know robert whitley talks about the 260 and donut. I thought it was bs and couldn't understand why, but it did for me.
 
6.5 Creed is the way to go. Good factory offerings that are inexpensive compared to junk 260 offerings if you're in a pinch. Better resale.

Lol
FGMM 142 is hardly junk and it actually pretty affordable now.
Plus you have Berger and surely soon prime ammo.
 
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Huh, I feel like that about creed, just easy to get a great load with low es/sd. The only 260 I had shot pretty good, but developed donuts in case nks in 3-4 firings. Lapua and nosler 260 brass. I never experienced donuts with cheap horn/win creedmoor brass in 4-5 different barrels. The 6.5slr or 260ai makes more sense to me, improved case shape and less stretch.

Yep, over 3-4 barrels of each the load development was noticeably easier and the extreme accuracy was better out of the 260 barrels every time over the Creed. Short of a 6mmBR I find the 260 to be the easiest caliber to work up a good load with various powder, primer, and bullet combos.
 
Yep, over 3-4 barrels of each the load development was noticeably easier and the extreme accuracy was better out of the 260 barrels every time over the Creed. Short of a 6mmBR I find the 260 to be the easiest caliber to work up a good load with various powder, primer, and bullet combos.

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IMHO, it's a tossup.

I've been shooting the .260 since about 2001. That represents a considerable investment in the chambering.

The .260's advantages, for me, are slightly (pretty negligibly) greater case capacity, and a rather more versatile approach to brass.

I've tried the 308 to 260 route and it's not a good one. Too much added tweaking (neck turning). I can, however simply run .243 and 7-08 brass through the F/L die, and they are good to go as is. I did this originally to resolve a brass shortage. But now, it's a cost measure. 7-08 brass can be significantly cheaper for what's essentially the very same piece of brass. I favor 7-08 over 243 because some talk here ('way back when) suggested necking up the 243 can result in donuts.

The 6.5 CM is a very serviceable chambering, and if I hadn't already made the investment in the 260, I'd probably go with it due to factory ammo costs and the longer neck which favors longer projectiles. However, there is a velocity difference, and really, I've never seen any issues seating deeper into the case with the 260.

My 28" L-W SAAMI barrel handles such things pretty much in stride. My strategy with the longer barrel has nothing to do with higher velocity; it's about longevity. The added length gives me normal velocities with less bore pressure and heat, and that's my load development goal. I don't believe in beating the horses.

Been shooting this barrel since 2003, and that includes several seasons of 1000yd F Open. I ordered the barrel by spec, and soon after it became an L-W stock order item. It is my only custom aftermarket barrel.

But mainly, I see no point in investing in a second chambering that does virtually the same thing, and maybe not quite so well.

I'll make no bones about it, I made what bones I may have here partly by being a 260 advocate; but I got very little negative to say about the 6.5CM. It works too.

Greg
 
In my experience, my .260 was easier to load develop, easier to find a node etc... I'm sure there could have been other factors than caliber to make me come to this conclusion though.
 
CPR this topic, but looking around today the shift in ammo availability between 260 & 6.5 CM has come full circle. Relatively good amount of 260 around and its like being a crack fiend waiting for any good factory 6.5 offerings.
Makes me want to explore 260 again
 
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That’s funny!
When I started with 260 you couldn’t find 6.5CM.
Now again you can’t find 6.5CM!
Yup! Same thing here. Fortunately for me, I have plenty of components for my .260 these days that I haven’t had to worry about factory ammo availability, or price.
 
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