[Dalescarpentry]

I am thinking of a Remington 260 for a good cross over rifle between varmint and Deer. You can load them with 85 grain bullets for Groundhogs and 140 grain bullets for Deer. What do you think of the 260? Dale

 

[Brithunter]

Well as you asked :-\ I don't think about the .260 at all. You see I have two rifles chambered for the 6.5x55 Swedish cartridge so there is not need to even think about the .260! Now the 6.5x55 can use bullets as light as 77 grains in fact I have some factory Norma ammo loaded with 77 grn soft points and some Jagdtmatch with 77 grain RN FMJ's. I did try some 85 Grn Sierrias HP's but didn't stumble on a load which gave me good accuracy so stopped working with them as I already have a good load for the 100 grain Nosler Balistic Tip which is light enough for anything I wish to shoot with it and loads for 129 grn, 140 grn and 160 grain bullets so it covers most bases ;D.

One of the rifles is a sporterised Swedish Carl Gustave (commercially done) with a new short barrel. I had the bolt handle changed to the one you see for better clearence of the scope and easier use:-

I aso re-shaped the trigger to bring it further back in the guard. The other rifle so chambered is this modern Mauser Obendorf M96 Slide bolt :-

This one seems prefer 140 grin bullets to the lighter ones but then again it might just be that I have not discovered the load it likes with the lighter bullets. I do try to keep the loads so I can use them in either rifle.

So you seen I have no reason to even think about the .260 Remington as there is nothing it can do which the old 6.5x55 in a strong modern action cannot ;D as for loading light and heavier bullets yes of course it can be done especially with the Swedish cartridge and I suppose the .260 should be able to handle them as well although I have experience with it as I explained but if you do so it's unlikely that the sight setting would remain the same of course. So if you wish to go that route then may I humbly suggest QD mounts and two scopes so one may be set up for deer and one for varmints it would save a lot of time re-zeroing and mean you can spend more time hunting or simply practicing.

 

[Mikey]

Dale - the 260 is an excellent choice for varmit, whitetail, bear and hog - if you don't have a 6.5mm Swede that is. Ballistically very similar. I had waited for the 260 to come out for years - I used to reload the 6.5 Italian and really came to like the effectiveness of the 6.5mm caliber.

The 260 is also gettin' pretty hot on the match scene. It is a good accurate cartridge.

I would have one or two but I already have a couple of Swedes and I am running out of space to pile up rifles of similar caliber capabilities (so sez the guy with 06s, 8mms, 303 Brits, etc.)

Brithunter - those are really nice looking rifles. My pc got fried and I'm on a borrowed hardrive but when I get back up and running (properly) I intend to post some pictures.

That is a very nice 'Slide Action' Mauser you have there............. Mikey.

 

[Graybeard]

The .260 is what I'll use for any rifle hunting I do this year. My shoulder is just giving me too much pain for larger heavier kicking rifles at this time. I have a Remington Model 7 CDL I picked up for it. I used to own an LSS Mtn. Rifle in .260 but let that one get away as my shoulder wasn't bothering me so much at that time but sure is now.

Remington doesn't offer it in a lot of rifles these days and the LSS Mtn. Rifle is now discontinued. If you want a Remington I think the Model 7 is the only choice for a new gun now. But there are lots of used ones out there as well.

I've only tried two loads in mine so far both are Nosler Custom factory loads. One using the Nosler 100 grain PT and the other using their 120 BT also a Nosler Custom Factory load. Both hit to almost the same POI at 100 yards and give very similar and excellent accuracy. I have only a single box of each they sent me too late to use in the LSS Mtn. Rifle so I've not done extensive shooting with them but both are perfectly fine for what little hunting I'm likely to get to do this year. I have a wide selection of 6.5mm bullets to try in reloads but with season almost here and the weather cooling down it will be spring before I do any loading for it and shooting on my range with them.

My expectations are to settle in with the Nosler 125 PT and/or the Hornady 129 SP for this rifle but the way the 100 PT and 120 BT are shooting I'll at least give both a try as well. If I use it for critters smaller than deer I have a supply of Hornady 90 grain V-Max bullets as well.

The gun seems to want to shoot quite accurately right out of the box and the only thing I'll likely do with it is to lighten the trigger pull a bit but even that isn't bad out of the box at about 4.25 to 4.5 pounds and otherwise just fine. Just a wee bit of backing off on the pull weight screw should have it just like I prefer them but I will wait until after deer to pull it from the stock and do that adjustment.

 

[Dalescarpentry]

Brithunter those are a couple fine rifles you have there. Thanks for the suggestion on the 2 scope thing. I have though of that and that is exactly what I have in mind. Dale

 

[Dalescarpentry]

The .260 is what I'll use for any rifle hunting I do this year. My shoulder is just giving me too much pain for larger heavier kicking rifles at this time. I have a Remington Model 7 CDL I picked up for it. I used to own an LSS Mtn. Rifle in .260 but let that one get away as my shoulder wasn't bothering me so much at that time but sure is now.

Remington doesn't offer it in a lot of rifles these days and the LSS Mtn. Rifle is now discontinued. If you want a Remington I think the Model 7 is the only choice for a new gun now. But there are lots of used ones out there as well.

I've only tried two loads in mine so far both are Nosler Custom factory loads. One using the Nosler 100 grain PT and the other using their 120 BT also a Nosler Custom Factory load. Both hit to almost the same POI at 100 yards and give very similar and excellent accuracy. I have only a single box of each they sent me too late to use in the LSS Mtn. Rifle so I've not done extensive shooting with them but both are perfectly fine for what little hunting I'm likely to get to do this year. I have a wide selection of 6.5mm bullets to try in reloads but with season almost here and the weather cooling down it will be spring before I do any loading for it and shooting on my range with them.

My expectations are to settle in with the Nosler 125 PT and/or the Hornady 129 SP for this rifle but the way the 100 PT and 120 BT are shooting I'll at least give both a try as well. If I use it for critters smaller than deer I have a supply of Hornady 90 grain V-Max bullets as well.

The gun seems to want to shoot quite accurately right out of the box and the only thing I'll likely do with it is to lighten the trigger pull a bit but even that isn't bad out of the box at about 4.25 to 4.5 pounds and otherwise just fine. Just a wee bit of backing off on the pull weight screw should have it just like I prefer them but I will wait until after deer to pull it from the stock and do that adjustment.

Well GB it would seem you like your model 7 260. Dose that have the 18 1/2'' barrel? I see that Gunbroker has a couple Rem. Mt. 260's I may end up going with the Mt. Dale

 

[Graybeard]

Nope Dale it is one of the newer CDL versions. They come with 20" barrels for standard rounds like the .260 and 22" for the magnum chamberings.

 

[Dalescarpentry]

I always hear shorter barrels are more accurate. I wonder how short is to short. My 243 has a 26'' barrel and I think I would much prefer a 22'' or a 24'' if it did not affect the way it shoots. Dale

 

[Graybeard]

The "shorter barrel is more accurate" theory is based on the fact that for a given barrel contour a shorter barrel will be stiffer and thus less affected by vibrations and therefore in theory at least more accurate. There are however a LOT more things that affect accuracy than just stiffness of barrel so it's at best a working theory only.

If you're hunting in thick cover using mild rounds based on the .308 case or smaller then I think those 18.5" barrels do just fine. I bought one of the original very early Model 7s with 18.5" barrel in 7-08. It was never all that accurate with Remington factory loads or reloads. In the early days that was the ONLY choices you had in ammo for the 7-08. It would shoot about 1.5" to 1.75" for three shots at 100 yards with ammo it liked but worse with many.

Still that rifle has been used first by me for many years, then by my oldest son and now is my wife's rifle. We've all three used it extensively in several states for game varying from squirrel to hogs to deer and even exotics and it's NEVER required a second shot on any animal it was fired at and has never missed a single critter in the 25+ years it has been in my family. It simply works. A year two back I tried some Hornady Light Mag 139 SPs in it and got the first sub MOA group that rifle has ever fired. From now on that will be the ONLY ammo fired in that rifle as it has turned it into an MOA or better shooter after all these years.

For a compact woods or treestand rifle I love a 20" barrel. For me that is short enough to allow me to hold it in my rifle hand by the grip as I walk the woods and the barrel will not touch the ground. A 22" barrel is too long for me at only 5' 8" to do that. The 18.5" is more compact and is nice but the 20" barrel works equally well for me in close quarters use. I'm not one to worry so much about maximizing velocity from the mild rounds I choose to use and around here a 100 yard shot is a long one.

But with that little rifle I've made kills from as close as about five steps for a feral goat that walked up on my stand in the CWMA here in Bama to a nine point buck taken at about 200 yards and both of those were taken from the same stand, the one I call the Nine Pine and there are some stories of my hunts from that stand in the Campfire Tales section of this site. My oldest son now hunts that area and that stand as I'm no longer able to get up into that area as it's just too steep for me now.

For other than a target or varmint rifle I don't want a barrel to be more than 22" personally.

 

[Brithunter]

Hi All,

Thank you for the kind comments. I suppose I am partial to the 6.5mm bore as I also have a 6.5x53R and a 6,5x54MS both are Steyr's a Model 1892 and Model 1903.

Now both my 6.5x55 rifles have 22" barrels, just checked as I could not remember how long they were. As for teh two scope idea ....................... well i have thought of it but as I have enough rifles to have one for different purposes that i ahve not gone that route quite yet but I have been moving towards using QD mounts whenever possible. In fact the Slide Bolt has one version of QR lever opertated rings on it.

 

[davem270win]

I've got a Ruger Compact in 260, and I've used it for deer hunting the past two years, using a Barnes 120 gr X bullet. I've also owned 6.5 x 55's, and they're pretty much the same - you may get a little more speed out of 6.5x55, but then I'm shooting a short barrel anyway. Worked just fine for me last year.

 

[cheesehead]

I think the 260 would a perfect round for a true short action light weight bolt rifle, even thought I have 3 6.5x55 Mausers.

 

[Brithunter]

Hi All,

Well it seems that they are trying to hype up the .260 Remington cartridge here as last week I see they did an article on it in the weekly "Shooting Time" magazine. The two rifles that were used didn't do very well with teh available factory ammo only managing a best of 1 1/2" at 100 yards and a worst nearly 3". However with one handload he did record a 1/2" group. Now the writer happens or was a very good shot as some years ago we belonged to the same gun club, that was before he started wrting artlices. I can still remember what he told me about his first article which was truthful and factual, so much so that the editir refused to accept it until it had been altered to show the test rifle in a better light!

Reading his latest piece I see he has fallen into the roll of gun writer rather well and have e-mailed my observation's to the editor and got a reply. It seem my e-mail was to long to print!

 

[smokepolehall]

Its not a bad cal. but f i was to buy one i rather have the 6.5x55. Several companies make them. I am halfway done on sporterizing my 1916 Swede.

 

[barr25-06]

Does anybody use the 85g bullets with good accuracy?

You don't want a varment rifle that likes 140g bullets.

 

[coyotejoe]

I'm quite happy with my old M-70 featherwieght in 6.5x55 and have no plans to part with it, but would have gone with the .260 if it had been available at the time. I always thought Remington should have gone with 6.5/08 instead of the 7mm08. 6.5mm just seems to better split the difference between .243 and .308. Nothing against the 7mm08 but it's ballistics are just so similar to the .308 I hardly see the need of it. But then guns aren't about NEED are they?

 

[prairiedog555]

My friend has a .260 and another a 6.5x55 and they both love them. They say they kill deer like a death ray. I am sure we have all herd of the way the 6.5x55 has been a great killer for many years. I have heard some try to explain it, something to do with the ballistic coefficient and the moderate velocity combination.
Anyway I have been thinking about getting a 6.5 but I think I will go with the 6.5x55 because I know it will never be discontinued. Even if the .260 is a ballistic twin there are too darn many new cartriges out there that even good ones get "downsized" in a crunch.

 

[nomosendero]

The .260 is what I'll use for any rifle hunting I do this year. My shoulder is just giving me too much pain for larger heavier kicking rifles at this time. I have a Remington Model 7 CDL I picked up for it. I used to own an LSS Mtn. Rifle in .260 but let that one get away as my shoulder wasn't bothering me so much at that time but sure is now.

Remington doesn't offer it in a lot of rifles these days and the LSS Mtn. Rifle is now discontinued. If you want a Remington I think the Model 7 is the only choice for a new gun now. But there are lots of used ones out there as well.

I've only tried two loads in mine so far both are Nosler Custom factory loads. One using the Nosler 100 grain PT and the other using their 120 BT also a Nosler Custom Factory load. Both hit to almost the same POI at 100 yards and give very similar and excellent accuracy. I have only a single box of each they sent me too late to use in the LSS Mtn. Rifle so I've not done extensive shooting with them but both are perfectly fine for what little hunting I'm likely to get to do this year. I have a wide selection of 6.5mm bullets to try in reloads but with season almost here and the weather cooling down it will be spring before I do any loading for it and shooting on my range with them.

My expectations are to settle in with the Nosler 125 PT and/or the Hornady 129 SP for this rifle but the way the 100 PT and 120 BT are shooting I'll at least give both a try as well. If I use it for critters smaller than deer I have a supply of Hornady 90 grain V-Max bullets as well.

The gun seems to want to shoot quite accurately right out of the box and the only thing I'll likely do with it is to lighten the trigger pull a bit but even that isn't bad out of the box at about 4.25 to 4.5 pounds and otherwise just fine. Just a wee bit of backing off on the pull weight screw should have it just like I prefer them but I will wait until after deer to pull it from the stock and do that adjustment.

We have experienced good results with the 129 Hor & 120BT as well.
Bill, you may want to add the 130Accubond to the list of bullets to try. My Wife used the Acc in her Swede last month to take a Buck Antelope & a Doe as well. The bonded was not needed for Antelope but the accuracy is extreme & wind bucking for sure. Terminal per. was very good.

 

[Graybeard]

It is on my list but so far I've not been able to get any from Nosler, they always seem to be out of stock.

 

[FLNT4EVR]

Dale, I bought a Rem 260 this yr and love it. GB is correct in that Rem is only offering it in the model 7. I,ve shot bullets in weight from 100 grns to the big 160's with good results .Bullets in the 120 grn weight and the 129 grn shoot to the same point of aim in my rifle also.I've decided on the 129's for hunting this year.