Gunsmithing building a 6.5 cm or rem 260

[Eggman]

I dont know if this is the correct place for a post like this but here goes anyway.

Im gathering parts to start a build and doing my research Im seeing people using both a LA and SA actions for these rounds. I personally would like to use a SA and magazines to feed it with, is this a problem with either round when using heavier bullets?

thanks for any help or input on this.

 

[TimeWillTell]

Less of a "problem" with 6.5 Creedmoor. With 260 rem you just may end seating the bullet deeper into the case to fit the mag.

 

[Eggman]

Ok thanks for your help!

 

[HoustonB77]

The main question you should ask yourself is do you reload. If you load I would go 260. If not creed hands down.

 

[TimeWillTell]

There's no reason reloading favors one over the other. 260 will always have a slight speed advantage over 6.5 Creedmoor with the disadvantage of fighting length.

 

[HoustonB77]

There's no reason reloading favors one over the other. 260 will always have a slight speed advantage over 6.5 Creedmoor with the disadvantage of fighting length.

If you have to buy 260 there is a huge difference. You can go to almost any big box store and choose from 10 different kinds of creed ammo. Try finding to or three different loadings for your 260.
That being said I shoot a 260 and love it. Just role my own pills.

 

[TimeWillTell]

Sorry I worded that wrong or wasn't clear. 6.5 Creedmoor obviously has the factory ammo benefits but a 6.5 vs 260 in reloading both use same bullets, same primer, same powder, and both have readily available brass from major brands like lapua. So there's no inherent advantage between the two when reloading. I chose Creedmoor because I can reload, but I don't HAVE to reload if I'm on time constraints. Neither is bad choice, basically same ballistics though ability to run a little faster with 260, but marginal at best.

 

[mi223]

In a short action i think creed is the best way to go for all of the reasons above along with more brass manufacturers.

With that said i still think about a 260 in a long action throated long for the new 150 class of bullets

 

[kansas]

I chose .260 because of Lapua brass but now they make brass for the creed so? The .260 is an accurate round but if you shoot a bullet that likes to be seated in the lands then you can run out of length in your magazine. I use Lapua Scenar and they don’t seem to care much about seating depth but don’t have the high bc of others bullets.

 

[rookie7]

I had a 260 and had to trim brass almost every firing using Lapua.

Last night I was in Walmart, and found 3 different types of 6.5 creed ammo in their cabinet with one being Federal match.

I have never seen a box of 260 on the shelf in any of my LGS.

 

[Supersubes]

I was a .260 guy from way back, great cartridge. The creed is just a better mousetrap imo. It’s what you end up with when you design a case specifically to shoot the popular 6.5 bullets in a 2.8” magazine.

 

[colorado_native]

Following this thread with interest. I have a Larue OBR .308 and you can get an optional .260 barrel for it. I haven't made the plunge to get the barrel yet largely due to difficulty in finding ammo. If I go that route I will definitely need to get a reloading set up from the sound of it.

 

[TimeWillTell]

Following this thread with interest. I have a Larue OBR .308 and you can get an optional .260 barrel for it. I haven't made the plunge to get the barrel yet largely due to difficulty in finding ammo. If I go that route I will definitely need to get a reloading set up from the sound of it.

You might be better off finding someone to spin up a 6.5 Creedmoor barrel instead. Not just ammo cost but because of mag length. I'm not familiar with the LaRue but I assume it's basically an AR-10 barrel setup which can be easily replicated.

 

[Jnkbigslick]

I just ordered a Larue PredatOBR in 260. I was wondering what grain “store bought” ammo someone could recommend as a good starting point. I’m extremely new to this game, but was thinking to try 130-143 grain ammo from Hornady, Prime and Gorilla and see what it likes. Once I receive the rifle that is....

 

[YukonRob]

I’m not claiming to be an expert, but ordering a 260 reamer with freebore specified that allows you to touch the lands inside a magazine isn’t all that hard... I did it, and it’s been working great for several years. I shoot 140 RDF’s, but I set it up for Bergers and added just a touch of extra room in the mag to make sure they would always feed well, or Incase anything pointier came out later I wanted to try.

 

[CowboyBart]

I just ordered a Larue PredatOBR in 260. I was wondering what grain “store bought” ammo someone could recommend as a good starting point. I’m extremely new to this game, but was thinking to try 130-143 grain ammo from Hornady, Prime and Gorilla and see what it likes. Once I receive the rifle that is....

Is your twist an 8, 8.5 or 9"?? Mine is an 8.5" and I use 140's. An 8" will work with anything, but it prefers the heavies. a 9" will work with 130 and lighter. CAn't help with the factory ammo recommendation as it has been almost 30 yrs since I bought any.

 

[BurnOut]

I originally went .260 because it's easy(ish) to make cases from very common cases (.308 and .243 Win)... that decision was made during one of the ammo crises. I'm still convinced that that's pretty sound reasoning, but I sure wish that it was as commonly available as loaded ammo as is the Creedmoor.

 

[Jnkbigslick]

Is your twist an 8, 8.5 or 9"?? Mine is an 8.5" and I use 140's. An 8" will work with anything, but it prefers the heavies. a 9" will work with 130 and lighter. CAn't help with the factory ammo recommendation as it has been almost 30 yrs since I bought any.

Got the rifle in, it’s a 8” twist.

 

[Jnkbigslick]

 

[aard3]

I have rifles in both .260 and 6.5 Creed.

6.5 is great, plenty of components available for reloading and also factory loaded match ammo available.

With .260 you have to reload... not a problem for some, but if you want to make a quick match or trip to the range you just can't buy match grade .260 off the shelf... but you can squeeze a little higher velocity and it's also nice to easily identify brass on the ground since it's kinda uncommon.

 

[MarkCO]

Been a .260 fan for years, but when the current barrel goes, that rifle is going to .243Win and I will be getting a 6.5CM. I shot my sons 6.5CM (22") next to my .260Rem (21.5") with 120s to 143s and the difference was minimal, and nothing that was an advantage at all. The 6,5CM is supported way beyond the .260, and Remington just filed for Chapter 11. Even being in .260 for 15 years, going to go to 6.5CM.

 

[kansas]

A tad off subject but...Remington developed the .260 years ago but didn’t really produce many options for ammunition. Other cartridge manufacturers didn’t show much interest and development of the cartridge I suppose because Remington didn’t. Remington didn’t even build many rifles in their new, great caliber. All I remember them chambering this caliber for was a light weight bolt gun. When i started shooting Long range it was the natural choice because it fit a .308 bolt face and my already owned .308 Lapua brass could be necked down to .260 but I’ve never understood why Remington didn’t push this great cartridge.

 

[krw]

A perfect reason why Remington is goin Chapter 11. Their lack of interest in the 260, and Hornady’s backing of the 6.5CM spelled the end of the 260. If I could do ot over, I would fo with the 6.5x47. Just because most use Varget with it

 

[Phil G]

I have both built on short actions. I see no reason to pick a long action over a short action. I shoot 139, 140, 143 and 147 grain bullets with no problem in a short action. Ballistics are so close that it makes no difference to choose one over the other. So, quick answer - either works well if you reload. If you don't reload, get the 6. 5 Creedmoor because of the wide choice of quality factory ammunition. It is almost impossible to find factory 260 at most stores while 6.5 is generally available.
Phil G

 

[lash]

I had a 260 and had to trim brass almost every firing using Lapua....

I find that unusual. I've shot probably 8,000-10,000 rounds of .260, all in short action, and I've had to trim, maybe once every 5-7th time around. Mine just don't grow that much. Just an observation from a single perspective.

BTW, this does not mean that I am pushing .260 on anyone. I happen to like the round a lot, but when asked by a new shooter or new long range shooter which to choose, I tend to extol the virtues of the 6.5 creedmoor. As mentioned above, it was purpose designed using modern cartridge design for the great 6.5 projectiles out there now. All signs point to it as being the ultimate survivor of the two, with 6.5x47 being relegated for dweebs and weirdos that just have to be different...

 

[Bradu]

I’m not claiming to be an expert, but ordering a 260 reamer with freebore specified that allows you to touch the lands inside a magazine isn’t all that hard... I did it, and it’s been working great for several years. I shoot 140 RDF’s, but I set it up for Bergers and added just a touch of extra room in the mag to make sure they would always feed well, or Incase anything pointier came out later I wanted to try.

I have a couple .260's that are about 2.81 oal at .015" off the lands with a 142 smk. They work great and still have good velocity.

A perfect reason why Remington is goin Chapter 11. Their lack of interest in the 260, and Hornady’s backing of the 6.5CM spelled the end of the 260. If I could do ot over, I would fo with the 6.5x47. Just because most use Varget with it

I love my .260's but I'm like you, if I started over I would be running 6.5x47's

 

[BearNaked]

Here are my observations between the two which most have been said. I have a 260 rem FWIW.

6.5 CM can do most of what the 260 can but more efficient using less powder. Ammo is everywhere with new stuff coming out everyday it seems like. Huge base and following so if you aren't a reloader then I would say go the 6.5 CM.

260 rem has some velocity advantages over the CM but unless you are shooting out past 1000 then you may not get all the advantages of that extra velocity. if you are a reloader then I would say this is the round to pick as you can get components cheaper since you can easily modify 308, 7mm-08, 243 cases to the 260.

I will say that if you go the 260 route, just remember that you may "Have" to get into neck turning as well since some of the necks of the military brass I get are too thick to chamber after necking down. so this will add about $2-300 more if you don't have the setup yet. just some food for thought. Your other option around this is to buy the 260 already made brass and then if you wanted to neck down military brass later on then you could do it from there.

either way you choose, both are great rounds. cant go wrong either way.

 

[LRSHOOTER0311]

The main question you should ask yourself is do you reload. If you load I would go 260. If not creed hands down.

What he said... +1

 

[Engineer260]

If you have to buy 260 there is a huge difference. You can go to almost any big box store and choose from 10 different kinds of creed ammo. Try finding to or three different loadings for your 260.
That being said I shoot a 260 and love it. Just role my own pills.

I love the 260 I had built almost 8 years ago and the availability of ammo in store is still almost nill. the 6.5 hasn't been around long and in my opinion is here to stay with readily available ammo.

 

[Clark]

I build a rifle, fire 50 shots, shoot a deer, put the rifle in storage and build another rifle.
I have a 260 reamer and a 6.5-06 reamer.
At 50 shots, the 6.5-06 is way better.
Now I have lots of expensive Rem700 short action stocks lying around and two expensive long action stocks on order.
At 10 pounds with scope, sling, cheek rest, ammo, bipod, and rear bag.... I find optimum with either 6.5-06 or 7mmRM.

 

[CowboyBart]

I build a rifle, fire 50 shots, shoot a deer, put the rifle in storage and build another rifle.

I'm glad to see that I am not the only one who does this!!

 

[Codiekfx400]

Creedmoor vote here it just flat works.

 

[Booche]

Make one of each.......or more. Problem solved! Love the 6.5-06 also.

 

[MarkCO]

Last year, about this time I looked at ammo for both on Midway. .260 Rem was about 26 loads, 6.5CM was about 32 loads. Today, .260Rem was 32 loads and 6.5CM was 42 loads. BassPro, Cabelas and Scheels all had a good selection of both in about the same ratio last time I looked locally.