The grass seems greener

[allegedlyhandy]

Hey folks,

Been hanging around for a minute, reading and browsing. Figured it might be time to jump into the discussion.

I'm up in the great white frozen north and started competitive pistol shooting a few years ago. That opened up the reloading rabbit hole, and precision rifle ammo is way more interesting than stuffing 3.3gn Titegroup and calling it done. So we spiralled a little deeper..

I grabbed an R700 in .260 and took the Furlong course in AB, and those guys walked me in to 1000m on my first weekend behind the gun. I've been banging steel on an 800m range since, mostly on my own, and shot a couple of club level matches. Started hunting two seasons ago and managed to connect on my first white tail this year. I've had a couple factory rifles and semi customs come and go, and just finished putting together my first mid/high end rifle. Looking to take the competition game a little more seriously this year, and spend more days in the field and mountains chasing upland with my dog, and game with my buddies.

I've got a fundamentals refresher course lined up and my load workup is nearly done for the new barrel. Big focus this year on cold bore, small target, first round hits. Going to try and make as many local (within 6 hours, Alberta is funny like that) matches as I can. I'm a half minute shooter on my belly, hands loads are generally single digit SD. Learning more and more about my Kestrel, and I've gone all the way back to the beginning of the EDS podcast. Will take a stab at truing my BC out to 800m over the next couple weeks.

I've got a pretty lofty goal of 1 mile by May, when I'll have access to the range and some world class spotters. Will be back to lean on you guys about how to best get there (.264, thinking ELD-M 130 or Scenar 136 with some RL17)

I've been on some less than stellar forums and message boards, the Hide seems like they generally have their shh together, happy to be on this side of the fence.

Cheers,

 

[DustBun]

Welcome from Ocala, FL

 

[Ranchhand]

Lot's of great information here, welcome.

 

[TxWelder35]

Welcome.

If I was to try one mile with a 260, which I have tried, it would probably be Berger 140 hybrids or the 144 LRHT

I managed to get some hits at 1 mile with the 140 hybrids but it really was more like just lopping rounds down range and hoping for a hit. Wind really pushes them around. The 136s didn’t do very good for me past 1300, once they went transonic it was over.

As for powder RL16 is supposedly the best way to get speed out of the 260 in the heavier bullets. I have 8# I need to play with but am still working my way through a bunch of h4350

@Steel head has bunch of long range 260 experience also, maybe he will chime in.

 

[Steel head]

I used the 147 ELD a lot at a mile but then had common Hornandy issues
Now I’d go with Berger 140 or 144
For out to 1200ish 130 are awesome
Past that the heavies take over.
R16 is happy happy as is H4350.
You can also go the R26/N565 route.

I set up my 260 with a bit added throat so at 2.95 I’m immediately at .020 jump to maximize powder capacity

If your longer at that jump just single feed.

In a 26” with solid action you should get 2800ish with the 144 without wrecking brass

 

[allegedlyhandy]

Thanks for the messages gents - must not have my notifications set up properly.

The plan to run the 130/136 past transonic is purely because I have a huge stockpile of both. The 144s were mentioned to me awhile back - and they seem very impressive. If I were to get real serious about not just lobbing and hoping for a hit, I would pick some up when they are no longer unobtanium.

I ran a quickload chart with RL17, and followed it up with some real world testing. Was able to push the Scenar and ELDM to 3050fps before pressure, and no compression yet. Definitely a spicy load.

RL16 has been amazing for me the in the past, but again it went unobtamium. I've been happy with RL23 as I need the temp stability up here. I'm working through 16lbs and it's working well - accuracy is fine for my needs and I can hold a single digit spread around 2850 with any of the 130 class I shoot.

Looking forward to longer days and warmer temps - gives me more options to get out to the range.

 

[Liberator52]

Welcome ! From Eastern Washington State !

 

[ragsflh]

welcome aboard

 

[acudaowner]

welcome from delaware

 

[Dough300]

Welcome