6.5 chambering debate

[buckbrush]

I have a model 70 that is being rebarreled It is a 1968 model long action that will accomodate a short action with a different bolt stop and magazine. I thought I had my mind made up on a 6.5-05 but now I am thinking of going with a 260 since converting this thing to a short action doesn't sound like too hard of a task. I want to shoot the 140 class bullets.

I am aware of the velocity increase of the 6.5-06 over the 260 but how much is there to gain? I don't want to gain only 150 fps at the expense of shooting out my barrel 8-900 rounds sooner. I don't really want those big bullets to just crawl out of the barrel either.

My barrel showed up today and I would like to let my gunsmith know what to chamber when I bring it to him.

It's a 29" Brux, 1:8 twist #17 contour so recoil shouldn't be an issue with either round given what the final weight of the gun will be.

Can ~2900 fps be had with the 260?

Is one harder on brass than the other?

Is one inherently more accurate than the other?

Approximately how many extra rounds can be fired from the 260 before the barrel begins to lose accuracy vs. the 6.5-06?

Thanks for any advice.

 

[expiper]

260 AI

is the jizzle.....Roger

 

[jr600yd]

Well you've opened a can of worms my friend. Since I own and shoot both calibers in competition I'll give you my opinion. Can you get 2900fps out of the 260? Yes, but not with 140gr weight bullets. 2700 is more the norm. 29-3000 for the 6.5/06 with 140's. I haven't seen one caliber being harder on brass than another. Depends how hot you load them. All brass will fail eventually. Accuracy? Both calibers are very accurate. It's going to depend on your rifle, you and the load. It also depends on what you consider accurate? Benchrest or MOA of moose. How many rds before the barrels are toast? Again it depends on a lot of things. How hot you load them, rapid fire vs slow fire, powder and all that other stuff. If your going to shoot NRA Long-midrange matches don't sell the 260 short even with 140 gr bullets they will still be supersonic at 1K. Barrel life? In this type of competition I'd say around 2500 rds for the 260 and 18-2000 for the 6.5/06 Which caliber? Thats your call and you can't go wrong with either one. But again it's just my opinion.

Good shooting, Jim

 

[SF340Driver]

Take a serious look at the 6.5x55 swede. Lapua brass is available and has the case capacity that a 260 wants.

N560 will get you over 2900fps with a 140gn SMK and over 3000 in the ackley version.

 

[wapiti25]

You cant predict barrel life. barrels from the same maker will lose it's edge at different # of rounds. Two or more barrels from any maker will have different accuracy from the start. A camp Perry national champ would buy Hart barrels by the dozen to find the ones that would shoot the most X's and sell off the ones that he didn't like.