Other calibers for 308 AR 260Rem or?

[Anchor Zero Six]

Pretty much decided that an 18" 1 in 8 twist 260 rem will be next. Seems to be a reliable round for 308 AR's and based on a few threads 18" works just fine.

Just wondering if there is any other chambering I should take a look at. Looking for flat shooting, wind busting, high BC for hitting steel out to 1K.

260 seems pretty common and I'm looking to steer clear of anything to exotic that cant be turned out by comercial brass. Not interested in fire forming or wildcatting my ammo.

Any of the 6.5 loading offer an advantage over 260 while meeting my off the shelf brass requirements?

To be honest I dont pay much attention to the more exotic calibers as I have only owned .223, .308 and 300WM since I started LR shooting. Think its time to try another flavor besides Vanilla.

 

[cruizer]

Re: Other calibers for 308 AR 260Rem or?

243 DPMS

 

[BCP]

Re: Other calibers for 308 AR 260Rem or?

Well, you can get a 260 DPMS upper in 20" medium profile for not a lot of money. That would be a good choice. 243 is another but you'll want a faster twist and it'll probably wear out faster. As far as I know 260 is not a barrel burner.

 

[Anchor Zero Six]

Re: Other calibers for 308 AR 260Rem or?

Guess I should have specified that I already have an AR in 308, not looking for an upper just options in 308 bolt face calibers as it will be a quick change barrel set up.

 

[Mosdet]

Re: Other calibers for 308 AR 260Rem or?

Seems like the only brass available for .260 is Remington which I have found to not be very lasting... Other then that .260 is a very nice.

 

[Greg Langelius *]

Re: Other calibers for 308 AR 260Rem or?

.260 ammo can be very easily made by running .243 or 7-08 through a full length resizing die with a resizer ball. Lapua makes .243, and I prefer Winchester myself.

My only complaint about Remington is that it sometimes tends to open its primer pockets sooner that I might like, but it's nowhere near as bad at that as Federal.

Once fired .308 Federal GM, after resizing to .260 and fireforming, gave just one more loading before the pockets became unusable. Admittedly, the load was crazy hot, and might have yielded better life with more reasonable loading, but I don't generally use Fed if I can avoid it.

Personally, for more practical purposes, I would count the .260 and 6.5CR as excellent performers, but downgrade their utility in favor of a more abundant selection of ammo for .308, .243, and 7-08.

Greg

 

[Anchor Zero Six]

Re: Other calibers for 308 AR 260Rem or?

With the inputs received in this thread as well as via PM and what I have dug up from searches 260 seems like the smart route to take.

LL had some good info supporting 260 in an 18" barrel and Zak Smith has an excellent comparison of 6.5 vs 260.

This will be for an LMT MWS as a spare barrel. Not ditching 308 at all but rather adding in another option.

The fact that comercial 260 brass is available and that it seems pretty easy to make from 308 once fired brass are factors that support the decision to go with 260.

Thanks for the help!