Help me choose a new upper- 6.5 or 260 Remington

[bhart89]

I'm looking for feedback on a new precision upper. I currently have several MOA 5.56's and a MOA DPMS LR308. I'm looking for something with a higher BC than either of those. I'm not married to either the short or longer frame AR but if I go with the AR15 upper I'll be putting the barrel in an VLTOR monolithic upper.

What I'm looking for is:
1. Good BC bullets
2. Good brass availability (Lapua preferably)
3. Long barrel life
4. Long Brass life.
5. Barrel availability

So far I'm considering a 6.5 Grendel, 6.5 Creedmore and the .260 Remington.

Any suggestions?

 

[BIPMaster]

Re: Help me choose a new upper- 6.5 or 260 Remington

I vote 6.5G, but I may be biased.

 

[Lefty Lucas]

Re: Help me choose a new upper- 6.5 or 260 Remington

bhart:
I'm in the process of gathering parts for my AR-10 and I'm going with the 260 Rem. The only reason I'm going with the 260 is I think the brass will be easier to get. I'm building mine for long range matches out to 700 yds. Fast twist barrel 1-8 or 8.5, 24" or 26". 139-140 gr. bullets, Lapua brass. This is where I'm headed unless someone changes my mind.

Lefty Lucas

 

[Boomholzer]

Re: Help me choose a new upper- 6.5 or 260 Remington

http://www.snipershide.com/forum/ubbthre...rue#Post3684876

 

[johnnyappleseed]

Re: Help me choose a new upper- 6.5 or 260 Remington

i've heard good things about the creedmoor

 

[bhart89]

Re: Help me choose a new upper- 6.5 or 260 Remington

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Boomholzer</div><div class="ubbcode-body">http://www.snipershide.com/forum/ubbthre...rue#Post3684876
</div></div>

Looks like the Creedmore and .260 Remington are a coin toss. So how do those two compare with the Grendel?

 

[Boomholzer]

Re: Help me choose a new upper- 6.5 or 260 Remington

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: bhart89</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Boomholzer</div><div class="ubbcode-body">http://www.snipershide.com/forum/ubbthre...rue#Post3684876
</div></div>

Looks like the Creedmore and .260 Remington are a coin toss. So how do those two compare with the Grendel? </div></div>

The Grendal is basically a option to fit ar-15 type platforms and not optimal in the "ar-10" <cough>. The Grendal is designed for the smaller platform & mag length but a drastic ballistic improvement at range over the 5.56.

Best comparitive summary is with the case capacity where the Grendal is 35gr H20 (googled) and the .260Rem is 53gr. There will be a inherent and substantial velocity difference across 6.5 bullet solutions.

 

[bhart89]

Re: Help me choose a new upper- 6.5 or 260 Remington

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Boomholzer</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: bhart89</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Boomholzer</div><div class="ubbcode-body">http://www.snipershide.com/forum/ubbthre...rue#Post3684876
</div></div>

Looks like the Creedmore and .260 Remington are a coin toss. So how do those two compare with the Grendel? </div></div>

The Grendal is basically a option to fit ar-15 type platforms and not optimal in the "ar-10" <cough>. The Grendal is designed for the smaller platform & mag length but a drastic ballistic improvement at range over the 5.56.

Best comparitive summary is with the case capacity where the Grendal is 35gr H20 (googled) and the .260Rem is 53gr. There will be a inherent and substantial velocity difference across 6.5 bullet solutions. </div></div>

This page answered a lot of my questions. Looks like I'd be giving up 500 fps with the smaller platform but I'm still not clear if I gain barrel life at the expensive of more recoil and powder costs.
http://www.eabco.com/6.5_mm_cartridges.html

 

[mavrick10_2000]

Re: Help me choose a new upper- 6.5 or 260 Remington

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: bhart89</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Boomholzer</div><div class="ubbcode-body">http://www.snipershide.com/forum/ubbthre...rue#Post3684876
</div></div>

Looks like the Creedmore and .260 Remington are a coin toss. So how do those two compare with the Grendel? </div></div>

6.5 Creed is slightly better designed for LR 308 Semi's because of the case design. Essentially it's a little easier to fit mag length restrictions and not have the bullet seated quite as deeply as with a .260 case.

Personally to 700 yds I'd select the 6 Creedmore. A little over 3K fps with 105's and mid to upper 2900 with 115 DTAC's.

 

[LRRPF52]

Re: Help me choose a new upper- 6.5 or 260 Remington

I have both the 6.5 Grendel for the lightweight AR15 route, a 16" MLGS AA barrel that holds about 1 MOA give or take depending on the load.

I also have the .260 Rem AR10 built by GAP, which is a heavy, long-range gun. The .260 pushes the same bullets about 400fps faster than the Grendel.

The .260 Rem with VLD's fits fine into the mag-length of the AR10 without any issues, and has the same shoulder angle as a .308, so it feeds better in the gas guns built around .308 versus 6.5 Creedmoor according to some Creedmoor owners on this site.

I can load the 130gr VLD, 140gr VLD, 139gr Scenar, 142gr SMK, etc. to 2.810" in my .260 Rem all day long, and feed from 7.62 PMAGS. I still have .100" of bearing surface in front of the neck with VLD's loaded to 2.810", so I'm not sure where the Creedmoor has any advantage over the .260 Rem other than some great factory boxed ammo from Hornady at a great price.

 

[tony2772]

Re: Help me choose a new upper- 6.5 or 260 Remington

I have a 6.5 Creed in a LMT and have no feeding issues. I was able to find one of the first production run barrels that has the 1/8 twist instead of the 1/9 so I'm able to shoot the 140 class bullets. I really thought about the 260 but it only comes in 1/9 so I ended up with the 6.5 Creed. So far I've been real happy with it. As for brass the Hornady stuff sucks. I started reforming some Black Hills Match 308 brass I had and after sizing and trimming it is pretty close to the same weight as the Hornady stuff but the primmer pockets will last longer. If I would have been building a bolt gun I would have went with the 260 simply because of the brass options.