Alpha SAC Bravo 260 Rem

[6.5 GUY]

I finally got a chance to buy a used SAC rifle built by Mark Gordon this month from MileHighShooting. Buying used is always a gamble as whether or not the barrel is shot out, etc. Buying something used from a Top Tier rifle builder usually evens out the chance of a bust..... This was another great buy! My first comp gun was another 260 Rem put together by George Gardner at GAP, which I bought used too! I loved it so much I had them build me a Thunder Ranch rifle in 6.5x47, and do a bunch more work for me as well.

I first learned about Mark @ Short Action Customs from various PRS events, and how fast he climbed to the top by 2014 out of thin air.... He only got SAC up and running in 2009. Just so happens the rifle I picked up was built by Mark in 2014. MileHighShooting even had a few used LE Bushnell ERS 3.5-21 w/ a GAP reticle I picked up too for $665.00

So the rifle showed up and after I got it home I noticed it looked great, but I could tell the previous owner wasn't the type to clean it before putting it up for consignment. The barrel crown was laiden with heavy fouling, so I got down to cleaning it. It was nice to see the barrel clean up after 30 or so patches, the crown took some time to remove the 1/16" thick ring around it. Shawn over at Hawk Hill made the 27" M24 1:8" barrel. Shawn spun me up an AI barrel a month ago and I have to say his barrels clean up super fast, and they shoot lights out, and this one was no different!

So after I cleaned the entire gun I slid the bolt back in and checked it for safety..... everything seemed normal right up until after I pulled the Calvin Elite trigger! I recocked it and the bolt went down hard.... The shear wouldn't hold again no matter what I did even after cleaning it and increasing the trigger pull. No problem I called Jake Vibbert @ JCSteeltargets to see if he could help me out..... later that night I went home with a TT diamond installed and another steel target to boot! MileHighShooting took in the faulty Timney trigger and offered to send me a new TT Diamond which I have to say I was very appreciative for them stepping up to the plate and doing that!

Since I've been handloading the 260 Rem since Remington first brought out the cartridge decades ago it only took me 10 rounds to get something working in the SAC 260 Rem. I settled on 42.5 H4350 F210M in Lapua brass behind a 142 SMK @ 2.2475" CBTO = 2.8650" COAL going 2,850 f/s and an ES 21/ SD 7, after slight adjustment to the seating depth I was seeing bug holes @ 100 yards.

SAC 260 Rem
Gen 2 Alpha II Action melonited
Surgeon bottom metal
Hawk Hill 27" M24 1:8" bbl.
Manners T4A painted in 3 color flecktarn by CGC
TT Diamond pro curve set @ 1.5 lbs

a

Three shots prone @ 377 yards today (bare barrel i.e. no brake, or can.)

 

[jcmullis2]

Is that a Remington action or Surgeon?

 

[Terry Cross]

Is that a Remington action or Surgeon?

Neither.

"Gen 2 Alpha II Action melonited" per his description above.
That action was made by Defiance and branded for SAC. May or may not have some SAC specific tweaks but exceptionally nice action regardless.

./

 

[REL1203]

I also own a Mark Gordon build SAC .260 Remington and it’s amazing. I own a GAP Crusader and my SAC runs circles around it. It’s amazing and was worth the 1year wait when I had him do it back in 2012-2013

 

[6.5 GUY]

For the record.... Anything Terry Cross @ KMW LRS builds, Mark @ SAC, George @ GAP, Travis @ RBros, or the late Robert Gradous, plus a few more all produce World Class rifles that are 2nd to none! As much as I love accurate rifles, and I have for 40+ years, and I've either owned or shot the some of best of the best, and some that failed miserably! That said I wish I could have one from every one of these Top Tier rifle builders still sitting in my gun safe! These guys are what made shooting stuff way out there unheard of when I got started shooting long range on game animals 30 years ago, and of all the cartridges I took a liking too was the .264 WM...... What everyone called a barrel burner, and when the 7mm Rem Mag came along pretty much killed it! All I knew was it was a lazerbeam, and had little to no recoil, which I liked, and everything fell to a single 120 gr Nosler Ballistic Tip. If I needed something to kill Elk, and/or Moose with it was a 125 Nosler Partition. Funny thing is no one uses those anymore..... But the Great Builders, those guns will still be Legends in my book!