Hunting & Fishing Best all round 260 BULLET

[athanasios23]

So I know the 260 rem has been discussed many times on the hide, My question is geared more towards what bullet gives the best performance on game animals not how big of an animal you can kill. I have a friend helping me dive into reloading so any bullet is fair game to try out. I'm looking do develop one load for short to long range hunting. I live in the north east so shooting a whitetail at 30 yards is common but some times I get to shoot them past 300. I have plans(dreams) to head out west and have an open invitation to hunt southern Texas. I would like to have a bullet that will effectively kill game from 30 yards out to 6-700ish yards. Any experience you could share will be appreciated greatly.

Thanks in advance for your responses.

 

[domdoc]

Hornady 143 ELD-X

 

[lancetkenyon]

Berger 140 HVLD or 140 Elite Hunter.
Amazing accuracy, and put down game up to elk very efficiently. We have used them a bunch on mule deer and elk. From 30 to 650.
142 SMK work extremely well too. From jackrabbit to javalina to coyotes to pronghorn to mule deer to elk. From 18 to 700+.
Barnes 127 LRX. They work GREAT, and shoot great. My 14 daughter took a big mule deer @ 637 yards with 1 shot that dropped him right where he stood.

 

[Killbox_Alpha]

Berger 140 HVLD or 140 Elite Hunter.
Amazing accuracy, and put down game up to elk very efficiently. We have used them a bunch on mule deer and elk. From 30 to 650.
142 SMK work extremely well too. From jackrabbit to javalina to coyotes to pronghorn to mule deer to elk. From 18 to 700+.
Barnes 127 LRX. They work GREAT, and shoot great. My 14 daughter took a big mule deer @ 637 yards with 1 shot that dropped him right where he stood.

Just for clarification, is this the new tipped SMK or original? I had always been told not to use match bullets on game but in a recent G&A article the writer suggested the new tipped version was now a suitable option for game.

 

[diverdon]

There are so many Berger, Hornady ELD-x or m and SMK not to mention the solids from Warner and Cutting Edge....

You just need to see what suits your purpose, and what your rifle likes.

 

[XTREM HTR16]

Without knowing if you are constrained to a 2.82 COAL by mag box limits, I’d suggest the Berger 130 VLD Hunting at about 2800-2900 fps muzzle velocity. It does good things in the field...

 

[lancetkenyon]

Just for clarification, is this the new tipped SMK or original? I had always been told not to use match bullets on game but in a recent G&A article the writer suggested the new tipped version was now a suitable option for game.

Not the 130 TMK, although a buddy of mine shoots one in his 6.5x47L for deer with good results last year. He took a muley in AZ at 450, and a Coues in Mexico at 900+.

I shoot the 142 SMK in my 6.5 SLR and 150 SMK in my 6.5 SS. I have yet to kill with my 6.5 SS as I just built it late last fall, but the 142 SMK in my 6.5 SLR and a buddy's 6.5-.270AI have been killing deer and pronghorn very dead with great performance.

 

[athanasios23]

Thanks for all the replies. In going to start with barnes 127 LRX. I have had great success with barnes 80gr in my 243. Figured go with what you know is always a good starting point.

 

[stwcattle]

I have used all the Bergers listed above and the 143 ELD-X's on everything from pigs, deer and cow elk.

All the above listed bullets have worked flawlessly.

For your hunting back east and shots to say 400, I'd opt for the lighter/faster Berger 130's. My wife has taken numerous deer and couple cow elk with her 6.5 creedmoor with these bullets.

 

[D_TROS]

+1 berger 130's

 

[psinclair]

I shoot, and hunt with 130gr JLK's in my .260.

 

[roggom]

139 scenar, can use the same bullet for steel and animals.

 

[coldboremiracle]

Any experience you could share will be appreciated greatly.

There is no perfect answer, as many have already shared what works. I have used the Barnes Match Burner extensively, and have found it to be an inexpensive and killer option. If you care to read, I go into more detail here:

https://coldboremiracle.com/2018/01/15/is-shot-placement-more-important-than-bullets/

 

[predator308]

42.0 gr of H4350
Fed 210M
Lapua Brass
139gr Lapua Scenar

 

[athanasios23]

I shoot, and hunt with 130gr JLK's in my .260.

Would you mind sharing you load the JLK? I think I'll be using 130 VLd's by JLK or Berger.

If anyone else who can help me with a starting point , I'd appreciate it,

 

[T2CH]

130 gr Nosler AB. Devastating on mule deer and whitetail out to 500 (farthest I've shot them). Never needed a follow up shot.
41.5 gr 4350 running about 2750 with single digit ES out of a 22 inch barrel.

130 gr Berger HVLD is also awesome. Shot plenty of whitetail and results were as good as I've seen.
43.5 gr 4350, running 2800 with single digit ES out of a 22 inch barrel.
These are all I shoot out of the same rifle, I'll have to look at the jump if you need it.

 

[lawofsavage]

Is there some formula for picking the highest performance bullet and powder combo? I’m thinking of starting hand loading soon and I’ve always been curious about that. For example, other than just plugging the numbers in jbm and using software like coldbore, how do you know when it would be worth to get the extra velocity out of 130 class bullet or use the extra bc is the heavier ones like the 147’s and 150’s?

 

[XTREM HTR16]

I’m primarily a hunter so I chose the 130 class, the higher BC of the heavier bullets isn’t an advantage at the ranges I typically kill animals.

 

[Caveman0101]

I've killed elk and dear with the 129 and 142gr Accubond Long Range in a 260 rem, the last elk was 617 yards one shot and it was over, no tracking DRT. I will be trying out the ELD-X as I'm always open to try something new.

 

[MtnCreek]

Speer hot core is a great hunting bullet. I don’t know how they’d do at 600-700, but will do great on larger northern deer in the woods.

 

[BigTex]

140gr Berger VLD-H has done everything I've asked it to.