Toasted my 260...........New barrel is on!

T

thespecialist

Sergeant
Full Member
Minuteman
Mar 26, 2011
498
1
45
Monroe, NC
#1
Been getting some weird fliers lately that I couldn't explain, tried reworking my go-to load by changing seating depth/powder charge/etc all to no avail. In the middle of this I started losing primer pockets on my RP brass (8x fired) so I had to switch over to WIN 243 brass and start my loads from scratch. Same story here with the weird fliers on loads that should have hammered, and did on previous outings. I broke out the chrono yesterday and ran my old standby load of 43gr H4350, RP Brass, and a 140 Hornady BTHP across it. It used to run 2720 fps (20" barrel) with an ES in the 12-15fps range, yesterday was 2670 and the ES was in the upper 20's with the same lot of powder, same lot of bullets, and same brass prep. Temps were within 10 degrees of when I last chrono'd the load.

While I haven't had the barrel borescoped, it is approaching 3K rounds so I figure it's on it's last leg. For a prefit AAC barrel it has worked out very well, but I guess it's time to screw on a better one and have the action trued up while I'm at it. I'm going to miss out on the matches at Woody's this summer, and probably fall as well, so I may as well make it worth it. I can't just whip out $600-$700 for a new barrel and 'smithing, so it'll likely be next year before this even happens.


I you were building within the following parameters, what would you build? Keep in mind the gun will be used mainly for tactical matches and range use that will push the round count up to around 1K-1200 rounds a year. I'd really like to get 2 seasons out of the barrel, 3 would be even better.


R700 short action (.473 bolt face)
22"-24" barrel (not including brake)
6, 6.5, or 7mm
Feeds reliably from unmodified AICS mags
No AI's, I loathe fireforming......just me but I don't want to do it
Brass that is easily obtained or formed from an easily attainable parent case.

I realize that 24" MAX length on the barrel is shorter than a lot of guys run, but I'm not into the longer barrels. Nothing against those that are, just a personal preference here. I'm no HSLD OAF match shooter, but I'm not a slouch behind the trigger either. I can handle an extra bit of a wind hold from running a shorter barrel and giving up a bit of MV in exchange.

I'm leaning toward either 6 or 6.5 Creedmoor, maybe even a straight 243, but looking for input from the knowledge base here to make sure I'm not missing out on another round that would fill the bill. I'll have plenty of time to build up a stock of components between now and then, but I have loads of R17 on hand from the 260 so it'd be a major plus for something that will work with that powder as well.
 
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#4
Let me ask, why would you move away from 260 if you are already familiar with it?

Yes you will have a new barrel and chamber which will change everything, however you already know that cartridge in and out. Both the ballistic side and handloading, you already have a one up to start with.

Were I in your shoes, keep shooting the toasted barrel until the cash is on hand and then send it to G.A.Precision. For a Remington action, they will work their magic and you will have a rifle that will perform better than you could imagine.

Also pretty sure you will get longer life out of the Bartlien barrel.
 
#6
There are 4 rounds in the 6mm class that very close, Bugholes did some testing using barrels all made for the same bar stock. Search the forum you'll find it and a library full of other posts on the 6mm group. As for the 6.5CM, it's a popular round shoots great probably a little better then the 260. My 6.5CM likes 130 VLD push to just over 2900fps. I had a 308 rebarreled to 6XC that I just took out for the first time last week. Shooting the 105 Hybrids from Berger I was impress with the performance, I was able to push the 105 to over 3200fps. In the wind the 6XC does a much better then it did as a 308, or when shooting my 6.5CM.
 
#8
I say order another barrel, shoot your .260 until your gunsmith is ready to rock, and then send it to him when he has time to true/chamber it. If you've shot 3k rounds, you might consider getting yourself a second action so that you can rotate them out and avoid the wait!
 
#11
I'm voting that you stay with 260. You said it yourself and it makes it all make sense

"I broke out the chrono yesterday and ran my old standby load of 43gr H4350, RP Brass, and a 140 Hornady BTHP across it. "

I love shooting 7MM08 along with 6 and 6.5 Creedmoor. They aren't any better than a round YOU have a long term relationship with.
 
#12
Since budget seems to be one of your concerns, I'd also say stay with the 260 (brass, dies, ect adds up) since you're OK with the shorter barrel length, go with a 24" barrel and you'll be able to shoot 2500-3000 through it, set it back, and do it again. Maximize the life out of the barrel, and your bang for the buck.
 
#13
ill be a little different...6.5 creedmoor. 6.5 bullet which you are familiar with, similar ballistics to 260 rem, there is nosler and hornady brass so you have a low and high end brass choices, decent and relatively inexpensive factory match ammo, mag feeding is no problem, and the name of the round is cool :)
 
#14
Agreed to stay with the .260. If coming up with money for a new barrel will take some time, why would you want to drop even more money on getting new dies and brass for a similar caliber. If you have the brass and dies, stick with .260 and bump up the time you can get the new barrel. Just my .02
 
#17
Thanks for the suggeztions, staying with the 260 does sound like the logical thing to do here. I may do just that since I have good bit of brass already and am stocked up on powder, hell I might even be able to find Amax's again before I get her back up and running.

As for continuing to run this barrel as a few suggested, it's a waste of components. Nothing I feed it will come under 2MOA past 250, barely holds an inch, not counting the fliers, at 100. The gun has always been a solid .7" or better shooter, and would easily.hammer MOA steel at 600.

I may just go ahead and have LRI true up the action and dispose of the old barrel to help spread the cost out a bit. Then save up for a blank 6.5 from bugholes to have spun up once funds will allow it.

If I'm going to spend it, may as well spend it in the right places.
 
#19
thespecialist said:
Thanks for the suggeztions, staying with the 260 does sound like the logical thing to do here. I may do just that since I have good bit of brass already and am stocked up on powder, hell I might even be able to find Amax's again before I get her back up and running.

As for continuing to run this barrel as a few suggested, it's a waste of components. Nothing I feed it will come under 2MOA past 250, barely holds an inch, not counting the fliers, at 100. The gun has always been a solid .7" or better shooter, and would easily.hammer MOA steel at 600.

I may just go ahead and have LRI true up the action and dispose of the old barrel to help spread the cost out a bit. Then save up for a blank 6.5 from bugholes to have spun up once funds will allow it.

If I'm going to spend it, may as well spend it in the right places.
Click to expand...

It's tough not having a stick to shoot but probably the best direction to go in the long run. I'd keep an eye on the classifieds for a new barrel, they show up occasionally.
 
#21
It looks like I got lucky as hell, my wife (of all people) found another AAC 260 barrel and bought it for me as a birthday gift. I'll have her back up and running within the next couple weeks instead of a few months, which means I can still make a few matches this summer.
 
#22
Good score!

I was going to say stick with 260 too. Simply because I detest load development and would rather go shoot for fun. Starting from a familiar point would expedite the process.
 
#23
Man, you need to stop for a long moment and be very thankful for having a thoughtful wife who appreciates the idea of seeing you happy. And yes I'm dead serious. Congratulations on the new barrel, but most of all having a life partner who likes to buy stock in you.
 
#24
Oh believe me, I am one lucky SOB when it comes to a supportive wife. She had some help from a few of my friends finding the barrel, but she was ready to order me a Krieger blank if she couldn't find the AAC. One of my friends found it and she snagged it up and had it shipped to where I work as a surprise.
 
#29
Well the local guy called me late Saturday and asked if I wanted to drop the barrel and action off then because he was going to be out of town for the first part of the week, so I ran it over to him. He does this just as a way to pass time during his retirement, so he only takes on minimal work and asked that he not be mentioned by name. He came highly recommended from a few people I know, so I figured it was worth a shot. I took the parts into his home shop and just told him to cut/crown it identical to the existing barrel and install it on the action. What I didn't expect was for him to tell me to wait just a few minutes and he'd have it done. Okay more like an hour, but he did it while I was there. The new barrel headspaced up perfectly without having to touch anything.

Haven't had a chance to get it out to the range yet to see if it will shoot the same loads as the other AAC barrel did, but hope to do just that this weekend. I did go ahead and give it some new paint since the new barrel was black and the action was still Duracoated FDE. Turned out pretty decent I think.

2014-06-09 001 002.JPG
 
#32
thespecialist said:
Well the local guy called me late Saturday and asked if I wanted to drop the barrel and action off then because he was going to be out of town for the first part of the week, so I ran it over to him. He does this just as a way to pass time during his retirement, so he only takes on minimal work and asked that he not be mentioned by name. He came highly recommended from a few people I know, so I figured it was worth a shot. I took the parts into his home shop and just told him to cut/crown it identical to the existing barrel and install it on the action. What I didn't expect was for him to tell me to wait just a few minutes and he'd have it done. Okay more like an hour, but he did it while I was there. The new barrel headspaced up perfectly without having to touch anything.

Haven't had a chance to get it out to the range yet to see if it will shoot the same loads as the other AAC barrel did, but hope to do just that this weekend. I did go ahead and give it some new paint since the new barrel was black and the action was still Duracoated FDE. Turned out pretty decent I think.

View attachment 40443
Click to expand...

Excellent! Also good to hear your first barrel lasted 3k, I am running the same.

May I ask what cheek riser you are using... I could use one of those.
 
#36
Niles Coyote said:
Excellent! Also good to hear your first barrel lasted 3k, I am running the same.

May I ask what cheek riser you are using... I could use one of those.
Click to expand...

Almost 3K, but not quite. 2,864 rounds was where I came to the conclusion that it was toast, I had been fighting the sporadic wild fliers for about 75 rounds before that and the velocity was steadily going away.

6brshooter is correct, it's an XLR cheek riser held in place with two 2 1/4" stainless 1/4-20 bolts and acorn nuts. Works great and hasn't slipped on me yet.


I managed to sneak out of work early today (being shop manager has it's advantages sometimes) so I'll have the scope mounted shortly, then load up some rounds and take her to the range.
 
#37
steve123 said:
Something about those colors and textured look on that paint job, they are just right.
Click to expand...

Thanks, I wanted something different and that's what came out of my twisted little mind. The black is actually a mixture of flat black and OD, it messes with you a bit when you first see it. It looks black, but it looks green :D The brown is Desert Brown and the lighter green is a mixture of Coyote Tan and OD. The Grey is a mixture as well, Black/Coyote/OD and actually came out really really nice. I wanted a dead flat grey and that was the best way I saw to do it.

I wasn't sure how it was all going to look together but figured f$#k it, it's mine.
 
#38
My 6.5 creedmore just tripped over 3000 rounds - at about 2700 I saw a drop off in performance at 1,000 yards- lost .5 mil of elevation. I still shoot it at our steel matches out to 550 - not dope change there (yet). We had a trick bullet plotting rig on display at the TBRC and I was able to put 2 groups of 3 at about 2.5 inches at 550.

No random flyers here. I do admit to using the Tubb TMS bullets every couple of hundred rounds, FWIW.
 
#40
AAAAAAHAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!! A weekend of range trips, headaches, and disappointment. Accuracy from this barrel sucked with everything I threw at it, 3 different powders, 2 different types of brass and 3 different bullets. Nothing would come under MOA at 100, which was un-fu$@ing-believeable considering my first one gave me a sub MOA load within 25 rounds of testing. I consulted the smith who installed it and he said to bring it over and we'd check it out. Borescopes don't lie, this mf-er looks like the rifling was chewed out by an angry beaver. He also said the throat was firecracked almost as bad as the old barrel, he snatched my other barrel out of the trash can to show me how bad it was. He showed me every inch of that new barrel and I didn't know whether to curse,stake it in his concrete floor, or just puke.

The worst part, I had to break it to the wife that her gift to me was garbage and non-returnable because I had modified it. I used a little more tact than that though :D

Pissed, I weighed my options and called Jim at NSS about a Remage barrel. Nothing in except LV 24" or 28" "bull" profile...........ETA on HV was "sometime in July". Fuck me running. If I'm gonna wait 6 weeks or more, it's gonna be worth it.

I'm tired of dicking around with this thing. As of 10 minutes ago, 3rd gen is light 1 Benchmark 5R AMU contour .264 barrel after raiding my cash I squirreled away for a rainy day. Just as soon as funds allow, it's all going to LRI or PCR for the full monty. It might be next year sometime before I get to pull this trigger again, but at least I know it'll put a smile on my face when I do.
 
#42
7magsavage said:
Man, you need to stop for a long moment and be very thankful for having a thoughtful wife who appreciates the idea of seeing you happy. And yes I'm dead serious. Congratulations on the new barrel, but most of all having a life partner who likes to buy stock in you.
Click to expand...

I totally agree with 7magsavage!


Wow on the barrel! That's a total drag!
 
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#43
I'm curious where that barrel came from so I know to avoid them in my next venture. Please let us know if you will. I understand if you don't want to put hang someone/a company out.

PS- I feel for you in the new barrel situation and I commend you for not making your wife feel guilty. She had good intentions I'm sure. Focus on that and move on. As you said, a few months from now you will likely be well satisfied. Maybe even glad it turned out the way it did.
 
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#44
0311@LAR said:
My 260 barrel was melonited, didn't help it any. 2200 rounds and it was beyond shot out.
Click to expand...


thats WAY odd... i asked Lowlite since he shoots a ton of 260's.. his average barrels last 4000-6000 and those arnt nitrided..

all the AR nitride test barrels are lasting ridiculous amounts.. so, on a bolt gun you would expect 6 to 8k at least...
 
#45
thespecialist said:
AAAAAAHAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!! A weekend of range trips, headaches, and disappointment. Accuracy from this barrel sucked with everything I threw at it, 3 different powders, 2 different types of brass and 3 different bullets. Nothing would come under MOA at 100, which was un-fu$@ing-believeable considering my first one gave me a sub MOA load within 25 rounds of testing. I consulted the smith who installed it and he said to bring it over and we'd check it out. Borescopes don't lie, this mf-er looks like the rifling was chewed out by an angry beaver. He also said the throat was firecracked almost as bad as the old barrel, he snatched my other barrel out of the trash can to show me how bad it was. He showed me every inch of that new barrel and I didn't know whether to curse,stake it in his concrete floor, or just puke.

The worst part, I had to break it to the wife that her gift to me was garbage and non-returnable because I had modified it. I used a little more tact than that though :D

Pissed, I weighed my options and called Jim at NSS about a Remage barrel. Nothing in except LV 24" or 28" "bull" profile...........ETA on HV was "sometime in July". Fuck me running. If I'm gonna wait 6 weeks or more, it's gonna be worth it.

I'm tired of dicking around with this thing. As of 10 minutes ago, 3rd gen is light 1 Benchmark 5R AMU contour .264 barrel after raiding my cash I squirreled away for a rainy day. Just as soon as funds allow, it's all going to LRI or PCR for the full monty. It might be next year sometime before I get to pull this trigger again, but at least I know it'll put a smile on my face when I do.
Click to expand...


you bought a "new" AAC /rem 260 prefit? and it was toasted?

what "mods" did you do that "voided" the warranty?
 
#46
Ring said:
you bought a "new" AAC /rem 260 prefit? and it was toasted?

what "mods" did you do that "voided" the warranty?
Click to expand...


It was advertised as "like new" as my wife put it. It was found on Armslist by one of my friends she had looking for her, he talked to the seller and was told it had about 300 rounds through it. It seriously looks like it was 300 rounds of FA.

My wife bought it as is, so no returns. I guess cutting/ crowning it doesn't matter anyways.
 
#48
deadnbrkn84 said:
You seriously aren't even going to try to get your money back? I sure as shit would
Click to expand...

I've sent the guy a couple emails, but I'm not holding my breath. She paid him through paypal as a gift payment. Armslist has been notified, but all they could possibly do is ban him as a scammer if he knew what shape the barrel was in.

I'll give the guy a chance to make it right before I hold his balls to the fire.
 
#50
Ring said:
thats WAY odd... i asked Lowlite since he shoots a ton of 260's.. his average barrels last 4000-6000 and those arnt nitrided..

all the AR nitride test barrels are lasting ridiculous amounts.. so, on a bolt gun you would expect 6 to 8k at least...
Click to expand...


My 6x47L barrel only lasted 3000 so it's not worth nitriding again. I got 2400 out of my first regular barrel.

LL must have been talking about 308 because no 260 is going to be match accurate at 6000, I could see 4000 but it'd be getting really worn by then. A friend has had to replace two 6.5 Creed barrels in the low 3000's and neither were holding tight anymore.
 
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