260 Remington barrel?

[justinp61]

I have a Savage model 16 in 260 that I can't seem to make shoot. I've tried H4350, 4064 and several bullets and it isn't very impressive. This is a hunting rifle so I'm not looking at making it a bench weight rig. I've had shoulder surgery and would like to stay with 120-130 gr bullets for the recoil, otherwise I'd shoot my 06 with 150 gr bullets.

The rifle is bedded in a Boyds thumbhole stock and shoots no better than it did in the factory plastic stock.

I'd like something 22-24" in a light/medium contour that will shoot 120-130 gr bullets well. Any suggestions?

BTW, I want to stay with a 260.

Thanks.

 

[6MMsteve]

that would be a kreiger brux bartlien broughton rock creek, or shilen cbi or x cal

 

[6MMsteve]

I have a green mt that shoots well 260rem 27" vc

 

[Pyscodog]

I shoot a 120grain Nosler and a stiff load of H4831 in my factory Tikka T3 and get 1/2-5/8 inch groups at 100yards.

 

[Sniper338]

Sounds like your wanting a remington varmint contour.

 

[6MMsteve]

try some H1000 mag primer

 

[sbhooper]

Get a Criterion Savage replacement barrel. I have had two Criterions and they are incredible shooters. I have a Remage that a friend put on a Rem action for me. It is a 1:8 twist and shoots 129 Interlocks into 1/2 moa.

 

[hogpatrol]

Is it recently purchased? Coppering up a lot? If so, contact Savage, they may do a replacement barrel. If none of this applies, contact the various prefit manufacturers and ask about lead times. Some might not make it in time for hunting season.
Regarding barrel choice, the ones previously mentioned are good pics but I would stay away from cut rate/cheap/on sale barrels. Saving seventy five to a hundred bucks can be counter productive. I've been down that road and it can get real frustrating.

 

[msinc]

When trying to get decent groups out of rifles lately...I have had more trouble with bullets than barrels and powder. Get a box of Berger bullets in the weight you want to shoot, clean the bore real good which may have to involve some JB Bore cleaner and try it again one last time before you move on to a different barrel. I don't care for Savage anything, but in all fairness to them...they do have some of the nicest looking bores in their barrels for factory guns that I have ever scoped. Not saying a "cost effective" gun manufacturer cant make a barrel that is less than great, but as factory stuff goes, I'd bet on a Savage barrel before many of the others.

 

[justinp61]

Thanks guys. I've had this rifle for four years, it shoots minute of deer just fine. But I have have a Savage mdl 12 FVSS in 22-250 that shoots tiny groups with my reloads. I know it's apples to oranges but I did at least expect tangerines not watermelons.

I've tried 130gr Burger Hunting VLD's, Hornady 123gr SST, Nosler 100 and 120gr ballistic tip's and Sierra 120gr Spitzer. So far it has shot the Sierra the best. Most groups are 1.5-1.75" range. 4064 shoots better than H4350 in this rifle. My concern with the Berger's is close range performance, inside 100 yards.

The one thing I haven't done is experimented with seating depths, everything has been seated .020" off the lands. Maybe i need to go back through my notes and pick the best charge weight for each bullet and experiment with seating depth.

I don't have a bore scope so I don't know how bad it's fouled. It has been a bit since i cleaned it so while it's rainy I'll run some Sweets through it.

 

[hogpatrol]

Thanks guys. I've had this rifle for four years, it shoots minute of deer just fine. But I have have a Savage mdl 12 FVSS in 22-250 that shoots tiny groups with my reloads. I know it's apples to oranges but I did at least expect tangerines not watermelons.

I've tried 130gr Burger Hunting VLD's, Hornady 123gr SST, Nosler 100 and 120gr ballistic tip's and Sierra 120gr Spitzer. So far it has shot the Sierra the best. Most groups are 1.5-1.75" range. 4064 shoots better than H4350 in this rifle. My concern with the Berger's is close range performance, inside 100 yards.

The one thing I haven't done is experimented with seating depths, everything has been seated .020" off the lands. Maybe i need to go back through my notes and pick the best charge weight for each bullet and experiment with seating depth.

I don't have a bore scope so I don't know how bad it's fouled. It has been a bit since i cleaned it so while it's rainy I'll run some Sweets through it.[/QUOTE

For me, if you are looking at accuracy and precision, this is enough info to scrap that barrel. One of those bullets at -.020 should have shot better than 1.5.

 

[msinc]

.......I've tried 130gr Burger Hunting VLD's,.........The one thing I haven't done is experimented with seating depths......

Then all you were doing is wasting your time...well, I guess you could have gotten extremely very lucky...but I wouldn't count on that happening. Hunting VLD's require that you follow Berger's instructions to get the seating depth correct. It is very important for these bullets to be seated exactly where they want to be and they will really shoot some poor groups if they are off. I suggest, after you get the bore whistle clean, that you go to Berger's website and read up on their instructions for using these bullets. The long and short of it is that you load up several rounds, enough to shoot a group, of various distances off the lands. Start with 4-5 rounds touching the lands and load 4-5 more .005" off...do this all the way to .030" off the lands and shoot the seven groups. One of them will be markedly better than the others. Once you have the tightest group you can narrow it down from there.
I usually found that either touching the lands or very close to them worked good in most rifles with most bullets, and never had much luck seating bullets out .025" or so off the lands...but these are not "most bullets" and I find that they shoot best seated out well off the lands. Good luck!!!

 

[justinp61]

I guess my thought process was flawed, find a power charge, work on seating depth then fine tune the charge weight.

 

[dstoenner]

Justin,

I will throw one more idea past you.

I have found that using 1/2 box of Tubb Final Finish (5 of each grade of polish) on all of my factory barrels has made them better performers and more uniform rounded groups. I have seen at least a 30% improvement in group size and cleaning gets better also. That last is telling me that they were rough and grabbing copper as the bullet went by. I also use the Throat maintenance System on all of my barrels every 100 to 200 rounds. 2 Bullets at the beginning of the next range session. I do beginning so that there is no fouling in the barrel and you get the polishing effect the best.

Compared to the cost of a new barrel, it is worth a try.

I have a Remington 700 30-06 that I got for a song. After shooting it some, I saw why. Nothing would bring the groups down. Partly was the freebore, you could push a bullet completely out of the case before engaging the lands. Using a 1/2 box I saw progress. I ended up using a full box. Now it is fine for what I wanted the gun for in case I had to hunt for food in an emergency. Here in NC a looong shot deer hunting is a 100 yards. Tubb saved me from having to buy a take off barrel and put it on and try again.

David

 

[msinc]

I guess my thought process was flawed, find a power charge, work on seating depth then fine tune the charge weight.

Well, not really...that thought process works for most bullet/rifle combos...it just wont get it when it comes to Berger Hunting VLD's because you said the "one thing I haven't done is experimented with seating depths." What I am saying is that based on my experience with these bullets, seating depth is the most important part. I was surprised to learn that just .005" change in seating depth meant the difference between a 1 1/4" group and all the bullets touching on the target!!! I realize that all rifles are different too, you might not see quite those numbers...just like the Tubb fire lapping thing, if you have a rough throat it might make a big difference. Nice, smooth, well executed throat/chamber and it probably wont yield quite those results.
And, I would be careful to not dismiss other issues...there is a lot that could be {or could not be} going on. Good luck with it!!!! We've all been there...some, like myself, have been there longer and more times than others.

 

[justinp61]

One thing I had forgot about the Burgers until last night was that they didn't seem to hit the targets square. Not a key hole but not a perfect round hole. Almost like it leaves a little lip on the hole if that makes sense. The last time I had the rifle out last fall trying to nail down a load for the Sierra's I had a few loads with Berger's left so I decided to shoot them out. They shot over 6" to the right of the 120gr Sierra's, the vertical was good. It had been well over a year since I shot the Bergers and I changed scopes when I started on the Sierra's hoping it was the problem.

Last night I got the rifle out and gave it a good cleaning with Sweets. The bore is nice and shiny all the way through. There is a guy up the road from me that works on guns and I think I'll have him look at the bore with a scope.

I certainly appreciate all the advice and hopefully haven't came across that I didn't, if I did it wasn't my intention.

Thank guys, Justin

 

[Terry_M]

Try IMR 3031 as well. I have a 260 that does not like 4064 at all, but shoots 5/8" consistently with 3031. I started at 32gr and settled on 36gr under 123gr Hornady projectiles. Wife and daughter love to shoot it and it's the rifle I loan to all the in-laws when they come around to hunt deer.

 

[Patton243]

Pretty sure X Cal makes Savage prefits. May want to check out their site. I would take them over any other pre fit on the market.

 

[jimbo88mm]

Something's not right. The nosler ballistic tips are a pretty forgiving bullet. I've always gotten them to shoot very well with minimal load development, including factory savage barrels. In 6.5mm, the Sierra 120 smk is also a very forgiving bullet. It's not good for hunting or long range but at 100 yard paper it should do very well.

I have two savage boyds stocks, both needed the barrel channels opened a little to ensure the barrels were floated. Don't forget the area around the barrel nut, that should also be floated. One of the boyds stocks was making contact with one side of the barrel nut.

IMR 4451 is a good powder for the 260 and its relatively easy to find.

As for a replacement barrel, you have lots of good options. I got one from the barrel outlet, they'll do any contour, length and twist you want.

 

[Shynloco]

I have a Savage model 16 in 260 that I can't seem to make shoot. I've tried H4350, 4064 and several bullets and it isn't very impressive. This is a hunting rifle so I'm not looking at making it a bench weight rig. I've had shoulder surgery and would like to stay with 120-130 gr bullets for the recoil, otherwise I'd shoot my 06 with 150 gr bullets.

The rifle is bedded in a Boyds thumbhole stock and shoots no better than it did in the factory plastic stock.

I'd like something 22-24" in a light/medium contour that will shoot 120-130 gr bullets well. Any suggestions?

BTW, I want to stay with a 260.

Thanks.

Justin,
I just got through rebarreling my 6.5BR which is now a 260 Remington. I had a Kreiger 29" 1:8.5 put on because I tried for a long time to get 90, 100, 120, 130's and 140 to shoot @ 100 yds (on the 6.5BR). What a frustrating experience that was, but then I was trying to make the damn thing shoot like my 6mmbr. Probably not a fair comparison.

Now I just shot and broke in my new barrel on Thursday at the range. And I used all the above bullet loads for break in as well as zero a scope change. Most were 2"- 3" inch groups I really didn't care about. This was also a session to fireform new Lapua brass as well some Norma and Federal Factor ammo (BTW, the Federal Factory ammo 140 gr bullets shot really nice groups) If things remain true, the Berger 140 Target being pushed by IMR 4350 will do nicely. I believe it'll take up to 200 rd fired before the barrel will perform as I anticipate, But do think about the Berger 140 as I've seen others have GREAT success with performance in a 260 Remington bolt as well as AR. BTW, some have had excellent success with H4350 pushing the Berger 140's.

Good luck and let me know how things progress.

Alex