Range Report 260 Remington handloads

[CarbonOne]

I'm a newbie 260 owner that's doin some research for a few good loads. I just ordered a couple of "rare" boxes of the Berger 140gr hunting vlds, and I'm thinking about picking up some of the 130gr accubonds. I'm primarily buying it as a long range low recoil hunting rig, but I plan in ringing some steel with it as well. I'm hoping bergers will be kind of a dual purpose round. I'm sure I'll try some of the 139 lapua scenars as well, but not for hunting. Thanks for the insight!

I want to take advantage of the high bc bullets.

 

[CarbonOne]

Re: 260 Remington handloads

I've had so so success with remington brass for other loads. About the only other thing I can find out there is the nosler custom. Any brass recommendations too? I'm not sure I want to go through the hassel of resizing from another caliber.

 

[Shane C.]

Re: 260 Remington handloads

Win. 7-08 brass is good. Just lube it, size it and your done.

 

[4Rail_Gunner]

Re: 260 Remington handloads

If you can keep up with your brass and not loose it on the ground at a competition the nosler brass would be a great way to go if you can afford it.

If you want a little better quality brass buy Winchester 7mm-08 brass and neck it down to 260

Remington brass will serve you well for several firings before the primer pockets go south.

Get those 140 VLD's singing to 2800fps-2850fps with a good charge of H4350 and you'll be doing what everyone else is.

You may have alot of jump to the lands with 140 VLD's just make sure and measure it out.

 

[bohem]

Re: 260 Remington handloads

I size Winchester brass in 243 or 7mm-08 to 260 in one step. Since I run all new brass through the sizing die before loading it for the first time anyway, there's no extra steps involved with shooting 243 or 7-08 brass.

I'm having pretty good results from the 123 Amax's as a good shorter range bullet, it flies well, has the same BC as my 190gr pills in 30 caliber and runs well over 2950 fps from a stock DPMS 24" barreled upper. I'm shooting them with I4350 since it was on the shelf and the initial results were good.

The other bullets that I have sitting for this application is the 130 JLK and teh 140 Amax. I haven't had enough time to sort them out yet, so my first match with the 260 is going to have to be with the 123's.

 

[CarbonOne]

Re: 260 Remington handloads

Just ordered 50 nosler cases from midway. Spendy stuff, but it should pay off in the longrun I hope... I also backordered some of the 130 vld bergers just in case the 140s don't do the trick. Gonna keep some accubonds on Hand for elk in the thick timber. They're now offering a 140 accubond for the 260.

 

[bkster]

Re: 260 Remington handloads

7mm-08 as well as rem 260
some of my best groups have been with the rem 260 brass
even though it is the lowest quality brass ive ever seen
i use 142 smk and varget combo

 

[ChadTRG42]

Re: 260 Remington handloads

The 260 Rem brass works well. New brass needs a little case prep on the necks before you load it, but shoots very well. That's all I use with great results.

 

[CarbonOne]

Re: 260 Remington handloads

You guys running the badger detachable magazines ever have trouble with the coal being too long with the bergers?

 

[ChadTRG42]

Re: 260 Remington handloads

Yes, most run the Barger DBM. When you have your smith chamber your barrel, give him a dummy round at 2.800" to chamber with, and you won't have to worry about mag length. But you can get out to ~2.865 in the 10 rounders.

 

[427Cobra]

Re: 260 Remington handloads

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: CarbonOne</div><div class="ubbcode-body">You guys running the badger detachable magazines ever have trouble with the coal being too long with the bergers? </div></div>

I'm at the lands with a Ojive length of 2.170, find a smith with a very short lead 260 reamer

 

[ChadTRG42]

Re: 260 Remington handloads

Carbon- you're <span style="color: #FF99FF">PINK!</span> What's up with that!

 

[CarbonOne]

Re: 260 Remington handloads

I don't know why I'm pink?

 

[Kells81]

Re: 260 Remington handloads

Maybe it means your ont he brink of a vacation from the site.

Anyway to the topic. I am running 140 A-max, VLD's, and SMK's over RL22 with a COAL of 2.800 at 2830FPS. The load was given to me with the gun. I havent tried anything else in it since it does so well. All 3 bullets show no pressure signs over the load and 5 shot groups all hit within 1" of each other on paper. I have taken the load to a grand hitting clay targets 1/4 of the time and at 800 I have hit a 6" circle 15 of 15 rounds. At 100 it groups about 3/4 of an inch. Feeds fine from a badger system.

 

[STACKEM21]

Re: 260 Remington handloads

I WOULD DRIVE TO GRANBURY TO WATCH U HIT THAT 6 IN CIRCLE 15/15

 

[Kells81]

Re: 260 Remington handloads

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: STACKEM21</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I WOULD DRIVE TO GRANBURY TO WATCH U HIT THAT 6 IN CIRCLE 15/15 </div></div>

Some days you have it, some days you don't. Wind was right, and I was on my game. Come on down anyway and we can go ring it out better hurry though I gotta be on a bird Sunday! I guess you would have a hard time believing hitting the 10" circle at tac pro 10 for 10 at 1k with it also?

 

[JamieD]

Re: 260 Remington handloads

I had a lot of luck with Remington Brass (fully prepped) and he 140 A-max from Hornady over 42 grains of H4350. That said - I sent back the Remington brass I just recieved from midway - horrible stuff and bought some Lapua .243 and necked it up.
After looking it over (first time I purchased Lapua brass) I would buy it again.

I just finished my new .260 and am going to try and run the 123 A-max first.

Good Luck,
JamieD
Wolf Precision

 

[CarbonOne]

Re: 260 Remington handloads

Pink no more. Happy days!

Brown Santa came today too. Got 2 boxes of the Berger 140gr hunting VLDs from HSM, and two Eagle stock packs from triad.

The gun I'm loading for has a 24" 1 in 8.5 twist and Berger recommends 1 in 8 or faster. Any thoughts?

 

[JamieD]

Re: 260 Remington handloads

Give them a try and see how they do. It's always hit and miss from gun to gun sometimes. Post a follow up on how they did.

JamieD
Wolf Precision

 

[bohem]

Re: 260 Remington handloads

Carbon- As Jamie said, try them. They may not work for you, although the predicted stability factor for a standard day at sea level says they're 1.16 when leaving at 2800 fps. On a 0F day, they're only 1.03 so you might not be able to shoot them in the winter even if you can shoot 'em in the summertime.

If they don't work for you, shoot me a PM, one of my friends shoots them from a 7.5tw upper and also an 8tw 6.5-06, he might take 'em off your hands.

Jamie- The 123's worked very well for me at COL 2.800 which turned into a 0.028" jump in my factory DPMS LR260. The same load shot equally well in 2 uppers actually, both jumping about the same amount.

~ 45-45.5gr is the limit of IMR4350 in both of those rifles, MV's were in the 2950 area at 45.4gr and shot very well.

 

[ChadTRG42]

Re: 260 Remington handloads

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: CarbonOne</div><div class="ubbcode-body">The gun I'm loading for has a 24" 1 in 8.5 twist and Berger recommends 1 in 8 or faster. Any thoughts? </div></div>
The 1:8.5" twist will stabilize the 140 VLD's fine. That's the exact twist I run. I talked to Brian Litz about it, and the 1:9" should also stabilize the 140's.

 

[CarbonOne]

Re: 260 Remington handloads

Thanks. They're some sexy looking bullets. If they shoot as good az they look we're golden!

 

[dar1246]

Re: 260 Remington handloads

8.5 twist is on mine besides one.


<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: ChadTRG42</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: CarbonOne</div><div class="ubbcode-body">The gun I'm loading for has a 24" 1 in 8.5 twist and Berger recommends 1 in 8 or faster. Any thoughts? </div></div>
The 1:8.5" twist will stabilize the 140 VLD's fine. That's the exact twist I run. I talked to Brian Litz about it, and the 1:9" should also stabilize the 140's. </div></div>

 

[JamieD]

Re: 260 Remington handloads

Bohem,
Thanks for the info - should be at the range later this week working on some loads. I'm looking forward to trying the 123's.

I'll have some pics up later this week.

Thanks,
JamieD
Wolf Precision

 

[CarbonOne]

Re: 260 Remington handloads

We'll we're about ready to head to the range... I'll let you know howshe does. The nosler brass almost looks to purdy to dirty up. Gonna try out some 142 gr smk's too. Man the wife would kill me if she knew how much all of this was runnin- ha!

 

[CarbonOne]

Re: 260 Remington handloads

44.8gr RL22, 142 SMK, COAL 2.810 was the bomb today, smaller than a dime. It was the pet load that came with the gun. Gonna get creative on Saturday. Loaded up some 140 bergers with the same load of RL22 COAL is 2.858. Think that's about as long as I can get in the magazie.

I'll let you know. Gonna try some of the loads suggested here too.

 

[rwest309]

Re: 260 Remington handloads

Im loving the 139 scenars in mine. It is a 26 inch GAP with a Rock 1-8.5 twist. It was built on a long action so I can seat them out there as far as necessary. My best shooting load..

42 grains RL 17
R-P brass
Wolf standard primer
139 scenar seated .020 off

Shot it over a chrono last week

a ten shot string with 3.6 ES

2895-2900 FPS

I have some 130 JLK's to try also but I haven't got to that yet.

 

[CarbonOne]

Re: 260 Remington handloads

Berger loads ended up being a tad long. They fit in the magazine fine, but they wouldn't feed very good after getting moved a bit by recoil. Gonna shorten them up and try again. Accuracy was fair, but not what I'm looking for. Probably a good thing they didn't shoot great at that oal.

 

[dinosdeuce]

Re: 260 Remington handloads

CarbonOne,

My current load is with 142SMK. I also tried Berger 140VLD's and they shot lights out with H4350 but had to have the bullet in the lands. Didn't like the tight bolt closure so went with the SMK

 

[outlaws51]

Re: 260 Remington handloads

What would the benifits be going from H4350 to RL17 in a 24 incher shooting the 142 smk's?

 

[CarbonOne]

Re: 260 Remington handloads

Rain, rain, rain... Didn't make it out to shoot the shorter loads.

 

[CarbonOne]

Re: 260 Remington handloads

Finally made it out to shoot again and I think I found a winner load for the 140 bergers.

Just for kicks I loaded some up real short at 2.800 with 44.8gr of rl22 and wala, shooting as good as the 142 smk's if not better. They also feed great out of the aics mag. I'm pumped to have found a Berger load that'll work. I'm gonna load up a few more to make sure it wasn't a fluke deal and then load some boxes full.

I'm gonna have several boxes of different bullets to sell if anyone is looking for 260 bullets-accubonds, gamekings, scenars, and some factory loaded 140gr corelocts rememington ammo. Let me know what you need.

 

[CarbonOne]

Re: 260 Remington handloads

I want to make sure the load is the real deal with some more shooting, before selling off the others. I'll let you know for sure as soon as I get out again.

 

[rwest309]

Re: 260 Remington handloads

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: demolition51</div><div class="ubbcode-body">What would the benifits be going from H4350 to RL17 in a 24 incher shooting the 142 smk's? </div></div>

probably about a 100-150 fps increase in muzzle velocity

 

[CarbonOne]

Re: 260 Remington handloads

What knd of velcity increase would is see in switching from rl22 to rl17

I'm kind of dogging it right now around 2700fps.

 

[CarbonOne]

Re: 260 Remington handloads

Also, I've got an accurate 142 smk load and 140 Berger lad, but it's time to start working on some 140 accubonds that I'd like to push harder. Should I be lookin towards 4831sc or 4350 or rl17 or just stick with what's workin in the rl22???

 

[bohem]

Re: 260 Remington handloads

Are you getting pressure signs on the 22 now or can you go hotter? 4350 is extremely good for the 260, if you have some more airspace in the case when you get pressure signs with the 4350 then you might get a little more powder in the case with 4831sc since it's a bit slower.

 

[81sfo]

Re: 260 Remington handloads

Tag

 

[D Baker]

Re: 260 Remington handloads

I have been getting outstanding results with the 140gr Accubonds over 41.0 gr of H4350 or IMR4350 in my 24" GAP with a 1:8.5 twist. The 140gr Berger VLD-H bullets and 140gr Hornady A-MAX bullets also work extremely well with the same charge. I haven't run these loads over a chrono yet but the groups are excellent. I really like the Nosler brass...but as discussed it is expensive.

 

[psinclair]

Re: 260 Remington handloads

Working with two new .260's, one with a 26" Schneider 1-8" that likes the 139 scenar with 42.5grs H4350, Nosler brass and F210M primer for 2850fps. The other is a 24" Rock 1-9" that likes the 123gr scenar with 44.0grs H4350 for 2990fps, Norma brass and F210M primer.

The way these two loads shoot I may be finished testing...BTW, both loads are right at the rifling.