260 REM Bullet Choice

[SixFive]

Out of the bullets I have listed below, what would you all think would be the best for Southern White Tail Deer at 300 yards or less? Our deer (that I shoot) are 130 to 200 lbs usually. The lightest caliber I usually hunt is 6.5x284 but usually shoot 26 Nosler. This will be the first year hunting with the Remington 260. I am concerned any bullet over 130gr might be to slow in the 260 case. I also am concerned the lighter 123sst might be to fragile. I am in analysis paralysis. I guess anything will work put in the right spot but what do you think would be the best all around? Thoughts?


I have the following bullets in my 6.5mm inventory -
143gr Norma Bondstrike
140gr Nosler Ballistic Tip
130gr Swift Scirocco II
130gr Terminal Ascent
127gr Barnes LRX
123gr Hornady SST
100gr Barnes TTSX

 

[Bill Norris]

Out of the bullets I have listed below, what would you all think would be the best for Southern White Tail Deer at 300 yards or less? Our deer (that I shoot) are 130 to 200 lbs usually. The lightest caliber I usually hunt is 6.5x284 but usually shoot 26 Nosler. This will be the first year hunting with the Remington 260. I am concerned any bullet over 130gr might be to slow in the 260 case. I also am concerned the lighter 123sst might be to fragile. I am in analysis paralysis. I guess anything will work put in the right spot but what do you think would be the best all around? Thoughts?


I have the following bullets in my 6.5mm inventory -
143gr Norma Bondstrike
140gr Nosler Ballistic Tip
130gr Swift Scirocco II
130gr Terminal Ascent
127gr Barnes LRX
123gr Hornady SST
100gr Barnes TTSX

I have no experience with some of the listed bulIets but if I were trying to max out total performance of the 260 I would go with the 140 gr. Nosler B T if I could not find the 130 or 140 gr. Nosler Accubond.

 

[603Country]

I use the Nosler 120 gr Ballistic Tip. Works great. Also good is the 100 gr Ballistic Tip. Heavier bullets aren’t necessary for Whitetail. Try not to shoot the parts you plan to eat.

 

[Lonny in ID]

Like 603, I've used the 120 NBT and 100 NBT for deer with great results. 140 NBT's would likely work quite well too.

 

[dk17hmr]

I wouldn't be to concerned with those choices they will all work and your only talking 300 yards.

I used a 129gr nosler long range Accubond from my 260 on elk last season with no issue.

 

[SixFive]

I wouldn't be to concerned with those choices they will all work and your only talking 300 yards.

I used a 129gr nosler long range Accubond from my 260 on elk last season with no issue.

You used a 260 for ELK? WOW! I tend to OVER gun everything LOL. I never thought a 260 would be enough for ELK, I guess it will work great for White Tail.

 

[matthias]

I have successfully taken several deer with the 127lrx barnes. Do not worry, deer are not bulletproof.

 

[ncageneral]

Sierra 120 gr Prohunter. My daughters been slaying whitetails down here for a long time with those. Great penetration, great blood trails, short blood trails. It'll shoot flatter than you think. I tried 120 Nosler BT's once, looked like a grenade went off on the ribs, dead deer but not what I was wanting. Thick brush needs a good blood trail.

 

[Bill K]

I have used the 123 grain ones, with one shot kills, through and through complete exit, no bullet recovery.

 

[jrb06]

What gun are you using? I have a factory Rem 260 with the damn 1-9 twist barrel and it limits the use of the heavier bullets. I have best luck with the Barnes 120 TSX Tipped.

 

[okie]

I like 120's in .260

 

[drop_point]

Barnes LRX or the Terminal Ascent.

 

[nakneker]

Out of the bullets you have listed I’ve used the 127 LRX with success, only thing that bugs me about that bullet is their tips, they can be very un-uniformed. I’ve also used the 140 BT, both are very effective on deer sized game. Out of the bullets you don’t have listed Accubonds immediately come to mind, I’m using 140 grain accubonds in a couple different 6.5 caliber rifles. I plan on giving the 130s a try too. The accubonds have been great. Any of those bullets would suit you well in my opinion.

 

[dk17hmr]

You used a 260 for ELK? WOW! I tend to OVER gun everything LOL. I never thought a 260 would be enough for ELK, I guess it will work great for White Tail.

I live in elk country and have the opportunity to hunt them every year. I have shot them with smaller rounds actually. If it was a once in a lifetime hunt Id definitely use bigger cartridges but having the ability to pass on shots and come back the next weekend allows me to use all sorts of stuff.

For whitetails I would lean towards the lighter copper bullets. 100s would probably be my choice if they shot.

 

[SixFive]

What gun are you using? I have a factory Rem 260 with the damn 1-9 twist barrel and it limits the use of the heavier bullets. I have best luck with the Barnes 120 TSX Tipped.

I got a 308 Mossberg in some trade deal that I custom built into a 260 Rem. I used a 1:8 twist 24"mbarrel on the build, actually a Savage 110 barrel I slightly modified to work, I cerekoted it all, upgraded to a wood stock, and put a new 6x24-50mm Athon on it.

 

[ben-o]

100 gr. Barnes

To minimize recoil, if nothing else. I can’t speak to the other bullets on your list, but this one will kill a deer very well.

 

[justinp61]

Sierra 120 gr Prohunter. My daughters been slaying whitetails down here for a long time with those. Great penetration, great blood trails, short blood trails. It'll shoot flatter than you think. I tried 120 Nosler BT's once, looked like a grenade went off on the ribs, dead deer but not what I was wanting. Thick brush needs a good blood trail.

The 120gr Prohunter has worked well for me, I wouldn't hesitate to shoot a deer at 300 yards with it.

 

[David Milisock]

Out of the bullets I have listed below, what would you all think would be the best for Southern White Tail Deer at 300 yards or less? Our deer (that I shoot) are 130 to 200 lbs usually. The lightest caliber I usually hunt is 6.5x284 but usually shoot 26 Nosler. This will be the first year hunting with the Remington 260. I am concerned any bullet over 130gr might be to slow in the 260 case. I also am concerned the lighter 123sst might be to fragile. I am in analysis paralysis. I guess anything will work put in the right spot but what do you think would be the best all around? Thoughts?


I have the following bullets in my 6.5mm inventory -
143gr Norma Bondstrike
140gr Nosler Ballistic Tip
130gr Swift Scirocco II
130gr Terminal Ascent
127gr Barnes LRX
123gr Hornady SST
100gr Barnes TTSX

The 260 is a great cartridge but to be specific about bulletts in my opinion you need to know about the rifle build.

Can you feed loads with a longer length? What barrel length?

Assuming a standard factory internal magazine and a 24"or less barrel I'd suggest the 127 to 130 grain choices.

I've found the 140's to have too much penetration from even a SAAMI loaded Swede so I went with 129 grain.

Shooting 140's+ slow may not expand, shooting 123's fast may blow up in close.

 

[muleystalker]

140 class bullets in the 260 Rem really shine for taking deer. Shoot even the 140gr CoreLocks work great. I remember I bought a 260 Model 7 the first year it came out and killed 4 mule deer with the factory Core Locks before I had a chance to reload for it and everyone was DRT from 100yards out to 540yards. It was unbelievable what they did to those deer.

 

[Gtscotty]

Deer don't take a whole lot of killing, out of the selection, the only one I probably wouldn't lean towards is the 123gr SST since it was really made for the Grendel and you could push it too hard in a .260/Creed. The top 4 would be my top choices, they are all top game bullets. I've killed an elk each with the 140gr Accubond and the 127gr LRX, of those two I prefer the Accubond in pretty much all calibers I've used it in for good penetration and wound channel.

Of your selection, I'd probably personally go with the Bondstrike, they are getting excellent reviews, are supposed to be very similar to Accubond and are more available/cheaper than the Terminal Ascents.