260 Remington Powders, load and other advice?

[Joe C]

Hello,

So, I bought this .260 Remington a few months ago. Long story short is it was purchased off of GB. All the seller could tell me was that it had been built by a guy who had passed away before getting to shoot it much and was being sold by his mother. It had been sitting at her house for a number of years. It was a really good deal. It has a fresh 28" Krieger MTU fluted 1-8 twist barrel on it that was made in the spring of 04 but hasn't been shot since the gentlemans death shortly thereafter. On the side of the barrel it is stamped D.S.S. .260 Rem. The barrel was turned down for an iron sight on the front and the action was drilled and tapped for sights along with having bases on the top with a loading block. It is a 1947 Win M70 action with original bolt sitting in a beautiful Cloward American Walnut stock. The scope is just a Leupold MX8-6 I had here and figured would work until the SIII's come in later next week.

Here are a couple of rather poor pics:

When it came in I cleaned the barrel and it had been shot but came clean very quickly. Just a cursory glance in the bore shows it to look very nice.

I have accumulated a pile of bullets from 123g Scenars to 142g SMK's and about 7 different kinds and weights in between including Bergers, Hornady and such. I have Federal Match primers, CCI BR2 primers, Wolf LR primers. I have Remington brass and some more on the way. I have some standard FL RCBS dies but am ordering some Redding dies this week. The thing I don't have is powder...

I see from pouring over the threads here for the last few days that many of you are shooting H4350 and 4831sc. In your opinions, would you start off with these two to see what works best or is there something else you would go with first? From what has been read by my eyes it appears that R15 and R17 can be a bit temp sensitive.

So, what say you? I'm anxious to get this rig up and running even though the stock may not be here to stay depending on what the rifle ends up getting used for down the road.

ALSO, I am looking at a couple of different instruments for measuring the OAL of the round from the ogive. ANY thoughts on which one would be greatly appreciated as that is something that needs to be here yesterday but I just can't make up my mind which one to purchase. And those dies, while Redding dies have worked very well for me in the past, I'd be open to hearing other thoughts about dies...

Thanks much in advance for all of your wisdom and thoughts!

 

[Shynloco]

Joe C,
I'm not going to claim any "expertise" in this subject, but recently finished a 6.5 build having a Hart MG barrel. I'm in the bullet testing phase and am presently testing both Sierra 142 VLD's SMK's and Berger 140 VLD's. Now a couple of my shooting partners are shooting their 260 Remingtons and we finding good consistency between 4 rifles, 2-6.5's and 2 -260's. The powders that the 260 guys like seems to be the IMR 4350 (1.5 inch groups at 200 yds) while so far for me, 35.8 gr of Varget pushing the SMK's have produced the best 5 shot groups (five holes touching or on top each other that a nickle will cover) at 100 yds (thats what I shoot mostly because of the range I use plus my poor eyesight); and am tesing VVN 160, but likely will switch back to VVN 150 for the Bergers. I have yet to try the 4350 that I too see everyone with a 6.5/260 seems to like alot.

As for the measuring device, I use the cheappie method of carbon from candle over the bullet to find the depth at which the bullet just touches the lands. I've found each rifle will dictate whether it likes a jam or a jump. I'm .005 out of the lands as this is where I've found my best groups thus far. I've testing different setting but let the rifle decided what setting she likes best. Because ultimate accuracy is what I seek, I use Lapua brass exclusively. Bottom line, what works in one rifle doesn't necessarily mean it'll work in another. The above info hopefully will give you some other ideas of what to consider.

Good luck and have fun with that 260 because one thing for sure, they shoot REAL good with the right load.

 

[Redhighpower]

I would suggest Redding "S" FL sizing dies, you can control the amount of tension on the bullet. After trying several OVAL gages to determine the length when the bullet touches the lands, I have ordered the Sinclair Bullet Seating Depth Tool. I have used the Hornaday Lock-N-load OAL guage with very inconsistant measurements. You cannot get a straight measurement, because the tool interferes with the calipers and you measure at an angle. To check the length of the Ogive, Sinclair and Hornady make excellent tools. I am using R-19 with excellent results. With 142's SMK I use 44.5 gr R-19. Velocity is 2820ft/s , 0.015 off the lands. It does not appear to be temperture sinsative. R-19 also works very well in the 6.5x55 swede. I would start at 43.0 gr and work up in 0.5 gr increaments.

 

[jr600yd]

Sure is a pretty rifle. I've been shooting my 260 since 99. There are a lot of bullet/powder/primer combinations and most of them will shoot pretty well. Using heavy bullets like 142 SMK's or Berger 140 VLD's my rifle preferred slower powder. My best groups were with H-4831sc. 4350 is also a good choice. For lighter bullets, after playing with lots of powders, I just settled on Varget. Redding makes great die's, I use Forster just a matter of choice. Lots of guys use the Hornady OAL gauge and are happy with it. I use the Sinclair tool. 142 SMK's like a jump. I'd start at - .010 My rifle likes .025 jump. The Berger 140 VLD's like a jam. Mine likes +.010 - .015

Good luck, you'll really like the 260

 

[KDF]

Can't help you with any load data, but I'm pretty sure that this is who built the rifle with the "D.S.S." stamped on the barrel:

Dave Sullivan, Westwind Rifles
640 Briggs Street
Erie, CO 80516
Ph: (303)828-3823

He usually stamps a date, barrel mfg, and twist on the bottom of the barrel as well. He builds nice rifles - I'd be willing to bet it shoots well for you!

 

[Joe C]

Can't help you with any load data, but I'm pretty sure that this is who built the rifle with the "D.S.S." stamped on the barrel:

Dave Sullivan, Westwind Rifles
640 Briggs Street
Erie, CO 80516
Ph: (303)828-3823

He usually stamps a date, barrel mfg, and twist on the bottom of the barrel as well. He builds nice rifles - I'd be willing to bet it shoots well for you!

WOW!!!! Great info from all you guys! Especially this! ^^^^^^

So I called up Dave, SUPER nice guy buy the way, and he looked into his records. Found who he built it for, all the specs (it was chambered for the 142g SMK's which really helps me out!). So, now I know the rest of the story! Let the loading commence! I'm SO pumped now about getting this rig up and running.

Thanks again for all the great info and keep it coming cause I'm soaking it up!

 

[SDDasher]

I have a 260 Panda action/Krieger 1/8 twist bbl and use RL19 with Sierra 142's worked up from 44 grains to the load that shoots really well in this gun. All five touching at 200 yards covered by a dime. I tried the JLK's and Bergers but got the best accuracy from a midrange load. (not the hottest or the least hot just in the middle) I have one match behind me at 600 with decent scores for me.
I use Wilson neck sizer and seating dies to load with.
PS: I jump the Sierra's .020 for best results.

 

[Spikesniper]

The mid range bullets will do better with 4350 or Varget, with Varget being my choice. I have a 1:8 twist Rock Creek 5r chambered in 260. My original load was 43.5 grains R17 behind 123 SMK's jumped .20" to fit in the magazine, which produced 3000+ fps velocities with really low ES/SD... SOMETIMES! Other days my .25 MOA groups would open up to 1", and spread to 50 fps+! In South Texas, the R17 seems to be extrememly temp sensitive at max loads, and most of the people who shoot competitively down here have given up on it. Would still be a great hunting load, but the 123's don't perform well on big game. With 4831, you run out of case capacity before you get very good velocity with anything below 140 gr bullets. I settled on 38.5 gr Varget with 130 VLD. Getting consistent 3.5-4" 5-shot groups at 1K moving 2900 fps.