260 Remington thoughts

[Tangent]

The 142 SMK's and 147 gr ELD-M's will Be your "Friend" for,..best LONG Range, 6.5 Bullets as will, a Couple of, the 140 -144 grain, OTM's, Hybrid or, the "Trickier" to Tune,.. VLD Berger's.
Find a Bullet that,.. "Jump's Well",.. in Tikka's !
Good Luck !

Thanks. In my .308 Tikka, 155 Scenar-L and 155.5 Bergers both jump well, giving 1/2 MOA without too much effort. The bullets will fall out of the case before you get anywhere near the lands!

In reference to Leeman, I have some Palma brass I can run some tests on to see what works. I'm presuming if a loaded round will chamber in a SAAMI spec case gauge there is enough clearance for a factory chamber?

 

[lb-ft]

I’ll second Reloder 19 as a great candidate here.

 

[Fast14riot]

Thanks. In my .308 Tikka, 155 Scenar-L and 155.5 Bergers both jump well, giving 1/2 MOA without too much effort. The bullets will fall out of the case before you get anywhere near the lands!

In reference to Leeman, I have some Palma brass I can run some tests on to see what works. I'm presuming if a loaded round will chamber in a SAAMI spec case gauge there is enough clearance for a factory chamber?

Loaded neck diameter around .294"-.295" is pretty normal, I haven't looked at a SAAMI print in a long time, but .298" neck diameter is typical for no turn chambers.

 

[Tangent]

Loaded neck diameter around .294"-.295" is pretty normal, I haven't looked at a SAAMI print in a long time, but .298" neck diameter is typical for no turn chambers.

Spot on, just found a PTG one and it shows .298". Always lots of experience and good information on this forum. My go to since I've had "proper" rifle. It's saved me a lot of time and money.

 

[Tangent]

Any idea if a Redding .308 seating die would work for 260 Remington? I can where sizing dies would have complications but wondered about seating, is there some issue I'm missing that will prevent the bullets seating straight?

 

[6MMsteve]

I have one 260 that loves 136 or 139 Scenars with h4350 and N555 and n160 shoots very good, hell I impressed myself

 

[Leeman]

Any idea if a Redding .308 seating die would work for 260 Remington? I can where sizing dies would have complications but wondered about seating, is there some issue I'm missing that will prevent the bullets seating straight?

The seating stems are calibre specific so if you try and use a .308 seating die the bullet point will contact the inside end of the stem which will give inconsistent OAL's, may also introduce run out. You want the ogive of the bullet to be in contact with the sides of the seating stem ideally. Also the inside diameter of the neck section of the die wants to be as close to case neck/bullet diameter as possible to ensure alignment of bullet and case neck.

 

[Tangent]

The seating stems are calibre specific so if you try and use a .308 seating die the bullet point will contact the inside end of the stem which will give inconsistent OAL's, may also introduce run out. You want the ogive of the bullet to be in contact with the sides of the seating stem ideally. Also the inside diameter of the neck section of the die wants to be as close to case neck/bullet diameter as possible to ensure alignment of bullet and case neck.

Thanks, as I suspected, no free lunches!

 

[Tangent]

Managed to pick up some Lapua brass for £89.50/100 and 142gr SMK for £52/100. I've got a tub of N550 to use up, 38.0gr looks to be a good starting point. At 500m that should reduce my wind drift by a third versus my current .308 load, but the intention is to use this rifle beyond 600m and 6GT up to 600m.

 

[Fast14riot]

Any idea if a Redding .308 seating die would work for 260 Remington? I can where sizing dies would have complications but wondered about seating, is there some issue I'm missing that will prevent the bullets seating straight?

If you wanted to make a dummy round, it'll push a bullet in the case, but I wouldn't load ammo I expected to do testing or matches with it.

 

[Tangent]

If you wanted to make a dummy round, it'll push a bullet in the case, but I wouldn't load ammo I expected to do testing or matches with it.

Yes, I've decided to get some Redding Type S bushing dies. I have a set for my .308 I've been pleased with the results so far.

 

[Mike Hightower]

Yes, I've decided to get some Redding Type S bushing dies. I have a set for my .308 I've been pleased with the results so far.

That's a great choice for dies. I've shot thousands of 142SMK In a 260 if the throat will allow you I've had most of my success in the neighborhood of 10 to 25 thousands off the lands. Of course all guns are different but I've not had a 260 with that seating depth that didn't shoot really good. My loads were lapua brass fed GMM Primers and H4350.

 

[Tangent]

That's a great choice for dies. I've shot thousands of 142SMK In a 260 if the throat will allow you I've had most of my success in the neighborhood of 10 to 25 thousands off the lands. Of course all guns are different but I've not had a 260 with that seating depth that didn't shoot really good. My loads were lapua brass fed GMM Primers and H4350.

Thanks, that's good to know. I'll be surprised if I can get near the lands of my .308 in the same rifle is anything to go by. Once I get it I'll measure and see what I get. Just waiting on the paperwork to go through, lots of hoops to jump through over here. The admin costs are about to be doubled too.

 

[Tangent]

I'm now in possession of the 260 Rem Lapua brass and142gr SMKs. Measuring a bullet and case at 2.90", mag length, the base of the bullet is level with the junction of the body and start of the shoulder. Would that be losing much velocity? I'm thinking of running the brass (x100) through once with a moderate charge of N550 (~38gr) at mag length.

 

[eric32]

your gonna be fine at Mag Length and why do you think you need to run that initial charge?

 

[Tangent]

your gonna be fine at Mag Length and why do you think you need to run that initial charge?

Thanks. As far as I'm aware it's better to run new brass with a more moderate charge first time? I've done both in SRP .308 brass and not really noticed much difference. Is LRP the same? The data I can find is 37.3-41.5 of N550 with. 142gr SMK at 2.800". Would 40.0gr be a better place to start?

 

[eric32]

yea, i wouldn't worry about starting that low unless that is part of your load development. i don't think you need specifically just shoot 38gr.

I was shooting OCW load so I did IMR 4064 38gr and 140gr RDF

start your load development and see where your sweet spots are Erik Cortina Method is a solid process

 

[dryhumor]

I found RL19 to work well with 120-125 grain. H4831SC works well with 139 Scenar. I haven’t worked on any new loads for 260 for some time, though it is on my to do list. Would like to try the 144 Scenar when they become findable.

 

[Tangent]

I found RL19 to work well with 120-125 grain. H4831SC works well with 139 Scenar. I haven’t worked on any new loads for 260 for some time, though it is on my to do list. Would like to try the 144 Scenar when they become findable.

Yes I'm interested to see what that 144 Scenar is like. VV powder is much easier to get here. A lot of the popular US powders are either nonexistent or banned here unfortunately. N160 looks to be a good option but I'd like to find some N555, not seen any for some time though.

 

[dryhumor]

Yes I'm interested to see what that 144 Scenar is like. VV powder is much easier to get here. A lot of the popular US powders are either nonexistent or banned here unfortunately. N160 looks to be a good option but I'd like to find some N555, not seen any for some time though.

I think N160 might be pretty good. Maybe N140 with lighter projectiles.