Why is the .260 so dificult to tune?

[mugsie]

Maybe it's just me?

I've built several rifles now. I've used Savage actions, Manners or SSS stocks, Shileen barrels and they all shoot incredibly well. When I do my part I end up with tiny little bug holes at 100 yards. All that is, except the .260. This rifle is giving me fits. I can get bug holes, but never consistently. I even tried changing the scope, mounts, all the varaibles, yet it doesn't feel like it's tuned properly.

Do any of you find the 6mm cartridge is a tough one to dial in?

Thanks....

 

[fdshuster]

mugsie: 260 Rem. is 6.5mm, and no, I don't find the 6mm's tough to dial in be they my 6ppc's or 6BR's.

Hopefully someone with experience with the 6.5 mm's will chime in.

 

[JRS]

Bullet and bullet weight? Seating depth? Barrel twist rate? Powder?

 

[bheadboy]

Same problem and experience, got rid of it.

Bob

 

[the punisher]

both of my 260 Rem`s love h4831 with 7mm08 brass re sized and running a 140 Berger....SMK and A-MAX didn't do well in mine. Factory Savage 12 LRP and a built Remy with a Shilen barrel 1 in 8 twist.

 

[jr600yd]

yea, I'd have a hard time too shooting a 6mm bullet out of a 6.5mm bore....heheheh

 

[bpd459]

Greetings,
I have shot over 8000 rds of .260 through 5 different barrels. Never had an issue with anything from 85gr Sierra's to 142gr SMK's. They all shot lights out. 38.0gr Varget over any 6.5mm match bullet in the early days and then went to H4350.
If the rifle won't shoot a 142 SMK over 42.0hr H4350, the gun is broke...
Good luck,
John

 

[dooley]

260 Rem, I have put over 3000 rounds through my existing 260 barrel, I have never had a more accurate caliber, it still shoots way under 1/2 groups, I have also a 6.5x47 30 inch bar, but my 260 is more accurate, with the 260 I have no problem getting single digit ES.s but the ES.s on my 6.5x47 ave 16-20 fps, in the 260 I use 139gr Scenars + 43grs Accurate 4350 and 44grs with the 123gr scenars, I also use the same powder with 130gr Bergers 43.5grs, I mainly shoot 600-1000yds, However I would like a 30 degree shoulder angle on the next barrel. dooley (UK)

 

[mugsie]

OK OK - besides not being able to tame the .260 (6.5mm) I can't type either! Typed 6mm instead of 6.5mm - sorry.
For the record - the 6mm's tune perfectly - 6.5 - different story. I'm actually thinking of swappnig out the barrel for something else. Was toying around with the 6.5x47 but the brass is very expensive. Have to see - maybe I'll futz with the 6.5 a little longer.

 

[jcampbellsmith]

I have had 260 Rems since '99. I have reloaded for the last two rifles and both like 140 gr AMax with about 44gr N165 (~2550fps). I have a H4350 load for the 142 SMKs, but haven't got them to perform as well as the AMax. I've also shot the Hornady 129 gr SPs with some success. I have got a Wyatt's Box fitted to allow a longer OAL with loaded rounds just under 2.9 inches.

My first ever rifle reloads were with H4831 and the 140 gr AMax and they performed straight away. This is my current rifle:
http://www.thestalkingdirectory.co.uk/gallery/member-galleries/p2948-remington-700-sa-in-260-rem.html
and this was yesterday's result with a 129gr SP at a range of 80yds.

Regards JCS

 

[rcw3]

Maybe it's just me?

I've built several rifles now. I've used Savage actions, Manners or SSS stocks, Shileen barrels and they all shoot incredibly well. When I do my part I end up with tiny little bug holes at 100 yards. All that is, except the .260. This rifle is giving me fits. I can get bug holes, but never consistently. I even tried changing the scope, mounts, all the varaibles, yet it doesn't feel like it's tuned properly.

. . . .

Thanks....

Personally I had the same issues with the .260 Rem. I had one and I thought maybe it was the barrel that was finicky so I had it re-barreled and the second one was the same. One day it was great, the next day it was not. I finally stopped using the cartridge. I now use a .260 Imp 30Ëšthat does not have those issues - - personally I think there's some anomaly with the cartridge design or something like that - - as soon as I blow out a .260 Rem shoulder to 30Ëšthat anomaly seems to disappear. There are some shooters who swear by the cartridge so obviously they must get great and consistent results with the straight 260 Rem but I sure could not.

Robert

 

[msinc]

The long bullet can be a little twist sensitive but I have had issues similar to yours. In my case I found that my Shilen barrel copper fouled pretty bad. Again that long bearing surface of the 6.5 bullet makes it worse. I could get my groups to stay tighter longer with light weight {not as long} bullets. Borescope shows alot of copper after only 10-20 rounds. My experience with Shilen barrels is that they tend to have alot of tool marks. Most dont look much better inside than a factory Remington barrel. All that said, one of my best shootiing rifles has a Shilen with the worst tooling marks of any barrel I have. I just have to make sure ALL THE COPPER IS GONE before I shoot it again. Another thing I found that helps with the 260 is to carefully anneal the brass. Neck tension seems to be a little more critical in this cartridge too. Good luck.

 

[Raptor]

I have had mixed results with the 260s. My first was a remington VLS and it loved the 140 AMAX with 37grs of varget. I then had it rebarreled to a 260 with a Pac Nor super match at 26"s. It never shot as well as the stock Remington did. It was a consistant .6 to .7 gun.

The barrel had a flaw in the throat and a piece of it flaked out at around 1300rds. Pac Nor replaced the barrel and I went back to the 308. I then took the bad barrel and cut off 4"s on the chamber end and made a 22" 260 out of it. The damn thing shot LIGHTS OUT!!! It now was a .3 rifle and I nearly cried when it started going south on me.

I then had it rebarreled with a Kreiger that I had won at a match and it was also a hammer. It was a consistant .5 and under rifle. It has close to 3000rds through it now and is starting to go so I had another action and rebarreled it to a 260 with a Bartlien 5R. When I started shooting it it would shoot bug holes then next time it would shoot .7s just like the old Pac Nor had done. Very inconsistant. I sent it back to Frank and he checked it out and could find nothing wrong with it but being a stand up guy offered me a new barrel.

My soninlaw has a 260 with a Shillen barrel and his rifle is the same way. One time it will shoot bug holes then .7s to .8s. So maybe there is something to this inconsistancies in the 260s.

 

[CaptainMal]

Three of us had expensive custom 260AI's built. All three of us had failures. Two of us tried making chamber, throat, crown and brake changes. More waste of time and money.

I'm at just over 600 rds of testing for the past 9 months and am right now giving up. You are talking "bug holes". I, and the others, would be happy with .6's but cannot even get that consistently. Two of us used Krieger 5 R's. The other guy used a McGowen. All are 8 twist. We tried every bullet from most all manufacturers in the 129 - 140 weights. You name the powder/primer combination and we all tried. Best I'm getting is Reloader 22 with 140 A Max's. I was the only one looking to make a long-range tower hunting rifle. No hunting bullet I tried would do better than 1 inch groups and that was even a "maybe".

Have no clue and others will tell you they have custom target rifles that shoot well. Well I say fine but that does not help all of us. Wish I had an answer. Only have questions.

 

[Forum Boss]

I spent a year messing around with all kinds of loads with a .260. It all came together with H4350 and the Lapua Scenar 123 going at 2950 fps.

I think a lot of guys struggle because they insist on running the 140s-142s and try to get 6.5-284 velocities. Try H4350 and the medium weight bullets -- the 123s or the Berger 130.

 

[BigHorn WBY]

I have not had an issue with .260's. The internet surely does, but I have not.
130's are your top bullet weight and a "4350 type" is your fastest powder to use.
130gr Berger and a top load of RL17/ H4350/ imr4831/Hybrid 100V/N550 is a good place to start.
120's and 123's are very good as well.


Just guessing ('cause I see it alot) that those inconsistent rifles are shooting Sierra's or it is a scope issue.

 

[Raptor]

Bighorn, not to be argumentive but thats just not true. I have put thousands of rounds through 260s and love them but if you read my post you will see that a couple of mine did NOT shoot all that well no matter what bullet or powder I shot

My soninlaw also has one now that is inconsistant. We have tried about everypowder and bullet combo you can try in a 260 and one time we think we have it and then it shoots crappy then bug holes all in same session with several shooters. We also have tried a couple of scopes on the rifles. Same results.

If you read Roberts post he had two brand new barrels back to back that did the same thing. Your lucky yours shoots well. MY current 260 with a Kreiger shoots lights out and now has right at 3000rds through it and its starting to go south which makes me want to cry.

 

[Ing. Michael W. Mayerl]

Maybe it's just me?

I've built several rifles now. I've used Savage actions, Manners or SSS stocks, Shileen barrels and they all shoot incredibly well. When I do my part I end up with tiny little bug holes at 100 yards. All that is, except the .260. This rifle is giving me fits. I can get bug holes, but never consistently. I even tried changing the scope, mounts, all the varaibles, yet it doesn't feel like it's tuned properly.

Do any of you find the 6mm cartridge is a tough one to dial in?

Thanks....

I make the same experience but I get a solution: I use now barrel blanks from the 6,5x57 with a land diameter of 6,45mm (260 Rem = 6,50mm) and a twist length of 200mm = 7,9".
The results are much better now.

Here in europe we use hammer forget barrel blanks. They are hammer forged within a very low tolererance of CIP min +0,0004". Button rifled barrels normaly have about 3-4 times higher Tolerances.
A tip for people who search for more accuracy.

 

[BigHorn WBY]

"Bighorn, not to be argumentive but thats just not true. I have put thousands of rounds through 260s and love them but if you read my post you will see that a couple of mine did NOT shoot all that well no matter what bullet or powder I shot"

I have put thousands of rounds thru them as well, several 10's of. Many 100's of thousands thru many calibers over 40yrs, so ??? Only takes the first 10 rds or so to know whether it will shoot or not.

You also had a couple of barrels that did. Which to me would prove that the trouble was with those rifles/barrels, not some inherit anamoly or finicky-ness. I have chamber a few dozen and not a one wouldn't perform. All where as accurate as there finish product could be (i.e. little 5lbs mountain rifles are not expected to be 1/4moa at 1000, but surely 1/2 at 100). I am no wizz on the lathe, but I also remove all variables before ever pulling the trigger for the first time. Only use best assembly practices, perfect as possible ammo, a known perfect scope, applied under good predictable shooting conditions........

"We have tried about everypowder and bullet combo you can try in a 260 and one time we think we have it and then it shoots crappy then bug holes all in same session with several shooters."
We weren't there, have no idea of what variables where at play. Several shooters only compounds the problem. Again I will say, the on again off again accuracy makes me think ammo or scope. Not some voodoo in the rifle.

"We also have tried a couple of scopes on the rifles. Same results."
Maybe none of the scopes are any good ???

"two brand new barrels back to back that did the same thing"
Installed by the same builder ??? Maybe he ain't much of a builder ??? Again who knows the variables...........

"Your lucky yours shoots well"
There is the grace of God, thru His Son, Jesus Christ......but there is no "luck". Luck as we preceive it, is a satisfactory outcome from proper excusion that obtained reachable results.......

Again this is just my opinion.

 

[jcampbellsmith]

Three of us had expensive custom 260AI's built.....

Sorry to hear that. Which 260 Improved did you all go for? 30 degrees improved, 40 degrees improved or something else? Thanks JCS