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260 complete

Finished buddies 260 last night.

Went with a 28 oz McMillan Game Hunter, edge fill, short action, BDL, pillars and studs, magnum sporter contour. CBI 24'' , 8 twist magnum sporter, 700, Zeiss 6-24x50, TriggerTech straight blade,"M4 OEM Tactical" heavy profile Oberndorf brushed steel floor plate.








 
Try 142SMK, 43.5-43.8gr H-4350. I seat to achieve a .010"-.020" jump. This is a long proven 1000yd F Open load for me. Treat it as at or near max, and work up. This load works in both 24" and 28" barrels.

Alternatively, H-4831 can be used, especially in longer barrels (28"-30"). Velocity may not be as fast (2850fps o/o 28" L-W with the H-4350), but accuracy could improve. I save it for light wind days.

I am setting up to replace the 142SMK with the 140SGD (Speer Gold Dot), hoping to produce a dual purpose load; for hunting, as well as accuracy shooting. I use Bushnell AR Drop Zone BDC scopes, and have earmarked an incoming 6.5 Creedmore version for this rifle.

None of the BDC scopes are intended to render match accuracy; but so far the 223's and 308 are bang on at 100yd, 200yd, and 300yd for me with loads within the specified bullet weight and velocity range. Three hits, one at each distance in the bolt guns (identical Savage 11VT's), total time well under one minute.

Current testing of the 120SGD with W-748 in 20" and 24" AR's (AR Stoner) chambered for 6.5 Grendel indicates good potential, with a goal to approximate the Federal Fusion MSR 6.5 Grendel load. My AR Drop Zone BDC scope for this one is the 308, since trajectory calcs put the 123gr commercial load at within 3" of drop as the 308/168 load at 500yd.
From the Midway reviews:

Speer / 6.5 Grendel loading information

This review is for 6.5 Grendel shooters. I gave this product four stars based on the following experience, but it could easily later turn in to a five star bullet. First of all, the quality of this round is exceptional for a soft point bonded bullet. The point is protected up to the top by jacketing, and I found the bullet to bullet weight to have little variance. I was impressed with the quality for the price. So why only 4 stars? Well I went to Speer's reloading information for this round during my research and discovered that one particular powder combination seemed to significantly stand out from the others . I was looking to put together an affordable "do everything" cartridge. In their reloading data, Speer lists velocities with this round much higher using Alliant 2000 MR as compared to all the other listed powders. It seemed like a no brainer. So I purchased a box of the bullets, bought some 2000 MR, and began load experimenting. I have two rifles chambered in 6.5 Grendel. One a 16" barrel, the other 24". I could not get this bullet to shoot well at all out of either gun with this powder. A 2 to 3 inch four shot group at 75 yards was the best I could get out of either of them. Very disappointing. I plan on buying more of these and experimenting with other powders I am more familiar with. The quality of these bullets really does seem good. The Speer data just drew me to this particular load combination. It absolutely didn't work for me. I will try again to see if it can do better. I thought that others researching this round may benefit from this experience.

My reasoning employs longer barrels not to gain velocity, but to allow the same velocities at lower chamber/bore pressures/heat as shorter barrels, primarily as a bore longevity measure. My 28" .260 L-W barrel is not used as much these days, but has been mounted since about 2003. The chamber is SAAMI spec. Per consultation with L-W about throat recession at about 800rd, a 2400-ish round life span is expected. The charge weight was subsequently reduced, since I now live at nearly 4500ft ASL and am not as much dependent on velocity. Current round count is at the 1400rd range. At age 73, I suspect the barrel could outlive me.

I use BR-2's and start with Hornady 7-08 brass that is partial neck sized to 6.5mm, so the aft portion of the neck remains at 7mm, about halfway down the neck works for me. This allows the case to still chamber easily, while permitting the neck to seal decisively. Sooting is consistently stopped at the point where the neck diameter increases to a nominal 7mm neck diameter. I have removed my ejector, and the case extracts to lie in the receiver. Case cleaning consists of wiping the neck with a prepackaged wet lens cloth.

My thinking is that the neck flare more positively centers the neck in the chamber, and that the decreased length where the case is at 6.5mm results in reduced neck tension; some things that I've found enhance accuracy.

I use the basic Hornady New Dimension two dies set with the sizer body left installed.

When chambering difficulty indicates shoulder growth, I use a standard 308 F/L die with the decapper stem removed as a bump die. This is seldom required, like usually..., never.

Greg Langelius
 
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Try 142SMK, 43.5-43.8gr H-4350. I seat to achieve a .010"-.020" jump. This is a long proven 1000yd F Open load for me. Treat it as at or near max, and work up. This load works in both 24" and 28" barrels.

Alternatively, H-4831 can be used, especially in longer barrels (28"-30"). Velocity may not be as fast (2850fps o/o 28" L-W with the H-4350), but accuracy could improve. I save it for light wind days.

I am setting up to replace the 142SMK with the 140SGD (Speer Gold Dot), hoping to produce a dual purpose load; for hunting, as well as accuracy shooting. I use Bushnell AR Drop Zone BDC scopes, and have earmarked an incoming 6.5 Creedmore version for this rifle.

None of the BDC scopes are intended to render match accuracy; but so far the 223's and 308 are bang on at 100yd, 200yd, and 300yd for me with loads within the specified bullet weight and velocity range. Three hits, one at each distance in the bolt guns (identical Savage 11VT's), total time well under one minute.

Current testing of the 120SGD with W-748 in 20" and 24" AR's (AR Stoner) chambered for 6.5 Grendel indicates good potential, with a goal to approximate the Federal Fusion MSR 6.5 Grendel load. My AR Drop Zone BDC scope for this one is the 308, since trajectory calcs put the 123gr commercial load at within 3" of drop as the 308/168 load at 500yd.


My reasoning employs longer barrels not to gain velocity, but to allow the same velocities at lower chamber/bore pressures/heat as shorter barrels, primarily as a bore longevity measure. My 28" .260 L-W barrel is not used as much these days, but has been mounted since about 2003. The chamber is SAAMI spec. Per consultation with L-W about throat recession at about 800rd, a 2400-ish round life span is expected. The charge weight was subsequently reduced, since I now live at nearly 4500ft ASL and am not as much dependent on velocity. Current round count is at the 1400rd range. At age 73, I suspect the barrel could outlive me.

I use BR-2's and start with Hornady 7-08 brass that is partial neck sized to 6.5mm, so the aft portion of the neck remains at 7mm, about halfway down the neck works for me. This allows the case to still chamber easily, while permitting the neck to seal decisively. Sooting is consistently stopped at the point where the neck diameter increases to a nominal 7mm neck diameter. I have removed my ejector, and the case extracts to lie in the receiver. Case cleaning consists of wiping the neck with a prepackaged wet lens cloth.

My thinking is that the neck flare more positively centers the neck in the chamber, and that the decreased length where the case is at 6.5mm results in reduced neck tension; some things that I've found enhance accuracy.

I use the basic Hornady New Dimension two dies set with the sizer body left installed.

When chambering difficulty indicates shoulder growth, I use a standard 308 F/L die with the decapper stem removed as a bump die. This is seldom required, like usually..., never.

Greg Langelius
I load the Speer Gold Dots over Reloder 19 and they shoot pretty well. I shot several different loads with varying results and got more than good enough accuracy for my deer killing. The load that I settled on gives me 1/2-3/4 moa at 200 and 2740 fps. I tried some Reloder 26 and it was no better. It seemed like the Gold Dots did not like higher velocity very well.
 
7AE1F29A-4AAB-4655-9FDF-BA3142EE9A16.jpeg That’s good scoop, AZ. I have 260 built on a FN SPR Action that I can get to shoot into one hole at 100 using your H4350 load and bullet cited. Don’t mean to hijack the thread but have been a 260 fanboy since Jack Carmichael first wrote about the “Perfect Deer Cartridge decades ago.
 

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