260 Rem chamber

[Prose]

Im having a new barrel made for a ruger 77. intended bullets are 129-130 grain for a hunting gun. I am a handloader and am interested in knowing if a standard saami chamber will meet all my needs or if I should have a tighter neck or changes to the throat. I own a number of full customs so I've got the equipment. Doesn't need to shoot in the ones but half moa would be nice. What are some reamer specs that I should consider and why?

I have no interest in vlds or hybrids in this rifle, it will only be a hunting gun.

 

[Shynloco]

Prose,
Might I suggest you go to the PTG website and take a look at the various 260 Rem Reamers they make for various purposes. Or even call Dave Kiff who can give your more specifics and guidance. For hunting, I would think a standard SAMMI spec reamer would serve your purpose. I recently bought a PTG Match Reamer for my new Kreiger 1:8.5 that is now mounted on my Ruger M77 Target action and it shoots excellent groups using 123 gr - 140 gr bullets. I'm still playing with various powders because I shoot the rifle in a Benchrest configuration and not for hunting.

Alex

 

[sbhooper]

My standard-length .260 has been great with everything from 120-147-grain bullets. My barrel would allow seating pretty far out, but the magazine is a standard one. I load to a 2.848 coal with all bullets.

 

[sirspeedy]

Hunting gun generally stick to standard dimensions. In a pinch, you can grab a box of ammo and continue hunting in the event of lost ammo etc.

 

[ebb]

If factory guns are made to SAMMI specs don't do it they all have a long way to get the bullets to touch the lands. Talk to Dave.

 

[Steve Ladino]

If factory guns are made to SAMMI specs don't do it they all have a long way to get the bullets to touch the lands. Talk to Dave.

Typically Weatherby chamberings do, others typically don't.

 

[Ggmac]

Each cartridge saami spec is dif . A 45/70 and 30/30 basically have no leade/ free bore . Weatherby cartridges have a great deal , so do some military cartridges , 7 mm Mauser for one . Not all factory guns need to follow saami , many change freebore , especially if they are sold overseas .

 

[Kurz]

Im having a new barrel made for a ruger 77. intended bullets are 129-130 grain for a hunting gun.

You've basically answered your own questions since you state that this is a hunting rifle. Hunting rifles do not need tight necks or tricky throats since you also state that you do not want to use VLDs or Hybrids. That leaves traditional cup and core bullets or maybe solids. Cup and core are usually shorter than the VLDs and Hybrids and don't require seating them out to preserve case capacity. They will generally fit a fixed or DBM magazine length without too much trouble. Solids, on the other hand, are generally longer to make a comparable weight so you will need to decide this with dummy rounds although the magazine length will set the length usually.

PTG offers SAAMI, CIP and...

.260 Remington Match .297NK .060 FB (Excellent For Factory or Hand Loads - Internal or External Mag) In Stock


.260 Remington Match Tactical (.088 FB Excellent For Magazine Length) In Stock

I have used both of these but find myself using the Match Tactical more frequently. If longer magazines and VLDs are on the menu then I switch to a custom reamer and a throating reamer if necessary.

Personally, I would call Dave Manson and discuss this with him.

Regards.

 

[ebb]

Spladi I've had several (Ruger and Remington) and loaded some more for friends that could be loaded to max magazine length and could not touch lands.