While there's little wrong with having more than one gun, it's sensible to ask oneself how many people will be shooting your guns at any single time, For me, this translates as "Gee,, I guess I really only needed one gun after all". This conclusion not only saves you the entire horribly inflated current cost of a new rifle, but the scope you were going to put on it too. Believe me, nobody earns a living by spending more of their own money.
As long as there's nothing wrong with your R700 action, there's nothing wrong with having an R700 action, and BTW, get the thing bueprinted when you get that second barrel. By not buying all that extra gear, a blueprint job becomes ever so much more affordable.
I use Savage rifles and barrel nuts, but switching barrels is pretty much the very same thing with either the Rem or the Sav. Although I prefer the barrel nut, for your case, keep it simple and get the new barrel threaded, chambered and shouldered for your particular action. This simplifies the matters by taking the chamber gauge out of the barrel change equation. Your original .308 barrel (keep it!) is probably already properly headspaced to begin with. At that point it's spin one off, spin the other one on. Simplicity!
That 20" 308 is going to work great at up to about 600-800yd, it's beyond that where the 6.5's really shine.
6.5 barrel... Right now the ones you want are o/o stock because they're the ones everyone else wants too. With the market the way it is at present, the chambering can be important because folks are wising up to the fact that all that wonderfully available 6.5CM ammo is just as unavailable as any other chambering, so that advantage just evaporated.
I've been shooting the 260 for going on 20 years now, and it's still every bit as good now as it was when I started; and I handload, too (this can be mucho importante with the 260). So 6.5 CM is more popular, and therefore less available right now.
If you're going to shoot 1000yd with the 6.5, you can either flog it to death to get it there, or give the poor thing an even break and let it get there with less mayhem in the engine room. As barrel lengths lengthen; things go from the former respect, to the latter. I consider my 28" barrel to be a most excellent cruise missile launcher. The extra length allows the bullet to get the same velocity for less bore temp/pressure, and prolongs bore life. I bought my 28" in 2003. Velocity isn't everything, having a familiar barrel for going on two decades has far more value to me.
A 1:8" rifling twist is gonna handle all the 140-ish bullets, and I don't think the even heavier ones are all that appealing to me.
Since I'm not a master match shooter, I don't bother with match reamers and the sometimes tricky things they require one to do with one's ammunition. I use SAAMI chambers in EVERY rifle I own. I do this because I respect the wind, and understand that no chamber design will get you a string of "X"'s if you cant handle the wind at the master shooter level.
By now, you've figured that I'm not out to sell guns or barrels, and that after 20 years of pleased shooting with the 260, I'm at least speaking from experience.
One final thing, If you're going to keep the stock (I would, unless it's a torture wrack to shoot), order the new barrel with the same contour as the Remington barrel you already have on the gun.
Greg
