260's and 6.5x284 barrel life

[cliffe]

how can a 260 shooting a 140 grain bullet using around 12 percent less of the same type of powder than a 6.5x284 have,according to some of the posts, have double the barrel life of a 6.5x284?? a friend shooting a straight 260 lost acceptable accuracy with less than 2000 rounds. many people claim over 3000 rounds with a 260 and still shooting good. not trying to badmouth the 260's as i think they are a nice round. but would like some input as to the what some of people on herethink on this. thanks cliffe

 

[jr600yd]

Depends on what you call 'acceptable accuracy'. What are you using it for, highpower competition, mid-long range, hunting, plinking? Also a lot depends on how fast and how many rounds you shoot at a sitting and what powder you use.

 

[cliffe]

for shooting f class, most of the time at 600 yards. so a half minute shooter.
i guess what i am trying to figure is how can a 6.5 caliber gun that is burning 5 to 8 grains more powder would have half the barrel life. a 6mmbr burns say 30 grains of varget, a 243 win burns about 40 grains of let's say h4350. 10 grains or 33 percent more powder and supposedly a 243 has about half the barrel life. now when you compare a 260 and a 6.5x284 you are talking less than 15 percent difference in a powder burning difference, so what i am trying to figure out is can the 260 shoot twice as many rounds at that half minute group. again i am not bashing the 260 as i think it is a great round. thanks cliffe

 

[habu]

what your missing is velocity. folks who shoot the 284 do it for speed. speed needs more powder. means more heat. means more throat erosion!

yes i shoot a 6.5x08 [260] and very well thank you. the bbl [truflight] went out just over 2200 rds. it just about leaked one out at 500 [f-0open] - 200-13x. second match was 198, 2 leaked out. bbl also shot a 446 palma.

all loads [6.5x08] were 2840 +/-.

my 6.5x284, shooting 147's at 2960, is just about gone at 725 rds.

you got to read the conditions better with a 6.5x08 where you might be able to crush through it with the 284!/?

i'd like to hear from folks who shoot the 6.5x284, that shoot slower than 2900, if anyone does, and what kind of acc. they get.

ron

 

[HPMike800]

260Rem is a very good 600yd gun. If you go that way, don't be shy about trying the 130gr bullets. Some very good shooters in my area have moved away from 140's to 130's.

My first 260 barrel was on a AR-10 XTC gun and replaced at about 2900 rounds. I shot 120's and 140's.

 

[SooStan]

My 260 barrel went south about 2200 rds. but still shot well at 100 yds. Kept playing with it until over 3300 rds and it would still shoot 1/2 moa at 100/200 but 300 yds and out things got really ugly. When it was re barreled Herald said it was missing about 4 inches of throat.

 

[Rust]

At equal levels of accuracy and under the same shooting conditions I'd expect to get maybe 1/5 to 1/3 more shots out of a .260 barrel.

Nothing wrong with a .260, I've seen some amazing shooting done with a .260, but it will not match the ballistics of the 6.5 X 284. A .260 AI can hit that 2950 fps sweet spot but then it's running a pretty hot load to do it and there wouldn't be any real advantage in barrel life.

But the .260 is not a 6.5 X 284, it cannot match the ballistics since it will not drive a 139 to 2950 fps unless it is loaded stupid hot. The .260 AI will hit 2950 with a 139 but at that point it's maxed out and maybe even just a bit past that and barrel life won't be any better.

The 6.5 Swede and maybe the 6.5 X 57 might be better alternatives than the .260 in comparison to a 6.5 X 284, but then you're still back to the fact if you equal the perfromance envelope of the 6.5 X 284 than you will have the barrel wear issues of the 6.5 X 284.

 

[Raptor]

Rust,
I agree with you having shot the barrels out of a couple of 6.5x284s and on my 4th 260 barrel. I will say one thing about the 260 though, if you shoot the 123s at around 2975 to 3000fps you think your shooting a 6.5x284. I am on at 1000yds with 26 to 27 MOA depending on the day. I think there's only about a MOA difference in wind between the two but I could be off on that its been awhile since I had the 6.5x284s.

I went with a 6.5x55 to shoot the 139s at around 2800+. Thats good 260 velocities with less pressue an hopefully better barrel life then either the 260 ro the 6.5x284s.

 

[habu]

have to pass some info along. maybe i'm just lucky?! or something but my limited exp. is that you can get mid 29's with the 260 shooting 140 vld bergers. can't say about 142's yet as i really don't believe that you need all that speed.

my h4350 load is: 142, 42.4 gr., fed 210m, = 2920

my rl-17 load is: 140 vld, 41.6 gr., fed 210m, = 2954 [shoots bug holes] [my concern is that the powder does not have the temp. insenative comp. and might have problems in real hot weather] anyone have thoughts.

both loads are sub 1/2 min..in fact the rl-17 is sub 1/3 min. and neither are hot loads.

i guess my averson to the 6.5x284 goes back 12/13 years ago when they were the rage and the sweet spot for 142's was 3050+/-.

not only did that load shoot bbl's out fast, but up here in the PNW, we found that at that speed, we were shooten the jackets off and almost to the man slowed to about 2950. that's about what out nat'l team is shooting them [2950 area] now.

anyway, as long as we keep'm in the x-ring - who cares how it got there.

ron

 

[SNAFUBAR]

Ron,
What are the details on your rifle ?
Action ?
BBL,maker, contour, twist, length) ?
Thanks,
Brad

 

[habu]

eve brad,

well i'll have a go - actions - RPA [3] that were originally set up for REM triggers. 2 use CG triggers [i'm a dealer] and 1 uses a QUAD lite trigger [blue].

bbls - TRUFLIGHTS from MT GUNS. 6.5mm, all 1x8 twt, 1 is med. palma cntr - 29', others hvy tgt 32' [the med. palma is the one i am using with RL-17 load] 1 hvy is 6.5x284, 1 hvy is 6.5 HABU.
a newbie is a hvy 6.5 BRUX that KEN LIEBETRAU [co-owner of BRUX BBL'S] twisted my arm to try. it's now chambered in my 6.5x08 HABU.

stocks - 1 is a SEHANE with an alum. 'V' block, 1 is a mod. MCREE alum. BR stock, lsat is in progress - bed the bbl and float the action stock.

all 3 actions have 20 deg. alum. bridge mounts [scope base] and each has it's own NXS 12x42 with CH-3 reticle.

recvr #1 is 6BR, sighted at 300, recvr #2 is 6.5x08 sighted at 800,
recvr #3 is either 6.5x284 or now 6.5 HABU sighted at 1000.

all barreled recvr are capable of being placed in either stock without change of 'zeros'

brass - PALMA head stamped brass re-sized to 6.5x08

primers - fed 210M

powder - VARGET, H4350, RL-17

bullets - SMK 142, BERGER 140 VLD [old style]

reamers - PAC TOOL & GAGE - 6.5x08 HABU is a tight neck - .296,
6.5x284 is 'no turn' .297, 6.5 HABU is new, my 6.5x08 with shoulder moved out to 30 deg. - it gives a bit more case cap. as i would like to go back to VARGET running at 2850 +/-. i had a 'great' load with it, but that's another long story.

my 142 load is on the lands and the 140 is 10 into lands.

why so many bbl's, etc?? because it's fun playing around and in the autumn years one has the chance to. [plus i got a deal on the actions]

loading - what works in my guns, may not work in yours! BUT, they are a start point. something i've learned acc. lds seem to recurre every 1.5 grs or so. so if you starter load is 3 min. at 50 yds, move up or down .8 +/-. i generally start low and go. ex. rl-17 ld. started at 40.0, 40.3, 40.6, 41.0 41.3, 41.6.

shot #1,#2,#3 and it was coming together, so i jumped to 41.6 to see if i could bracket the 'sweet spot' and bango - got bug hole, 2954 avg. es 2.5, ad 1.5.

BUT, i've found that group size and es/ad don't always go hand and hand. i always go for group size

notice i never mentioned moving bullet into or out of lands. i only play with that if i can't get good group.

generaly vld are into lands, 142's are on lands, 155 & 175 are jumped 20 thou are more.

having said all this, you may have to start your own system of how to's to get where you want to go.

semper fi ron

 

[SNAFUBAR]

Ron,
Thanks for the data.
I am trying to get to the 2950fps mark,safely) with my 260 140VLDs in a Mike Rock 31' 1:8 bbl.
I may not be able to get there with the dense air down here in South Texas....even with RL17.
I have been shooting 43Gr of H4350 and getting 2840fps in Win cases with Wolf Primers.
I may need to re-chamber for an AI or HABU type case angle to get me to the goal.... or just be satisfied with 108 or 123gr bullets.
Brad

 

[chet]

About the Brux barrels, I tried one and just completed it a few weeks ago in 6.5x284 full 1 1/4 dia x 30' with an 8 1/2 twist. I made my own stock and the accuracy is superb, with only 60-65 rounds thru the barrel, once I got the bullet to work and it took only 20 rounds for me to do it, it broke in wonderful shot one and cleaned for 10 shots, very little copper, shoots in the .2s & .3s at 200yds, If I knew how to post pics I have a few targets scanned that I sent to Brux, are 6.5x 284's know for this kind of accuracy at 200yds I never expected a 6.5x284 to shoot near the 6BR at 200yds.


Chet

 

[mikecr]

I think if you allowed a 6.5/284 to cool longer between shots than a 260, there would not be such disparity with barrel lives.
But what good would a 6.5/284 be for that?

It's only purpose is competition.
To gain an edge -at a price..

 

[Obtunded]

Hey Ron!

3 of us BC boys put together 6.5 'Habu's' and we will be team shooting with them at Chilliwack this year.

Accuracy with 142 SMK's has been frightening! So far 4831 SC is the ticket although i intend to play with RL17 to see if we can squeak out a bit more velocity and retain accuracy.

I hope to see you north of the 49th this year!

Semper Fi

Ian

 

[AlanPF]

...But what good would a 6.5/284 be for that?

It's only purpose is competition.
To gain an edge -at a price...

Exactly Mike. I've been in a couple of shoot-offs for No.1 badge in state championships in Australia recently. Lying on the 1000 yard mound, after toughing it out for 3 days, and about to start the shoot-off - now that is when I have no regrets about using a 6.5-284. Barrel costs are the last thing I think about then - just glad to be using a very competitive calibre.

Alan

 

[JCummings]

I have a 260 Rem F Class rifle I just finished this Spring. It is a Savage RBRP LRPV target action with a 28' 1:8 Shilen barrel, Rifle Basix trigger, and Sharp Shooter Supply LRBR stock. So far the only load I've finished working up is 142SMKs,0.010 IN), Nosler brass, Fed210M with 43.5gr H4350. This gives an Ave. velocity of 2892fps with ES/SD of 9/3. I can go hotter. Max for this rifle is 44.5,could go higher but won't!) which gives an Ave. velocity of 2970fps but the group is now where near as good. With a 2892 velocity and groups under 1/2 MOA I'm quite happy and know that I can get to 1000 yards without a problem. I anticipate significantly longer barrel life than with the 6.5-284 and cheaper loading to boot.

 

[cliffe]

jc, what do you think 'significantly longer barrel life' will be? why will it be cheaper to load? i figure at 43.5 to 48 grains of powder, you will get an extra 15 shots to a pound of powder.
i still can't figure out why burning 4 and 1/2 grains more powder would cut your barrel life in about half.
6.5x284 at least has way better brass cliffe

 

[JCummings]

Cliffe:
From what I've seen other shooters usually get at least 2000 rounds out of a 260, some significantly more. Most tell me the 6.5-284 get around 1000,800-1200). That's twice the barrel life for the 260 which is significant to me. As far as loading the 6.5-284 brass is more expensive and you use more powder. Not a lot of difference but still costs $. Also the Redding Type S die set that I like to use costs $30.00 more for the 6.5-284 as well. Plus, I already have the 260 dies. If I was competing at 1000 yards at the national level I would definitely use the 6.5-284. At that level barrels are just the cost of doing business. Since I'm not, I'll shoot the 260 and put the extra $400.00/year for a barrel into something else - like bullets and powder.